We have just returned from 2 lovely weeks in Jamaica in the sunshine.
Our first week was spent at Secrets in the Preferred section, well worth paying the extra for, if you prefer a more peaceful holiday, also best if you ask for a room overlooking the swimming pool, because if overlooking the village, where all the restaurants & entertainment are, can be a bit noisy until 10.30 most nights & the odd night until 2am!
The room is very well appointed with a really comfortable bed, plenty of cupboard space & a beautiful view from the window.
There are plenty of loungers around the pool, no need to reserve early! Plenty of towels & also a very good idea of a big barrel full of ice & bottles of water on the beach.
No need to snorkel to see the beautiful fish, they are there around the rocks in fairly shallow water & also around a reef that you may walk on out in to the sea! We saw a variety of fish. Starfish, sea urchins etc.
There was also a hummingbirds’ nest & we were fortunate enough to see baby hummingbirds, which was an amazing sight.
Now to the food, there were 7 restaurants, but the World cafe had the best buffets for breakfast & lunch, you name it & it was there, with the best crispy bacon ever. The chef was very good, as I have a lactose intolerance & cannot eat dairy, he came out to tell me what I could eat, but unfortunately it wasn’t until the second week that our butler told me about the bread! Jamaica makes their bread with milk!! So I did get rather unwell.
The evening meals at all restaurants were fine, but not memorable!
We went to SRC, a 20 minute taxi ride away, where we were shown our butler suite which unfortunately was near the main pool where all the activities took place, so we asked to be moved & were very lucky to get a suite in the new Edinburgh building that was amazing! It was huge with a tub on the verandah, can’t think who would want to take a bath out there! It had a very comfy four poster bed & very up to date sanitary ware with an extractor fan that started up when you sat down!
The buffets for breakfast were not up to Secrets standards,but were adequate, but the evening meals were better, especially in the French restaurant.
We were lucky enough to have butlers, who reserved our loungers by the quiet pool, with a freezer box of our chosen beverages & made our dinner reservations.
Both hotels were quite near the airport, but at Secrets they were barely heard, but unfortunately they were very low over Sandals & were not conducive to a relaxing holiday & would put me off going again.
To conclude, we had an enjoyable two weeks, but would not return to Jamaica, as although everyone was very friendly,we did not like being told that it is unwise to walk outside the resort because of the crime!
