Sandals South Coast

It was our second visit to SSC and we had a wonderful time. We stayed in the Starlight Village. Our room was great; we especially liked the storage for the bathroom area but the safe was located too high up on the wall in the closet to allow us to hang clothes above it. The tub on the balcony was great but with the table set back closer to the room, it was hard to catch a breeze. As always, the restaurants deliver delicious food and service. Loved the new food trucks that let us eat at any time in the afternoon without worrying about restaurant schedules. Love the curry goat on the Bayside Caribbean buffet and the oxtail on the Jamaican buffet. Disappointed that Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc was removed from the manager's wine list. Shout out to a few exceptional team members. Water sports: O'Brien (snorkeling) and Othneil (water sports). On the housekeeping team, we enjoyed Audrie Anna and Germaine. Last but certainly not least, we received outstanding service in the restaurants from Robinson, Camille, LaToya, Renae, Ramoy and Rando. Got a kick out of Noble in the gift shop and had fun with Ken, the mannequin too. We reached our 70th night on this trip and are looking forward to the trip we booked to Barbados in 2026. In the meantime, we leave for Sandals Negril in week!

We stayed for ten nights at the resort as we wanted to experience a different side of Jamaica's coast, and our experience was swinging from WOW to WTH every day. Many people complained about the long and harsh ride, so we booked a private transfer with Juta Tours. I find the ride quite interesting both ways, as you pass quite a lot of things, and we discussed that with our driver both ways. The middle section of the road was indeed beaten up, but we took it slow, and it was no expected travel sickness. We did not use hotel transportation. Arrival was quite underwhelming. There was no resort tour; we just walked to the Concierge building, briefly discussed upgrading to a butler room at a high premium, and were accompanied to the room, where we were explained how to use the thermostat. There was no welcome gift (such as a beach bag) or anything. The luggage arrived in another 15 minutes or so. What we liked: The resort is relatively large, with immaculate landscaping and dramatic views of the ocean and mountains. The sunrise is in the mountains, and the sunset is in the ocean. There is tons of seating to enjoy the show at the beach. Gardeners keep all plants and flowers in a pretty state at all times. Garden tours were available daily; our guide, Rodney, was genuinely invested in nature. Any gardener will tell you what flower or plant it is with great enthusiasm. We like Ocean swimming, and it was our first time in Jamaica when we had a highly generous amount of open water for swimming. If you want to swim a mile straight, you can! We have never seen anything like that on the Montego side. A 5-mile-long reef protects the harbour, and there are generally low waves and, at times, flat water like a lake. The resort's entertainment team is highly motivated and well above the industry average. They do their best with mostly anemic guests, which was impressive. Singers and dancers are highly qualified. Incoming artists for evening shows are average for five-star resorts. The Jamaican night show by the on-site team was the most enjoyable to us. It is incredible how many of the resort's staff sing, and they do sing well. From restaurant stuff to a random maintenance guy passing you on a walk. They can easily do serious stuff singing competitions if management cares. A random "Happy Birthday" at Schooners restaurant gave us almost a religious experience. A Japanese restaurant with the weird name "sushi on sand" was surprisingly authentic, which is not typical for Caribbean resorts. Cafe de Paris was the only restaurant with 100% consistently perfect service from all team members. Restaurants were quite accommodating about special requests, which may or may not be part of the standard menu. We experience near zero bugs. What we disliked: The resort has the worst implementation of a two-tier system. There are people who are better served and people who are not served at all. We did not use the pool, but on the beach, the front row of Umbrella chairs was permanently reserved by butlers, used or not, with cooler and fresh towels. Seven days out of ten, there were no towels for regular guests in the morning till noon for the beach. There was basically no drink service on the beach during the vacation. We were asked twice if we needed any drinks. It was not a big deal, but it was mildly irritating, with butlers coming and going non-stop in front of you. Our building was under some minor construction with a diesel engine scaffold idling from nine to five every day, which was complemented with occasional banging by an excavator at Latitude bar re-building and big rucks bringing rocks to the site. The resort is very heavy on (tasty) fried food; you will need to make a constant effort to construct a healthy menu through requests. The selection of greens and fruits was extremely limited. There was no fresh juice or smoothies. Having said that, we were constantly asking for local fruits, and by the end of our stay, there was a good supply. It almost felt like the resort policy does not refill guest drinks. You must explicitly ask for a second beer or coffee. The only people who were attentive to this matter were a few ladies over 50— it must be an old-school experience that is now lost. Overall, restaurant service is super slow, even with a relaxed attitude. If you are coming for a week, you may not be able to reserve a restaurant as everything is booked solid. Do not wait on that if you care. Our Italian village building was the most dated but the most conveniently located. I chuckle over the Tranquility tab stuffed in the corner of the bathroom and the six-foot sink with a drain in the middle, so you watch your spit for a good minute to disappear. It is worth mentioning that the harbour is a protected natural habitat. Seagrass and sediment start very close to the shore. It is a good idea to wear water shoes when entering the water, especially on low tide. Also, sediment is easily disturbed, and the water is almost never clear. There are quite a few fish and sea stars, but visibility is very bad for snorkeling unless it is very early or late. The resort offers free daily snorkelling trips to the reef. They are a two-hour ordeal with only 20 minutes in the water. They are not worth it. A private 2-hour tour is overpriced. It is not directly related to the resort, but if you like to dress up for dinner, you will find there is only one or maybe another couple who cares. Most guests will be relatively casual, with minimal to zero effort to perk up. Restaurants run-down: Latitudes - demolished Cafe De Paris - best customer service overall. The team did not slip one time in two dozen visits. They also sing regularly. Tacos Truck - Decent food, but it was windy seating most of the time. Jerk Chicken - hit and miss, also windy location next to tacos. Fried Chicken Truck - not tried Giuseppe, I got enormous heartburn from pizza at lunch, so I did try for dinner. It has the best inside design. Eleanor is arguably the best chef on the resort for breakfast and dinner (with reservation). However, the interior is unbearable, and the air conditioner blows hard in your face anywhere you sit. The patio is the only option. Buffet (Bayside)—It looks very limited and sad at first glance, but the food was good. The lunch team was more attentive than in specialized restaurants every time, but dinner service was the slowest. Neptune - nice outdoor location close to the ocean, but some mosquitos may present. Food was decent, no complains Sushi on sand—Ony works for dinner, although it could be a premium seating location for tacos and jerk meals for lunch. It was well above the overage sushi/sashimi experience compared to any other resort in the past. Rice was proper. Schooners was the second restaurant that required dinner reservations. The night before, we had a special order of snapper, and it was delicious. Because of its seaside location, it was really wonderful for breakfast and lunch, but choices were limited and get tired fast. The bottom line is that this resort is uniquely located and was a visual delight with the scenery, but the service was spotty, and compared to Secrets or Iberostar Rose Hall, it was grossly overpriced. Hall of Fame: Suizel - Neptune Rodney - Garden tour Shanina - Schooners Tristan - beach services Darlene - Eleanore/Guiseppe Richard - Sushi on Sand Ivonne - buffet Unknown nice guys: maintenance, beach care and gardeners Thanks for reading!

