Long-time clients Kyle and Keith just came back from an anniversary “escape” to Sandals Ochi Beach in Jamaica, and had some great feedback to share with me about their experience. They honeymooned a year ago at the brand-new Sandals La Source in Grenada, which made for an interesting comparison with this larger, older property. But the key thing is that, with each trip, they learn a little more about themselves and their preferences, and they keep coming back to Annie’s Escapes to help guide and advise them 🙂

Hi Ann

We had a great time!! Always thanks to you and your insight and details, so thanks so much!

The resort (Sandals Ochi Beach) was great, though as you had warned us when booking, the split resorts is a bit of a challenge. We didn’t quite grasp that until we were there. The shuttles to the beach area can be very delayed, but they do try their best. We absolutely loved our room, and spent almost every afternoon there, when the sun got to be too much for our New England skin! The pool was great, as was the hot tub. The extra space with the living room and bedroom were awesome.

Our butlers took care of our every need, and were so sweet to us- Melissa and Ladonna. The food was amazing, the drinks were plentiful and the atmosphere was great! The favorite restaurants were Kelly’s on the pier, and the French. We had the perfect time, day and seating for the most amazing sunset at Kelly’s on the pier- pictures attached. We are pretty laid back people on vacation, so  we didn’t take part in most of the entertainment/ games and such- as Keith says, we travel to not spend time at the pool, since we could do that at home!

There was simply no comparison to Grenada though, which we were sort of surprised about. Keith thinks there’s about 3 steps between this and Grenada, just from the level of service, and the beauty of the resort. I think since the resort is so large, it’s just very hard to keep up with. The level of grounds-keeping, cleanliness of the common areas and the beach were far below what we experienced in Grenada- basically you spoiled us rotten! If we had never been to another resort, I’m sure we would think this was incredible, but both the Dominican at the Iberostar Grand, and Grenada were just heads above this (totally our fault as we picked it!) They never cleaned the beach, so that there were gobs of seaweed and rocks everywhere, it was never raked. The first day we were at the beach there were only 6 chairs out (all full), and it took until around noon to actually have a seat. None of this stopped us from having a good time, but since you asked in comparison, this is definitely not what we expected from a Sandals property. Having said that, we would still recommend it to people who had not been to Grenada- or as we understand St Lucia.

As always however, we are looking forward to our next escape, and look forward to planning it with you! We are definitely realizing and learning the things that we value over others. We put the beach above all other things. We love a good beach, one that we can walk is great! Our favorite beach so far is Bavaro in the Dominican. We also love good food, and great service. We do spend a fair amount of time in our room, if it’s a little nicer than a regular room. No matter what, we love working with you, and look forward to working with you for the years to come!!

Keith and Kyle