Sandals Whitehouse European Village/Spa, Whitehouse

I have stayed at Sandals several times. I have chose the "stay & play" before, experiencing 5 of their resorts all together. SWH is excellent for seclusion and privacy. I have read the negative reviews and let me address some of these. FOOD: People that are complaining of food are probably used to greasy, fast food. The restaraunts were fabulous! Restaraunt NEPTUNES: ask for PRINCESS to be your server, she is wonderful! I wasn't sure what I wanted off the menu and told her to have the chef surprise me-FANTASTIC dining experience! She brought me a sample plate of lobster, steak, steamed vegetables and the most delicious coconut battered, deep fried mashed potatoe made special by Chef CLEON-who I personally went back and thanked. At JASMINE'S they treated you like royalty~Every night walking back to our room I stopped in and requested their springrolls to take back for our midnight snack and they were the best appetizer I have ever had! Bayside offers a wonderful breakfast buffet that will offer something for everyone. You cannot mess up breakfast if you tried. There are many dining options, and they were all wonderful! SAND FLEAS: We were NOT bit while at Whitehouse, nor did we see any fleas- we did experience bites on the plane going home, and I wonder if the other guests have this confused, being that their complaints were "once they were home they had bites". Traveling comes with issues such as these. STAFF-the staff was wonderful. There were complaints on here about being pestered by photographers and spa employees. We had a great photographer, and when we didn't want to take pictures we just said no thank you. Our photographs of our trip are absolutely beautiful and I am so glad I had them taken there. I never encountered a spa employee, let alone being harassed by one. At the gift shop however, I did experience a woman asking me "how many do you want" of Rum, however I had never said I was wanting bottles of Rum. After 3 times I looked at her and said, "I am NOT interested, AT ALL, thank you." and moved on. I don't enjoy including that, however I am leaving the most honest review I can. There are negative reviews stating they will service you after they finish their drink.I never saw bartenders drinking, let alone making me wait at all. NATANJA at the main pool politely declined my tip (I was a little tipsy and forgot that tipping was prohibited, but she was so on it with keeping our glasses full I felt she deserved a tip). They selection of wines, mixed drinks, cappuccinos are excellent, however Red Stripes is the country's beer. BEACH: Negative reviews stated problems with seaweed and coral "you cannot even walk in the ocean" -Not true! Beautiful, silky white sand covered the shoreline. As for the ocean, we spent hours in it! We even bought goggles in the shop (bring a pair!!) and found huge star fish and conch shells ROADTRIP FROM AIRPORT: People complained about this time and time again. HELLO-You're in Jamaica! That's like Jamaican's coming to America during rush hour then black mark us for it! EMBRACE the trip-you get to see so many different things! They're used to driving fast, so don't feel like you got a bad driver. They make that trip a million times. Our driver BRYAN was absolutely wonderful-and they're not direct Sandals employees so please leave them a tip, you would if you took a cab back home. There are also non-included helicopter rides you will pay $400-$600 pp for if you're too good to take the shuttle. ROOM: Our housekeeping had that room spotless throughout the day, just not when we came back in the evening. One day our room was made up with fruit platters, cakes, little special things, 3 times throughout that day! People left remarks about dirty, outdated things. I'm a germ phobe and felt completely at home. We got to know 3 other couples the last days and they all loved it! I didn't hear anyone complain about anything.Whitehouse is a good balance of it all!

This was our third Sandals trip and will be our 8th in 2011. I am writing late becuse it was killing me reading the reveiws and I was astounded at the bad ones. I have also spent years talking to others who have visited and it is an overwhelming concensus that this is the best Sandals resort in Jamaica and gives all the others a run for thier money. The resort is larger but not overly so. The size alows for an amazing beach that ends at a nature perserve. Words cant do it or the water justice. The grounds are wonderful and picturesque. The resort really does look like the pictures . The food was decent for breakfast and lunch .Lunch was best at the place by the french pool . We have found this to be true for most all-inclusives. Dinner was quite good. I had great Italian and Asian. The pastry shop was fun and the choc buffet was a gut buster. The drinks were all quite good and strong. The bartenders are quite engaging. The playmakers were alot of fun and the club was alot of fun at night. The piano bar is also quite nice. Our room was the cheapest and was just fine. You dont spend much time there and we dont pay the xtra. The spa was quite good. The steam room was great and the massage heaven. The ride there is rough but you get to see the country . As a rule you tip the porters 1$ a bag and the driver 5-10 depending on the info he give and how crazy the ride is.You can opt to pay for a heli ride. We love this resort and recomend it to everone. We have sent honeymooners there that just beamed at their return. Dont let the negative reveiws scare you off this it true paradise.

