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“Great Family Destination”
We stayed for 7 nights at Beaches Boscobel July 19-26 with our 2 children (6 & 9) and overall had a great time.
Property and Rooms: The property is well kept - not spotless but not dirty or run down as some have opined. We stayed in an Oceanfront Terrace room on the third floor - fantastic views of the beach and Carribean Sea. It was concierge level and the help of the concierge office in making reservations for dinner and excursions was great. [The one time we needed something from the main desk - changing money as a souvenier - the experience was not great]. The refrigerator in our room with unlimited bottled water and sodas also came in very handy. The concierge will fill it with your favorites among the selections - we asked for extra bottled water and were always accomodated. One negative about the room is that we could hear the nightly entertainment in the room and it was disturbing. It did typically end by 10 and we were usually very tired so it wasn't a big problem but it would be nice if they'd do something to better insulate the rooms.
Food: The food was fine but don't come expecting a gourmet experience. The breakfast buffet in the Bayside was okay - got a little old given minimal variation day to day. The Arizona is in a beautiful setting but the dinner we had there was lacking - my vegetarian burrito appeared to be canned beans wrapped in a tortilla with a processed cheese slice melted on top. I did get a good takeout vegetarian taco salad there one afternoon. [While it is not advertised, it is perfectly acceptable to get takeout from the restaurants and eat in your room, on the beach, by the pool - wherever. This comes in especially handy when the kids don't want to leave the beach to eat]. The grill by the pool is decent and good for lunch - the kids took full advantage of the unlimited soft serve icecream machine nearby [Note that it closes at 6 or 6:30]. We did not try Eleanors - the adult "fine dining" restaurant. By far our favorite restaurant was the Ventian -the Italian restaurant. My husband enjoyed the steak and I recommend the 5 cheese ziti al forno. They also have a nice foccacia, oil and balsamic service. Tip: Pack some of your favorite snacks. I love nuts and was glad I packed them given that there were none offered other than in the spa. The kids also enjoyed having familiar candy - other than the ice cream machine they didn't really enjoy any of the desserts offered.
Beach and Pools: We did not find the size of the beach to be a problem. The kids enjoyed playing in the sand - crab catching and observation - and swimming. Bring snorkels for the kids to play with on the beach - there are some small fish and starfish to watch. We also enjoyed the big pool. I swam laps there early a couple mornings - it is not a lap pool but doesn't get crowded until about nine so you can carefully manage some exercise if you'd like. I agree with previous reviews that it is unfortunately necessary to stake out beach and pool chairs early in the morning - I would say before 8 if you want your pick. Both pools tended to be filled during peak hours (9:30 - 4:00) while there were always chairs available on the beach (not in the front couple of rows and not always in the shade, though). Agree with the reviewer who suggested that you bring some old t-shirts to leave with your towels - only once did I have someone disturb our reserved chairs (they moved my towel and book and reduced our reserved chairs from 3 to 2 - not a big deal but annoying and the woman who was sitting it in the "stolen" chair completely ignored my inquiry as to how my book got moved). I saw workers removing used towels from chairs througout the day. Also agree that you should grab clean towels when you see them. They do run out towards the end of the day and aren't always available first thing in the morning.
Exercise: Clearly not the focus of the "no worries; relax; indulge" culture at the resort (and the whole country for that matter) but I prefer to exercise and then relax without guilt. As previously mentioned, you can manage to swim laps in the main pool. On Friday, the schedule included water aerobics that never happened, so don't count on that. The gym serves its purpose - has several treadmills and small televisions, weights etc. I was the only person there both times I went.
Nightlife/Entertainment: Entertainment was fine. Our kids liked to swim in the big pool near the stage and watch from there. Even though they are too old for Sesame Street, it was not a problem. Not a big draw but a nice way to cap off the day.
Water sports: We snorkeled and went on the banana boat rides. The snorkeling trip was quite short and somewhat rushed and we saw maybe a dozen fish. The highlight was a buried cannon. If you are experienced snorkelers you'll be disappointed but it was our kids' first time and they just liked trying it out. The banana boat rides were fun - no reservations needed. These go from 2-4 each afternoon and are a nice little break from swimming.
Excursions: We went to Dunn's River Falls, which I highly recommend. It is somewhat physically challenging (take your own water shoes - you can rent there, but who wants to rent shoes?) but beautiful and fun. We went on Monday and it was not too crowded (try to avoid days when lots of cruise ships are in port, as this is a huge tourist draw). We also did the Hooves Heritage tour and beach horse ride - fantastic!! They were great with the kids and we learned some Jamaican history along the way. My husband and son went deep sea fishing, arranged by the resort. They caught a big one that got away (they swear!) but it was not great fishing season and I don't think they'd do it again.
Spa: I had a massage. Was supposed to be hot stones but after acquiring a sunburn (which is virtually impossible to avoid given the strong sun all day long), I went with aloe vera instead of hot stones. It is not the most luxurious spa but they are very nice and the massage itself was quite good.
Family Photo: Do it! As much as you will be able to take great photos yourself, book a photo session on the beach and let someone else take some of the whole family. No cost for the session and they have several packages from which to choose if you decide to buy. We bought 15 photos on a disk ($175) - it is nice to have the Christmas card photo done in July! There are also roaming photographers who will grab the kids and take photos of them throughout the week. They get bracelets with numbers on them. Collect them and view them along with the photo session photos - they can be combined on the disk.
Departure: A bummer. The night before we left they told us that our bus back to the airport would leave at 8 (for a 2 p.m. flight). When we checked in with the concierge in the morning, however, we learned that they had been mistaken and that it would leave at 9 (that's an hour's sleep I'll not get back ). Checking out was a breeze - the concierge took care of this - but getting the luggage and ourselves on a bus was a mess. There was a huge crowd and it was 45 minutes before we got on a bus to the airport. No preferential treatment for concierge guests was apparent.
The bottom line: Go and enjoy!
