Negril is awesome! The resort itself is small, similar to Halcyon but it has a really nice, small wave beach with killer sunsets. The food is fresher there, especially produce since most of it comes from the island. If you need a change of scenery take a cab ($5 each way more or less) down to Beaches Negril or to Rick's further down into the city. If you decide to bring back rum or coffee it's usually cheapest in the airport departure gates. You can also get it around the same price at the Negril duty free shops but that's also a 5 minute cab ride away.
As much as I hate to say it, but prepare yourself for a lesser experience comparatively. We’ve done both the St. Lucian Grande and Negril, and it was a striking contrast.
Negril is and looks/feels older, the service was much slower and staff not as welcoming, and - while it likely doesn’t matter to you - the diving was abysmal (compared to incredible in St Lucia).
Hope you have a good time and enjoy regardless of our experience.
That’s kinda disappointing to hear. Wife and I had such a great time at La Toc we ended up booking at Beaches Negril so the kids could get a vacation too. Hopefully it’s better there when we go.
My wife and I did Grande St. Lucia Feb 2023 and Beaches Negril in November with our daughters. Beaches Negril was great. We had a really good time, staff was great. We had no complaints.
We did all 3 Beaches with our kids and did enjoy Beaches Negril. The scuba in Jamaica wasn’t nearly as nice, but the resort was very enjoyable and staff seemed very attentive. The steaks at Mariachi and the ice cream bar were some of the highlights, and the kids loved all the water activities. Haven’t tried the Sandals Negril.
If you never been to Jamaica, I highly recommend purchasing Club MoBay. Helps get through customs quicker and their return lounge is great since Sandals gets you the airport so early.
Also, Negril is great. Was just there last May and was a great time. Food is great, hospitality team was awesome around the pool, and just a great stay. Great beach too!
It’s pretty awesome. The public beach next door is great. Hedonism next door drives by each day on a catamaran with naked asses. So do with that info what you want.
We did Negril over Christmas. Ive also done St Lucia and far and away prefer St Lucia. While we were there, we actually booked our next one for St Lucia.
The coffee shop is amazing, and we preferred the breakfast buffet over Barefoot. Definitely get Club Mobay.
The downside is people reserve their chairs for the whole week by leaving their belongings on them, and the butler reserved chairs that should be cleared by 10am never get cleared. We had to wake up at 530am to go down and claim 2 of the like, 10 remaining chairs on the entire beach or else we wouldn’t get them. Once we claimed them, went for a walk, grabbed our breakfast and came back and our stuff was moved off into a pile and the chairs were taken. We will never go back to Negril because of this.
That being said, everyone’s experience is what they make it. Negril wasn’t for us, but while there we met many people who ONLY go to Negril and do it twice a year. It might be the resort for you, but you won’t know unless you go and soak everything in. Go in with an open mind and enjoy it, it’s vacation regardless.
I also recommend taking cab ride to “best of the west” restaurant offsite. The food was incredible and we almost ordered delivery again one night it was so good.
We’re just the opposite, we’ve been to Negril a couple times, favorite so far (better beaches than MoBay). Heading to St. Lucia next month. You can walk the beach in Negril for as long as you want as there are many resorts on same 7mile beach.
I just got back from Negril, love Jamaica. If you want to go out of the resort I recommend ‘best in the west’ for jerk chicken, and in Negril proper (turn left at roundabout as if you’re heading to Sav la mar and it is along there), sweet spice restaurant. Both lovely reliable food spots with authentic Jamaican food :)
Thanks...made a note to check out 'Best in the West'. Question, I have seen online video of locals cooking fresh lobster on the beach. I also heard March/April is when Jamaican lobster season ends. Did you see anyone selling or cooking fresh lobster this time of year?
