Beaches Negril in Negril, Jamaica

Location
Beaches Negril is one of 3 Beaches Properties in Jamaica (the others are Beaches Boscobel and Beaches Sandy Bay).  It is located right in the middle of Jamaica's famed 7-mile beach, which is definitely one of the nicest beaches in the Caribbean.  The resort is approximately 90 minutes from the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay (MBJ) and is a relatively scenic drive around the Northwest coast of Jamaica.  In the Negril area, Beaches is located amongst other popular Negril resorts including Couples Swept-Away (to it's South) and Grand Lido Negril, Sandals Negril, Couples Negril, etc. to it's North.   Beaches Negril may actually have the nicest stretch of beach on the entire coast.

 

General Info about the Resort
The resort is targeted for families....it's obvious all over the property, from the restaurants, to the activities, to the physical layout.....and it does a really good job at it. 

If you are a couple, interested in a relaxing beach holiday....please don't even consider this resort.  If you are a family with younger kids, this is a really good resort choice.

Rooms
The resort has 210 rooms, made up of at least 9 different types....starting with the deluxe family or king rooms, all the way up to a 3-bedroom butler suite. As of our latest visit, in November 2007, the resort was still in the midst of renovating it's rooms to include newer furniture, upgraded bathrooms, and just an all-around cleaning.  Here are some pics of rooms that we visited during our stay.

Activities

Beaches Negril really does a great job of keeping kids and families busy.  Everything from the wonderful lazy river (everyone's favorite thing there), 2 wonderful waterslides (for ages 6 and over), family pool, large adult pool, water volleyball, water basketball...and those are just the pool activities.

They also have tons of beach activities including waterskiing, glass bottom boat, water bicycles, kayaks, SCUBA, snorkling and more....

Lastly, around the rest of the resort they have a super kids club with tons of events, pool tables, ping pong, minature golf, basketball, XBox 360 Gaming Center.....

You can't be bored - they definitely make it easy for you to stay busy if you want to.

 Food
Lots of variety and very good service at this resort as it relates to dining...but please don't expect gourmet dining.

Beaches Negril currently has 1 breakfast area, 3 options for lunch, and 5 options for dinners.

For breakfast, The Mill Restaurant serves the traditional Caribbean buffet with everything from salted fish to an omelet/pancake chef, and they even have a "station" reserved for children, on a lower table so children can help themselves.  The food was overall somewhat disappointed in the quality and variety of food at the resort, especially for adults. The breakfast buffet had minimal changes on a daily basis. The beach grill used pre-formed breaded chicken patties for their chicken burgers instead of real chicken breasts. Kiminos, their Tapinyaki restaurant, lacked the entertainment that we had experienced at other Sandals properties. The best meals we had were at the Mill Restaurant on non-buffet nights. The Beach Party also had very good food and entertainment (even though it was moved to the pool area when we were there). The other restaurant there is for adults only and is very good.

For children, the food is more than fine....plenty of options for them and not a single complaint. We even ordered food like PB&J and grilled cheese from restaurants where it wasn't on the menu, and never had any issues in getting it.

Service - Beaches (and Sandals) really shine in this area. Unlike other Jamaican resorts, the staff at the resort really tries to be super friendly and efficient. Most of the restaurants employ a swarm service approach, which although slightly disorganized, is really efficient....in any given meal, we might be assisted by 5-10 different staff...everyone from cocktail servers to the restaurant managers.....
sometimes, we couldn't even tell who exactly our waiter was since so many people were helping. Service in other areas (bars, activities, check-in, housekeeping, kids club, even Beach security, etc.) were all super. They really take pride in their service.

Children Activities - For children aged 2-8, this resort is excellent.
Kids club is really managed well. Lazy river and family pool provide hours of additional entertainment. Our children had an absolute blast (3 and 5). Couldn't pick a better resort if you have children in this age group....all of the staff really try to make the little folks feel at home. Character breakfast is a must do.

For older children/teens, the resort really tries to offer activities for them also, including the X-box center (with a new larger facility currently finishing construction), Waterslides (2 - very fast, 1 in complete darkness), and Pirates Activities (teen club). We didn't see many teens there during our visit, but would imagine them having plenty to do.


Other notes -
Red Lane Spa that was recently built is the nicest in Negril....
Wi-fi is now available in the lobby and soon in other areas of the resort. Internet via TV and wired-room connections are available in most rooms.

CALL TRIPGUY AT 888-990-TRIP FOR MORE DETAILS