I just returned from a week at Sandals Ocho Rios. We
arrived on Saturday Jan 8th to a crowded airport. We
got through customs and were on our bus within less
than an hour which I think is pretty good. I didn't
recall the hospitality room Sandals has in the airport
with free beer and soda the last time I was there. It
was nice but I hardly had time for one beer before we
were off to the resort. The ride was about two hours
with a 15 minute stop. Check-in was going good until
I was told I was upgraded to the Villas when I had
booked a Manor House Ocean View. Now I had done my
homework and knew I did not want to add to my daily
shuttle rides by booking one of the villas so I
politely stated that I booked the Manor Ocean View and
that's what I wanted. The clerk then went away for a
minute and came back with my room key and I was
pleased to see my room was right at the top of the
stairs of the lobby overlooking the new pool. This is
a great location as there was the Manor Bar directly
below me and three restaurants two floors below. If
there could be a complaint about these rooms it could
be the noise as you hear the staff working all night
long and noise from the bar below but it didn't bother
us as it wasn't that bad. It didn't take me long to
realize that I am more of a beach person than a pool
person and had wished I had booked at the Riviera
although from what I have been reading I probably
wouldn't have been able to get a room there due to
Sandals overbooking the Beach front rooms. The same
thing happened to my friend who traveled there the
week of New Years Eve. He was booked at the Riviera
and they put him in the Villas at the Manor. Just
about everyone I spoke to got "upgraded" to the villas
on the hill and most where pleased although I could
never figure out why. They had no access to food,
drink, or any activities without a long walk to the
Manor. The one Villa I looked at was surprisingly small
- about the same size as my room in the Manor House.
Sure you have your own pool that's 10'x16' and cold
from being in the shade. If you enjoy being by
yourselves this is the place for you. The shuttles
that run to the villas look like over sized golf carts
but the shuttles that run to the beach are buses like
the ones you rode from the airport. The walk down to
the beach is not bad as it is all downhill. I would
guess it no more than 6 minutes. The walk up is no
more than 10 minutes but all uphill and not
recommended. There is a tunnel under one road but you
must cross another busy street before you get to the
beach. The beaches are small and very rocky once you
get in 3 feet of water. Ever since i stepped in an
urchin last year on a rocky beach I am very
apprehensive about walking on rocks. It was very
windy the first few days we were there which hampered
water activities. The snorkel boat could not go out
past the small reef and the visibility was poor. When
I did snorkel later in the week out further there
where still hardly any fish but what can you expect
when 100 people a day 365 days a year go flopping
around in the same area. The sailing was fun although
there was no 16 foot Hobie and they don't plan to fix
it. The bridge from the Riviera side connecting to
the Beach club side is almost done and will make it
much nicer than having to walk out of the resort down
the street to the Beach club (the old Beaches part of
the beach). . I feel I should take a minute to explain.
The Beach Club is the beach area that was a part of
the old Beaches Resort. This is located next to the
original Sandals Ocho Rios which is referred to as the
Riviera. There is a strip of land about 50 feet long
that Sandals apparently does not own and they are
building a bridge over it to allow access to both
beaches. There are piers and harbors separating the
resorts so you cannot get to the other beach by
swimming to it. The Beach Club is where the
volleyball takes place every afternoon which proved to
be the highlight of my trip. The have two bars, a
pool and hot tub, a grill for snacks, and the San
Gerrano restaurant.

I would say my stay is what I expected after 4 stays
at Sandals. I actually prefer the buffet over the sit
down restaurants as I like a variety of food. All of
the food was very good as were the drinks. As always
the Disco was sparsely populated during my one brief
visit there. The employees were friendly and
courteous.

There seems to be some confusion about the $250 credit
at the gift shop that some people receive and others do not
and I am not sure I am ready to drop this yet. As I stated earlier my
friend just returned from SOR and told me to be sure I
ask for a $250 credit for the gift shop. This credit
could be used for massages, pictures, phone calls, and
the gift shop. He was told it was for people who
booked 7 days or more. On my first day I asked guest
relations about it and I got the run around. The
final answer was that it was for people who booked at
rack rate and not for people who used a discount
agency but they would check on it for me and asked me
to come back later. Now I know my friend didn't pay
rack rate but he did book directly with Sandals and
I booked through Prestige Service Travel. Two days
later I checked back and a different person was
working. The excuse then was my room category I
booked did not qualify for the $250 credit. This
could be true I thought, as my friend had booked the
Riviera Ocean View and I booked the Manor House Ocean View
so I let it go at that. Humans are a strange breed that
always fight for equal treatment and tend to get their
feathers ruffled when they find out there have been
treated unfairly. On our bus ride back to the airport the
$250 credit topic came up because one guest had no
idea she had it until checking out when she went to pay for
her room charges of $60 for phone and they told her it
was taken care of by her credit that she didn't know she had.
She didn't even have time to use the rest as she had to board the bus.
I then asked which room they booked and It was the
same category as mine. A person sitting next to me in the same
room category received the credit and was told about in
upon check-in. I'm not trying to be a hard-as# here
but $250 is a good chunk of change that I could have
bought shirts and gifts with. We had purchased $50
worth the pictures that had been taken of us at the
resort that were could have used it on. All I want is consistency.

