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Beaches Boscobel Spa and Golf Resort 08/23/02
Reviewers Rating:  Great
Well guys, here it is. I'm back and BOY do I have a lot to tell! 1. Boy who drowned was with his family on a "Day Pass" they were locals. We arrived on Saturday afternoon and the place was full of day-passers who I guess were so excited to be at a resort like this that it was chaos. I had my ear filled by many travel agents who were staying there to review the resort so that they could with knowledge recommend it to there clients. We were all upset to find out about the day pass option knowing the expense and sacrafice most families in the US and Europe have to make to take such a vacation. It lessoned the atmosphere of the resort. It seemed like a Florida waterpark that day. After the drowning they cancelled day passers at least for the remainder of my stay. 2. Main Buffet restaurant does need to get their act together. They were well meaning but disorganized. The food was abundant and well presented. LOTS of flies. But the flies seemed to have manners! While you were seated at your table they would pretty much go away. They were most on unoccupied tables they had not yet been bussed. They also were around the buffets. Mainly the bread and pastries. They seemed to leave everything else alone. The wait staff did not seem to have assigned tables or sections to care for so what would happen was the people who stopped them and asked for things were getting taken care. If you waited for them to bus a table so you could sit you'd just be waiting. Mind you this was mostly at the peak meal times 8:30am - 10am, 1:00pm - 2p.m. It is mainly due to the fact that you have no other options for breakfast and the only other option for lunch is the Arizona restuarant which required better attire and was down by the beach. The Buffet is right off the pool so most people wanted to eat there to stay nearer their children. The cooks were awesome and fun to talk to. They stay behind the meat and entree counter to slice and serve up grilled dishes. There is no "soft serve" ice cream machines but if your kids want it go to the kids section of the main buffet and ask someone behind there or stop one of the waitstaff. I was reprimanded at breakfast because of sympathy for the waitstaff I tried to help myself to coffee and some place settings for my family and was interrupted by one of the staff and was told that they "prefer" to get those things for us. I replied, " I'd prefer that too, but I asked and no one got it for me." He then proceeded to make sure it was taken care of and that is when I met "Antia". She really took care of my family after that. 3. Eleanor's-MAKE SURE NOT TO WEAR SANDALS HERE. T-shirts somehow seem to be fine, even though the brochure says otherwise. My husband and I went dressed to the nines but with " very nice" sandals and were told we would not be seated until we changed shoes. Our room was clear across the resort and it was 93 degrees that night. Now had we been in swimwear it wouldn't have been so bad but we had on hot dressy clothes ( husband long pants & collared shirt, me in dress with salon hair) When we returned there was not only other people seated with sandals but people with not so nice t-shirts and GYM SHOES!! To quote the restaurant policy, which I took home with me, it reads, "Dress code-Casually elegant, collared shirts and long pants, please." Nothing about your shoes or sandals. Now I don't mean to get off on a rant here but, I guess you could assume long pants would require dress shoes, but who would pack men's dress shoes to go on a Jamaican holdiay? Luckily my husband did. When we returned and say the other people dressed nowhere near as nice as we were and in tennis shoes and sandals, let me just say, I made a scene, strictly out of principle. And you would not believe what I was told when I asked why they were seated dressed the way they were and we were not? I was told that they said, " This is all we have with us." Do you believe that? I guessed we should have just lied after arriving at a restaurant unprepared, under dressed, and down right non-compliant. So much for trying to follow policies. My scene did cause one man to leave the restaurant in his sandals and change shoes. He came back in dirty tennis shoes. Well at least he tried to appease me. We stayed and ate. But our night was well ruined. They food was okay but not as good as the buffet food. It was supposed to be a Modern Jamaican restuarant but there was nothing Jamaican on the menu. 4. The Venetian - A must. Service was excellant! They even had a flutist and a guitarist strolling around playing at each table taking request. The food was good and the atmosphere great. GET THERE EARLY. The place is small and when it is full they will send you away for they do not take reservations. They will tell you to try back at 8:00 if you do not get in when they open at 6:30pm. They had a Manager's reception there one night that was really nice, too. 5. Arizona - Good service and the best mixed drinks I had while there. Service was good for dinner while we were there. Food is very different and nicely presented. Portions were small but you could always go hit the buffet afterwards. 6.BBQ Park - Hectic, lots of kids ordering. Right next to the kids pool. GREAT french fries. Pizza was like dough with tomato soup and cheese sprinkled on it. Very bland. My daughter seemed not to mind and that made up most of her diet that week. Popcorn here is great! When you smell it popping, which you can, even to the beach!! you just have to have it!! My kids got sick of fetching Mommy popcorn. 7. Gameroom - Great day sitter. They kids sit in front of a game and won't move. Literally!! Had to keep going in to make sure my kids shared. Not many parents did so your child might be disappointed that they don't get to play. Very cold and dimly lit. Some control holders and games have already been damaged. This room is not really monitored. There is an office off of it but didn't see and attendant. 