gale

Does anyone have recent experience with the Sandals Ocho Rios resort? We are seriously considering it for our honeymoon in June. How is the beach? Do you find yourselves staying mostly at the resort instead of wandering around the town? <BR><BR>Thanks for any input!<BR>Gale

Bill

My wife and I spent the worst vacation of our lives at Sandals Ochos Rios. The staff isn't at all friendly or accommodating and the beach is miniscule. The resort is surrounded by barbed wire (for a good reason) and it is definitely not recommended that you venture outside the resort itself. I would strongly recommend a honeymoon on another island. Sandals resorts are definitely overrated and much too expensive for the meager accommodations.

IslandAnne

I vacationed at Sandals Dunns River (in Ocho Rios) several years ago and had a fantastic time! The property is beautiful (Italian Renaissance) and the people at the resort, without exception, were wonderful. The beach is nice, and there are lots of activities or you can do absolutely nothing! The food in all the restaurants and the evening entertainment were also very good. It was my third time to Jamaica, so I didn't venture off of the property a lot, as I'd seen most of Jamaica in my previous visits. Sandals took a van load of us to climb the falls. One day they had local artists at the property to sell their wares; so we shopped without leaving the premises. I ventured down the beach, off of Sandals' property a few times and felt very safe. I met some locals and spent some time talking with them. One of them picked a fruit off of a tree and carved me a drinking cup while I watched. I find that when you stay at an All-Inclusive, you tend to stay on the property more as all of your meals/drinks are included. Sandals has tours that you can sign up for and a "must do" is the Dunns River Waterfall Climb. I found Sandals extremely relaxing and I'd go back in a minute. Yea, Mon!!

ss

ok , i just had to say we loved sandals ochos rios. We were there in 1997 and many of the staff were really very nice and went out of their way to help. That was in 97 so the staff may have changed. Sure the resort has a fence around it, although its not as if you really notice it with all the trees and shrubs and tropcials around the place. The gardens are beautiful!! There are hotels on either side, so the fence keeps the properties separate. We left the resort with two tours (sailing and horsebackriding), but friends ventured out of there own and were fine...use common sense. The beach is small compared to that of dunns river sandals.<BR><BR>Sandals resorts cater to the couple who want to stay mostly at the resort and kick back and relax with a drink and new friends, perhaps some watersports etc. If you like tropcial gardens - go to ochos rios, if you are a beach person...dunns river sandals.

nobill

Bill, Bill, Bill, what is your problem? Get a life bubba. Sandals has about a 99.999 percent positive rating, and if you look at their repeat visitor numbers it is astounding. They do things right, and they do things well. I am sure you bitch about everything no matter where you go. I bet your wife doesn't keep your house clean enough either and no doubt does not service you enough times in a week. Bleep off you bonky bugger.

John

Hi Gale, I would have to agree with IslandAnne, ss and nobill. Although we have never stayed at Sandals OR, we have visited for a day. Yes, as Bill stated the beach is small. However the resort is beautiful. We prefer Sandals MoBay as our spot. And as nobillhas stated, just look at the number our returning guests to the Sandals Resorts. We are getting ready to visit MoBay for our 17th visit in 10 years next week. At least 30% to 40% of the resort will be returning guests. That should say enough about the Sandals chains. If you have any questions just email. Also, you may want th check the sandalsresortsvisitors club on yahoo. Some good posts about OR.