All in all, if you have been to Sandals before, you
won't be disappointed. Unless you enjoy spending your
days lounging by a beautiful pool with a swim up bar
the Manor is not for you. Also keep in mind if you
are older or have a disability the Manor House does
have quite a few steps. There must have been an elevator
somewhere but I din't see it. After the bus ride back I
have decided to stay away from the Ocho Rios side for a
while. Maybe I'll try Negril again as the new raod is done and
it is less rough and rocky in the water due to being on the leeward side
of the island. I may try Couples Negril as they are cheaper
than Sandals Negril and they get good reviews. I have to
agree with Shelby, I'd rate it at about a 7. If you
plan to golf a lot I would suggest getting a foursome
together and sharing a cab at 7:00. The shuttle is
scheduled for 7:00 but Jamaica time is 7:25 to 8:00
then you have 15 people from Dunn's River, the Riviera
and the Manor all lining up on the first tee. We
still managed to get off the tee within 20 minutes of
getting off of the bus. They start some people on the
back 9 but if you could get there at 7:15 it would be
great. They have a tendency to give you the same
caddy if you go there more than once. We had a
worthless caddy the first day so I asked for a
different one the second and was very pleased. All I
expect from a caddy is the yardage's for each of my
shots and speed and direction of putts.

Once again this was not a bad trip and I had a fine time. I knew I was not going to be on the beach and I knew I would have the long bus ride but I really didn't like either one.

Thanks Edwardo. It was nice to hear a few good things about SOR. I was getting quite nervous about my upcoming trip there. Now I know what to expect.

Thanks for the trip review , we all appreciate reading them.. .. .. .. .. .

Your travel agent should have given you a voucher with your travel documents for the $250 credit. That is what we received to trade in with the front desk for the $250 credit.

There are 8 of us going Mar 3-10th to SOR and if they are overbooked at the Manor, we can still say no we do not want a upgrade to a Villa, correct? Also, anyone that was in on the $250 resort credit, was that for booking during a certain "perk" special? One more question.. .. ..Is there Parasailing from the beach at Sandals, or do you have to be at a different resort? 40 days to go!!!

There is parasailing but its not included.

Sammi. regarding the Manor House, I believe if you stand firm they will not make you upgrade. My report was biased as I know what I like. Make your own decision based on the information on this board. Personally, I like to get up earlier and go to bed later than my wife and having a palce to eat and drink right below be in the same building appeals to me. From my balcony I could talk to people on the deck outside of the bar and see what was going on in the whole pool area. Plus, even though it was 1/4 mile away, I had a true ocean view over the tree tops.

I am still unclear on the vouchers as some of the couples never had them from their travel company, they were alerted upon check-in.

The Para-Sail people are not Sandals related so they hang out on the Riviera (right) side of the beach by the vendors next to the watersports.
They do not have a schedule so its hit and miss. Just hang around on the beach and have a pina colada on me and wait for them to show up.

Thanks for the excellent info Edwardo! I may even have two! You wouldn't know about how much US $ to para-sail?

Last time I went two years ago they started out at $50 but we got them down to $35 for a group (6) deal. Depending on combined weight they may let both you and your husband go together but it does not look as fun as you don't get as high in the air.

Hey, thanks for the great info everyone! I can't wait to go. My fiancee and I are going March 20-26th. We are getting married there. Here's something I think is hilarious. When you get married there, you have to have two witnesses and/or wedding attendants. They told me that if we weren't bringing anyone with us, they would provide us two guests. I wonder where they will get the guests from. LOL!

I was just hoping that someone would be going around that same time that we could possibly meet and maybe do a few things with. Please let me know if you'll be there around that time. I'm so excited!

Melissa

We were married at Sandals Halcyon in St. Lucia. We also traveled alone. Sandals gave us two attendents. I believe my attendent was one of the waiters and my husbands was a female playmaker. They were dressed in native costume and the playmaker made the toast at the reception. Their costumes make our pictures look really nice.