Beaches Ocho Rios Resort & Golf Club, Ocho Rios

When we arrived at the airport it was a little confusing. The guy who loaded our luggage informed us we needed to tip him and the driver since he wasn't employed by Beaches, so it isn't accurate when they say leave your cash at home. The bus drive was over 2 hours, but it was air conditioned and the driver was like having a tour guide. They offered to make a pit stop if you needed to go to the restroom. We didn't stop and we're glad we didn't, from what we heard the bathroom was really gross. The check in process was annoying. You waited in the lobby and they were disorganized. It looked a little dated and not as impeccably clean as I would like but our room was really clean and really nice. The PROS: The staff were extremely friendly. Usually places ignore the children, but at every meal or even just passing by they would say hello and talk with our daughter. Before the middle of the week many even knew her name. The Sesame Street characters were awesome. They did a few shows throughout the week. We did the character breakfast and our daughter absolutely loved it. We took our daughter to the Kids Camp a few times and she had a blast. Elmo and Zoe came to visit there. They took them to dig in the sand at the beach and there were so many toys for them to play with. The food was great at most of the restaurants. The Venetian was amazing and our servers made the meal wonderful. Bayside was buffet style but it had everything under the sun you could want for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The excursions were great...snorkeling, kayaking, glass bottom boat, hobie boats, banana boat. If you want a relaxing vacation...this is it. We never left the resort and were never bored. There are a bunch of slides and several different pools, so it was never crowded. This could be a pro or a con: a photographer came around often and took pictures. It would be great but the price of buying the pictures was absurd. 10 pictures on a disk and printed out cost $130. So we had a ton of wonderful pictures from them but didn't want to pay that amount to get them. The CONS: It was a little dated and dirty when walking around outside even though the rooms seemed very clean. They were very disorganized. We never knew what was going on. We tried each morning to get a schedule of the days events and often didn’t get one until late in the afternoon. No one seemed to know where anything was either. If you drink a lot of bottled water, pack some with you. While they restock your room everyday with 4 bottles of water it's next to impossible to get a bottle anywhere else. The beach is beautiful but it is rather small. There are people that try to sell shells and they constantly are calling out to you when you're trying to relax on the beach. The people who try to get you to braid your hair never stop asking. I was starting to get irritated that I kept having to tell them no. I heard it is quite pricey...like $60-80. They need more restaurants. They only had 4 restaurants and they're not all open for every meal. Also, they do not have access to food all the time like the websites say. Breakfast isn't served til 7:30 (CST), lunch not til 12:30 and dinner not until 6. For someone who usually eats that time on EST we were starving. We learned to take snacks when they were open. The only other con was there were a few times we were down at the beach lounging in chairs and were told to move (not asked...told). They would be setting up for a special event and we'd be in the way I guess. They should have had the chairs moved far in advance (not 15 minutes before the wedding was supposed to start). Laundry is expensive! $10 to wash and dry a load. Overall this really was a great trip. I would definitely return to Jamaica and Beaches resorts. I think knowing the cons in advance would have helped me to be prepared. Every resort is going to have some minor disappointments but the pros most definitely out weighed the cons.

My fiance and I stayed at Beaches Boscobel for a week in early May. We are a young couple (18 and 20), and after reading some of the negative reviews were a bit nervous. The staff treat you amazing. We got to know all of the bartenders and waitresses and they all remembered us when we walked around the resort. We felt very "at home" while staying at the resort. I read some reviews about the beach being too small and the pool being busy, maybe it was the time of year that we went but we never had a problem with finding a pool chair or towels. There is lots to do for free at the resort, we stayed for seven days and only spent 30 dollars on crafts made by the locals. I am a picky eater and still found the food amazing. There are many restaurants to choose from and I could not pick my favourite. The children shows are great, we started watching a Sesame Street show and couldn't walk away. They put on great shows at night, earlier shows for children and later shows for adults. I spent every night at the main stage watching the entertainment.

I loved Beaches Resort. I just got back from Beaches 5 days ago and I absolutrly loved the resort. My wedding took place 4/20/08 and it was more spectacular than I could have ever imagined. Cavel, the wedding coordinator is the best. She is so accomadating and make sure that everything is taken care of. The resort is fab and very picture perfect. The landscaping is beautiful and the weather is great too (hot, but there is plenty of shade. The staff is the best. Anything that you need they will take care of it and make sure that you have "no worries" We left the resort twice to go to Margaritaville (awesome club) and we also went over to sandals to have dinner (very romantic). The food is off the hook (that means it is great). My favorite restaurant is Bayside (the islands best fruit--couldn't get enough of pineapples, papaya, and melon. I went from 105lbs to 112 by the time I left Jamaica, I was eating everything in sight. Marlon, Oral, Patrick, and all the rest of the guys are great and will take care of you. Don't let the negative reviews scare you, it is an awesome place to visit.