First, 5 years ago we stayed at Sandals Grande St.Lucian & got married, we were treated like a King & Queen, everything was perfect across the board, this is when we said SANDALS WILL ALWAYS BE OUR VACATION CHOICE!!! 5 Years later we picked Sandals to come and celebrate our WEDDING ANNIVERSARY, Only this time it was Sandals Whitehouse, but HEY ALL SANDALS ARE THE SAME RIGHT? NOT!!! People, they tell you a 1-1/2 hr car ride from the airport, here in the States that does not mean alot, but look at a poor country on a bumpy road for this long, it becomes hard to look forward to any party & good time. THIS RIDE was the worst. DO NOT THINK SOMEONE FROM SANDALS IS YOUR DRIVER as we got a reg. van and had to tip this driver ( or at least felt like we had to tip ) if it was a Sandals car / van it would of been part of the package. (same on the return to the airport) ONE WOULD THINK THEY WOULD GIVE A FREE 15 MIN RUB DOWN ON ARRIVAL. The resorts grounds are exceptional as well as the buildings, PLAN ON DOING A LOT OF WALKING, I DO MEAN A LOT OF WALKING!!! The FOOD WAS AND IS NOTHING TO WRITE HOME ABOUT! not one night did we say, WOW, THIS WAS GREAT. Everynight it was the same BASIC STUFF, NOTHING HIGH END AND NOTHING REALLY TASTY. FISH DINNERS WERE FISHY, AGAIN FOOD WAS REALLY BASIC AND HARDLY NO TATSE. Actually ended up eating a lot of salad & pizza. Now Breakfast, you have 2 choice, sit down or buffet. Sit down was the best, except if you order scrambled eggs, make sure you ask for the real eggs, otherwsie you get the powdered eggs like the buffet. NOW THE BUFFET, TALK ABOUT A POOR LAYOUT. stand i line for eggs, go back and cut in line to get at the bacon, or other stuff, THIS WAS THE MOST STRESSFUL TIME EACH DAY, NOT TO MENTION BY THE TIME YOU SIT BACK DOWN, YOUR EGGS ARE COLD LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE. POOL BARS: The bartenders @ the French side pool bars are the rudest, cannot make a drink to save your life and cannot make it the same everytime. Be happy they stopped talking to serve you, send your LADY, she'll get hit on and at least served. Same issue at all other bars, drinks are not the same as they should be, Delroy was the best bartender in the resort, he was all the way away at the bar by the sea food resturant, NOW HE CAN MAKE DRINKS, THE SAME EACH AND EVERYTIME. Housekeeping was good, EXCEPT 1/2 OUR TIME we did not receive our little towel animal. Medical: The term,"Nurse" is something to question,To me it felt she just wanted to send you to the doctor for $150 plus costs,NOTHING NURSE like about her. WEDDING ANNIVERSARY: THEY FORGOT AND DID NOT DO ANYTHING, UNTIL WE SAID SOMETHING 4 DAYS AFTER, WHICH WAS TO LATE. Entertainment: VERY LOW END, I GUESS IN JAMAICA THEY SAY HOW LOW CAN YOU GO & HERE THEY TRY IT WITH THE MUSIC & BANDS. MY BOTTOM LINE IS, I CAN WRITE A LOT MORE JUNK ABOUT THEM & THIS PLACE,AS WE JUST GOT BACK A FEW DAYS AGO AND ALL THIS WAS ON MY MIND STILL, SO I GOT UP AND NEEDED TO CLEAR MY HEAD. WE ARE SOOO, SOOO SORRY WAS WASTED OUR 5 YEAR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY HERE AND WE NO LONGER FEEL SANDALS WILL BE A VACATION CHOICE EVER AGAIN, JUST NOT WORTH THE RISK OF SAVING FOR THE VACATION AND FEELING THE WAY WE DO NOW.

My boyfriend and I went last Feb for my Birthday/Valentine's day. It was fabulous. The rooms were beautiful (we had ocean view), the staff was friendly, the food was ok (but what do you expect for all you can eat/all inclusive) and the drinks were slamm'n (make sure you order a dirty banana!!). We were there for 6 days and didn't want to leave. The ride there and back was a little long and scary (very crazy, narrow roads), but it was worth it. We're going to the Grand Ocho Rios this year. I can't wait!

