Review : The Luxurious Sandals Montego Bay Jamaica

Set on Jamaica’s largest private white sand beach, Sandals Montego Bay is the newest and hottest beachfront resort in Jamaica. Known as Sandals flagship resort, Montego Bay has recently received a massive makeover, modernizing many aspects of the resort. In this review of Sandals Montego Bay Jamaica, I will talk about all the hotel has to offer, but also my personal tips and preferences for the resort.

Disclaimer: We visited Sandals Montego Bay as part of a travel agency FAM trip; however, as always, all opinions are my own.

Why choose Sandals Montego Bay?

The entire 26 acre tropical resort is located along the beach, therefore the rooms, restaurants and other amenities are all just steps away from the waters edge. Sandals Montego Bay is located 5 minutes from Sangster International Airport and 10 minutes away from the town center, therefore making access fast and convenient.

This lively and hip resort provides twelve 5-star global gourmet restaurants, six bars, nightly entertainment, a plethora of land and water sports, seven freshwater pools, three whirlpools and a Red Lane Spa.

In addition to the amenities on site, guests receive full exchange privileges with complimentary transfers to Sandals Royal Caribbean located just 10 minutes away. Together with this sister resort, guests are free to enjoy 21 restaurants and all the luxuries included in both resorts.

The resort highlights for us were the food (as per usual), and the beach access. Lazing on the overwater hammocks and having our butler look after us – PERFECTION!

Selecting the best room

Choosing a room a Sandals Montego Bay can be a daunting task without guidance. With 272 rooms and 27 categories the possibilities seem endless. All 272 rooms fall under three different levels of service.

Arrive into and depart out of Jamaica in style
with Club Mobay & Club Kingston’s VIP lounges!

Luxury Level

Luxury level rooms are considered entry level rooms. These beautiful rooms include a king size bed, spa style bathroom, and a refrigerator stocked with juice, soda, water, wine and local beer that is replenished daily. These rooms of course include all of the amenities of the resort at a budget friendly price point. 

Club Level

• Preferred Club Sandals Lounge check-in with chilled towel and champagne.
• 24 hour access to the Club Sandals Lounge with Concierge available between 8am-10pm to assist with reservations for spa services, excursions, restaurants and anything else. 
• Weekly hosted activities like a cocktail party, a martini evening, wine tastings, snorkeling, and exclusive Island Routes Tours.
• In room bars with scotch, vodka, rum, whiskey, wine, beer, juices, soda and water.
• Room service from 7am to 10pm daily.

Butler Level

• Butler level suites come with a personal butler trained to the highest standards by the Elite Guild of Professional English Butlers. The butlers will pamper you throughout your stay in extraordinary ways making all of your wishes come true on resort. 
• In room bars stocked with top shelf spirits, wine, beer, juices, soda and water. 
• Private car airport transfers at Montego Bay Resort.

Once you decide on your level of room you will choose the location. Options include oceanfront, garden view, swim up and beachfront walkout just to name a few. You may choose to be centrally located in close proximity to the nightlife and entertainment or further down the beach for more quite time and intimacy. You may choose a room with a balcony, a tranquility soaking tub or a living space separate from the bedroom. The numerous options allow you to find the perfect room.

As Certified Sandals Specialists we can help you choose the perfect room!

Dining at Sandals Montego Bay

Sandals Resorts provides five-star global gourmet to all guests. The culinary experience takes you on a global journey without ever leaving the resort.

The world-class chefs in each of the restaurants are as authentic as the cuisine they serve. Each one delivers a distinct cultural flavor with numerous types of cuisine.

For those with special dietary needs, Sandals provides a culinary concierge to keep you safe while experiencing the flavors of the global gourmet. 

The 12 onsite restaurants are:

Bayside

Dine in an open-air eatery with views of the impressive pool and the sea beyond. Offering a buffet style breakfast and lunch and an exquisite French Brassiere experience for dinner. 

Butch’s Steak & Seafood

Butch’s provides the best cuts from land and sea. This is by far one of our favorite restaurants at any Sandals Resort. We recommend the chef’s surf and turf is the best with warm apple pie for dessert. 

Cricketer’s Pub

Authentic British Pub Cuisine and traditional ales. This ‘pie and pint’ pub serves Shepherd’s Pie, Fish and Chips, Bangers and Mash, and more delicious pub food that can be paired with a wide range of beers, wines, spirits and soft drinks. 

Cafe de Paris – French Patisserie

Open from 6am – 10pm providing speciality coffees, fresh baked desserts and crepes made to order. We never let the night end without stopping by for a decaf Irish coffee!

Cucina Romana

A seaside restaurant serving authentic, regional Italian favorites. When Sandals Italian chef moved to the Caribbean from Grado, Italy in 2011, he brought his generations-old culinary craft with him. Carrying on a longstanding family tradition of cooking up authentic, Italian cuisine. Only the best ingredients are used in the special meals prepared at Cucina Romana.

Dino’s Pizzeria

Crisp gourmet pizzas expertly prepared in a wood-fired oven. This is usually the first thing we grab when we arrive and settle in – especially when we are too tired to wander too far. 

Oleander

Ocean views and refined Jamaican cuisine served in a colonial, plantation-style setting. Discover Old Jamaica in this intimate, picturesque gem that overlooks an endless waterscape. The illuminating decor makes you feel as if you are dining inside an 18-century Great House. Our favorites are the seafood creole and lamb chops.

