We just spent a week at Sandals Ocho Rios. Overall, this was a very pleasing vacation and we wanted to share our experiences:

1. We stayed at a pool/ocean facing room in the Manor building. The view was awesome! The room was clean but outdated. The bathroom was even more outdated with moldy grout, bad caulking job around the tub, leaky faucets. The vanity sink leaked so much that we called a plumber to fix it.

2. The main pool on the Manor side was very nice with nice pool and bar service. The pool is open 24 hours and a lot of people enjoyed it what seems like all night.

3. The food was plentiful but very ordinary. Their approach is to compensate quality with more upscale service. You won't be hungry and pleased with presentation, but we've had better food at 2-star restaurants back home. We really expected a lot more. Seafood lovers, don't expect more than deep fried fish. The best we saw was shrimp a few times. With all that said, the atmosphere at the restaurants, especially Arizona on the beach, made the dinning experience quite pleasing.

4. There was a lot to do on the beach with many of activities available for no extra cost, including diving, snorkeling (off a boat), sea kayaks, sailboats, etc. I’d say, this is a lot more than we’ve seen available at Caribbean resorts of this class. The golf is included, though you have to pay for the caddy separately. The golf course dress code is strictly enforced. We saw people scrambling at the last minute buying overpriced polo shirts at the pro shop.

5. The staff was friendly with a few exceptions and really tried to make our stay there enjoyable.

Like most people say, this is not just the property, food, or service that make your vacation - it's whether you decide to enjoy yourselves. We did and had a very good time!

V & L, Chicago

We just returned home from the best vacation we"ve had in years. I cannot express enough how wonderful our stay at Sandals Ocho Rios was. the staff was incredible. You never wanted for anything. The food was great. From the moment we stopped on to the property we recieved nothing but first class service. The rooms were nicly decorated and extremely clean at all times. This resort was everything it stated to be. We are already planning our next trip bac!k!!!

We recently came back from 5 days, 4 nights at Sandals Grande in Ocho Rios. Before I provide more detail about our experience, let me just say that we like to travel and have been to Jamaica before, staying at other hotels so our experience is compared to other hotels in the Caribbean. If this is your first time traveling, take this review for what it's worth...

Overall, we found Sandals to be you get what you pay for. We went fairly last minute so it was relatively cheap and that was what Sandals turned out to be.

This is a good place for young couples (20 - 22) on their honeymoon and/or 40-somethings that want to party at the pool and drink all day. It's not a place for couples that want to lay low and relax. If you are not a big drinker or don't want to sit at the swim up bar all day, this may not be the place for you.

The pros of the resort are the grounds (beautiful, but most of Jamaica is) and the beach area. There are only a few chairs with any shade so get there by 10 or so to reserve one if that's what you want/need. Before dinner, I recommend sitting out on the dock in one of the swings - it might be the only quiet place at the resort.

The cons - the food was average at best, and we waited almost every night for about an hour regardless of the restaurant we chose. This was more frustrating because there were plenty of empty tables, but with an all-inclusive, there is no incentive to get people who are waiting seated.

The two main pools on the riviera side (beach side) have swim up bars, but they play Jamaican music from 10am - 6pm. It's loud and as with modern Jamaican music (not Bob Marley), it is very sexual and crass. The guests that we saw spend most of their time at the pools with the music had a large amount of body art (i.e. tattoos), sequin bikinis, and were smoking up a storm, in the pool.

If you want quiet to read and/or nap, you have to go to the Garden Pool, it's the only place you cannot hear the music. The "hidden" pool is right next to the ampitheater and a mini-power station, not the most scenic/quiet place.

Our room had a garden view, which was fine, we didn't pay for a beach view; however, the bathroom is woefully outdated and the toilet continued to run the entire time we were there (despite our requests to have someone look at it).

Before we left for our trip, we read all the reviews and we tried to take them all with a grain of salt, especially the bad ones. Everyone needs to have their own experience, but in our opinion, if you have traveled at all, this will not be the place for you. We were extremely disappointed in Sandals - it felt like the McDonald's of resorts, little personalization, spring break-like, and dilapidated.

If you want to go to Jamaica, I'd recommend splurging and looking for deals at hotels that offer an all-inclusive package, but not everyone at the resort is on that plan. The food and accommodations will be much better.

well,well, june 20th,08 our finest vacation started, who could remember your last name after seeing hundreds of people everyday, well the people of sandals did even all the shuttle crew .. how is that for feeling special..
it was our 20th anniversary and our room was decorated for the occation everyday with a beautiful note.. how special are we?
food ,all you had to do was think and there was some.11 res-turaunts. food from all over the world..and hamburgers and chicken 24hrs. a day..how cool is that?
music right around the next tree, you learn to dance with-
out wanting too.i feel JAMAICAN how cool is that maan?
the schedualing is so right on that you don't miss a thing, you might miss the shuttle but in 10mins. another one to pick you up.
i have a sweet tooth, and i knew that in the registration desk there was always cookies, they welcomed me every time i passed by..so three pounds later you just can't thank the staff the help the crews and sandals for all they have put together..
even the guest left their problems home sandals puts you at ease.. met new friends,contacts for business..
can't explain it all but one thing for sure, hope you understand how i am trying to say this, we (8 of us) left jamaica, sandals, ocho rios, and all the people of ocho rios, in our hearts.. once i was home ,cought some T.V. and there was a track meet , i found myself rooting for the jamaican team, and will do so during the olympics...we will see you again...thanks rick