TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

My husband and I recently celebrated our marriage and chose to spend our honeymoon at Sandals Montego Bay in Jamaica. After conducting thorough research, we found that this resort provided the finest suites with butler service. Eager for an exceptional experience, we opted for a $7,000 Butler Suite featuring a swim-up pool and BMW transportation. We were informed that our butler would be available to attend to our needs at any hour. We arrived at the resort on September 21 at 4 PM. Unfortunately, it was at this point that we began to experience discrimination and racism. Upon our arrival, we were taken to the butler holding area to meet our butler. We waited there for approximately 45 minutes. Fifteen minutes into our wait, a couple of Caucasian descent entered the area and were greeted by their butler after a 25-minute wait, who welcomed them with enthusiasm and escorted them away. In contrast, after our lengthy wait, our butler, Kaii, finally arrived. Upon seeing us, she exhibited an immediate and noticeable reaction of disappointment. Her greeting was the most lackluster and unenthusiastic "Hello" we had ever encountered. It wasn't until later in our stay that I began to understand the implications of this interaction. The resort was aware that we were on our honeymoon. Our butler escorted us to our room, and despite the rain, we were not offered an umbrella. She remained silent during the walk until we initiated conversation. I inquired about how to contact her, and she indicated that we would discuss this once we reached our room. When I asked how long she would be available to assist us, she informed us that she would not be available after 8 PM. Upon entering our room, we noticed the absence of any romantic touches, such as roses on the bed. All the alcohol bottles were already opened, and there were no decorations to commemorate our honeymoon, despite this being promised to us. Our butler briefly explained how to order food, stating that room service would assist us and that we should contact housekeeping for any additional needs. This seemed incorrect to us, as I was under the impression that’s what a butler was for. I inquired whether we could secure reservations at "Butches," to which she informed me that it was too late. I then asked if we could make reservations at an alternative location, and she agreed, asking where we would like to go. After searching online, I discovered Tokyo Grill; however, I felt that the restaurant options should have been better communicated to us. Regardless, I arrived with a group of six and requested a reservation there, which she successfully arranged. She advised us to arrive in about an hour. After the hour had passed, we proceeded to the restaurant. Upon our arrival, we waited at the entrance, where we were overlooked by the server on three separate occasions, as if we were invisible. Eventually, I approached a waiter and requested assistance. He asked what I needed, and I provided our room number and the size of our party. He then informed us that our table was not ready and instructed us to sit at the bar. When I asked if we could stand on the dock to enjoy the view, he told us not to block the entrance and to go to the bar instead. It was the rudest and most embarrassing encounter. It is worth noting that there are shows in the lobby every night at 8 PM, a detail our butler failed to mention, so after dinner, we simply returned to our room. On Day 2, my husband and I woke up around 9 AM and attempted to contact our butler via the butler phone four times but received no response. We then called the butler line from our room phone and were immediately connected. We asked our butler, Kacey, to arrange breakfast for us, but she instructed us to call room service. After doing so, we found that room service was quite busy and did not answer, prompting us to walk to a restaurant instead. Upon entering, we were again ignored by the staff. We seated ourselves and inquired with another guest about the location of the plates and silverware. After breakfast, we decided to head to the beach. Upon returning to our room to prepare a drink, we discovered a gnat in our rum bottle. I called the butler phone, and Kacey answered but quickly stated that she could not hear me before hanging up. I called again, but she did not respond. Subsequently, she called my room and explained that if we wished to use the butler phone, we needed to step outside into an open area, I felt this was crazy; it was often raining and I had to all the way outside to call her. I communicated to her my desire for the alcohol to be sealed, as there was a gnat found in our rum. She informed me that sealing the bottles is not their practice and that the decision rests with management. The situation escalated further when we visited the beach and noticed several reserved chairs. Upon inquiring with another guest about the ownership of these chairs, we were told they were designated for butler-level guests. This was perplexing, as we are indeed butler-level guests and had not been informed of this area. Additionally, there was an Sandals photographer roaming the resort, taking photographs of couples, but notably only capturing images of white couples while disregarding those of African American decent. This was astonishing. Such behavior persisted throughout our remaining two days. We continued to make our own restaurant reservations and requested our room to be cleaned at 8 AM, yet it was not attended to until around 4 PM. We strolled along the beach, only to be overlooked by both the staff and the photographer. This was the most racially charged experience I have ever faced. Finally, on our last day in this distressing environment, we asked our butler, Kacey, to cancel our reservation at the Korean restaurant as we wished to try Butches instead. My husband was initially denied entry due to wearing golf-like shorts, but he managed to find a pair of long pants. I reached our butler regarding our Butches reservation at 10 AM, and by 5:12 PM I had not heard from her and decided to call. I had to call our butler to inquire about the status, only to learn that she had secured a reservation for 5:30 PM. This left us with a mere 14-15 minutes to prepare. Upon our arrival, the waitress, Machianda, was exceptional, and the manager on duty was equally impressive. However, we again noticed a photographer circulating, exclusively photographing white patrons, which was quite bizarre. The following morning, at 9 AM, Kaii called to inform us that she would be coming in to inspecting our room, even though we were still in bed in our pajamas. When she called she did not say good morning, how was your sleep nothing! She entered the room, rearranging the butler envelopes that she had left behind, only to discover they were empty. In a fit of anger, she began opening and slamming drawers and shelves, moving about the space with an attitude as if we were not even present. Eventually, we arrived at the front of the resort, where our BMW was scheduled to pick us up at 11:15. I find it frustrating to keep mentioning this, but upon our arrival, there were five to six BMWs lined up. Sandals employees were assisting the white guests, helping them into their vehicles and confirming their pickup times, going above and beyond in their service. Meanwhile, the employees consistently passed us by, failing to inquire or verify anything with us. They would glance at us, then turn away to assist someone else. Throughout this ordeal, our butler, Kaii, remained behind the guest services desk, frowning and conversing with other staff members, neglecting to offer us any assistance. By 11:30, all the BMWs had departed, leaving us standing there alone, still without any inquiry regarding our needs. Our butler remained in the same spot, never asking us what was happening or if we were okay. Frustrated, my husband finally approached someone to ask about the status of our car. The staff member responded, "Oh, I'm sorry, we will arrange a taxi for you!" My husband clarified that we had booked the BMW service. The man seemed skeptical and went to the guest services desk to verify our claim. This experience was unbelievable. I am deeply disappointed and ashamed that we spent such a significant amount of money for an important occasion only to be treated like second-class citizens. After conducting some research, I discovered that the owners of Sandals are white, and it appears that their employees are trained to favor white guests. Initially, I was skeptical of this claim, but I experienced it firsthand over the course of four days. It was the most disheartening feeling imaginable. I feel so terrible wasting such an amazing 4 days with my love in this environment. - Jasmine Walker email: jmitchell91789@gmail.com Member ID: 7742461191498809

