My husband Harrison and I went to Negril for a second time this year for my birthday on July 3 and then our 2nd marriage anniversary on the 6th, so we had a lot to celebrate! We stayed for 10 days this time as well to be sure to get the most of the trip. We've went to this Sandals for our honeymoon in 2024 and had to come back! It was once again a fun and relaxing experience. The Staff is 5 star across the resort!
We stayed in the Paradise building in Club Level again and our room was clean and the mini fridge always fully stocked. We didn't use the room service for food, but the staff doing the cleaning and turn down service was exceptional! The only thing I'd love for Sandals to update in the rooms are the beds. The mattress is very hard, and the pillows are far too soft. Otherwise the room was great and the AC worked wonders!
The food has improved greatly since 2024! Our last stay, we loved Sundowner and Brava, but the other restaurants left us wanting more flavor. This time, every restaurant was very good! Kimonos was the biggest improvement along with dinner at Bayside. Sundowner and Brava along with lunch at Perla are still our favorites. We were able to take advantage of the Caribbean Night dinner buffet at Bayside. First time ever having Rice and Peas, Curry Goat and pepper shrimp. SOOOO good!! I was blown away by dinner that night! The next morning I also tried ackee and saltfish with breakfast. Amazing!
Special mention to Lois at Perla, who sweetly nicknamed me "KK" after telling me a heartwarming story of her nickname back home. She saw us on the beach most mornings and made sure our drinks were full and we were happy. She is awesome!
The beach has sadly been reduced from hurricane Melissa, but that didn't stop us from enjoying that space every morning. The grounds are still very well taken care of despite the washed out parts. The gardens are stunning! There were usually chairs to find and the atmosphere was divine. I would like to see less of the guest reserving chairs by just putting towels on them(this isn't a Sandals issue, just something I noticed). Maybe a sign to say, "please take your towel when your done, or no reservations allowed." We ended up having to "steal" some chairs because there were towels but no one around using them.
With our booking, we got a free Catamaran ride and we chose the same one we did on our last trip. The boat that went snorkeling and then went to Ricks Cafe. The last time we went on this boat it was a true party boat! The staff was animated and had everyone dancing on the way back to the resort. This time it was a little less party vibe and I think that was due to the rough waters we were experiencing that day. The swim over to Ricks was really only for advanced swimmers due to the swells, which we are, so we had no troubles. So, nothing against the staff on the boat, they did try to get folks down under near the bar to dance. Overall, I would still highly recommend this trip to other guests. The snorkeling is great and the lifeguards who did that tour in the water with us were fantastic! Teaching us about the fish and letting us hold sea cucumbers and things. Very cool! We had Jermaine on the boat doing our photos and he was awesome as well!
Another excursion we did on our anniversary was to go swim with dolphins! We went to Dolphin Cove in Lucea and took a short 45 minute bus over from the resort. We've never done anything like that before and I was nervous getting into the water. But the trainer Sauve was amazing! We swam with Kalesa and Pepe and they both we very friendly and gentle. We were upgraded to the Royal Swim package so we were able to swim with both at once! The photographer Veronica was great as well and we did have to purchase a photo package, but it was 100% worth it! Highly recommend this experience!
We also took advantage of the Red Lane Spa on this trip again like last time. We did the couples Tropical Massage. It was wonderful. The staff was kind and listened to our requests on how hard or soft we'd like the pressure. It was lovely and I recommend the spa to anyone staying at Negril.
I have a lot of honorable mentions from this trip. These are some of the staff that really stuck out to us on and made are stay extra special. These folks are masters of their craft and truly a gem for the Sandals resorts:
We met King James from the entertainment team on our last trip in 2024. Since then, we've kept in touch with him and when we told him we were coming back this year, he was over the moon to see us. He is such a fun part of Sandals Negril and he really makes guests feel at home. We will always love hanging out with him while we are there, and he has become a true friend to us!
This trip we also got to interact with a few more entertainment team members. Kenny gets a special member as one of the newest dancers on the team. He killed it! So fun, so energetic! A true up and comer on that team and I hope he keeps with it and really makes his mark, because he is well on his way to being a star!
We also met Deandre on our second day at the pool. During the fourth of July celebration he commented on my tattoo and how it looked 3d from my tan lines! That made me laugh and left me with a funny anecdote to remember him by. He was very good at interacting with guests and fun!
Leon was by far the loudest on the team during shows and events. He kept the crowd engaged and pumped up. He was awesome!
Special shout out to Beach Bingo! So fun! Pool Volleyball as well! We got our workout in almost daily with pool volleyball! Great way to get the guests to meet each other and have fun!
I was hoping to interact more with the other members of the entertainment team this trip, but the ladies and some of the other gents were not as approachable. During one of the shows, one of the ladies(Can't recall her name) was saying her goodbyes to guests after the white party and she just pushed us to leave a review even though it was the first time ever talking to her. That wasn't a super great experience. I can understand if we knew her and had interacted with her a bunch, we'd be happy to. But the pushiness left a bad taste in our mouth from her.
The events and shows were amazing as always! The dancers are so good and the singers are top tier! We loved the 4th pool party, the Steel drum band and the fire dancers/acrobatics show. The white party is always a blast, hearing everyone singing their hearts out with no other music playing because of the headphones(silent disco). Hilarious and fun!
The bartenders at Negril are a special breed! They helped make our trip fun, we learned even more about the culture of Jamaica from them and they always remember your name and face! From the Pool bar: Shaneika, Shasha Gaye, Tyrese, Shantol, Marlon. Louis and Dillon at Perla, and our server Toneann at Sundowner and Shavel at Barefoot. The other servers at all the other restaurants were all amazing, but we just couldn't catch all their names. Again, the staff at this resort are phenomenal!
We bumped into our photographer O'neil a bunch each day. He was all over the resort each day taking photos for other guests and we always made a point to stop and chat with him in passing. We really connected with him and learned about his family and his hobbies. The photos he took of us were amazing! He is a truly talented photographer! We highly recommend using him as your photographer while at Negril!
A separate but very honorable mention is Club Mobay! We booked them for the arrival and departure from Sangster Airport on this trip. I would say the arrival was less helpful in terms of having to wait in lines. The lines weren't very long, so we didn't really need the service on arrival. We got in about 1pm, so it wasn't super busy at the airport. The departure though was 10000% worth it! The airport is super busy in the afternoons in the departure areas. We left the resort at about 9am and got to the airport about 10:30am. Then our flight didn't leave until 2pm. But, with Club Mobay, they got us to the front of every line through customs, security and baggage drop off. Then we were able to get into the Club Mobay lounge which was much bigger than the one when you arrive. They had a full buffet of food, servers and drinks all included in your package. We got to sit in the lounge area overlooking the tarmac and watched the planes take off and land. The chairs were large and comfy with footrests. It was SO cool! So, our next trip we will be getting the Club Mobay for departures for sure! Highly recommend!
Overall this was a super fun trip and we 100% recommend Negril! If you are looking for a little more laid back vacation that still has some fun shows and nightlife, excursions and relaxation, this is your spot! Thank you Sandals Negril for another great trip!
