We absolutely loved it. Our room was upgraded for free when we first got there and it was wonderful. The restaurants were excellent - especially Eleanors. (If you go, make sure you visit the Martini bar, as well as Eleanors.) The beaches were beautiful, as were the pools. Really, everything met or exceeded our expectations. We can't wait to go again. I guess if I had to pick one drawback it would be that the roped off swimming areas are pretty rocky. Nevertheless, we truly felt like the whole place was a little taste of heaven on earth.

I don’t know where to start! This will be pretty long, but I just want it to be helpful for those of you planning on going to Sandals Whitehouse, since reading reviews was a big help for me. I have everything in categories, so you can just choose what you’re interesting in hearing about, and hopefully it will help. My boyfriend (well, fiancé now!) and I stayed at SW for a week in June as a way to celebrate his safe homecoming from Iraq, and although there were a few minor glitches, we overall had an amazing stay.

AIR JAMAICA FLIGHT:
We flew Air Jamaica, so if anyone is worried about using this airline, I just want to mention that we had a great experience with it! The flight times given to us by Sandals (departing from Atlanta) were perfect, and we did the “Web Check-In” on the Air Jamaica website before going, which helped speed up the process. Even though our flight was just 2 ½ hrs, we were still provided with a full meal during both legs of our travel, as well as small complimentary cups of champagne : ) All of our bags made it there & back just fine. A tip you might find useful: Bring a pen or two!! They didn’t hand out any pens to fill out the customs forms.

MONTEGO BAY AIRPORT:
Yes, the airport is hot & not well air conditioned, but it was completely tolerable. Everything went pretty smoothly. My only issue was that, for our departure, our flight Gate wasn’t posted until around 40 minutes prior to boarding time, and then it was delayed around 30 minutes, but everything worked out.

For anyone flying back into Atlanta: If you buy any alcohol at the airport in Jamaica, be aware that when you get to the Atlanta airport, they will very likely ask you to fit it back into your luggage for another security screening. A lot of people on our flight didn’t know that and bought so much alcohol that it wouldn’t fit into their bags, so they had to go through a special line—but I’m not sure what they had to do. I’m sure everyone got to keep their purchases though, but it was just a lot of extra hassle that no one was expecting.

Once we got to the airport, we were so relieved to find the Sandals lobby. I was told we had 20 minutes until the Whitehouse bus, so I went to the restroom, only to come back 5 minutes later & be ushered immediately onto a bus outside. After a lot of traveling, I was sad that I didn’t get a moment to get a drink or unwind in the lobby, but leaving right away was fine with me. However, once we boarded the hot bus, we were told that we’d have to wait 1 hr & 15 min in our seats to see if anyone else arrived for Whitehouse. I was thinking….why can’t we just wait in the lobby?? I almost asked to go back in, but 20 min later, another group did show up, so we set off.

I enjoyed the ride—it was nice seeing a side of Jamaica that you wont find at a resort. The A/C eventually got cool, so we were comfortable. Our bus driver wasn’t very fun or talkative, but he did get us there safely, so that was good with me. Seeing him driving on the passenger’s seat in the left lane is SO weird! I got scared a few times, but we made it!

CHECK-IN:
Check-in is my only real complaint about our stay, and I’m probably just being picky because we were so tired by the time we arrived. I had read reviews, and was expecting the “cool towels” and “champagne” that everyone has mentioned. However, the towels came from a guy shaking a basket at us while we were still trying to just get out of the van. We were never offered champagne or a drink whatsoever. A girl in the lobby told us to have a seat, but then after sitting there a long time with no one helping us, we went ahead and found her to hand in our check-in information. She looked at us like she’d never seen us before (even though she was right there when we got off the bus) and asked if we had just arrived. I’m not sure why she was so confused because we were the only bus that had arrived during that time, but oh well.

