I just plugged in a week for the end of June, and Sandals and Beaches are SO expensive -- how can you justify spending so much when the fellow tourists at the beach properties near you are paying 100???
You add up the difference over seven nights, and you have to be really wealthy to enjoy the higher-end properties. Even if you are, I'm not sure it's worth it because the food, rooms and service are just too similar to the more affordable properties.
The Emperor Has No Clothes
I've always wondered about that myself....even if you consider the room at $200, that's $500-$700 a night for food & beverages!!! Can anyone eat & drink THAT much??!! Of course if water sports are included, that might make a big difference, if you use them.
I haven't stayed sandals, but a have stayed $300 a night a/i and I don't even feel that is worth it, so I can't imagine it being worth their crazy prices, but never been so don't know.. ill stay at 100 a night place. That's for me.. now when I go other Caribbean places like Riviera Maya, I go.ai, cause I don't like allot of Mexican or Latin American food.. but never paid more then 2-300 a night for 5 star palaces with 12 restaurants..
To me it's not. I've never actually payed to stay at Sandals but I worked for them for a long time so I did stay there often on "working" trips. I mean don't get me wrong, everything is top notch as far as rooms, food, liquor, and service...but I personally could not justify spending that amount of money. I can see how Beaches is a good option for families, the kids will always have something to do. They cater to a "luxury" market and that is a market I am definitely not in.
compared to resorts in Fiji, or other South Pacific Resorts....thats like a budget hotel........its all perception I guess??
That's kind of what I was going to say Rambo. My mom only does 5 star; when I took her to Atlantis in the Bahamas I kept thinking "for what I'm spending in a day I could stay in Negril for a week". But she doesn't travel often, and she deserves to have exactly what she wants. Also, I travel for fun several weeks every year, and on a teacher's budget I have to watch my money. Most of my friends, however, only take 5 or 6 vacation days in a year, so they don't have a problem paying $500 per night. Our travel budgets are about the same, mine is just really, REALLY spread out! LOL!! The great thing about traveling is there's something for everyone.
nope..............
you can stay a lot of nice places for a week.....on the same beach.....for that $700-$900 bucks a night...
Cool Runnings, Marko
To be fair, at Sandals the $700-$900 a night would be for a couple at the VERY HIGHEST END Butler Service accommodations. There are multiple 37 inch+ plasma screen TVs in the suite, your own private pool(s) and a Jamaican butler to pamper you like virtually no other resort can. If you want an incredible vacation and money is no object, this would be a great choice.
Lets not start condemning others because they can afford things that many cannot or choose not. Live and let live....
http://www.sandals.com/media_new/ima...300-medium.jpg
Our first trip to Negril was to Beaches for a family wedding. It was very nice but my husband and I can spend three weeks in Negril for what we paid for one week there. Luckily we disregarded all the warnings we got that it wasn't safe to leave the resort and discovered the REAL Negril outside the walls and for that we thank the destination wedding at Beaches:) We will be returning for our fourth trip in January and will smile as we pass the Beaches sign on our way to one of the smaller cliff properties that we fell in love with!
Rob makes a good point but I'd never pay that personally. Even if I had it. In a place like Negril you could spend 1/2 that and still do really really well for yourself.
just looked on virgin holidays site and they are offering a Grand luxe beachfront room at £310.97 a night per person (which includes flight from Gatwick)
just read a wonderful blog entry about Half Moon Resort in Montego Bay - presidents and royalty stay here - and it is not $700 - 900 per night - the blogger is a real traveler but was so happy with the resort - she didn't leave for 5 days
a link is posted on my facebook page
I don't care if I win the freakin lottery, there is no way I will EVER pay over $500 tops for a room anywhere, period, for any reason. That is just ridiculous. I could see $500 a night for a place like the caves, but that's about it.
LOL on all dis. My poor government paid broke ars don't pay more then $140 a night for a single and at that it better include all my food and drinks. Non-AI under $75.
We probably have to understand though that Sandals sells dream vacations and honeymoons. Those of us on these boards are not once in a lifetime Negril vacationers. For a special occasion coming once as a dream those rates are on par. I know many who have honeymooned in Jamaica that tell me how much they paid and loved it. Hopefully some of those come back and we may see them on boards like these. In their minds they got what they paid for a dream come true.
Its all relative, to some $700 a night is chicken feed and thats just the way it is. Anyone that has been to those high end resorts its not too tough to take.
Haven't been to Beaches for a few years (since my kids have grown) and never paid that much. Seems the price has gone up quite a bit since we last went. Thought the price was steep but always felt I got my monies worth, especially with the free airport transfers, snorkeling, skiing, water park, arcade, etc. My kids loved it and were always entertained and I always felt secure letting them roam. We've had great family vacations there. When I'm on solo trips or with friends, I prefer staying non-AI. If you're taking kids, though, IMO, Beaches is worth it. On the other hand, my kids also had a great time at Crystal Waters and CocoLaPalm.