Fun as always with kevon! Fun on land and water! Always a good time with him. Scuba was fun too! Reef needs some recovery time from the hurricane heated water 2 years ago. Wild life is small. Food was very good overall. Damian makes great omlets. bar. All the staff at the long beach pool making excellent drinks! Romaine and Mikeda were extremely helpful.

We had a great time overall. We were there for our son’s wedding with a small group of 28. Schooners and Neptunes were our favorite Restaurants, good quality and atmosphere. The beach in the morning and our private terrace in the afternoon. Our special thanks must go out to our Lovely Butlers Tiffany and Alicia. They were outstanding in every way. Both had a unique personality that translated into an outstanding team. It was checking on us, driving us over to the wedding, putting afternoon snacks in our Rondoval, or drawing baths for my wife, they were outstanding. They were always there yet never in the way.

My wife and I recently vacationed at Sandals South Coast. This was our 8th visit to this Sandals property. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there. The beautifully maintained grounds, dining, amenities, staff: everything was great! Here are a few of the staff we'd like to compliment: Cafe de Paris-Tavia, Narisha, Shanique. Sushi- Ramoy. Giuseppe's- Dannisha, Romell. Neptune Bar- Chuck, Terrancw. Martini Bar- Ravan. Jasmine's- Jodiann. A shout out to O'Brian the GM for a well-organized property that provides great service.