May 14, 2000
By JAY CLARKE
Knight Ridder Newspapers
From Negril
If you could use all a resort's facilities but pay 20 percent to 25 percent less than those staying there, you'd
think that was a pretty good deal.
That's the concept behind Sandals Resorts' newest all-inclusive brand, the Inn Clubs.
So far, Sandals has created only two such clubs, Beaches Inn in Negril and Sandals Inn in Montego Bay. Both offer
stays in smaller properties with the proviso that guests can use all the facilities of the company's nearby larger
resorts.
Here in Negril, the former Poinciana Beach Resort became a Beaches Inn on Jan. 1 after Sandals bought and renovated
it. This new Beaches Inn is a complete resort in itself, with pools, dining, gift shop, bar and in-room amenities
including color television, telephones, coffee makers and hair dryers in all rooms.
Most of the activity centers on the main pool, which is flanked by the buffet restaurant and two dinner-only sit-down
restaurants, the main bar and gift shop. At night, guests sit at tables on the pool deck to take in the entertainment
on a stage behind the pool. Afterward, the disco upstairs cranks up for late-night partiers.
The beach, part of Negril's seven-mile strand, is just steps away, its clear green waters lapping gently on the
shore. Many visitors walk the tree-lined beach for a mile or more. Sister resort Sandals Negril is a five-minute
walk away.
As at Sandals' other resorts, the price includes all meals, all alcoholic drinks (premium brands), and nearly all
activities. Tipping is a no-no - and employees twice adamantly refused my attempts to reward them.
My wife and I could have remained at the inn and been quite content. Lodgings are mostly in low-rise buildings
set within a hundred yards of the beach. In an A-frame structure are a few one- and two-bedroom villas - part of
a time-share that continues - that can be rented. It's an easy stroll through the well-landscaped grounds to the
fitness center, sports center and a small pool that is used for scuba training.
We lazed on the beach, took a free hour-long trip on a glass-bottom boat; one evening we listened to a well-known
local reggae singer and band that entertained from the poolside stage. We dined in the two specialty restaurants
- one Italian, the other Caribbean - and found the bar followed through with its premium-brand calls. We enjoyed
the casual, intimate atmosphere at the resort; within hours of our arrival we were chatting with fellow guests
at the buffet restaurant, the main bar, pool and beach.
But, like other Beaches Inn guests, we were curious about the larger sister resorts, and since we had full exchange
privileges at nearby Sandals Negril and Beaches Negril, we visited both. It was a 10-minute walk up the beach to
Sandals; Beaches required a short free shuttle ride.
The deal meant we could dine at any of the 12 restaurants on the three properties. We found food choices at both
larger resorts much broader - more selections in the buffets, more restaurants. Granted, none of the food in any
of the resorts could be classified as gourmet. But what one chef lacked in cuisine skills, he made up for in entertainment.
At dinner one night in Sandals' Kimono restaurant, a Japanese restaurant, the Jamaican chef advised that we should
yell every now and then and proceeded to put corn kernels in the "Oriental" salad and douse the meat
with Jamaica's Pickapenny sauce.
Beaches Negril has a huge pool and the broadest beach on Negril's seven-mile strand. We played bingo at the Beaches
pool and watched a game show at Sandals, part of the bigger resorts' more diversified entertainment programs. We
could've gone scuba diving, not available at Beaches Inn, or participated in an art auction at Sandals.
Nevertheless, like many other guests, we were content to stay put at Beaches Inn most of the time.
"I like Beaches Inn because it's small and right on the ocean. Sandals is big but back from the sea,"
said Carol Blevins of Wausau, Wis.
Said her friend Karen Waldvogel, also from Wausau: "It's not as luxurious as Sandals Negril, but it's smaller
and quieter. I like it better."
Price, of course, was a consideration. The Wausau women and their husbands paid $1,450 per person for their week's
stay, including charter air travel to and from Wisconsin and airport transfers in Jamaica. (The latter is a definite
plus; it's a two-hour drive from Montego Bay to Negril.) Chris Crick of Toronto did even better, paying $1,600
Canadian (about $1,100 U.S.). Those rates were set by a tour operator and may have included deals available at
the time of booking.
Beaches and Sandals land-only prices are the same whether booked individually or through a tour operator; air fare
is additional. Until June 18, Beaches Inn land prices begin at $220 per adult person per day. Rates at Beaches
Negril begin at $300 per person per day. Deals are often available. At Sandals Negril, the rate is $275 per person
per day, with another kind of discount available for longer stays.
Of course, there is a tradeoff. The pools at both Sandals and Beaches are considerably larger than at Beaches Inn.
Sandals and Beaches have more impressive public spaces, offer more bars, more entertainment and some facilities
that the smaller resort does not possess. Among these were a spa, squash and racquetball courts.
Also, the larger resorts' specialty restaurants limit the number of Beaches Inn guests, as does the spa. Certain
restrictions apply to all guests. Sandals Negril is open only to traditional couples, for one. All resorts charge
for off-site excursions such as deep-sea fishing, rafting on the Martha Brae river, visits to Ocho Rios and Dunn's
River Falls, shopping forays to town and sunset cruises.
The 52-room Sandals Inn in Montego Bay operates much the same way, its guests having exchange privileges at nearby
Sandals Montego Bay and Sandals Royal Caribbean.
Though crime and hassling by vendors has been a problem in Jamaica - last year the situation was so bad that the
government deployed soldiers to protect tourists - these and other all-inclusive resorts have good security. Members
of the Jamaican staff at all five resorts I visited were friendly and helpful, and guards were stationed both at
the entrances and at each end of the beaches.
That's the plus side of the cocoon-like insulation the all-inclusive resorts wrap around their guests. On the other
hand, unless they wander off on their own, visitors rarely see the poverty that wracks much of the island and is
the underlying reason for the high crime rate.