We took our family of six to Beaches Boscobel over spring break last month. We were so disappointed with our overall experience.

The people of Jamaica are wonderful, the culture is interesting and robust the country is beautiful but Beaches Boscobel was overall a very disappointing experiencel and we did not want to spend thousands of dollars to be this disappointed.

There is a very small beach, no fish in the ocean for diving or snorkeling, flat tennis balls and broken tennis racquetts if you can even find ones to play with, broken Xbox games in over half of the designated room, the food was horrible and never set up or ready to open on time but all of that is tolerable because you are on vacation.

The real issues game with the Security, yes our room was broken into and all of our money was stolen when we had to change rooms because we got sick and needed to tend to a severe asthma attack from the smell of newly painted walls right before we were placed in our rooms. The lack of response, help and support to even try and get some cash though our bank using the front desk was nonexistent. The management was and is still trying to tell us why it is not there fault and security is still investigating our theft and will get back to us with a full report, right?.

The madness in all of this is that we wanted nothing but to be treated with respect and courtesy. Some help in getting a little cash to tip the people that helped us that needed to be tipped, From the management to the security team (We are not sure what their purpose was) to their customer service it has really been an awful experience for our family in booking and vacationing with Beaches. The management and customer service has spent so much time telling us we in so many ways how they are not responsible for the initial rooms we were put into to the theft in our room and that our opinion does not matter or count but they hope we will be back again to vacation with them. I think we will book else where next time.

I've just finished reading a lot of the reviews for this place and after having spent 8 days there I can tell you if you have kids over 10 or expect courteous service you're going to the wrong place!
The food is OK, the people working the bars and at the kids center are friendly but that's where the good news ends....the sign-up process for diving is a joke - and there are no tropical fish - (don't expect Hawaii), half the x-box games don't work, the place is crowded and remote, the tennis courts are in terrible shape and that's just the stuff you can put up with because you're on vacation.....plus all the other items mentioned in other reviews on this site - run-down rooms, noise, lack of towels, etc...
The real problem for us was the management - they were totally unconcerned when a significant amount of money was stolen during a room transfer (precipiated by noxious paint fumes that made several in our party sick). Basically, they blamed us which doesn't make much sense at an all-inclusive...
We understand Beaches is not responsible for lost property and we never asked for the money back. But we did expect someone to talk to us and listen or at least let us get some U.S. dollars at the resort - "no way mon"! Instead, take a $40 cab ride into town to find an ATM and not even so much as a follow-up except when I'd run into the head of security and he'd ask me if anything was new...I kind of thought it was his job to let me know if anything was new but that's not the mind-set here.
When we returned it took them 2 weeks to reply to repeated e-mails asking to at least speak to a 'live' customer service manager and then it reads like a carefully worded form letter..don't attempt this - at this point I suspect there actually is no one who heads up customer service...
Don't go there - we certainly will never return to a Sandals or Beaches property anywhere because of this simple lack of actual customer contact and care. As my wife says, they just don't get it and my guess if they never will because they have so many guests already booked - what's a couple more who complain? So we'll just have to let folks know the old fashioned way, one at a time whenever anyone asks where to go or how we liked it...we'll tell them exactly what we think.
This is the last thing you want to write when you've just spent $15,000 someplace....

This place gets really mixed reviews, and I think its clear why. If you've got young kids and don't mind being surrounded by more young kids, all having the time of their lives, and if that over-rides everything else for you, you'll love it. If you're looking for 5 star accommodation and top notch food as a priority, then maybe go elsewhere.

We are definitely in the former camp at the moment, with a 5 year old and a 7 year old. I think I can honestly say they had the best time ever. The waterpark is great, they could pick and choose which bits of the Kids Kamp agenda they fancied each day from the list posted under the door every night, and they loved the food.

As commented regularly, the staff are really amazing - especially the Kids Kamp people - so enthusiastic!

We booked a 'Deluxe Ocean View' Suite. First thing to know is that 'Ocean View' doesn't necessarily mean you get a view of the ocean ("its a category of room, Sir!). However, we asked politely and where happily moved to a room with great view.

The drive from Kingston airport is a bit of a killer, even for grown ups - it was nearer 3 hours than 2 - a long long way. You need to consider that, if you are geting off a long flight. Having said that, our kids didn't seem to mind as much as we did.

We thought the food is 'Bayside' was really good - such an incredible choice - but we mainly stuck to the freshly grilled fish and meat so you cant go wrong. The Italian restaurant is OK. The Tex Mex has the best location - outside on the seafront - but the food wasn't great. The 'posh' adult only restaurant, Eleanors, is fine - but get a table outside.

The gym is pretty good by the way, and hardly used.

Its very easy to get a baby sitter - at a reasonable $10 an hour.

It was 100% full when we were there and as others have commented, getting a sun bed can be a problem. Everybody ends up resorting to getting up early and strategically placing out towels. If you're kids are early risers, note that you can't use the waterslides till 10am!

Anyway, in conclusion, even though its full on kiddie crazy, we had the best time - recommended.

Our stay at Beaches Boscobel in Ocho Rios Jamaica definitely exeeded our expectations! The resort is big and beautiful, which appealed to our teens. The staff were absolutely wonderful and made it hard to say good-bye. The all-inclusive package was an excellent deal for everything that was included. The food was great, water sports and amenities wonderful!
I would definitely recommend this resort to anyone, you won't be disappointed!!!

Tara Hutto
Atlanta, GA