December 27th, 2007
Travel: Rum sun ..& no cash
PERHAPS it’s because we live in Milton Keynes - as far from paradise as you can get - that Jamaica seems drop-dead gorgeous.
You wake up in the morning and pull back the curtains to gaze across palm trees, beach and glorious ocean. My wife Jo and I were simply blown away day after day by the same view.
We were staying at Sandals’ resort in Negril on the far west side of Jamaica. It’s a 90-minute drive from the airport at Montego Bay along a winding coast road.
Everyone says, “Welcome to Jamaica, have a nice day” - and your nice day starts as soon as you arrive. In our case, that was in the early hours of the morning but it didn’t seem to matter. There was a glass of champagne waiting, a big smile from the night manager and we were instantly made to feel at home.
That set the scene for our seven-night stay. And apart from the scenery, it is the friendly staff that stick in the mind.
Their favourite saying was “yeah man,” and that summed up their attitude to everything asked of them.
For those who have never been on an all-inclusive holiday, the name says it all. You don’t pay for your drinks or food at the time; it’s all covered in the holiday price.
Whether this is good value or not depends on how much you eat and drink, of course.
Sandals gives you a choice of four restaurants, from Kimonos - a high class Japanese-style establishment - to the healthy stir-fries at Four Cs. There’s even a late-night fast-food joint on the beach to make us Brits feel at home.
It’s also worth mentioning the lunches where you could help yourself to a huge variety of excellent dishes. That’s where the damage was done on our waistlines.
It is perfectly feasible to go from one restaurant to another having a meal in each - all in one night. But if you did that the plane wouldn’t get off on the runway on the way back and you’d look like Bernard Manning. You could also drink yourself under the table, palm trees and anything else available. Strangely the availability of all that Jamaican rum and other free booze had the opposite effect. We ended up hardly drinking… strange but true.
This particular all-inclusive holiday even means that the staff will not accept day-to-day tips. You can leave gifts, but make sure the management know. Football and rugby shirts go down well, as do toiletries for female staff.
There are bars and restaurants all along the main beach in Negril but when you are in an all-inclusive resort the temptation is to stay in.
I made an excursion to the golf course about four miles away and returned from one afternoon looking like a boiled shrimp.
The only other time we left the seclusion of the resort was to do a quick spot of shopping. You can walk along the beach and browse among small stalls selling bits and pieces to gullible tourists… like us. We returned with a lizard to hang on the wall - I kid you not - and a ship in a bottle. Don’t ask.
If you want to be more active, Sandals can provide that. If you want to chill out, that’s fine too.
You can play tennis, use the gym (ha!) and there are competitions for those who want to spend their holiday running round more than they do at home. The most exercise Jo and I managed was the 40-yard walk out of our room on to the beach. With that in mind we also had a massage in the spa. It was a tough week, believe me.