The resort was beautiful, grounds were immaculate and staff were pleasant and helpful. The butlers, Carlene, Palmer and David were outstanding, we wanted for nothing. Bartenders were really good. The beach was beautiful and access and transportation to Sandals Royale was an added bonus.

We absolutely love the staff here at Sandals Montego. It’s always a great time. Chefs Gamalia and Loxley keep us well fed around the clock. Kemar and Renae always make us feel welcome. Matthew makes sure our room bar is well stocked. Kai and Kacey know how to be the best butlers. These people are why we come. Hats off to the staff.

Food was great. Servers and staff were very accommodating. Service takes a bit while waiting on food. Grounds are gorgeous, clean, and well kept. If it wasn't so expensive we would be back every year. Beach was a bit small but pretty. The soaking tub on the balcony was amazing.

Stayed four nights at Sandals Montego bay, before seven nights at Sandals Dunn River. At Montego , We had a couple of glitches around service and logistics. Food at Montego Bay was mediocre and that is being generous. With the exception of the sushi bar, which is excellent most of the food was standard fair and not what you expect at a “five star” Resort . we had a beachfront Butler room the second highest level available on our 12th Sandals so we’re pretty familiar with the product. Butlers Camlea and Nasha were great other team members friendly and helpful. But the generally did not anticipate some of the things that you would expect or that we’ve seen before, restocking water picking up dishes in a timely manner and the dirty dishes were staged on the walkway right next to our room. . Brought it to the attention of our butler who immediately engaged Latoya , the customer experience manager and Horatio, The Butler manager. Both made their way to us and visitors with us promptly Latoya the evening we brought our concerns up to the Butler and Horatio the morning of our departure, which was the next day. Horatio committed to making sure our landing at Sandals Dunn River was a white glove experience and I will tell you he did deliver on that. We arrived at river we were met by the Butler manager, for this resort our Butler and immediately swept off to our room and a tour and have received platinum service ever since. In summary; the resort is nice. The maintenance team was on the ball management was excellent committing to engage our concerns and work to get better and they made our landing at Dunns River truly spectacular. If they work on the things we chatted about I think future guess I’ll have a great time and the food really needs to be improved.. Thank you, Horatio, Camle,Nasha and responding maintenance teams.