My wife and I stayed at the Sunset Beach Resort on 6/28/08. We had to stay here because the Sunset at the Palms Resort in Negril was full that night.

We had never stayed in Montego Bay before, so we figured it might be nice to actually stay at least one day in MoBay - rather than just flying into the airport and heading out to Runaway Bay or Negril as we had in the past.

Well, long story short - the Sunset Beach Resort is not at all worth the money they charged ($280.00/night). It was under renovation where the gaming room was supposed to be. The buffet was absolutely terrible, the beach was rocky, and the grounds were not particularly well cared for.

I am just glad that we only had to stay here for one night. Our next 6 nights at the Sunset at the Palms Resort in Negril were absolutely fabulous!

There is a night and day difference between the two resorts, both owned by the same company. Stay at Sunset at the Palms in Negril, avoid Sunset Beach Resort in Montego Bay.

I was very nervous to stay here after reading some of the reviews especially given the fact this is a 3 star hotel and I'm accustomed to staying in hotels with higher ratings but we had the best time ever!!!!! The rooms are the only thing I can see that would give this resort a 3 star rating because the amenities were GREAT!! I ultimately chose this hotel because of the water park and I knew my kids ages 14 and 6 would love it. Ok....here goes:

The beach: The other reviews are correct in that the beach is rocky so bring swim shoes, but other than that the beach is great! There are paddle boats, kayaks, and snorkeling gear available for use that's included with the all inclusive. There is volley ball on the beach as well.

The pools: I enjoyed the pools and water park just as much as the kids! LOL we were so addicted to the water slides and lazy river. There are multiple pools so they never get crowded and I was there from 6/27/08-7/3/08 in the peak of the summer and it was always enough room in any of the pools. One pool also have a volleyball net. The water slides go into 5 feet of water but the small kids and non swimmers can still enjoy because there is always a lifeguard on duty right by the slides.

The food: There is a main buffet and 3 speciality restaurants. The other reviews are correct, they do book fast so make reservations after check in. They are good and a nice change from the buffet. The food is ok however, I agree with the reviews that I would have liked to have more Jamaican cuisine. There are lot of flies because the buffet is in an open area with a roof but no doors so its no different than having a picnic in the park. I hate flies but it wasn't enough to deter me from returning to Sunset and it was only bad during lunch. The grill is great! It also provides something different from the buffet but all it sells is jerk chicken, grilled cheese, hamburgers, and beef patties so we used it as a "snack" area. Everything at the grill is good. Someone mentioned the ketchup wasn't good but it's ok. The way to describe it is regular ketchup with brown sugar. Its just a little sweet but not as bad as the previous review made it seem. I'm a ketchup lover so I brought mine after reading that review but I never had to open it. The buffet food was good and there was always a variety. For breakfast they have someone making omelettes that is very entertaining as well as the usual bacon, pancakes, etc.

The entertainment: Every night there is a concert in the lobby. It is just OK...not horrible...not great...There is a beach party that is done as well that we had a blast at. The MC which is dressed as a pirate coordinated games for every age group and they were really funny to watch. The winners won prizes and it was very interactive. There was also a fire eater and snake charmer at the beach party as well and it ended with the cupid shuffle so everyone was dancing. It was really fun. There is miniature golf, a playground for the kids, pool tables, a sports bar, teen center ( 2 pool tables, foosball, and 2 video games), a baby pool with a small slide for toddlers, and tennis courts. ALWAYS something to do. The concerts in the lobby start around 7 and end promptly at 11pm. It would be nice for it to last longer.

The hotel: The rooms were average hotel rooms. No different than the Holiday Inn or Comfort Inn....just average. I stayed in tower A and both elevators worked and there was no problem. The rooms and hotel is kept very clean and you will always see someone cleaning. There are plenty of bars and "daily specials" that change everyday. They weren't stingy with the alcohol and the drinks were always good. There are tours available to do just about anything. We did the shopping tour twice. It was $6 per person and nice to get into the city of Montego Bay. The people are pretty pushy but just stand your ground if you're not interested it's not like you HAVE to buy from them but we did try and support the Jamaican culture. To my surprise a lot of shops are owned by Indians and other cultures other than Jamaicans which I found disturbing since the Jamaican people are so poor it made me uneasy to buy from other cultures and not the Jamaicans so we only spent money in Jamaican owned shops. No offense to anyone but I wanted to help the people of that country feed their family.

