Description: Discover a heavenly hideaway for the entire family on the shores of Jamaica’s stunning north coast. Pirates Island, a 27,000-square-foot waterpark, vies with Elmo, Zoe and other Sesame Street favorites for your kids’ attention.
This was our families 3rd straight vacation (in 3 years) at Beaches Boscobel. We have a 4 and 6 year old and we all love the destination. The staff throughout the property were all extremely nice.
1) Venetian is the best restaurant. The rack of lamb is excellent.
Arizona is also a good resturant for outdoor dining. There are a few tables which are located out on a small pier in the middle of the ocean which offer a really nice view. Our favorite dish here was the tenderoin and shrimp.
The Bayside buffet is good; however as we prefer 'a la carte', we only used it for breakfast (which was very good).
2) The waterpark is extremely fun. Our kids spent most of their days on the slides.
3) The main pool with swim up bar is well designed and also very nice.
4) The beach is small but the water is calm & warm (in April)and well maintained.
5) Our kids loved the X-Box room- complete with many free play games.
6) There are sesame street shows, entertainment/day, parade and various activities which will also delight toddlers.
7) Rooms are above average; but are a nice size and clean.
8) There are 3 levels of kids camp. We didn't use these much but heard that children quite enjoy themselves.
9) There is a nice bar off the main pool, a piano bar (which is quite dated) and a bar over-hanging the ocean- all with premium liquor. The 'dirty banana' coctail is excellent.
10) This resort offers good value considering all the facilities and activites. For families with small children, it is a particularly appealing spot. It is considerably less pricey than the Turks and Caicos Beaches property.
Your Arrival
April 23 - May 1, 2010
Rooms
Above Average. Nice size and clean. Free in-room safe. Well stocked mini fridge with pop, juice and water.
Restaurants and Bars
Venetian - Excellent
Arizona - Good
Bayside - Good (particularly for Breakfast)
Elanors - Decent/Good
Outdoor Lunch Restaurant - Mediocre Food
All day 'snack counter' with popcorn, soft ice cream, sno cones, pop: very popular for children.
Beach/Pools/Grounds
Beach: Small, but well maintained. Water activites looked fine.
Pools: Main pool is very nice complete with waterfall, swim up pool bar and water mats.
Grounds: Beautiful. In April when we visited, there were NO bees whatsoever.
Waterpark: Excellent. 27,000 sq. feet. Great for all ages.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel
Golf/Tennis/Ping Pong/Billiards/1/2 Basketball Court/Shuffle board: all seemed good.
X-Box Oasis- Great.
Nightly Entertainment + Sesame Street Shows: Short but enjoyable.
Sesame Street Parade with marching band: Great.
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Amazing!!! Can't wait to return.
Beaches Boscobel Ocho Rios
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Lori >
1 contribution(s) Canada
Apr, 2010 | Leisure | Family
2 people found this review helpful
We were traveling with a 2 and a 4 year old. We chose this resort because of the children's activities. We were NOT disappointed. The children's club was great; my kids enjoyed the activities plan and the staff at the children's were great!
Your Arrival
Very quick and easy check in; beautiful lobby to wait in, plus drinks offered as soon as we entered the resort. We were in our room within 15 minutes of arrival.
Rooms
Our room was great. We had a premium room- two double beds on one level, and a step down with a pull out couch, dressor, desk and chairs, plus a nice size patio. The dressor and tv stand did show some wear but the room was very clean, large and much nicer then the rooms at other all inclusives that we have stayed at.
Restaurants and Bars
We ate at all of the resturants...the service was great, both for food and drink. The quality of the food was also great. Loved the selection for the kids buffet. The Arizona resturant was the best...loved eating outside over the bay.
Beach/Pools/Grounds
The beach was small but for us it worked...we always knew where the children were to. The beach was cleaned daily. Tho pool areas were also cleaned constantly. There were lifeguards at the pools, and beach, plus a rescue boat in the ocean. The grounds were beautiful...full of blooming trees, flowers, water fountains, and thick green grasses. There were always people cleaning, painting, mowing and pruning.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel
We mostly attened the childrens activities. I thought they were great, well planned by great child care workers. Plus my children loved them. The Sesame Street characters were a great hit with my young children. I can't say enough positive things about the water park...beautiful to look at and fun to play in. There were water slides for the young and old. I especially loved the lifeguards...they were everywhere and noticed everything that was happening in the pools and around the pool area. It gave me alot of security knowing that other people were also watching out for my children's safety.
Other Comments
The staff were great. Some of the lifeguards, reception clerks and waitresses took the time to learn and remember my childrens names, and they would take the time to talk to them. Also had ample number of security guards, both around the pools and on the beach. This made me feel that my children were safe on the resort.
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Debbie made my trip an absolute delight.
Beaches Boscobel Ocho Rios
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Emily >
1 contribution(s) United States of America
Mar, 2010 | Leisure | Family
1 people found this review helpful
Debbie is sooo cool. My brother got a wacky prize from her and he was happy.
Your Arrival
march 4, 2010
Rooms
they were very tidy
Restaurants and Bars
amazing service
Beach/Pools/Grounds
nice nice
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel
dunn's rivers falls was fun & the safari jeep ride.
Other Comments
i didn't like how the craft market people wouldn't leave you alone!
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Bees, Bees, Bees...