We just got back for our horribly disappointing trip to Jamaica Whitehouse resort. After the bumpy, terrfying 90 minute ride from the airport in a tiny, dirty minivan with 5 other people and shoved full to the brim with luggage, we finally made it to the resort. It was beautiful and we couldn't wait to get in and relax. It was about 6pm so after a long day of traveling I was really looking forward to relaxing in a hot tub (the brochure said they had 5!) so we checked into room and changed. The room was a LONG way from the main area and much smaller than the brochure pics but we were eager to explore. We went down to main pool and hot tub area to find the "hot" tub really only luke warm. There were no lights on and no jets. We tried the button on the wall- nothing. So we walked all the way back to our side of this hudge resort and found the same thing in that hot tub. Only worse because all of the outside lights were off! It was getting dark and we could barely find our way through the brush to even see the beach. We walked all the way back to the main area for the lobby to ask if the hot tubs were off or broken. There, Garth, the manager seemed to not understand what we were even talking about. He claimed they were all working and he would look into it. After a call to the resort engineer, he told us they were fine. We actually had to walk him out there to show him that it was barely warm. He put his hand in and said it felt ok to him. Now, I'm not being snobby or something. We have a hot tub at home and I know what 102 degrees is supposed to feel like. After snipping back at us, we decided to drop it and go to dinner. It was after 8pm by the time we made the round trip trek back to our room to change. The restaurant info said it was resort evening attire so I wore a dress and boyfriend put on dress slacks and dress shirt. We were told every restaurant had 45- 60 min wait even when there was empty available tables in sight. They didn't seem to care that everybody was just stuck sitting around waiting. They also didn't have anything else planned all evening so we didn't have anything else to do. Dinner at Jasmin's was ok, food was decent, but nothing to write home about. Afterwards, we relaxed on the beach (in the complete darkness) and talked before going back to room, hoping that Saturday would be better. The next day, we enjoyed the beautiful pool and swim up bar, played back volleyball and just enjoyed each other. We had the best massages we've ever had in a cabana on the beach. The massage therapists really know what they're doing. Since we were both dealing with head colds, they recommended sitting in the steam room or the hot tub in the spa area. This sounded great. One of them put ecalyptus oil in my steam room hoping that might clear up my sinuses. I agreed to meet my bf in the hot tub area after 10 minutes. When I went out there, he was sitting in it, but not very happy!! It was again only barely warm and not even full! It was obvious that the water line was at least a foot under what it should be. The steam room on the men's side wasn't working either so he didn't get any relief. When we asked about all the hot tubs, the manager was called again but again told us that he was looking into it and that they had "challenges"! We did finally talk to one manager who actually apologized and offered to upgrade us, but it was too late to move since we'd already unpacked. We were just really disappointed that the things we were looking forward to, didn't work, and nobody seemed to care! After 6pm, the only thing there was to do, was wait in line for dinner with everyone else! The only activities that were planned were cheesy bands and game shows in one 'bar' on sight. We spent every night relaxing together either on tiny patio or in room. I'm actually glad now that we weren't stuck there any longer than we were scheduled!

This resort was beautiful and one of the best things about it was that it was not surrounded by another other resorts - however that did mean that there is at least a 90min bus ride through the heart of Jamaica that is either interesting or terrifying depending on your frame of mind. We had requested a room in the Italian village and of course we got a room at the opposite end of the resort which is quite a trek back to all the restaurants but they do have their own pool and pool bar over there. After some'discussions' we got moved to the Italian Village the next day. When you check in - make sure you get 2 room keys - as a practice they only give you one. Our housekeeper was amazing although we never actually met her. the rest of the staff was freindly but not necessarily accomodating. One breakfast at Elenors it took us 50 minutes to get our food and there were only 4 other couples there. Beach was amazing, pools were amazing, food was OK, drinks were plentiful, weather was spectacular. I would go again.

Went there feb 2006. The hour and half ride from the airport is aweful and made me ill. The sand flies ate us alive on the first day. If you are Vegetarian you are excluded from 1 restaurant, 2 buffets and the Return member dinner. They claimed there were no rooms available when we wanted to transfer to another Sandals. And the evening entertainment was so cheesy..Just stay home, unless you like to scratch a lot, look like a swarm of bees attacked you and be ignored by the managenent. They couldn't have cared less that we were ill and unhappy.

My new wife and I went here for our Honeymoon, and it was AMAZING!!! We stayed for 7 nights and we were not wanting to leave when it came time, and we were heading to Disney World for 5 nights. The food was just fantastic and plenty of it. The service at restaurants was a little slow, but we didn't mind because we were together and had no place else to go, but enjoy ourselves at this heavenly place. The bar service was fun and lots of RRRUUUMMMM!!!! They love their rum in Jamaica and so will you by the time you leave. This place is a dream come true. Even the rain storms everyday at 3 was nice. You get a break from the sun, go back to the room and relax or whatever :) We even had butler service which was just unimaginable. Our main butler, Patrick, was just DA BOMB -Respect-. The only problem we ran in to was some of the other guests. They are snobby and rude and don't have respect for any other human-being because they think they are better than everyone else and should be treated as if. Ignore them, as hard as it may be, and just enjoy yourself. These snobby disrespectful, and unpleasing people are the ones that will write negative reviews of this place as they probably will about everything else in life. FORGET THEM! We had a fourth floor room so we had no problem leaving our windows open and patio door open. It was so relaxing to hear the ocean when you go to bed and when you wake up. To eat breakfast on your patio and listen to the sound of ocean. It was just....PERFECT. Go to this resort and enjoy yourselves. Relax, drink some rum, eat lots and lots of good yummy food, and spend a few nights in just heaven. RESPECT

This place is everthing you want in a vaction and more, the sites, food, the location. 5 Stars. The service is off the chain, they tend to everthing you need and you never get bored.

IT WAS ABSOLUTELY BREATH TAKING, THE LOCATION, SERVICE AND ACTIVITIES WERE REALLY GOOD. WE ENJOYED EVERY SECOND OF OUR STAY AND WOULD DEFINATELY GO BACK. TO TOP IT OFF I MUST SAY THIS RESORT CAN ONLY GET BETTER.