“Great time..”

We went to SRC for our anniversary and we were very pleased.

Once you land at the airport and go through customs, you go into a lobby where airport staff ask what resort your going to. Sandals has it's own beautiful lounge and they take your luggage, tag it, and ensure it's placed on the shuttle bus.

The lounge is very nice, you are offered beer/soda/drinks, and there are cookies and other pastries which are very nice too. When the shuttle arrives, the airport luggage people take your tagged bags and tipping them is ok.

They drop off folks at Montego Bay first, then SRC..so it's about a 10 minute ride to SRC from the airport. Once you arrive, your taken to a couch where they process your credit card and give you a punch while you wait. The Bell man then takes you to your room. We had two different rooms on our stay, and it's a world of difference!

First the hotel upgraded us from a gardenview room to a beachfront room...they said three categories! The room was ok, but it was dated. There were stains in the bathroom, mosquitos and other little bugs all around, and we spent a lot of the time killing them, cause they were feasting on us! OFF didn't seem to help much either!

That's the bad about the room....the good, very nice bed, great TV, right on the beach!

The next morning, we decided to ask if a suite room was available, and to our surprise one room was. They said since we were already upgraded, they had to charge us, which was at a very REDUCED rate.. This was there top suite, and booking on a travel site was much more pricey!

The river suite was beautiful, just look at the pictures. All brand new, but the only thing that could have been better was the AC.

The resort was awesome, with the best part being the STAFF!!
Top to bottom, this was the best trained staff I've ever seen. From the MC's at the pool during the day, to the bartenders, the front desk, this staff is nothing short of amazing. For example, one evening as the sun was setting, my wife and I walked out to the pier to take some pictures. This was quite secluded, and the only person around was a butler on the next pier (75 feet away) setting up a dinner for a couple. He saw us trying to take our own picture, walked over, and said "you don't have to take your own picture here in Jamaica" and took our picture.

The food was good, not great. I like the French restaurant and tokoyo Joe's (in montego bay). The Regency had great NY steaks! The Royal Thai was ok. All of these restaurants are outdoors and it is very humid/hot! The service was a little slow, but it wasn't as bad as I read on other reviews.

I didn't really care for the beachside grill...I had one cheeseburger and I felt sick...but that probably was just me, because everybody else loved it there. The fries and pizza was good though!

Breakfast was good, omlets were very tasty, and the buffet was well stocked.

Lunch was good too, especially the sandwiches and the Mac n Cheese!

The drinks weren't watered down at all!!! In fact, the people playing the drinking game at the pool bar will atest to that.

As for the tipping, you don't have to tip at all, and they are not allowed to accept tips, but a few bucks goes a long way in jamaica, so if you feel like tipping, do it discreetly so they don't get in trouble.

There are peddlers on rafts in the water at the beach but a simple no thanks works, and if you show your not interested they leave you alone. It wasn't a big deal for us.

Finally, there are a lot of mosquitos around, as well as lizards, cats, crabs, and peacocks. The crabs are afraid of anything and just run away, peacocks are beautiful and leave you alone, as do the birds. The cats are around especially during dinner.

Overall it was an excellent vacation!