|
Beaches Inn Negril (formerly 'Poinciana') 12/29/99
Reviewers Rating:  Excellent
We stayed at the Poinciana resort in Negril in April 1998. When we were there, it had recently been bought by the Sandals group and now I understand that it is now the Beaches Inn with privileges at neighboring Sandals resorts. This will only expand your experience and open up more options for you. We had an excellent time and had a great room and enjoyed the food and beautiful beach. We had beautiful weather, one little shower on one day and it lasted for about 20 minutes and then it was gone. Rest of the days were hot and sunny.
MONTEGO BAY INTERNATIONAL (DONALD SANGSTER) AIRPORT TO NEGRIL: The airport is very hot and crowded, just wait it out and before you know it you will be in your air conditioned shuttle. The drive from the airport is quite long (about an hour and a half) but our shuttle was comfortable and cool and our driver was pretty calm compared to other stories I had heard. If you can swing it, I recommend getting the air shuttle to Negril to save time. I think its about $98/pp/rt. Anyway, they were also in the process of building a major road to make the trip from Montego Bay to Negril more direct but I am not sure what the status of that project is now. The trip seemed to take forever, probably because we were excited to just get there! The shuttle made a stop so that we would patronage the local road stand by buying some red stripe beer. I just wanted to get back on the van and go! It should also be noted that as with many Caribbean destinations, poverty is widespread and you should be prepared to see many shacks along the way. No need to worry about the resort, however, as most are gated and guarded.
BEACHES: The beach was great and I never had a problem getting a palapa for shade. Plenty of loungers for all. An abbreviated beach bar is available and then there is the main bar by the pool (sorry, no swim up bar.) If you are into elaborate pools, you will not find it here. This resort's focus is on the beach as the pool is very undramatic. They have a simple "L" shaped pool, but lots of people were in it doing water aerobics. But most people were at the beach. I am a beach bum so I had planned on being at the beach the whole time. The water was a little choppy which kicked up the sand and effected the clarity a little bit. But by weeks end the water was clear and turquoise blue. There were random clumps of sea grass growing in the ocean. Once we found them we knew where they were but I just hate stepping on it! Schools of fish swim through you occasionally which was cool. The swimming area was roped off to keep jet skis and boaters out so swimming was nice. But now that you have playing privileges at nearby Beaches, there you will find the more elaborate and modern pools. Majority of people were American, some Italians were there playing bocci ball in their Speedo's. All beaches in Jamaica are public so the drug dealers and hair braiders do comb the beach. Poinciana had security guards on each side of the strip of beach in front of the resort I guess in case people get harassed. I never was and never saw anybody get harassed by these people. You can just ignore the drug dealers and not make eye contact or just say "No mon". Lots of people were getting braids and if that's for you then just make sure you negotiate a price up front. They will have pictures up front to show you the different styles. There was one day where people set up their arts and crafts on the beach and we did buy a beautiful wood carving. A good rule of thumb for market goods is to negotiate by offering half of what they ask and slowly climb to an agreed price. We negotiated hard for a para-sailing trip, they had a booth right at the end of the Poinciana beach. We got them down to $25 a person. But we walked away a few times and they kept calling us back. Believe me, they want your business. We also brought along a few beers for the para-sailing boat crew and a few dollars. Everything is negotiable, even in the fine gift shop. One of my favorite activities (besides just relaxing on the beach) was when we would go out on the Hobie cat. It was so beautiful and the farther out you go, the more turquoise the water seemed to get. The snorkel boat went out several times a day and we snorkeled our brains out! We saw sting rays and squids and many colorful fish. Just amazing! If you are leery about sharing equipment, bring your own mouthpiece/breathing tube. They should be cleaning them in a bleach solution between trips but you never know. Anyway, we never did the glass bottom boat as it is kind of less dramatic than snorkeling. I guess if you don't care to snorkel, the glass bottom boat would be the next best thing.