Check-in went pretty fast after that, except that she told us to have a good stay, etc, and walked away without telling us our room number or location! When we did find her, she handed us 2 room keys without an envelope, then disappeared. We had to look at the room number scribbled on our baggage tags, and then when the guy took us on the little cart to the room, we had NO idea of what village we ended up in. When we asked him, he said “Dutch…no…French, yeah…” So we had to look at a map later to even be sure!

He was very helpful though, helping with our bags & making sure everything (phone, fridge, etc) worked in our room. He turned a reggae station on our radio before he left, so that we could get in the Jamaican mood!

ROOM & HOUSEKEEPING:
We were given a card that said we were upgraded, from the 1st floor in the Italian village (which is what we booked) to the 4th floor in the French village. I think the only room difference was the floor height, but that in itself was worth it because the view was AMAZING from the higher floor. We could see the French pool area and a good piece of the ocean. The sunset views were spectacular from our deck!

The room was clean—I’ve provided pictures with this review. The bathroom was the only thing that lacked a little—the cleanliness of the floor/wall tile & tub definitely needed some attention based on the kind of resort we were at. But that’s my only comment there. The shampoo/conditioner/aloe/lotion was in our room, which I was glad to see since we were never given the “amenity kit” at check-in that I have read about in reviews.

We did not have any kind of butler or concierge service—we were just standard. Our housekeeper(s) really impressed us though. No matter what time we left during the morning & evening, we were always given daily & nightly (turndown) service. Plenty of towels, extra soap, drinks always refilled (juices, soda, water), daily event schedule delivered each night. I even noticed that they would organize our shoes in a neat fashion and picked up our messy desk a couple times! I loved coming in to see our covers turned down & pillows fluffed…it was nice! Plus even the night housekeeper refilled towels & such.


FOOD & RESTAURANTS:
I’m not going to detail all of the restaurants, but I will say that our overall dining experience was really good. We actually tried a lot of new stuff that we don’t normally eat (since this was a great opportunity to experiment!), so some of it we liked (CONCH CHOWDER!), & some of it we weren’t crazy over. Our meat, no matter where we ate, was always tender, and we really loved the jerk flavor! Some of the entrees were kind of small, but most were big enough to where we had lots leftover. Appetizer serving sizes are for ONE person, so keep that in mind & get your own appetizer! We always got one or two appetizers apiece, an entrée, & dessert.

I think we stayed during a slower time of year, because the resort never ever seemed crowded. We were seated right away at all of the restaurants except for Eleanors. We ate there twice because it was our favorite, so the 20-30 min wait was worth it. We usually spent our time waiting in the martini bar above the restaurant, which was a great place to hang out. Our service in all restaurants (except for once at Arizonas) was exceptional. Especially at Eleanors, where the manager himself paid a visit to the tables and chatted with us about our experience. We enjoyed dressing up for dinner, but a lot of people (including us occasionally), kept it pretty casual—like church clothes. So no worries about trying to look glamorous—just don’t wear jeans & flip flops!

The only breakfast we had was the buffet at Bayside, which was awesome! The line does get a little backed up for omelets, so we just skipped that and had scrambled eggs and a million other things.

Also, just to mention, there was also a place right on the (Dutch?) beach where you could simply have them grill you a hot dog or burger, nachos, etc, in just a couple minutes without having to go to a restaurant. I got the fresh fruit plate several times & brought it back to the room. And of course, the Café de Paris was AMAZING. All the desserts & ice cream we wanted, and really good coffee!

POOL & BAR:
Since we stayed in the French village and the pool there is pretty big, we never had a need to use the larger Italian pool. They only had a limited number of floats in this pool (we asked), so sometimes we had to stake out and try & snatch one when it came free. Towels were always plentiful.

We definitely enjoyed the bars. They didn’t always seem thrilled to serve you, especially if you didn’t quite know what you wanted, but we were always helped without much of a wait. We had quite a few Jamaican Smiles & Miami Vices! They don’t make the drinks very strong, but if you ask for more alcohol, you get it!