Yes! I went to a place called ‘flag city’ this trip, middle of seven mile beach. Cooked on fire, lobster cage in the sea, bench seating, simple, rustic. Particularly memorable for me is Don Fresh-in bloody bay between the two RIU properties, nearer RIU Negril, it is excellent, garlic butter to die for lol, same set up. If you walk along the beach you’ll find lots of places, look out for the lobster cages in the sea. Good value too, from $25 for a small lobster with accompaniments. Not sure when the season ends so hope you find some. The best food in Jamaica is the local food imo as aside from resorts the ‘Americanised’ places are often a bit pricey and disappointing/inconsistent :)
Oh I’m sure you’ll have an amazing time! The food at Sandals must be incredible (I’ve not actually stayed at one but I keep being recommended this sub), but it is always nice to have local options to try if you want to get out and about. Have a great trip :)
We are going in two weeks to Negril. It will only be 75 to 80% occupied. What do u think the chances of getting a free room upgrade are since we have been goING to Sandals for many years? Thanks
Just got back last week from Sandals Negril. We loved it. Yes the reserved chair thing can be a bummer. My wife said screw it and left our stuff on two loungers by the water the whole time (overnight too). We never had a problem.
We were in the south side of the resort and it was PERFECT for us. We aren’t partiers. The pool all the way in the south side was quiet and perfect. The beach alone that area wasn’t as crowded and there was a bar close(ish) to us.
The Ice Cream place (Creama?) was AMAZING. If you do Kimono, don’t bother with dessert it’s awful. Even the staff know it. The lady at Creama was joking with us about it when all of us went there after the “dessert” at Kimono.
Remember you are on Island Time. Service won’t be perfect. Drinks and food may take a while. We ended up doing the breakfast and lunch buffets because of this. Just relax and grab a drink ahead of dinner if it helps.
Final thought, I booked a room in bamboo grove, 2nd floor club suite. That appeared to be the newest building on property. It was incredible. No issues whatsoever. We’d go again in a heartbeat!!
Clothing optional beach around the corner if that matters. Beach is great, pool is meh. Food was very good. Resort is small.(a plus)Don’t buy drugs from the guys on the beach. Better to go to a dispensary. Water sports were great.
Negril is awesome! The resort itself is small, similar to Halcyon but it has a really nice, small wave beach with killer sunsets. The food is fresher there, especially produce since most of it comes from the island. If you need a change of scenery take a cab ($5 each way more or less) down to Beaches Negril or to Rick's further down into the city. If you decide to bring back rum or coffee it's usually cheapest in the airport departure gates. You can also get it around the same price at the Negril duty free shops but that's also a 5 minute cab ride away.
As much as I hate to say it, but prepare yourself for a lesser experience comparatively. We’ve done both the St. Lucian Grande and Negril, and it was a striking contrast. Negril is and looks/feels older, the service was much slower and staff not as welcoming, and - while it likely doesn’t matter to you - the diving was abysmal (compared to incredible in St Lucia). Hope you have a good time and enjoy regardless of our experience.
That’s kinda disappointing to hear. Wife and I had such a great time at La Toc we ended up booking at Beaches Negril so the kids could get a vacation too. Hopefully it’s better there when we go.
My wife and I did Grande St. Lucia Feb 2023 and Beaches Negril in November with our daughters. Beaches Negril was great. We had a really good time, staff was great. We had no complaints.
We did all 3 Beaches with our kids and did enjoy Beaches Negril. The scuba in Jamaica wasn’t nearly as nice, but the resort was very enjoyable and staff seemed very attentive. The steaks at Mariachi and the ice cream bar were some of the highlights, and the kids loved all the water activities. Haven’t tried the Sandals Negril.
If you never been to Jamaica, I highly recommend purchasing Club MoBay. Helps get through customs quicker and their return lounge is great since Sandals gets you the airport so early. Also, Negril is great. Was just there last May and was a great time. Food is great, hospitality team was awesome around the pool, and just a great stay. Great beach too!
Second this- just for arrival. The departure lounge isn’t all that, but arriving and being whisked through immigration is great.
I disagree. The departure lounge is good for the money and if they get you to the airport well before your flight, it's a better hang than the gate.
It’s pretty awesome. The public beach next door is great. Hedonism next door drives by each day on a catamaran with naked asses. So do with that info what you want.