Beaches Boscobel Ocho Rios
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Paul >
1 contribution(s) Canada
Jan, 2010 | Leisure | Family
1 people found this review helpful
We arrived at Beached Boscobel very excited about our upcoming week of relaxation, waterslides and golf. What we found was thousands and thousands of bees which infested the resort. There were bees everywhere, at the bar, at the ice cream dispensor, at pop machines, on your food and pretty much everywhere you went. There was no escaping this nightmare. We tried to make the best of it but my wife is allergic and I just hate them so we asked to be moved to another beaches resort. They made room for us at Sandy Bay in Negril which we were told was 45 minutes away and that there would still be golf. Turns out it was three hours away and the golf was extra. We did manage to get them to pay for one round but needed to insist on this. The beach at Sandy Bay was great but we certainly felt like we downgraded by coming to this resort as the facilities were less, the restaurants not as nice and no water park. We were able to also use Beaches Negril which was less then 5 minutes away however the water park there was clsoed the last few days of our trip. There were also bees at both of these locations but not nearly as bad but still disturbing to someone who has an allergy or fear. And by the way what they call bees are in fact wasps in Canada. We have since tried to contact them numerous times since our return but they are not easy to deal with and continue to tell us by email that our problem was fixed to our satisfaction but te computer system they are using is wrong and we are not happy and will not return to a beaches resort in the future. Needless to say, the week was a big disappointment. We were paying for a "sandals" type experience but it was not there.
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Our stay at Beaches Boscobel Ocho Rios
Beaches Boscobel Ocho Rios
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Carie >
1 contribution(s) United States of America
Jul, 2009
1 people found this review helpful
Arrival: July 22-29, 2008
My husband and I have been to a number of all-inclusives to include Oasis, Crown Paradise, Secrets, Excellence Resorts, Couples and Breezes. This was our first Sandals associated property and if it's any indication of the Sandals brand, we weren't impressed. Overpriced for the quality received and in fact quite rundown and dirty.
Rooms:
Accommodations were pretty typical resort hotel rooms. We were allegedly "upgraded" to the concierge level service but didn't notice much change in service or amenities. Were given a rollaway, which was nice to separate the two kids. Bathroom was pretty small for the type of resort but similar to a stateside Ramada or Comfort Inn. We had to take a list of what we wanted stocked in the mini bar to the concierge if we wanted anything outside the ordinary. Another peculiarity was there were snacks in the room but a price list accompanied them...so much for all-inclusive. Guess our thousands of dollars didn't includ gummy bears and nuts. No free internet in room or anywhere on property...disappointing.
Restaurants and Bars:
Our first dining experience was disappointing at best. Very slow service. We ate at the BBQ Park and nothing was good. Fries were cold and limp, ribs were fatty and tough, no flavor in any of our four selections. Eleanor's was very good food and service was prompt. The Bayside Restaurant was the buffet and was overall good with bouts of average. Food was flavorful, selections were stocked and there were ample choices, to include healthy options. The Venetian (Italian restaurant) was the best by far. Service was incredibly slow and seating limited, so prepare accordingly. Tiramisu was delicious especially with a cappucino. There is no room service offered...something one would expect at a resort at this level. The Appleton Bar was a fun little getaway spot for steel drums and kid-friendly fun. Kids loved the place...much like a small beach bar. Great atmosphere! Pool swim-up bar was loaded with bees...they were everywhere! Desserts were not worth the calories consumed except for the tiramisu mentioned before.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
An example of how the grounds were kept: the same three french fries were on the stairs near the spa for more than three days. It almost became a joke on our way to the gym every morning...are the fries still there? Pools were kept clean, although chair areas could have used a more thorough cleaning...used cups and plates stayed around a little too long. The plants are gorgeous and the beach is kept nice. Experienced no poolside waiter/cocktail service, something we've totally appreciated at other resorts. No fun cocktails in coconuts like at Excellence Resorts. Water slides were nice and lines weren't too long but they advertise 11 slides and for our kids (ages 10 and 14) there were really 3 that were usable for those ages. The rest are for tiny tots...good if you have small children.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
Gym was decent but not top notch...only large beach towels were offered, hand towels made more sense. Only water fountain, no bottled water. In fact, no bottled water available outside the room, only pitchers and water fountains. Not exactly ultra luxury. There were water sports available and they seemed available most times. Off-site excursions were available, heard feedback from a couple who was upset about their experience so we decided to book on our own.
Other Comments:
Beaches claims "ultra luxury" but I can tell you this is NOT even luxury let alone ultra anything. For what we paid I would at least expect internet access to be complimentary yet we were charged $38.99/week. Power outages were frequent and incredibly annoying. Be ready for a more than 2 hour drive to the resort...without music. Thought a nice touch would be some Jamaican/reggae music to get vacationers in the spirit of their stay. Overall, wouldn't return to a Sandals property...we've had much better stays at lower-priced resorts with much better food. Can't imagine why a couple would come here at all (geared more toward families) when there are wonderful resorts like Couples and Excellence out there to choose from where there are no children screaming in the dining room.
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A place to return
Beaches Boscobel Ocho Rios
User Rating:
Paris >
1 contribution(s) United Kingdom
May, 2009
2 people found this review helpful
Arrival: 2nd December-16th December
When i arrived i already knew it was going to be a fanatastic holiday, the people were very nice so we waited for our room, and that was just amazing we had a room facing the beach.
Rooms:
Well the rooms were really good especially because we got up graded and they did not charge us anything.they did this because our bathroom was quite dirty so they treated us by up grading us for free so that was great.
Restaurants and Bars:
The restaurants were nice we had 3 to pick out of the 2 weeks we were there and the food was lovely, everyday for breakfast i was always pleased with the food everyday for lunch and dinner just fornominal.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
I found the pool really fun everyday i was on the waater slides and i felt safe because there were always life guards there. The beach was calm and relaxing, the sea was nice and blue.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
We went to dolphin cove and had fun with the dolphins, we also went kiaking and went on the see throw boat were we could see everything that lived at the bottom of the sea.
Other Comments:
The whole 2 weeks we were there i had a fantastic time and i would go back some day. the people are great,food is great and so are all the activites. so thank you beaches boscobel!!!!!
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