Many of the best padded chairs (in the best locations near the pool & beach) were reserved for the concierge/butler suites, so sometimes we had to look around for a good spot. Kinda depressing at times, but oh well. There were plenty of chairs on the French beach, although they weren’t padded.

NIGHTLIFE:
As many people have said, there isn’t a lot going on at night, but if you’re on vacation to relax, then it’s plenty. They had nightly events in the Cabaret, and we enjoyed the comfy seats & bar while watching Jamaican performers dance & sing, a magic show, a Jamaican country singer, and more. We even slow danced a little too:) We missed out on the Pirates dinner because it was “all filled up”, even though we tried to reserve ahead of time. I was pretty upset about missing it because I’ve heard how fun it is.

They also had other events, like cooking classes & things designed for couples, but it was hard to tell what was free and what cost extra. We did not use any of the spa services. We did get slightly annoyed by the photographers, who kept trying to take our pictures everywhere we went (more like small photo shoots). We didn’t feel like it, especially since my hair was usually in a tangled nest from the ocean, or when we were sweaty. Plus we knew we probably wouldn’t buy any pictures b/c they’re like $16 apiece. Finally, we just learned to tell them “NO thanks”.

BEACH & WATERSPORTS:
We usually enjoyed the walk back to French village, although I did get tired of making the trip back and forth to our room 3-4 + times a day. However, I liked the trees and shade provided on the French beach that the others didn’t have.

June is the beginning of hurricane season, so we got used to it being sunny until around 3pm, and then the rain came, quit, and the sun went down around 6:30pm. It was very routine, and we just had to be sure and wake up early to make the most of the sun.

We tried the hobie cat (which we LOVED!! Be careful if its windy!) & kayaking. There was usually something available for us to use, but occasionally we had to wait for a hobie cat to free up. We put our names on the list for the next available, but mainly we just kept an eye out for one.

The beaches were all absolutely gorgeous, especially so because of the green mountains framing the blue water. Our water shoes came in handy in the rocky & mossy patches. We found lots of crabs, fish, starfish, & even a big conch!

And yes…the SAND FLEAS. I thought that I didn’t really get bitten but a few spots here and there, but believe it or not, 2 days after coming home from Jamaica, the spots developed into mosquito-like bumps, and it turns out that I have more than 60 bites. I am pretty miserable right now, itching, and developing more bites each day somehow. They can last weeks and cause scarring. CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED. My boyfriend only had a few bites even though he was at the beach as much as I was, so I think it depends on your skin type, smell...?? Please please take proper precautions. I didn't think this would happen to me, but it did.

We went snorkeling twice, and for those of you who can’t swim or feel nervous about the ocean, that’s exactly how I am and I still did fine!! It was amazing! The reef was kind of blah in patches, but we did see a lot of fun fish and it was just a great experience. You go out on the boat and then get to snorkel for about 25 min.

We had a hard time trying to figure out how to sign up for water sports because the hotel info never clearly explained it, but it turned out to be very easy. You just go sign up at the Dive desk. The 2nd time we signed up however, the guy didn’t write our name on the list while we were standing there—he just said he’d “put us down” and we were kind of apprehensive about not seeing him write us in. Well as it turned out, he did not, and I had to re-sign us up the next morning (thankfully there was an opening). So keep this in mind.

TOURS:
We signed up for 1 tour—the Black River boat tour & YS Falls. That went pretty smoothly, and we had no trouble boarding our bus, etc, in the morning. There were just 6 ppl on our tour, and it was a lot of fun. We had a great time, & a fun guide & bus driver (remember to bring money to tip them). I wont go too much into the trip, but I kind of wish I had just done the YS Falls and not the Black River combo (which was a slow trip in a pontoon boat, looking at alligators…it was nice but not exciting).

The YS Falls were….amazing… It’s actually like a park, so there was a 25 min river tubing trip for $6, a canopy tour for $30 a person, a gift shop, a swimming area, and the beautiful falls. They even have guys who will help you rope swing or jump into the falls for free (we did it!). If I would have known this, I would have just went here and spent the day (and money) on the extra tours, but since we did the black river, we only had 1 hour at the falls. I wanted to stay longer! So I hope that info helps if you’re thinking about this tour. It included lunch at a local place, & was well worth the money.

