BEWARE! of Beaches Negril
Written: May 17 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Large swimming pool.
Cons: Quality of room, food, alcohol. Lack of fresh fruit and juice. SCUBA gear poor.
The Bottom Line: Negril, itself would be nice if the beach were not cluttered with resorts and watersport equipment. If you go to Jamaica, don't waste your money on all-inclusives.
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| liwetz's Full Review: Negril |
CAUTION! If you are planning on staying at an all-inclusive resort, consider lowering your expecations or you may be sorely dissappointed. My husband and I went to Negril for our honeymoon last year and below is part of a complaint letter we wrote to our travel agency regarding our vacation. The responses from both the travel agent and the resort were highly unsatisfactory.
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Dear Apple Vacations,
My husband and I just returned from our honeymoon, which we purchased through Apple Vacations. We spent one week in September at the Beaches Ultra-Inclusive Resort in Negril, Jamaica. This resort was highly recommended to us by our Apple Vacations representative. In addition, the Summer Sun 2000 issue of Apple Vacations destinations showed that the resort had a 6-Apple rating (highest rating). With these praises in mind, we were expecting a luxurious and carefree vacation with superior room accommodations and irresistible food selections. However, our one-week stay at Beaches was very disappointing.
When deciding on our honeymoon plans, we spoke to representatives from both Beaches and Apple Vacations. The impression we got from these representatives was that the "all-inclusive" price included some standard excursions; including Dunn's River Falls, a catamaran cruise, and a local shopping trip. However, upon talking to the Concierge when we arrived at the resort, we found that these and all other excursions carried fees. Because of this, we chose only one excursion: a five-minute van ride to the local shopping area for $19.
Upon arrival to Montego Bay, we were greeted by friendly Apple Vacations staff who directed us to our transportation to the resort. We were also given a packet describing additional tours that we may purchase through Apple along with instructions to meet an Apple travel agent later that day. During our van ride to Negril, the driver claimed that he was going to go out of his way to drive us via a scenic route so that we may see more of the coastline and interesting sites en route to the resort. We thought this was very funny since the route he took was the only logical route to get to Negril. The driver was also very friendly throughout the drive, pointing out places of interest and showering us with compliments and best wishes for the newlyweds. While we have no problem with people being friendly, we found it very disappointing that at the end of the trip it was made known to us that we are "allowed" to tip the driver should we think he deserved it, especially since he had spent over an hour brown-nosing us. One of the reasons we purchased an all-inclusive (no tipping allowed!) vacation was to avoid worrying about tips. If airport transfers are included in the all-inclusive price, then so should the driver's tip, regardless of what route he takes or how many times he tells us he hopes our future together is happy and prosperous.
As mentioned previously, when we were greeted at the airport we were given instructions to meet with an Apple representative at our resort. We arrived at our resort at around 7:30 a.m. Our appointment with your agent was scheduled for 1:15 p.m. (we would recommend you schedule them closer to the arrival time). We found this somewhat annoying since we would have to stop our activities in the middle of the day in order to meet her. We arrived at the Safari Bar at 1:10 p.m. and waited. And waited. And waited. The agent never showed up.
Another reason we chose Beaches as our honeymoon resort was for the "full exchange privileges" at Sandals. However, upon trying to make dinner reservations at Sandals we were told that Beaches guests no longer had privileges at Sandals (though Sandals guests still had full privilege at Beaches) and that we were not allowed to go there. I was upset by this and had to speak to Guest Relations five times before I was given a special pass with manager permission to visit Sandals for dinner.
As far as the resort goes, we absolutely cannot believe that Beaches Negril was given a 6-Apple rating! We stayed in a Grand Luxe Beachfront room. We were expecting a room of Hilton or higher quality. What we got was not much better than a Motel 6, but with nicer towels and a hair dryer. The air conditioning unit was difficult to use and the instructions for it that were left in the room was vague and confusing (we are both engineers). Not to mention the fact that the cleaning services turned off the air conditioning every day. I am sure you can imagine how hot and unpleasant our room was every day when we would return in the late afternoon.
Other problems with the room include the fact that four of the twelve available television channels were not functioning, and the reception of the remaining channels was not always up to par. The bathtub was chipped and rusty. The floor throughout the room was a Spanish-like tile, which never felt clean throughout our entire stay. The bedspread and sheets emitted a dingy, mildewy odor that was intolerable. Midway through the week we had to specifically request that the bedding be changed since it did not appear to be a common practice at the resort. Though the sheets and pillowcases were changed as per our request, we still had to tolerate the awful smell of the bedspread for the remainder of the week. This was by far not the "luxurious accommodations" the brochure claims we "so richly deserve."
Probably our biggest disappointment in this vacation was the food. Beaches brochures claim to have "fabulous gourmet meals." One of the reasons my husband and I chose a Beaches ultra-inclusive resort was for the fine dining, hopes for a great selection of tropical fruit, and unlimited premium brand drinks. We tried all five of the "sensational gourmet restaurants" available at Beaches (in addition to gourmet restaurants at Beaches Inn and Sandals). We were disappointed with the quality of every single meal we had. The upscale and formal restaurants were mediocre, at best. The breakfast and lunch buffets were downright horrible. If we were served similar food in our home city, we certainly would never return to these restaurants again. A small example pertaining to the quality of the food, besides the fact that it just didn't taste very good, was that the restaurants served dishes and soups with imitation crab meat (Krab with a "K"). As far as I can remember, I have never eaten a "gourmet" meal that served imitation seafood.