THE ROOM: We had a 2 room suite with 2 full baths & kitchenette/living room (never used it!) and we had a wrap-around porch with frenchdoors that opened up to outstanding views, all with vaulted ceilings. The only thing obstructing the view were the waving palm trees which we welcomed. When we arrived, a 2nd floor suite was ready but we decided to wait for a 3rd floor suite because we wanted to be higher up. As soon as we stepped into the resort, we were offered a drink and lunch while we waited. And it was worth the wait as the views were gorgeous. The room was very clean and having the in-room safe was reassuring. We had some ants early on and they promptly came up and fumigated and sealed a window. The A/C was running but not as cold as I like it. One phone call later, they were installing a brand new A/C. We found service to be very prompt.
FOOD:The buffets for breakfast and lunch were pretty good. The fruit was amazing! I did not roll out of bed in time for breakfast, but my husband brought me a plate piled with wonderful fruit and croissants every morning. I would sit out on the wrap-around porch and eat my breakfast and contemplate the beach. Lunch was also buffet and food was decent, some dishes were great others were just decent. You won't go hungry! The beach hut has burgers, hot dogs, fries and the worst pizza ever. Great if you need something to carry you over until dinner but not good enough for lunch alone. Dinner you have 3 choices: the buffet, the italian restaurant, and the carribean grille. We never did the dinner buffet because it looked like a continuation of lunch and we had already Ībeen there and done that'. The Italian place is supposed to be the most gourmet and it was good but we ate there only once because we discovered that the gem was the Caribbean grille. It really wasn't just a grille, you had a 5 course meal - very good food. The pepper soup is excellent and the coca rolls in the bread basket were excellent. Here you could get yummy jerk pork & chicken and scrumptious seafood. I hate puny shrimps and here they were wonderfully plump and tasty! If we went back, we would probably eat there every night! They have a beach party once a week and all the other restaurants are closed during this time. It was fun sitting on the beach right next to the water and the food was really good. Spray your legs with bug spray before the beach party, though. It is always a good idea to bring bug repellant as you never know what will be around. The mosquitoes will get you if you walk in the grass, as I had seen a wedding attendant with about 50 bites on her legs because she had to stand in the grass for the ceremony. Just bring the Off and don't worry about it!
NIGHTLIFE: Pretty weak, the partying is mostly at the central pool bar. They had bands there a couple of nights and we never did visit the disco. One night they had a fire dancer, it wasn't that great. This guy swallows a flammable liquid then regurgitates it back up and spits fire. When I figured out what he was doing, it was kind of gross. Anyway, we were not really seeking evening entertainment as full days on the beach had us in bed by 10 p.m., pretty exhausted.
SHOPPING: We never went to town to shop as I didn't want to lose any beach time. So I can't really comment on this. I did some shopping the day the arts and craftsman set up a little booth on the beach and as I had stated before, negotiate by offering half of what they ask and slowly climb to an agreed price.
EXCURSIONS: Can be arranged by the resort concierge. Keep in mind the time it takes to travel to some of these trips. Like the popular Dunn's river falls, I felt was too far away to travel because I didn't want to miss a full day at the beach.
TIPS: No tipping is required and no one will put their hand out to you. All that is required is a smile and a gracious "thank you." But as we have found at these all-inclusives, a little tip gets you better everything. A buck a day for the maid gets you extra towels w/o asking and a few bucks for the bell hop (he had to bring our bags up 3 flights of stairs!) were appreciated. My husband also took cheeseburgers and beers to the snorkel boat staff for lunch a few times. They had helped him out with the different water equipment and he wanted to return the favor. They didn't turn it down and definitely appreciated it. We usually take along a pro baseball cap to give to someone who specially takes care of us, this time it was Carlos the waiter in the Caribbean grill. He gave us great service and made sure we were taken care of at all times. He loved it!
IN CLOSING... I have been to very large resorts and very small resorts and I found this to be just right in the middle. This is not an elaborate resort with tons of choices but rather simplistic in nature, not overwhelming but just right. (OK I sound like ĪGoldilocks and the 3 bears' now!). The best recommendation is that I would definitely go back to Poinciana (now Beaches Inn). The fact that Sandals bought the place means that it is only going to get better. By the end of the first day, you will be saying "no problem mon" to all. Hope you find this information helpful and reassuring so that you "don't worry... be happy!."
Robin
 Read more Caribbean Travel reviews at TripAdvisor
|
Get a FREE no obligation quote!
Montego Bay