8. Rooms - We stayed in the Luxury Family Suites. Room 1211 was great!! Can't speak on any other rooms but my own. NO BUGS at all. Not even dead ones. I was PLEASINGLY suprised and impressed. Power went out a couple of nights around 6:30pm but only in the bathroom, weird, huh. They were quick to fix it when called. Not a biggy. We still showered, I moved a lamp nearer to the bathroom door and we saw well enough to bathe. I just did my hair at the vanity near the patio door. Very roomy. We had to full beds and a full sofa bed. 2 steps down to the living area with the pull out. Cable was always working and they had Cartoon Network and I "think" the Disney channel. ( Don't quote me on the Disney, my kids mostly watched Sponge Bob on CN ) Tile floors get slippery so be careful coming into the room wet. Patio was huge!! Not to complain but I guess I would've preferred for some of that space to have been in side the room. We were on the second floor so while our room category said "property view" we could actually see the ocean. Our room was very nice. Housekeeping was on it and our room was cleaned 6 out of 7 days by 12:30pm!! 9. Main pool- keep very clean. Swim up bar was very nice. Alvin the barkeep did a very good job and was quick. Only problem was that parents took up lots of his time having him prepare "non alcoholic" daiquiris for their kids when the resort had 2 locations ( BBQ Park & Bayside Bar near the Buffet) with slushy machines that dispensed "non-alcoholic" daiquiris and all the soda they could drink. Some parents just thought it was fun to have their kids order from a bartender and sit a bar with a drink. I just think they'll have plenty of time to do that and they should let the adults get faster service. 10. Kiddie Pool - Keep clean and water slide was well attended. Lifeguard at the top of the slide monitoring height of sliders. I think it said you had to be 44 - 46" tall to slide. My 4 yr old son was too afraid anyway. My 6 yr old son loved it! My 14 yr old daughter was too cool to try it. I tried it and thought it was fun but really for the kids. I couldn't get going really fast on the swirly slide. I didn't go down the straight tunnel slide but it seemed to be a hit too. Not very clean around this pool. Lots of fries and popcorn from the nearby BBQ park on the ground which drew the small red ants. 11. Petting zoo - Needs to go. Big time. Kids wouldn't miss it and guests definitely wouldn't miss the odor coming off this place. You could smell it all the way to the Main pool. Mostly birds anyway. I see no really benefit in this place. If they do keep it, they need to totally enclose it like they do the different habitats at the zoos. I'm sure that would be to costly so it'd but much easier to close it and replace it with some type of outdoor game area for the kids. 12.Bars - Well stocked. If you like Bailey's expect to be disappointed at times. They do restock but for some reason this particular liqeuor seems to fly off the shelves. Drinks were far from weak. One afternoon, without realizing it I had one to many and got sick to my stomach. The novelty of all inclusive booze wore off for me quick after that 3rd day and I was lucky if I had 3 drinks in a day. I guess I just couldn't hang. The Appleton bar and the piano bar I found to be the best but I must have been alone in my opinion because whenever we'd go it'd be just me and my hubby. Appleton bar is just Appleton Brand Rum drinks of course and is down by the beach and is open 11 am to 9 pm. The Chela bay Piano bar was very cold and also quite a ways away from the action at the main pool. Main pool bar, Bayside, always packed, but service goes quick, no kids drinks ordered, they have the self serve machines here for the kids. 13. Disco - If you're a dancer be prepared to be dancing alone or with your partner if you bring one. People seem to go here to drink in the dark and make fun of the people who are confident enough to dance. Packed with teenagers who were obviously too cool to dance on the dance floor. I saw a couple of them practicing some moves near their table but wouldn't come out on the dance floor. Two young teen couples went out on the dance floor but walked off right away. I thought the music was a bit dated or too new that no one recognized anything or couldn't dance to it. Was a mix of Rap and Reggae and Techno. Worth checking out though. Cool decor and disco ball and laser lights. 14. Kids Club - AWESOME! I couldn't get my kids to leave it. My husband made them though so he could spend some vacation time with his boys. The Supernannies are truly super. Very attentive to the kids and remember everything. All the kids names, clothing, and parents names and where parents are to be at any given time. Best part for my kids was the Pajama Party and Movie time. Pajama party was not overnight so my kids were dissappointed. They had made some great friends and just wanted to have a sleepover. The kids learn a song that they sing while transitioning from one area of the resort to other. My kids sang it so much that I can't get it out of my head. They even will take them to meals and they sit in a special section of the buffet sized just for them. 15.Tours and Excursions - Dunn's River a must do. Tell the videographer if you want to buy the video or not and he will focus on your family more. We did and it was the best $30 we ever spent. Shopping tour was okay. Tell your driver you'd rather stay at Island Village to shop rather than spend 45 each at the craft market, Taj Mahal, and one other mall across from the craft market. They all sell the exact same stuff and prices are not much different. Island village is NOT duty-free, nicer and newer, more Americanized. It houses the Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville which is cool in it self. The resort has a seperate excursion just to Margaritaville. The visit during the shopping tour would have been enough for me but me didn't get to stay long enough. Only 30 minutes to shop the entire mall. Men might like that. The other malls are more Jamaicanized and are duty-free. Very run down though and pushy sales are found here. Island village didn't have that. Lots of closed stores at these other malls too. Worth going to one across from the craft market and to the craft market itself too. You get a real feel for Jamaica and you get to live out the urban legends. Overall, we loved it and had a great time. We'd go back but only after seeing some different parts of the world. Sorry to be so long handed but I really wanted to let people know what to expect. This is alot of money for a week with kids. You should have all the info you can get. Any other ??'s email me directly. IRIE, MON!!
Emily
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