Sunset Beach Resort & Spa All-Inclusive

Went with our 13,17, and 20year old children. I knew it was a 3star and was ok with that until we saw how run down it was. As an American I think of Holiday Inn Express or Hilton Garden Inn when I think 3star but this was Super8 or Motel 6. Rooms were very run down. First room was musty and the tile was cracked and dingy in shower. We got moved (not upgraded) and it was slightly better. Rooms are plain jane which is ok but beds were cheap hard mattresses with older linen. Air worked ok in our room but 2nd room never did cool down. Our neighbors actually leaked over all their stuff.
The food options were limited because they only keep one restaurant open each night plus buffet. To get in restaurant you have to make reservations days ahead. We were actually told that we should have called the week before our arrival to arrange after we couldn't even get in the restaurant the first 2 nights. Food is ok but nothing fancy. They don't do much to emphasize local cuisine. Expect buffet type food. No snacks anywhere if you have kids except for burgers,hot dogs, and chicken. If you have young kids you will need to bring something. Got food poisoning the first day but no one else in family did.
Ammenties were lacking. The spa is pricey by most standards. The beach equipment was limited and we were told that this was one of their slowest weeks. They have a dozen snorkel sets for whole resort, 2 kayaks, a paddle boat, and windsail that you can only use within 100ft of shore. Everything has to be turned in by 4:30 so not much good if you leave and come back late afternoon looking for something to do. Mini golf was literally falling apart.
Staff: except for Italian restaurant didn't really care about your staff unless you were handing them american cash. You got great service if you continually tipped even though it is included. We have been at other all inclusives were this is not an issue. We had a huge problem checking in, not due to resort, but couldn't get any help. Even after being in tears and asking for a manager no one helped us. We were told to call the reservation desk which is who knows where.
Pools are ok but often over run with kids. There is no one monitoring so kids were jumping and splashing adults all the time. Ok if you have young kids but not so much if you are trying to relax. Many europeans just dropped their cigerette butts and ashes all over the pool area which I found disgusting. The hot tub only worked half of the days we were there and again young kids jumping in it with no one watching them. There were also two days were kids from the area came in (2 adults with about 12-15 kids) and over ran the place. They over ran the lazy river so bad one day that no one could even go into one part of it. Would have been ok if anyone that worked there had tried to keep them under control.
Overall not impressed for the money we spent. I wasn't expecting much but got even less. My suggestion is to spend a little more somewhere else or don't go all inclusive because it wasn't worth it.

Unique Quality: Beach is blocked off on both ends so no one outside the resort comes on to the beach to bother you.

Directions: Next to one other resort about 10min from downtown. All other resort are on the opposite side of MBay

Since so much of our time was spent at the resort, I thought I'd add a little detail on the things you could do while there.

Pools-there are three pools, one has a swim up bar and is more adult oriented, one is a small pool that is set up for water polo and the 3rd is part of a water park that is more kid oriented although adults are free to use it. There are two water slides at the water park pool, fun even for adults and an extensive lazy river that circles around the pirate ship. They've boarded up the hot tubs inside the "castle", I never saw them working anyway. There is a large hot tub near the pool with the swim up bar.

Beaches-there are two beaches, one that stretches out front of most of the resort and a very small au naturel beach which is located all the way at the far end of the resort so people with young children do not need to worry about having to pass through it. The beach here is not nearly as nice as the beach in Negril, there are lots of rocks and shells and I found myself wearing sandals whenever I walked on it. It's also not connected to any other beach so you can't walk very far.

Non motorized water sports-there are kayaks and paddleboats that you can take out by yourself, they required a staff member to come along on the hobie cat or sunfish because of the reef, even if you are an experienced sailor. They have snorkel equipment that you can borrow, the reef is very close to shore and you can see lots of different sea life, I got a little freaked out by all the jelly fish and when I saw the barracuda, I swam for shore. The jelly fish were all sitting on the bottom though and I don't think anyone had any problems with them. If you're walking in the water you'll want aqua shoes because of the sea urchins.

Unique Quality: Health club-I figured I would minimize the eating and drinking damage on my diet by going to the health club every morning, they have free weights, weight machines and about 10 different pieces of exercise equipment (treadmills, bikes, stair machines and an elliptical), several of which could have used some maintenance. I also saw yoga classes and exercise classes offered.

