Sandals Negril: Lovely, but not what it used to be
This was our sixth trip to a Sandals property in Jamaica, and our second to Sandals Negril. Our first time here in 2018 for our 25th anniversary was delightful. This trip had some highpoints and some disappointments. We’ve never traveled to Jamaica in the Spring. The weather was lovely. Temperatures were reasonable, and we didn’t even get the brief afternoon showers that we’ve come to expect in Jamaica. The ocean water was generally calm and comfortable once we were in it for a while. The week of our visit was Welcome Home Week. We had heard a little about it, but had not realized that there would be so many special activities scheduled. Although there is always a returning guest’s dinner every week, Negril pulled out all the stops for the homecoming week. They set up a large canopied area on the beach and had music (live and dj) and dancing. Now, the sound system was way too loud, to the point that we could not have conversations at the tables. One guest at our table turned the two closest speakers around so that they were pointing out to sea. That made conversation more enjoyable. The food at the dinner was good, but the portions were small and there was a lot of time between courses. FOOD: Sandals says there are 8 restaurants on the property, but this is a little misleading. Only six of the food locations serve full meals. The other two are only open for limited service. The pizza place, Bella Napoli, is only open for lunch (as a Brooklyn Italian, I didn’t spend valuable dietary real estate on the pizza). Crema is a coffee shop with coffee, pastries and ice cream. Crema was lovely. My personal choice for ending each evening was a couple of scoops of their vanilla ice cream topped with a shot of Kahlua and a couple of chocolate chip cookies. The unfortunate thing about Crema is that, while the staff was friendly, they are understaffed in the morning hours. You can’t run morning coffee service for American tourists with only one staff member. My wife gave up on going to Crema after two days. She would get self-serve coffee at Bayside. Bayside Restaurant runs buffet breakfast and lunch service, then switches over to a full-service French style restaurant at night. The buffet was good, but I must admit that we took a day trip down to Beaches Negril (a mile and a half walk down the beach, or a $5 per person taxi cab ride (ask the concierge if they can get Malcolm to be your driver – he was terrific)), and the same food items at Beaches were much better prepared. The Beaches lunch buffet was great. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay for dinner because we were unable to book a restaurant. A heads-up about Bayside: DO NOT LEAVE YOUR FOOD OR TABLE UNATTENDED. Bayside is on a terrace, and the minute you turn your back, birds will swoop in and steal your food. I had to replace an entire breakfast plate because I turned my back to get some orange juice before my wife got to the table. Our dinner at Bayside was good. The appetizer portions were small, but don’t forget that Sandals is all-inclusive, so you can order more than one. However, I ordered the Chicken Cordon Bleu, which I really enjoyed. It was a generous portion, crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside. Mine did not have any ham in it, which was disappointing. My wife ordered the lobster, which was small, overcooked and chewy. (Reminder: Caribbean lobster is not like Maine lobster. They tend to be smaller and do not have large claws.) Brava is a reservation-only Spanish/Latin tapas place. We were alerted to order more than one app, one entree and one dessert per person, and it paid off. It was a lovely meal, but we regretted eating so much that night. We definitely over-did it. Perla is the beach-side lunch and late-night place. Note that they do not have dinner service. Service can be slow because they are always busy, but the food was excellent. Grab some beef patties, veggie patties or chicken patties to take back to your beach chairs. There is also table service. I had a pulled pork sandwich what was delicious, but very spicy. The bartenders all around the property are very accommodating and friendly. We taught the bartender at Perla new type of shot that we had learned at the Sandals Negril piano bar on our last trip. Called a Dirty Girl Scout, it is equal parts Kahlua, Crème de Menthe and Bailey’s. Done right, it tastes just like a Girl Scout Thin Mint cookie. You’re welcome. Sundowner had, hands down, the best lunch and dinner on property. It is Jamaican cuisine done right. I could not recommend it more. Barefoot By the Sea is a very nice place for a breakfast alternative to the Bayside buffet. Service can be slow, but the food was tasty. The swordfish steak; however, is smaller than the fish on a McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish, and very dry. The dessert was also just a tiny, finger-size portion. Kimono’s is the Japanese hibachi restaurant. We highly recommend trying to get into Kimono early in the week. You’ll be seated with three other couples, and you will make friends. We regretfully went there on our last night, and sadly did not get to have more time with the lovely people we met there. Our chef sang his own parodies of famous songs the whole time he cooked, and the server was excellent. The dessert at Kimono was a more reasonable portion size, and we were able to share it and both be satisfied. Now, the bad part of the food experience. The week is called Welcome Home Week. More accurate name would have been No More Week. At every turn in the restaurants, when we would ask for something on the menu, we were told there was “no more”. A partial list includes: avocado toast at Barefoot, hashbrowns at Bayside, oxtail at the Jamaica Day dinner*, shrimp and lobster, and non-dairy creamer, among others. *Re: oxtail: