Waking at 6 am, and dressed and out by 6.30, would be purgatory in January in the UK, but in Jamaica, ‘no trouble mon’. Jamaica with its white sand, friendly locals, beautiful beaches and sunshine, how much better could it get? ……..Well much better actually, since our holiday was an all inclusive one with the Sandals group at Whitehouse. Our beach view room (all rooms at this resort have a beach view) was beautiful and well appointed. The sun shone, the drinks were free and plentiful, and the staff charm personified. There was a choice of restaurants, usually two open for breakfast, three for lunch, and four for dinner, plus the wonderful little café de Paris which served delectable pastries and coffee from 5.30 am until 11 pm. We should have returned home like little porkers… but we didn’t, as the gentle exercise of walking the beach and wandering around the resort to the various shops, restaurants, and entertainments kept us on the go between times lazing around one of the three pools or on the gorgeous beach raked daily by hard working and charming young Jamaicans. Staff throughout the resort are without exception, happy and hard working, always with a friendly ‘good morning mon’, and time to answer your queries. Diabetic, or special diet requirements, just ask at the restaurant of your choice, and ‘no trouble’, your requests for alternative food are dealt with speedily and with a smile, a couple of minutes and your choice is served up as beautifully presented as the rest of the menu. We ate at three of the restaurants, and our food was without exception exquisite and plentiful. Our day usually began with a croissant and coffee at Café de Paris, followed by a dawn walk on the beach, taking some wonderful photographs as we went. A swim and gentle sunbathe on the plentiful sun loungers, then a shower and down to the Bayside restaurant for a wonderful buffet breakfast, back to the pool until 1 pm and down to the French pool to watch the organised fun and games, run by the hard working Sandals staff, and on to a restaurant at about 2 pm for a little lunch. During this time rooms were restocked and cleaned and beautifully white towels changed by discreet staff, who, we had been warned upon booking, must NOT be tipped. (a real shame, as without exception they deserved a reward for their attention to detail, helpfulness and happy smiles). Then a rest or sunbathe until about 5 pm and a walk along the beach for a sunset photo opportunity, Whitehouse has great sunsets, and staff photographers take beautiful couples/sunset photos which you can purchase if you wish. We went to the opposite end of the beach however, where we had discovered a pelican fished every evening ,and we took wonderful sunset /pelican pictures ,alone except for a few lone fishermen. A stroll back to our room ,a shower and out for an evening meal and entertainment such as fire eaters, steel bands, or pirate barbeques, followed by a late evening Disco for those younger than ourselves. The wonderful thing about Sandals is that even when fully occupied, the energetic can find events such as scuba diving, tennis or a gym, and the peace loving can stroll away from others in peaceful tropical gardens or on the beach, while sun lovers have pool and beach with plentiful loungers’ sunshades and poolside bars. Evenings were peaceful, as events were away from our rooms, staff turndown each evening was prompt, our room refrigerator was restocked daily and the beautifully big beds were extremely comfortable. This was our first all inclusive holiday, and it was a real revelation, we’ll be repeating it. What more could we want …….Well just one thing. We wanted to stay!