Other-there are tennis courts, a small mini golf, beach volleyball, evening musical entertainment, a kids club, a spa

Tours-all of the tour operators have tour desks at the resort. You can book a variety of tours- a booze cruise on the Tropical Dreamer, a rafting trip on the Great River, Dunn's River Falls, Negril for the day, Appleton Rum Factory tour, etc. If you want to go into Montego Bay to shop, there is a shopping shuttle for $10 per person round trip. Taxis from the resort seemed to be expensive, $20 each way to the downtown/hip strip area, but it would make sense if there were 4 people going.

March 2010 was our 5th visit to Sunset Beach, if you are looking for an all inclusive at a reasonable price, this might suit your needs, it is always one of the lowest priced AI packages I find. Located at the furthest end of Montego Bay, 15-20 minute drive from the airport, Sunset Beach is a 420 room resort on a secluded beach. It's not really within walking distance of anything and there are no other resorts nearby although there are a couple of resorts under construction next door.

The rooms are not plush, but they are clean, the beds are OK. We have stayed in one of the Towers three times, and in the low rise section twice (The Inn), every year our view gets a little better, we started off with the service road, last time we had a view of the grounds and a sliver of the ocean, this time a 3rd floor balcony overlooking the ocean.

Room amenities include a room safe, hair dryer, cable TV and a/c. The toiletries are in dispensers on the wall (good for the environment I suppose) but if you are fussy about what shampoo you use, you might bring your own. No conditioner or lotion.

There are three reservation restaurants, Chinese, Italian and Caribbean, we didn't have Chinese on this visit, the Italian and Caribbean had mostly good food and good service. Make your reservations first thing when you arrive if you want to go. For all other dining there is a buffet restaurant that has good food but not as much variety as some of the larger resorts. Breakfast was always good, lunch was usually OK with some interesting local offerings such as jerk chicken and curried goat, dinner was usually good. There was also a place to get burgers, fries, etc. We certainly didn't go hungry but the food isn't so good that we overeat.

There are many bars, one in the pool, one at the far end of the beach near the au naturel beach, several located in the lobby and dining areas.

Unique Quality: I found the service here to be friendly, check in and check out quick and efficient. A couple of minor complaints, we got a wake up call at 6:30 am and didn't order one, the 1st excursion we booked through their tour desk didn't show and they cancelled one of our dinner reservations as that restaurant wasn't open on Sunday.

Guests range to all ages and this year since it was spring break it was packed, lots of young kids, a few spring breakers, lots of different nationalites.

Sunset Beach is a good resort choice if you a) want to be close to the airport b)want an affordable all inclusive and c) are not too demanding. If you want a good beach, go to Negril, if you want to be pampered, this is not the place. A good choice for families, I wouldn't pick it for my wedding or honeymoon although lots of people do.

They do not call it Sunset beach for nothing. The views from my room were breathtaking. I went during spring break expecting many people but the resort was very quiet. The food was great, rooms clean and weather perfect. As soon as you arrive they have drinks waiting for you and the check in process was quick and easy.

Unique Quality: The nude beach was great and private. the spa was a great experience.

Directions: 15 min from airport

I stayed there when business took me to the north coast so I cannot speak to the whole experience. The rooms are very nice, typical tropical resort. The breakfast buffet is good. The dinner buffet (the hotel is all inclusive) was disappointing. There was not much to choose from and the items were "institutional" with lots of filler and not much meat. For one of the dinner buffets the lines were so long that my dinner revolved around mac and cheese and rolls. The lobby bar kept the all inclusive drinks moving in the evening. There was live music in the huge lobby with groups that rotate around the island. The hotel was going great guns all the times I was there. The young to middle aged crowd seemed to be having a good time in the evening and still seemed pleased the next morning at breakfast. I take that for a good sign.

Unique Quality: Yes the buffets are aimed at saving money but the staff still are friendly and would keep vacationers in the mood.