Thought I should also mention that I always booked Beaches through my local travel agent. The price was much better than what they had listed on Beaches website.
WOW. That is EXPENSIVE! I have stayed at Hedo numerous times, and as a single share the rate I've always gotten has alwasy been under $200 a night!
I think you have to look at the location of the resort. Beer and food can found in Negril inexpensively and its good. Not the same on other islands. I have been some places where the drink prices were out of this world and I could easier get my monies worth.
I like to split my time between all inclusive and ergular hotels...the best of bnoth worlds if you will. Coco La Palm 4 nights...beaches 3 nights... 10 days and a wakeup...but who's counting.
You can still have a great time and spend much less, IMHO! If money is no object....go for it!
Tony i am right behind you!
It also depends on the deal you get. I get 10 % off entire package for being a US veteran. $500.00 off for reward points for being there previously...and then they were running a 65 % sale. My family of 5 is going for 3 nights for $1747.00. Thats a cost of less then 350.00 for 3 nights or 117.00 per person per night everything included. You need to research and make sure you get every discount possible. Once there we can eat, drink, scuba, snorkel etc...
I also booked 11/2/10 for a late June vacation.
I always thought that to get your monies worth of an A/I you would have to drink a lot more than i do. That said I used to love Sunset at the Palms, still do but its not as good as it used to be with all the development on Bloody Bay. As others have said too many good places to Eat and dring in Negril to stay in one place all week.
Again it depends on the value of the deal and when you book. 350.00 per night is a steal for a family of 5 in a Ocean front Suite, 3 meals or more a day, all you can drink, pools , waterslides, game rooms, scuba, snorkel etc... It costs 60.00 per hour to Jet Ski on the beach or 20.00 per person to snorkel on a couple hour trip. I just don't paint in such broad strokes. Research through wonderful sites like this, booking early and knowing what your family wants to do is the key. Im doing a whole day tour with my family at YS Falls/ Pellican and the cost is substantial. If I wasn't doing A/I for part of the trip with kids 14,11,9 they may drive me broke. crazy or both...lol. Trust me there are deals out there..know what you want and shop your ass off. My airfare has almost doubled since I booked in Novemeber. A/I DEFINTELY have there place...is just not for everyone.
i know a friend who makes well over $100,000 a week.this is low end room rates for him...lol
I'm sorry....but $100,000 a WEEK? That is....lemme get my calculator - that is over $5,000,000.00 a year. Can anyone actually EARN that kind of money? Boy oh boy, I work really hard at a difficult job and have been doing it for over 20 years and I make
about .007% of what they make. It is just not right.
You make that much your not staying at beaches...
yes i may be low balling his income....he manufacturs tie back tie offs for hi rises when they are being built. tradesmen can hook up thier safty harnesses to themQuote:
Originally Posted by Debrahmw
I stayed at Beaches shortly after it opened as a guest of my Travel Agent/friend who had it comp'd. It was great, but I always used to say the same amount of money would get me at least 2 trips with my budget. My very first trip was in 92, and Grand Lido had just opened and Apple vacations had a killer deal. It was only a 4 night stay to see what I thought of Jamaica. I obviously liked it, LOL.
Each to their own I guess, but I wonder how many people who stay at the higher end AI's actually venture out from their hotels. If thats the case then how do you get a feel for any country you visit ?
Good for you plongdin!! :D My first trip to Negril, I stayed a SamSara on the cliffs. I was treated so nicely!!! And as a single woman traveling alone I never felt uncomfortable. The staff really looked out for me, would chat with me and helped me get to know the area. Since it was my first time there, I booked several tours. Usually I was the first pick up on the bus before we would head to the Resorts (Sandals, Beaches, etc) to pick up other guests. It would take a moment for folks to realize that I was "alone" and they always said the same thing "Aren't you afraid? They (the resorts) told us not to leave the property by ourselves." So if folks want to pay a ton of money for the luxury, fine let them have it - those properties ARE lovely and top notch. However, they should not tell the tourists lies or exaggerate the "danger" and it would be nice if a likkle bit more of that high end money would trickle down into the salaries of the people who work there. :cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by plongdin
our first trips were to Sandals, if it wasn't for AI's like that we possibly never would have discovered Negril. We can no longer afford to stay there so we haven't in our last 5 trips but they do have there place IMO.Quote:
Originally Posted by Buff
Can you tell me more about the 10% for veterans? Is that beaches only, or other resorts? How does that work?Quote:
Originally Posted by Tonyboombatz
A friend of mine just got back from her first trip to Negril and she stayed at Beaches. Before she went, I gave her phone numbers for friends of mine to help with transport, shopping, nightlife and I gave her suggestions/tips about Negril and still......SHE NEVER LEFT THE RESORT, not even one time!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Buff
Awww! That is kind of sad - but hopefully she had a good time where she was and just didn't feel the need to venture out. Then again, she may have been warned not to. :(Quote:
Originally Posted by luvjabd