when we were at Beaches, we were told there would be Jamaican Oxtail served at the buffet for the Jamaica Day dinner that night. Since we weren’t staying at Beaches for dinner, my wife thought Sandals Negril would have oxtail as well. We found out once we came back to Sandals Negril that there would be no oxtail, and she expressed her sadness about it. Princess from the Entertainment team heard about it and arranged for oxtail to be made for us for lunch the next day. (The server in Bayside, Terry-Ann, tried to play a joke on my wife and her friend, saying that we were late to lunch, and that there was no oxtail. She did it with such a straight face that we believed her. My wife and her friend were upset. Terry-Ann admitted to playing a little joke. She brought two beautiful plates of delicious oxtail for us, which we shared with two other couples. During the rest of our meals in Bayside, she worked hard to make up for the misunderstanding. ACTIVITIES: We were booked for a returning guest snorkeling trip, which we took with another couple we met on property. We saw a lot of fish (including the jelly kind). We took advantage of the sea kayaks, and had a nice paddle around the bay area. We were told that there are two sea turtles that live just off the Sandals beach. We didn’t see them, but some friends we made did. One new friend we made attempted to go waterskiing, but after his inability to stay upright, myself and another new friend decided to pass. Still, it is good to know that you can try new water activities for no charge. There was a catamaran trip down the coast to Rick’s Café on Wednesday. In all of our trips, we’d never been to Rick’s, so we went along. It’s normally $25 per person for this excursion, but this one trip for Welcome Back Week was free. We had a blast. There was music, dancing and finger foods on board. We stopped off at Pirate’s Cave and were able to swim through the cave while local teens dove off the cliffs and trees above us. It was a little sad that the boat was full of people from an all-inclusive resort, so there was little cash to tip them for their skills. One guest managed to find what I think was a $5 bill for them. When we got to Rick’s, we didn’t get to go ashore, but we watched the cliff diving guests from the water before turning around for a sunset cruise back to Sandals. Stunning. My wife and I like to get involved when we are at Sandals. I tried to play as much volleyball as possible. We joined a group making beaded bracelets (where we made two of our new friends), and then the four of us joined a Sip & Paint evening on the beach (note: we purchased a $30 bottle of wine for the Sip & Paint, but found out later that it was not required). These craft activities are great for making free souvenirs to take home. We played Giant Jenga and Giant Connect Four. There were a few trivia events that we would have joined, but we were either late for them, or they were postponed. ENTERTAINMENT TEAM: Role Call: James, Ashli, Odane, Antonio, Kiro, Lush, Sky, Briana, Ruth, Princess, Ajago, Kemixx, Kidd, Buck, Izzy. This crew of young people was terrific, and SO engaging. They really kept us laughing and busy. They can all sing beautifully, dance with grace and joy, play sports and just make you feel absolutely at home. One night, they held a “Silent Disco” in the garden. For this, two DJs played music on different channels over headsets provided to the guests. There was no amplified music. The Blue channel was playing mostly American pop and rock hits. The Red channel was playing Caribbean and Jamaican music. Since I can hear the American music at home easily, I stayed on the Red channel all night. I got a lot of ribbing from some of the friends I met about being out of the loop. At one point, only myself and one other person were on the Red channel. Then Shaggy and Rayvon’s Angel came on, and that other guy and I started singing. We watched as a wave of red lights lit up across the dance floor. The whole thing was a lot of fun. One thing to know before you go to Sandals: each resort has an event each week, usually mid-week, where everyone is encouraged to wear all-white clothes. The Silent Disco was that night on our trip, and the lights made the white clothes shine. Before you travel, check with your resort to find out if they are doing a white night, and which night it is. They don’t always advertise it. Kudos to the Sandals Loyalty Team at Negril, particularly Chevalle and Michael. They met our every question and concern with interest and fast action. Really lovely professionals. My wife hit the fitness center every morning, and it seemed to have everything one could need to stick to their routines. I prefer playing sports to going to the gym, so I’m not a good judge of the fitness center amenities. About the Red Lane Spa, we had a couples massage on our last day. The masseuses were very good. Unfortunately, the physical environment of the spa was not in good condition. The soaking pools outside the spa need a lot of work. They only had water in one section and looked very run down. The music in the massage room seemed to only have two settings - off and very loud, which was not very relaxing. Yes, we had a lovely vacation, but did have some small issues about the experience. Sandals and Beaches Resorts are not inexpensive, and we’ve come to expect a higher level of service and more value for our dollar from the brand. Overall, the food quality and quantity went down, and we did find that some of the food service staff were not always welcoming. Overall, we rate Sandals Negril 6 out of 10. We understand that Negril has a new manager, so perhaps she will bring things back to the level they used to be. Though we haven’t given up on the Sandals and Beaches brands, we most likely won’t go back to Sandals Negril, though we will miss its beautiful beach and sunsets.