To make matters worse, the meal we had during our second evening gave both my husband and I food poisoning in the form of nausea, severe stomach cramps, and diarrhea. We were up through all hours of the night enjoying frequent trips to the restroom. We were also unable to take pleasure in any outdoor activities for two days since we were uncomfortable straying too far from our room.
We were also expecting a wide variety of fresh tropical fruits. During my first breakfast at the resort I was able to enjoy some delicious mango (my favorite fruit). I did not fill up on it because I figured I would have more throughout the week. To my disappointment, there was not a single piece of mango served for the remainder 19 meals I had during my visit. Instead, the selection of fruit was the same every day: watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, and pineapple. And barring pineapple, all of these fresh fruits are readily available where I live, in Arizona. When asked why mango was no longer being served, I was told it was because they carve up the fruit right before the buffets open so that they are fresh. Perhaps I am missing something, but it doesn't sound like that answer had anything to do with my question.
The availability of fresh juice at the resort was also unacceptable. We expected a variety of fresh juices to be readily available. The only fresh juice that was accessible by Beaches guests was orange juice, which was served only at breakfast time (it was served in a pitcher and was hidden enough so that most guests did not even know it existed). Other juices that were available were apple, cranberry, and pineapple juice, which were all made from concentrate. One day at lunch I tried to order fresh orange juice. The server must have thought I was an astronaut because he brought me some Tang (or similar artificially made juice) instead. When I re-ordered a "fresh" orange juice, or any fresh juice they had available, I was told there weren't any.
This leads in to the unlimited premium drinks portion of the all-inclusive plan. While I appreciate the resort giving free-flowing alcohol, the selection of top-shelf brands was pretty limited. In addition, almost all the mixed drinks were made using artificial syrups instead of real fruit juice. A typical mixed drink from the bar would contain three or four different flavored syrups, lime juice and rum. A strawberry daiquiri would consist of strawberry syrup blended with ice and rum, with no fruit or whipped cream (the strawberry mix was actually dispensed out of a smoothie machine). I once ordered a pina colada. What I received was an icee mixture dispensed from a smoothie machine. However, since the rum is not pre-blended in the machine, I got a puddle of rum sitting on top of the smoothie mixture!
Another thing about the Beaches resort that my husband and I were looking forward to was the large number of water activities that were available. Mainly, we were interested in getting in as much SCUBA diving as possible. Due to weather conditions, we were not able to do very much diving during our stay; however, we did manage to a few dives. While we have no complaints about most of the equipment issued to the divers, there were a couple incidents with the equipment that could have been potentially life threatening. In SCUBA diving, there is a piece of equipment called the BCD, or Buoyancy Control Device. This is the vest that SCUBA divers wear to control their buoyancy in and below the water surface. On our first dive outing, the BCD I was given had a gash through one of the tubes that carry air. Had I not been a certified diver and known to check for leaks, I could have been in danger during the dive. Instead, I was given another BCD for that trip. Our second trip was a deep dive, down to almost 100 feet below the surface. The BCD I had that day appeared satisfactory upon initial inspection. However, at 90 feet below the surface of the water, things become exaggerated. One of the valve connections on the BCD was faulty, allowing a large amount of air to escape unnoticed. Air was being consumed from the oxygen tank at a rate four times that of normal. During this dive, I required an emergency ascent to the surface due to lack of air. Again, it is a fortunate thing that I am a very calm, certified diver. Had it been someone else, the Beaches resort could easily of had an injury or death on their hands. I recommend that Beaches Negril, as well as all Beaches and Sandals resorts, get a full inspection on all of their scuba gear. People's lives are at hand, and saving a few dollars by not having the equipment properly inspected is not worth the potential hazards. (Comment: Beaches' response to this part of the complaint was that their gear is always in perfect condition!)
In addition to the SCUBA diving, we were anxious to try water skiing, wind surfing, and riding on the banana boat. Again, the weather cut off these activities for most of our stay. However, the sun came out the day before we were supposed to leave and allowed us the opportunity to dive and try these other activities. Or, so we thought. When we went down to the beach to try out these activities, we were informed that the speedboat was broken. The employees informed us that they might have it fixed before we left the next day! We did not end up getting to do many of these activities, not because of the weather, but because of the fact that the employees needed four days of bad weather and two days of good weather to fix a broken fan belt. I understand that they might not have known the boat was broken during the four days of rain, but this certainly seemed like a good time for them to do some standard maintenance inspections on their water sport equipment.
One last reflection on our vacation: we were offered marijuana several times during our stay. While many people in Jamaica may enjoy such things, it is entirely inappropriate at a family resort.
This sums up our experiences during our stay at Beaches Negril. It was well below what we expected out of a world-class resort that was recommended to us by a world renown travel service such as Apple Vacations. When we think about the amount of money we spent on this vacation, we cringe. It certainly did not live up to our expectations for our honeymoon and we found ourselves sorely disappointed with a trip we can only take once in a lifetime.
Recommended:
No
Best Suited For: Families
Best Time to Travel Here: Never
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Epinions.com ID:
liwetz
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Reviews written: 5
Trusted by: 1 member
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