IN CLOSING….
Just a side note….we are a younger couple (in our 20’s) and were a little worried that there wouldn’t be many people in our age group. Wrong. There is a good mixture of all age groups, and I would say that on this trip, there was a lot of couples in their mid-20’s to 30’s.

I cannot explain how beautiful this place was!! This includes the scenery, beach, and all elements of the resort & buildings. We had an absolutely amazing time, and felt that (aside from check-in), we were given great service & treated well. I openly admit that it would have been nice to have beach chairs w/little towel animals reserved, or flower petals on our bed, or room service for breakfast, but we just didn’t have the extra money for that. Overall, including the river/falls tour AND airfare, it was under $2,500 for the 2 of us, and we felt that it was well worth it-- I would absolutely recommend going all-inclusive on vacation. It was beautiful and romantic and everything we’d hoped for!

If you have any questions or want to see more pictures, feel free to contact me on this site!

We had a great time at Sandals Whitehouse! My husband and I went with our friends. We were there June 14-19. We left RDU at 6:00am and landed at Montego Bay at 9:50am. We did lose an hour going because they are on Eastern Time (as we are at home) but they do not participate in daylight savings time. everything went smoothly at the airport, no problems. we got to the sandals lounge, had a beer and then it was time to get on our van to go. The ride to the resort was about an hour and a half and pretty good. The roads are bad and narrow and they drive kinda crazy, but nothing like what others on here have described as a rollar coaster ride. We stopped halfway for a bathroom break and beer stop. We smelled pot as soon as we got out of the van. The beer was $6 a piece! Crazy! The restrooms very clean. Although, someone did ask my husband what he wanted (referring to the pot). He said none, thank you and they left him alone.
At the resort, check-in went well. got the washcloth and champagne. We were in the Italian Village on the first floor, where we had requested. We like to be able to walk right out onto the beach. Our friends were 3 rooms down. The Italian Village is the one closest to everything. It goes Italian, Dutch, then French is the farthest away from the main resturants. In the Dutch Village is the small quiet pool and in the French Village is the medium size pool with pool Volleyball and a swim up bar and Grill (Bluefields).
The Main pool is by the Italian Village, it is the largest, it is right on the beach, has a swim up bar, and lots of floats you can float on. the drinks were good, i liked the banana daquries and the hummingbirds. i also like the rum and cokes and red strip lights (the only beer you can get that is included in your plan). it was all good! This is where they do activites during the day like Reggae Dance lessons or the love knot, things like that. They did a Superdad competition on Fathers day that was pretty good. They have these people called "playmakers" who lead the competitons and such. We liked LaToya the best. She told us all about the history of Sandals and Jamaican history as well. As for the food, we ate at all the restaruants. Bayside every morning for Breakfast. They had great omlett stations. Bluefields, Arizonas, Guiseppes, and Baysides were the lunch places. All were good except the hamburger at Bluefields--very bad. then dinners were Elenors, Jasmines, Gusippes, Arizonas and the Carribean buffet NIght ( a buffett set up outside of bayside on Monday night--lots of good things there).
They could have some more nightlife. but it was ok. There were shows in the caberet a couple of nights, an art auction one night, a steel drum band playing by the main pool with some breakdancers--they were good. but after those were over that as about it. there is a martini bar above Elenors that said they were doing sing-a-longs, but we would go up there and nothing would be going on.
My husband and I took the YS Falls trip. It was great! we loved it! The falls were beautiful! they have guides that help you step into the water and walk around (it very rocky and uneven-wear water shoes or something). then they will take your picture in the water and under the falls (they want a tip after they are done). We did the Zipline over the falls, which really fun! it was $30 extra to do that (pay when you get there). on the way there the guide pointed out these women on the side of the road selling shrimp and fruits and said we could stop on the way back and get some shrimp if we wanted to. so we stopped on the way back. the shrimp weren't that good. they had some very spicy seasoning on them and they still had the heads on them. but it was an interesting experience. they were smoking pot there too.
we did try out the spa. It was good also. I had the exfoliation and massage combo, my husband had the sports massge and our friends did the couples massge.
well if you've gotten this far, thanks for reading! i didn't think this review would end up being this long! oh well! bottm line--we enjoyed our trip to Jamaica and Sandals Whitehouse and would go back.

