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 | Sandals Grande Ocho Rios Beach & Villa Resort: Blatantly Misleading Advertising
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If your main vacation goal is to relax on the beach, participate in a few water sports, you prefer an all-inclusive vacation even if you pay dearly for that convenience, you get excited at the thought of eating out at restaurants such as Applebees and TGI Fridays and can accept that the food at Sandals will be a notch below that, then you might enjoy Sandals Grande Ocho Rios.
If, on the other hand, you enjoy world class dining and expect Sandals' promises of such, then you might consider a different vacation. For more details, check out my detailed review (this is a non-commercial, ad-free personal travel review): http://www.sandalsgrandeochoriosreviews.com
1. Of the eight dinner restaurants, they closed at least two and sometimes three every night. They don't disclose that to you in their promotional materials. So, we really didn't have eight restaurants to choose from if 25-35% of them are closed every night. On one evening, some genius in Sandals management actually made the decision to close both Italian restaurants. I mean, why would you close two restaurants that serve the same cuisine, further limiting your guest's dining options?
2. Some of the restaurants close at 9:00 p.m. Why in the world would they close this early when people are on vacation? During our stay, the majority of dinner traffic arrived between 8 and 8:30 p.m.. Considering two or three restaurants close every night and a bunch of the remaining ones close right as the dinner rush is arriving, this causes long waits at some of the remaining restaurants that stay open "late". I don't consider 10:15 p.m. "late", as most restaurants in my home area, South Florida, stay open until at least 11:00 or later. So much for "dining on my time" as promised in the Sandals catalog
3. If you see an activity or entertainer scheduled, take it with a grain of salt. Twice, we waited over an hour for the scheduled Piano Bar Sing-Along, only to be told there would be no singer that night. Ooops, they were just kidding....
4. The food was, well, to put it bluntly, absolutely horrendous. Really, I'm not exaggerating. Check out my food page for pictures and more details and you can decide for yourself if I'm being overly fussy. Sandals' claims are downright lies and this is the main reason I decided to share my disappointment with the world.
5. Meal portion sizes were pathetic.
6. On page 37 of the Sandals catalog, we are promised an "in room bar stocked daily with premium brand spirits". We got no-name brand swill instead.
7. Each restaurant only serves, at most, five entree selections. Some of the restaurants duplicate items as well. So, on any given night, considering 25-35% of the restaurants were closed, and some restaurants duplicated items, we essentially had 20-25 unique menu choices to choose from, less than one typical restaurant would offer at home. Yet, if you click on any of the restaurant "sample menus" on Sandals' web site, you are presented with numerous appetizers and at least eight different entrees, leading you to believe, while they may not be the exact menu choices, you will have an equivalent selection. Not so. Just more Sandals false advertising.
8. The quality of ingredients was consistently poor and nothing like what is pictured throughout the Sandals catalogue.
9. The food service staff, from kitchen managers, to cooks, to servers weren't trained properly. From their execution (or lack thereof), I doubt many would qualify to work in any American restaurant past the level of a Waffle House. Frankly, each and every restaurant manager should be immediately fired and replaced with an experienced professional.
The resort is very large and pretty. The food was still terrible. Make sure you do not get hurt at SGOR. The nurse is nice but can't do anything but put bandages on. Instead, you will get socked for $220.00 on your "all-inclusive" vacation. Theme: HotelPrice: US$180 and up » Currency ConverterComparison: more expensive than averageDirections: Not sure. After we had five seconds to relax after getting off our plane, they rushed us out of the Sandals Lounge at the airport so we could spend 40 minutes sitting on a bus sucking exhaust fumes. After almost two hours of traveling, we arrived.Website: http://www.sandalsgrandeochoriosreviews.com
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