White Sands Negril, Negril

We have stayed at White Sands three times now, and are booking it for family and friends for my 40th birthday party. I have always been impressed with their service and accommodation with us. It is a simple, family run hotel. There are no phones, or TV's. However, they have free wifi, a fridge, and the best view of 7 mile beach. We never plan to spend enough time in the room to need a tv, so a laptop is plenty in case of a rogue rainstorm. Most of your cab drivers will give you a cell phone for your stay, and it is about US $5 for 30 min, which is all you need. The first time we went, the AC was not working (hey, it happens...you are in the tropics). Frances at the desk was more than accommodating to move us to another comparable room. Tosanna at the front desk has always been exceptionally helpful, as well. I think that many Americans are afraid of what they aren't used to. I am sorry that the one poster had an incident with an unsavory character, but it sounds like security handled them pretty efficiently, and effectively. White Sands offers security boxes for free at the front desk, and guests are encouraged to use them. Security patrols the beach, and I have witnessed them escorting many guests to their rooms when they were to incapacitated to navigate their themselves. I would please ask people to appreciate that the culture in Negril is laid back, and things will not always happen immediately. Also, although everyone wants to make some money, treating the staff as your personal servant will not get you very far. Learn peoples names, treat them with respect, let them know how well you love their country, and their hospitality. Just like anyone in your home country, they will give that love back tenfold. (Shout out to Paul and Tony....we love you and will see you in Nov)

i was a staying at the white sands hotel in negril for two weeks. On the night of march 13, i was awakened by a loud knocking on my door. I opened up to find two young men outside, a jamaican and a visitor by their appearances.they seemed drunk or on some kind of drug. They demanded money and tried to barge inside. I screamed and manage to lock back my door. My screams alerted the security guards who accosted the men , through my window, i saw the intruders fighting with the security guards. One of them had an object in his hand hitting one of the guards with it.i saw one of the guards hit him with a baton like stick. I suppose they alerted the police as i saw them on the property later that night. What is the jamaican police doing about these criminals who targets us visitors to jamaica???and they are not only the locals!!!

My family was robbed at White Sands. No one should stay there because it is so unsafe.

Housekeepers were keepers! Clean, cheap, waitresses a little rude but otherwise we loved it here. Office staff was great, next time we are going to get the private villa!

I read the reviews on this hotel before selecting it as part of a packaged deal for a great price. There were only 2 negative reviews out of the 50 or so listed so I went with it. I understood this to be a no frills hotel. I'm OK with that, but my definition of no frills is neat, clean and in good repair. It was definitely neat, because there was barely any furniture in it. I don't think there would have been enough drawers in the one small dresser for 2 peoples' clothes for a week, despite the fact that it was a huge room. It was passibly clean if you could ignore the mold at the bottom of the wall shower tiles and the bugs that got in nightly. But it was definitly not in good repair. The shower towels were thread bare and I had fist sized holes in the shower tiles. The walls were cracked, the paint dingy, and the bathroom door had stains on it. The room could have used a coat of fresh white paint. I had a room closest to the road and it was loud. That ended up not mattering because the swamp cooler was louder and drowned out the traffic noise. The quaint little room pictured on Yahoo is definitely nowhere to be found! Most of the staff was friendly except for one of the bartenders (Tony?). The "guard" on the beach really watched out for the tourists and their possessions and kept the riff raff away unless invited in. There is definitely an attitude in Negril of resentment that the locals are stuck here and you are not, that you must be wealthy to afford to come here, and that they deserve your money. I feel tips are reserved for the above and beyond and I found little of that, yet they expected it anyway. I understand the rooms across the street on the beach side are better. Also, I met a guy from San Diego and he let me see his upstairs room and it was in good repair. I probably should have checked with the office to see if they had another room that was more acceptable. It would not have changed the condition of the towels, though. Be forewarned that they will not let you take towels to the beach! I didn't bring one, as every hotel I've ever stayed at at a beach location had a towel check out. I got this hotel in a packaged deal at a fantastic price for the week, but have seen it listed for over $100/night. I definitely would not have paid close to that on a separate booking so beware!

Three of us stayed in a beach side one bedroom apartment for 10 days in January, 2008. It was not up to the rave reviews that many people seem to be giving this property. I am not a fussy traveler- I don't require an AI atmosphere, but I do require clean and friendly surroundings. After generously tipping and gifting our housekeeper each day we still had to ask that our sheets be changed and that we get a few extra towels. Our toilet overflowed twice, so imagine having to clean that up with the few towels we had...The grounds were not nearly as well kept as neighboring properties-the same broken beer bottle stayed on the grass for 10 days. The security on the beach doubled as beach attendants and even when tipped did not attempt to help with chairs. The best part of White Sands was the location on the beach. I wouldn't go back there on a bet!

White Sands is a wonderful family run hotel located on a prime spot on 7 mile beach. We stayed in an apartment room and it was very spacious. The grounds are absolutely beautiful. I recommend staying on the beach side of the hotel. The garden side is very nice too but u have to cross the road which at times can quite crazy! The beach is gorgeous and kept up very well. The manager is wonderful and will do just about anything to make your stay as good as possible. Drinks are probably the cheapest and best made on the beach. There is no tv or telephone which is what drew us to this hotel too... we are on holidays, and don't need that! There's a tv at the bar.. and everyone has a cell phone if u need one. The rooms are not first class luxury... but they are still very nice and kept up. Will be back again shortly to visit this hotel and all the lovely people we met!