The Mariner Seafood Grill

Comforting dishes served steps away from the Caribbean Sea. This beachside bar and grill offers guests delicious, grilled food and a cold drink right on the waters edge. Burgers, wraps, fish sandwiches, salads, fries and local favorites are just the beginning. 

The Jerk Shack

A true Caribbean experience traditional and contemporary jerk style cuisine. Discover authentic Jamaican Jerk believed to have originated with Jamaica’s Arawak Indians. Jerk cookery began as a preservation method. The Maroons of Jamaica, who once sought refugee in the island’s Blue Mountains, eternalized the Arawak’s ancient jerk technique by spicing or seasoning the meat, wrapping it in leaves, then placing it on hot rocks over a lattice of wood. This technique evolved with the use of different spices to the cooking style we know today as Jerk.

At the Jerk Shack, chefs apply the jerk cooking style using a marinade or paste that incorporates pimento (allspice) and scotch bonnet peppers. You can choose between chicken, pork and fish but we recommend a sample of all three.

Soy

Savory sushi specialities prepared before your eyes. Giving guests a taste of the Far East with traditional and contemporary sushi creations. Soy is named after soy sauce, a customary ingredient in the art of sushi. There is nothing quite like the dining experience at Soy.

Almost every day of our stay we enjoyed happy hour and sushi at Soy prior to dinner that evening.

StewFish

Authentic Jamaican and Caribbean seafood served right on the beach (shoes optional). Stewfish presents a winning combination of flavorful food and inviting atmosphere where the fresh open air, thatched-style roofs, sand lined walkways and lapping waves add to its undeniable charisma. And with the beach just steps away, an after dinner walk on the beach is inevitable. 

Tokyo Jo’s

Dine on savory stir-fried Japanese and Chinese fare in a restaurant built over the water. The pan-Asian style cuisine is prepared right before your eyes in this open air restaurant over the water. 

Bars

There are 6 bars / cocktail lounges at Sandals Montego Bay. These bars are located in different areas of the resort from swim up bars in the pool to the beach bar on the waters edge.

Our favorite is Latitudes Overwater Bar. This bar is set on the end of a pier over the water. The drinks are always cold and the Caribbean breeze is always present.

Special Services at Montego Bay

Spa & Gym

Sandals Montego Bay, along with all other Sandals Resorts, provides a full service Red Lane Spa on resort. The spa is our favorite add on service at Sandals. We always enjoy a couples massage the morning of our first full day to help transform us into the island vibe of relaxation and reconnecting.

Other services include manicures, pedicures, facials, skin treatments and hair services. The Red Lane Rejuvenation Specialists are dedicated to create a incomparable experience with a focus on connection, time and love. 

For those who want to keep in shape and counteract all the delicious food you’ll be eating, there is also a fully equipped gym!

Activities

Land sports on resort include tennis courts, giant outdoor chess, basketball, pool tables, croquet, shuffle board, board games, ping pong and beach or pool volleyball. 

Water sports include kayaking, canoeing, hobie cat sailing, paddle boards, glass bottom boats, wake boarding, knee boarding, scuba diving, water skiing, snorkeling, windsurfing and tubing. All of which are unlimited and easily accessible at the Aqua Center. Instruction is also provided complimentary to those new to the activity. 

Hobie cat sailing is one of our favorite ways to get out on the water. Instead of venturing out on our own, we always enlist the help of a guide to take us out. These aquatic specialists are knowledgeable and friendly and are included at no additional cost. Not only do we enjoy the sailing but also the narrative guide of the island, resort and people.

You’ll love the Entertainment

The night-time entertainment schedule for Sandals Montego Bay is as follows:

• Sunday – Island Night
• Monday – Caribbean Carnival Beach Party
• Tuesday – Island Night
• Wednesday – Sandals Live
• Thursday – Jamaica Day
• Friday – Love Hop/Chocolate Gala
• Saturday – Caribbean Night

We loved the variety of entertainment, and also the opportunity to either be in amongst the action, or further away with lots of seating and lounge options. There is enough space to enjoy the music from afar if you’d prefer.

Sandals Montego Bay Weddings

Sandals customizable weddings are inspired by love and created by you. They are also free of charge with any 3 night stay. Sandals Montego Bay takes this experience one step further with a brand new over the water chapel offering stunning ocean views. Other wedding locations include the over the water gazebos, the gardens or the beautiful, non-denominational chapel.

The wedding planners go to great lengths to customize the wedding of your dreams in the location of your choice. Sandals Montego Bay also provides a beautiful weddings lounge with a magnificent bridal suite to further enhance the fairytale experience of saying “I do”. 

Sandals Montego Bay Review

Pros

• Close to the airport providing quick access.
• Large resort offering 12 restaurants and lively entertainment. 
• Royal Caribbean only 10 minutes away offering 9 additional restaurants and a private island.
• 27 room categories offering something for every budget
• An over the water wedding chapel and bar
• Private white sand beach

Cons

Being close to the airport also means you will hear the planes as they take off and land. Did this bother us or interfere with our vacation? Absolutely not. The convenience of location offset the noise in our opinion and the flights were not that numerous during our visit. By the second day we hardly noticed them any longer. 

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the newly renovated and modern Sandals Montego Bay. The beach is beautiful and we love that it is private. The numerous restaurants provide a variety of dining options for foodies like ourselves. The available water sports provided enough entertainment that we did not feel the need for an excursion during our visit. Sandals Montego Bay, the newest and hottest beachfront resort in Jamaica, surpassed all of our expectations. 

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