One small tip - if you have seen the resort website, don’t be fooled by the virtual representation of the water park. As of 28th March, 2005, it was still a rather noisy building site (see attached photo). This leads me on to another point. Noise can be a problem. Accommodation is in two tower blocks (A and B) and a number of rooms on two levels towards the beach. The rooms on the lower floors of the tower blocks are affected by the noise of the activities in the main areas, especially block B where the nightclub is underneath. A room on a higher floor is better. The two level rooms, as I said, currently have the building site, but may be better when work stops, although apparently they get very hot in the height of summer.

Prior to this trip I had never stayed in an all-inclusive resort and have never had any desire to do so. I was there as it was arranged for me by work. To be honest, my opinions have not changed, and I still would not choose an all-inclusive for personal travel, but, in fairness, Sunset Beach is very good.

Firstly, location. This is a problem at Sunset Beach as it is situated some miles from the main drag known as the “Hip Strip”. A taxi here from here to the Hip Strip costs $12US ($20US to the airport). It is located on the West side of Montego Bay, past the Freeport where most of the cruise ships come in. The location, however, gives it the benefit of a lovely beach.

There is a full programme of activities at the resort from early in the morning until late in the evening. There is a separate programme for children. Activities include volleyball (beach and pool), watersports (canoes and pedaloes are available), various games, treasure hunts etc.

Considering the food is prepared in such large quantities it is remarkably good. All meals are self-service buffets with a table service of water and wine with the evening meal. There is also a snack bar open almost all day serving burgers, hotdogs, toasted cheese sandwiches and very good jerk chicken.

There are several bars in the resort, including a swim up pool bar open from 1000 - 1800. In the evenings most of the bars close at midnight, but the English Bar stays open until 0200. There is also a small and rather dingy nightclub which goes until 0200, although it appears to be populaced predominantly by fifteen year olds, not really my idea of fun.

See seperate tip for more information.

Unique Quality: Nice beach and a good pool bar.

Great stay...not too crowded so the drinks were worth it. The bar tenders were a lto of fun and even let me bartend the last day in the pool. Jimmy Buffets bar is amazing..make sure you go there in the day so you can go to the hot tubs and waterslides etc...

BE CAREFUL When you get drunk, dont get caught doing anything stupid, they have cameras and will kick you out !!

Unique Quality: VERY satisfied with the trip for our $600 price!!

( This review is edited from my much larger review page at epinions.com)

I think the best feature Sunset Beach provides is the seclusion. It sits on a small peninsula of land, isolated far from the hustle and bustle of the town. All five of our days there were picture perfect, weather-wise.

Our room was very clean and painted in a cool tropical blue. The U.S. dollar was equal to 55 Jamaican dollars at that time, which sounds great, but the prices followed accordingly.

The Eats
If you are so inclined, you could eat from sun up to about midnight. The main chow hall is the Banana Walk Café. It’s strictly a self-serve buffet, which speeds along the meals quite nicely. You can sit in the open air interior, or take your plate out on the seaside patio. My grade for the food at this café is a B-. Nothing blew us away, but it certainly was satisfying.

Filling in between the three main meals is an adjacent grill that churns out burgers and fries, hot dogs, and jerk chicken. Fountain sodas are easy to get, because in both the grill and the Banana Walk Café, that is also a self-service convenience. The only beverage that is served table to table by the staff is the coffee. There are bars in key locations all around the lobby and lounge areas, even one that allows those in one of the pools to swim up to it.

The other three days of our stay, we are out on the excursions that let us experience Jamaica’s charm and splendor. In some cases, this charm and splendor sends you running back to the tranquility of the resort compound. I fully intend to not set foot outside the resort gates on our next visit to Sunset Beach.

For a five nights (Monday 2pm arrival at Sunset Beach, a Friday 10am bus to airport leaving the resort), all-inclusive, plus round trip airfare to Newark New Jersey, it was $700 each. I've heard good things about Negril, and Ocho Rios. If you are in Montego Bay, Sunset Beach is the way to do Jamaica.

Unique Quality: Great unbroken view of the sea, and the beach is all private. I can't stress this enough..... this resort is geographically separated from the rest of the resorts. No one can walk down the beach uninvited and bug you to buy stuff.

Directions: A straight shot from the Montego Bay airport

We had an awesome time at this resort! The entertainment was especially fun and adds so much excitement to the trip! The resort does an excellent job of making you feel special and part of the fun! I definitely did NOT want to leave!!!