My husband and I celebrated our five year wedding anniversary (we are in our mid 30's) with a 6 day 5 night stay at the Whitehouse June 18-23. It was our first time in Jamaica, and we will be back, mon!

Let me start by adding that in the past 5 years we have vacationed at Sandals Halcyon in St. Lucia, enjoying all three of the properties there as well.

Arrival: Left Philly and arrived 20 minutes early in Montego Bay. Yay! Immigration was smooth, lines were minimal. We had enough time to grab a cold drink and use the restroom in the gorgeous Sandals lounge before boarding the shuttle with two other couples. Our driver was funny. He was tipped by every couple on the shuttle. We arrived at the Whitehouse after about an hour and a half or so. The ride was a little bumpy, but it truly was a pleasure to take in the varied and diverse sights along the way.

Arrived at the Whitehouse and were immediately escorted to the concierge office where we were seated, and a butler offered us drinks and towels. They took a quick imprint of my cc and we were escorted to our room in the Dutch village, on the third floor, which was great since this was the village I had requested earlier!

Room:
Perfect for our needs, spacious, enjoyed sitting on the balcony and watching the Dutch pool or ocean view. We had a fully stocked bar which we barely used, and left a little tip for the maids early on with a note to restock specifics throughout the week, which they did.

There were a decent amount of cable channels, we were surprised, so we enjoyed some free movies on Starz etc. This came in handy as we would take a mid -afternoon break from the sun after lunch and head back to our room to relax in the air for a couple of hours before heading to the beach around 3 pm.

The room was very clean, no musty odors, no bugs. Cleaned 2X a day- loved it!

Pool and beach scene:
We are early risers and never had trouble getting chairs or floaties while we were at the main pool or the Dutch pool (we'd go to both each day). Drinks from pool bars were great- try a Dirty Bananna. Some of the main pool games were fun to watch.

The beaches were very nice- much nicer than St. Lucia, lots of white sand, warm and mostly clear water. Plenty of chairs available here as well. No vendors or resorts nearby makes you truly feel like you are getting away from it all!

Food:
We ate at every restaurant except Jasmines. Breakfast was mostly the Bayside for a lovely and varied buffet with great mimosas, and Cafe de paris for coffee, expresso and pastries.

Had a WONDERFUL filet at Eleanors, our waiter Derval was THE BEST, great sunset dining ala cart at the Bayside and an okay meal at Guiseppes (I'm Italian so I'm very picky).

Lunch for us was was moslty at Bluefields- loved the jerk chicken and the swordfish on top of the salad!

Portions were fine- just make sure you order and app. or a salad to start and you'll be fine!

Overall:
We enjoyed a snorkel trip, book it early though! It was really close by, so it was nice not to spend half a day getting there and back. Saw a decent amount of fish/star fish/ urchins. Glad we took time out to do this!

We had a FANATASTIC time, found the employees to be very helpful and pleasant, the weather was hot, but perfect other than that (No rain or clouds at all except for 20 mins on Sat afternoon, then it cleared right up)
We liked that it wasn't a party resort, and yet people of all ages were out enjoying the night, holding hands and listening to the jazz musicians outside of the cafe, etc. Very romantic!

Flight home:
Shuttle back to airport was even quicker!
Immigration and check in lines were long, but moved steadily.

We are already planning a trip back, this was a wonderful, well-worth-it vacation!
Do not hesitate to book the Whitehouse!