I just got back from Beaches Boscobel yesterday night and i have to say it was the best vacation i have ever been on, the only bad part of the trip was that i gained roughly 10 pounds because of all the amazing food selections! I don't know where to begin. I read some earlier reviews on room troubles and bus rides but right when we got off of the plane we were taken to a waiting room and offered free drinks as they marked our bags. We got on a small bus and drove about 2 1/2 hours through Jamaica; long and eye-opening. It was quite a different sight seeing all of the shacks, unfinished houses, and people standing on the side of the road (dont worry the bus was air-conditioned and comfy). There was a really cool house that was built like a cruise ship near the resort. Well when we got there they gave us more drinks and took our luggage to our room when we checked in. At first we didn't get the right room, but that wasn't a problem, they took care of it right away as we changed and went to the pool. There are four different restaurants, my favorite was the Arizona, then the Bayside ( it was a buffet), Italian cuisine, and Eleanors was a fancier one, and then they had a place for more kids food and it had faster service. The best part was the free drinks, popcorn, and ice cream...amazing...i loved the strawberry daiquiri's. The sun was soooo hot, i dont think i could sit under it for more then 15 minutes and i tan very easily, but i got burned within a half hour. We used all of our 50 sunscreen and half of the 30, and that alone gave us a nice bronzed look without the pain of a burn. The beach is only about 200 ft long, which was pretty upsetting but the water was crystal clear. I am 18 years old and i went with my family and my boyfriend, there wasn't much to do for us teen wise. They had sweet water slides and a disco, but there were mainly kids activities like tie-dying shirts, a video arcade, and character breakfast with sesame street parades, they also had a treasure hunt for kids and the parents were involved and won free bottles of rum. At 2-4 they had banana boat rides that were fun but a lot of people got flipped over which scared me. They also have kayaks, tricycle boats, sail boats, snorkeling, glass bottom boat rides; but don't forget to sign up at the water sports shop at 8:30am sharp, the spots are filled fast. For scuba diving you have to be certified but other then that it is free, for a class i think it was $70. At night they had entertaining shows ( you can read what is happening at night with the brochure they put on your bed after making it) they had drum players, hula dancers, flame swallower's, those were audience involved. They also have music playing throughout the day but it was a repetitive CD so bring your i-Pod or other music. One thing that really was disappointing was the water pressure and temperature....there was no water ever coming out except for little dribbles, and they were cold.... Make sure you get a seat by the pool or beach very early because seats go fast. Along with towels, if they are there, stock up at night and save them for the next day because their were never any towels left.

This was our first Beaches. Previously, five years at Sandals. We went March 3-7. Greeted by Sandals staff. Warning - 2 1/2 hour ride to the resort. Room was semi-clean. Mold was evident in shower and floor in bedroom. Beach was full of seaweed but everyone says this is the worst it's been. Beach is small. Always ran out of clean towels. Had to beat the crowd to save good seats by the pool. Huge property, lots of food locations, good food. Kid's camp was good. Age range 0-3 for us. My 3 yr old took second to a crying infant but the girls were nice. TONS of kids. The pools were great. Kept cold due to bacteria from those without swim diapers... not mandatory but suggested. The kids pool opened at 10am-very late for kids so parents took kids in anyway. The waterpark just rocked. Slides were great. Very relaxing. Would go back...

I love everthing about the resort but, the air fair is just o.k. Me and my whole family went and it was a blast. The food was excellent and the swim up bar was great. The beach is very small but we wern't really hanging out at the beach we were doing all of the water sports that they have at the resort.The kids love the kidz camp and they were there most of the day. When I picked them up they asked if we can stay longer. The resurants are great and Jamaica at night is beautful.

Loved Bartendress Sean, Venetion Duran and Maxim, Snorkel Shaw , Manager asst Lee-ann, Manager Carolyn, Fun pal Roger, Alex the Chef and Judy our maid. Wish you had a list of names so we could comment more people, they were all great. Beach was a bit small. Wished the new slide was finished with its contruction. We love Jamaica. What great people.

The check-in process took almost an hour and there were just three groups waiting all of that time. Orientation was non-existent and getting information almost impossible The room was dark, smelly, damp and dirty. We changed once but the standard of the second room was the same so we felt that we had to settle. Breakfast aside, the buffet (Bayside) was poor, but all the other restaurants were quite good. The staff fell into two extremes: about 75% were extremely helpful and positive, but the remaining 25% were surly and unhelpful. Our kids loved the water sports such as the snorkeling trips, scuba, banana boat and sea kayaks. However, fire eater aside, the on stage entertainment was very weak. My wife and I did not enjoy the vacation and having stayed at a Sandals a few years ago were very disappointed. However, as the kids had a good time it has to warrant 3 stars, although even they thought that the room smelt like a sewer!

My wife and I were married in Boscobel on May 5th 2006. We had 41 people down to witness the wonderful event. I cannot explain how professional the wedding staff as well as the staff at the resort were. Dalton the wedding coordinator was the man. The wedding was set on the Venitian Terrace, overlooking the entire resort and ocean. the ceremony was wonderful and was followed by the most breathtaking reception I could ever ask for. My wife and I are actually going back again this May because of our experience. The Staff at Beaches Boscobel are like no other on earth. A truely remarkable experience. I recommend Boscobel to all. Evan and Krystle Walters

My husband and I went to Beaches Boscobel, along with our friends and family from the states for our wedding ceremony. From the minute we stepped off the plane in Montego Bay, everything and everyone was fabulous. They immediately took us into the lounge to wait for the bus, gave us drinks, knew our names. The bus ride to Ocho Rios isn't near as bad as all the reviews you read on here, I know, I read them all ahead of time to be prepared for whatever happened. It was great too - bus driver had tons of info about the places we drove through, lots of history and stories, very entertaining. Once we arrived at the resort, we were greeted out front, given more drinks, and whisked away by the conceirge to our rooms, which were great! The wedding went off perfectly even though there was no rehearsal, they tell you exactly what to do at every move, which is great when you are nervous, the reception was perfect, everyone there we met really went above and beyond all we had ever dreamed our wedding would be. My husband and I stayed for 2 full weeks, and when leaving, were very sad. We knew everyone by name, and vice versa, and after our amazing experience, I cannot imagine ever having a wedding any other way. We will defintely recommend and return every time we get a chance