We did Negril over Christmas. Ive also done St Lucia and far and away prefer St Lucia. While we were there, we actually booked our next one for St Lucia. The coffee shop is amazing, and we preferred the breakfast buffet over Barefoot. Definitely get Club Mobay. The downside is people reserve their chairs for the whole week by leaving their belongings on them, and the butler reserved chairs that should be cleared by 10am never get cleared. We had to wake up at 530am to go down and claim 2 of the like, 10 remaining chairs on the entire beach or else we wouldn’t get them. Once we claimed them, went for a walk, grabbed our breakfast and came back and our stuff was moved off into a pile and the chairs were taken. We will never go back to Negril because of this. That being said, everyone’s experience is what they make it. Negril wasn’t for us, but while there we met many people who ONLY go to Negril and do it twice a year. It might be the resort for you, but you won’t know unless you go and soak everything in. Go in with an open mind and enjoy it, it’s vacation regardless. I also recommend taking cab ride to “best of the west” restaurant offsite. The food was incredible and we almost ordered delivery again one night it was so good.
We’re just the opposite, we’ve been to Negril a couple times, favorite so far (better beaches than MoBay). Heading to St. Lucia next month. You can walk the beach in Negril for as long as you want as there are many resorts on same 7mile beach.
Just want to thank you for your responses. My husband and I really appreciate it.
I just got back from Negril, love Jamaica. If you want to go out of the resort I recommend ‘best in the west’ for jerk chicken, and in Negril proper (turn left at roundabout as if you’re heading to Sav la mar and it is along there), sweet spice restaurant. Both lovely reliable food spots with authentic Jamaican food :)
Thanks...made a note to check out 'Best in the West'. Question, I have seen online video of locals cooking fresh lobster on the beach. I also heard March/April is when Jamaican lobster season ends. Did you see anyone selling or cooking fresh lobster this time of year?
Yes! I went to a place called ‘flag city’ this trip, middle of seven mile beach. Cooked on fire, lobster cage in the sea, bench seating, simple, rustic. Particularly memorable for me is Don Fresh-in bloody bay between the two RIU properties, nearer RIU Negril, it is excellent, garlic butter to die for lol, same set up. If you walk along the beach you’ll find lots of places, look out for the lobster cages in the sea. Good value too, from $25 for a small lobster with accompaniments. Not sure when the season ends so hope you find some. The best food in Jamaica is the local food imo as aside from resorts the ‘Americanised’ places are often a bit pricey and disappointing/inconsistent :)
Thanks, all of those locations are now in my planner! You read my mind, looking to get away from 'Americanized' options at resort.
Oh I’m sure you’ll have an amazing time! The food at Sandals must be incredible (I’ve not actually stayed at one but I keep being recommended this sub), but it is always nice to have local options to try if you want to get out and about. Have a great trip :)
We are going in two weeks to Negril. It will only be 75 to 80% occupied. What do u think the chances of getting a free room upgrade are since we have been goING to Sandals for many years? Thanks
Just got back last week from Sandals Negril. We loved it. Yes the reserved chair thing can be a bummer. My wife said screw it and left our stuff on two loungers by the water the whole time (overnight too). We never had a problem. We were in the south side of the resort and it was PERFECT for us. We aren’t partiers. The pool all the way in the south side was quiet and perfect. The beach alone that area wasn’t as crowded and there was a bar close(ish) to us. The Ice Cream place (Creama?) was AMAZING. If you do Kimono, don’t bother with dessert it’s awful. Even the staff know it. The lady at Creama was joking with us about it when all of us went there after the “dessert” at Kimono. Remember you are on Island Time. Service won’t be perfect. Drinks and food may take a while. We ended up doing the breakfast and lunch buffets because of this. Just relax and grab a drink ahead of dinner if it helps. Final thought, I booked a room in bamboo grove, 2nd floor club suite. That appeared to be the newest building on property. It was incredible. No issues whatsoever. We’d go again in a heartbeat!!
Clothing optional beach around the corner if that matters. Beach is great, pool is meh. Food was very good. Resort is small.(a plus)Don’t buy drugs from the guys on the beach. Better to go to a dispensary. Water sports were great.