All in all, don't let the negative reviews scare you. You are certain to have a wonderful time. Some reviews talk about the entertainment lasting til 11pm and they can't sleep but who comes to Jamaica to go to bed before 11pm??!!! My family and I have already made plans to return next year!!!! Feel free to respond with any questions I may have left off. No problem mon!!

We enjoyed our stay at the hotel. I suggest you get a better system of check-ins. It took too long top check in and after a long plane flight all we needed was to stand in line for a long time to get checked into our room. A problem i had was after the long wait in line and finally getting the room assignment and going to the ninth floor in a hot elevator, i get to the room and it is previously occupied by someone else. This was coerrected right away, but this caused first impressions grief and added to our check--in night-mare. I suggest that you get the information from the travel agent that we used. the info that we gave at the desk was the same info that was on the travel agents package. this will help with the slow check-in process. also think about the possibility of having someone at night key in all the info. before or after the customers come to the hotel. this would reduce the amount of agents at the desk, and make a better first impression on new customers. We loved our stay. Thanks

I booked this resort through Hotel-Caribbean.com. They were great.
This resort is absolutely wonderful. My fiance' and I planned in 2007 to get married in Jamaica. We took our 2 children 14 and 6. One of the reasons we picked this resort is because it had a water park for the kids.
On the day we arrived (2p.m.) our room was not ready but check in isn't til around 3 or 4 anyway. No problem for us, they gave us our wrist bands and off we went. We explored the beautiful property and the beach and ate at the buffett. It was delicious and the entire place was very clean. All the staff were nice and accomodating of any need you might have. Once we went back to the beautiful lobby to see if our room was ready we learned the resort view that we had booked had been upgraded to an ocean front on the East Wing. We were very surprised and were told we were upgraded because of our wedding. The room was a good walk from the lobby and towers and very private and quiet. We were right on the beach and the little drink hut at the end of the beach was not very far at all. The next day I met with my wedding planner and everything I asked about was NO PROBLEM. I only had to pick my bouquet and music. They took care of the rest and it was absolutely awesome!! A destination wedding is the way to go. They made sure they took care of everyone.
Our 6 year old went to the Kids Club a few days and had a ball. They really keep an eye out on the children. My husband went to take our daughter sun screen and the kids and kids club workers were at the Grill eating. She came over to her dad when she saw him and immediatley a worker was right there wanting to know who he was. I had checked her in that day. So they do their job and do it well. That is evident all over the resort. It is very secure and clean. The afternoon of our wedding the light bulb in the bathroom went out and I called and asked if it could be replaced since I needed the light to get ready. They were there in minutes.
The restaurants were nice and the food was really good at all of them. There is something to eat at all times. My husband especially loved the jerk chicken at the Grill. We even bought the seasoning in the gift shop and cook it very often. Often enough that we ran low on the seasoning so he found the company online and ordered more!
The water park was great for adults and kids! I let my 14 year old roam around with some kids he met his age. They had a great time and I wasn't worried about him. He said the ladies at the towel hut knew their names. If you walk around enough or sit by the water park, you will see the same people over and over. It was nice meeting different families and some watched our wedding at the gazebo on the beach.
They had entertainment in the lobby at night. Which I guess would be noisy if you had a room in the towers. But by 11 the entertainment is over. There is a lot of fun stuff to do all day and night. Check the boards in the lobby for the kids club schedule and the schedule for the day and night events. Check the boards late at night for the next days events. One board is located in front of the Bananna Walk Buffet. I read on trip advisor that it is best to bring a large cup for the drinks, since they only have the small ones. That is a great idea, make sure the cup insulated. Oh and if you love snorkeling as much as we did, take your own mask, snorkle and flippers. They do have them available, but only for 30 minutes at a time, then you have to wait 10 to fifteen minutes to go again if they are not all given out. So we plan to take our own. There are sea urchins in the grassy areas, so water shoes would be a great idea. We had the flippers on when we were in the grassy areas of the ocean so we didn't have to worry about that as much.

Overall the resort was beautiful and clean. You always saw maintenence and gardners working. We are going back next June without the kids and have invited several friends along. I can't say enough about how nice the staff was! They were just great!! Can't wait to go back!!! I am sure I have forgotten to mention something, but I can't imagine what.