Food and Fun at Sandals Negril, May 2005

Author: Host DebbieH103
Date of Trip: May 2005

Here are details from my trip to Sandals Negril with an afternoon at Beaches Negril.

Sandals Negril Bayside Dinner

They had a menu that was 100% seafood one night. We chose to dine out on the patio overlooking the ocean. You could also dine under the fans and still have a view of the ocean. A number of guests had insect repellant at their table, and we wish we had it with us. The mosquitoes were out. Todd was bitten here. I was not.

We ordered four courses here. I felt so great the whole dinner. It was so romantic and festive, and we needed the relaxation.

For appetizer, I had the crab cake. It was pretty good and was lighter in taste than what we get here in Houston. Todd had the melon with shrimp. He had a nice plate of fruit with two shrimp.

We both had the shrimp bisque. We both enjoyed it. Todd thought it was a little tomatoey, but I did not. We could taste the shrimp, and it was in a similar consistency to the good Sandals soups we are used to (like pumpkin, etc.).

The entrée choices included tuna Wellington, some grilled fish, and a number of seafood medleys. I had the Caribbean seafood medley. Todd ordered the seafood in puff pastry. They said they were out of puff pastry, though people did get the tuna Wellington. They served him the contents! We had scallops, shrimp, etc. The dishes were similar, but the sauces were different. I liked mine better.

Before that, I had a green salad, and Todd had fried fish fingers. They first brought me no dressing. Eventually, I was able to get vinaigrette.

The band began playing ’70s tunes at 8pm, and we enjoyed hearing songs that we like.

Oriental Night at Bayside

We went to the Oriental night at Bayside. Todd didn’t really want to go there when he saw some of the items laid out ready to be served. I should have listened to him. This was not our best meal.

The Chinese menu looked better than it was. We shared scallops, shrimp and spring roll appetizers. The scallops were not as cooked as we would have liked. The spring roll was more like a burrito. For salad, I had cucumber and tomato. That is exactly what it was, no lettuce or anything. Todd had chicken wings. They were served cold. Soup was called chicken and egg. It was good but tasted Jamaican, not Chinese. For entree, Todd ordered the tenderloin medium. It was cooked past that. It was served with mashed potatoes and stir-fried veggies. I had vegetarian noodles. It was boring, so I didn’t eat much. Jazz was on about 8pm, warming up for Elvis.

Sandals Negril Kimonos

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We were seated with six people from New York– four were together. There was another couple, too. Most were honeymooners. We had a fun time, but it was not as good of a meal as a Benihana. For appetizers, they offered a couple of sushi plates, spring rolls, or some chicken dish. We ordered the spring rolls. They came with a hot chili sauce. It was two small pieces and it was not that Oriental.

We had a miso soup. This was brown in color and was very good. Our salad had the ginger dressing and was greens with tomatoes. For the entrée, they cooked shrimp, scallops, beef, marlin, and chicken.

Our cook was Omar. He sang throughout the whole meal. At first, he sang Bob Marley songs and then ’60s tunes. It was fun at first but became annoying because nobody could talk at all. This was his whole show vs. the knife bit that some do. Also, he offered us extra, but then, when we tried to get any of the extra he had cooked, he would not give it. I only ate the beef and scallops, so a few bites would have been welcome, and Todd wanted some too. Oh, well, we had enough.

After dinner, they seated us in another area and brought out a dessert cart. I nibbled on some nut tart, while Todd nibbled on cake.

Sandals Negril Resort and Spa

This room was in a building called the Plantation building on the new map. This room was closer to the road. Our room had no balcony or patio and had a view of the roof and tennis courts. We did have a refrigerator and were able to order room service. We had a large four-poster bed. The tub was small and had an incorporated shower. The closet was an L-shape with entry on two sides. Each side had one shelf and a rod. There was an iron and ironing board. The safe was the old lock style.

The bathroom sink had a full-length mirror and a big mirror over the sink. The sink area was big enough for two sinks but had one. The hair dryer did not require holding the button down the whole time of use.

We had a TV in an armoire with two drawers. The satellite had a number of channels, including networks. Some had better reception than others. We had a CD player on the clock-radio.

We had Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, club soda, tonic water, ginger ale, juices, French white wine, red wine, champagne, and several off-brand liquors, along with Appleton rum. We always had plenty of glasses, and there was ice down the steps from our room, although it was not always replenished by the staff. The concierge people didn’t really stock the rooms like other places. They brought whatever we called for. When we asked for Diet Coke, they brought eight.

We did not get robes. I asked for them many times, and we finally got them on our third day. Todd had fallen while running out of the shower and had a whelp that was two inches across and almost half an inch high just from trying to answer the door. Then, another time, I had to scream, “just a minute” four times while I tried to get dressed from the bath when someone was at the door.