We just got back from beaches boscobel and had a wonderful time. My husband, I, and our 15 month old son stayed for a week. I had read TONS of reviews before going and was very nervous. Here is the truth.......

If you want a fun and relaxing vacation- you will find it here. The staff is WONDERFUL. So friendly. They enjoy kids and will do anything to make you stay great. The watersports- fun. The food- ok. The childcare and kids camp- AMAZING! If you have any concerns about trying the kids camp/nursery. Don't worry! I'll be happy to answer any questions you have.

However, if you go to this resort looking for imperfections- yes, you will find them. It isn't a "perfect" five-star resort. But it is an amazing family-fun, family-friendly vacation. So if you go with the right attitude - you will have an amazing time!

My husband, my two children ages 3 and 5 and myself stayed at the Beaches Boscobel in March for one week. Overall it was a nice trip, but we will choose another resort next year.

This was our frist family trip down south and it was so nice to spend some quality time with one another! Life can get very busy and going to an all inclusive is a great way to spend some good family time together.

The staff were very good at this resort. A big thank-you to Patricia who helped our family do some fun crafts every day. We enjoyed the time with her and the amazing view of the ocean while doing crafts. We did not leave our kids at the kids camp, but from all accounts the staff were excellent with the children.

My biggest dissapointment was the beach. It is small, and there isn't a bathroom near by for the young kids. There was plenly of green algee that was in the shallow water and it washed up on shore. The staff worked very hard to scoop this up throughout the day. Our kids were too small for the bigger slides, but it looked like most of the kids enjoyed the pools and water/splash park!

The food was very American, not authentic Jamaican food. This probably appealed to the majority, but when I visit another country, I want to experience it's culture and that includes the food. Overall the food was very good, plenty of choice and very clean. We loved the fresh fruit smoothies with our breakfast. As well, the Jamaican bacon was delicious!

The front staff were somewhat helpful. They were at full capacity and it was a wait to speak with anyone. On our last day, our bus didn't leave the resort until 5:00pm. We were advised to be out of our room by 11:00am. This was fine, but management did not provide us with a room to shower and change in before we left. Only after my husband spoke with management a number of times did we get this.

The trip from the airport is 2 hours. If you have young children, keep this in mind, because it does add an extra journey to the trip. Bring a stroller if you have young children, this is a big resort and you will need it.

If you like Disney World, than a family would like this resort. If you want a low key family vacation, with a big beach, than you may want to choose another resort. I have no idea why anyone would go to this resort if you don't want to be around children because the week we were there, there were kids everywhere.

We met some wonderful people from the US and Canada. The staff work very hard and do an amazing job at keeping the resort clean and running well.

It was nice to get away from the cold Canadian winter. It will be Cuba or The Dominican Republic for us next year.

We just got back last night from our wonderful vacation at Beaches Boscobel and I have to say it was a great place to stay. I have been thinking all week about writing this review because I was pleasantly surprised at what a great place Beaches Boscobel is. After the negative reviews from others I was a bit shocked that such a great place could get bad reviews. Some people just like to complain, I guess.

I went with my husband and four children, ages 2, 5, 8, and 11 for seven nights from May 3-10. They loved this place too, but I have to say this place isn't just for kids. My husband and I found a lot to do while the kids were at Kids Kamp and we didn't feel it was overly kid-centered. It was just very convenient for families, for many reasons. Our family travels quite a bit and have stayed on property at Disney World, at condos in Hawaii, and have also taken a Carribbean cruise. This place was the best yet.

I also want to say that since we went in May, which is one of their less busy times, I think that has a lot to do with why we loved this place so much. Many of the negative comments from others have to do with things that don't occur during the less busy season. I am so glad we went in May and recommend this time to everyone. It is supposed to be the rainy season but we didn't have rain once when we were there. We heard it rained one night while we were all sleeping but I never knew it. The place never felt crowded. There was always a spot by the pool or on the beach and plenty of towels. We could just walk up to the beach activities desk and get on almost any activity immediately. The shower water pressure was fine and there was plenty of hot water. The restaurants could always seat us right away, no reservations. We could book off-site tours same day. But the best part of going in May was the value we got. People complain that you can do better for the money but not if you go in May. I booked this trip directly from the Beaches website after watching for weeks at different promotions offered. We ended up booking at one price and then after another promotional discount was offered a few months later we got a credit towards our remaining balance. This place couldn't have been more accomodating with giving us a great value. They even upgraded our room when we arrived for free. We needed two rooms for our family size and it was actually cheaper this way and gave us a room for the kids and a room for us. I highly recommend this since you can't really feel like you're getting a vacation if you and your kids are in the same room with no privacy. It also gave us an addittional bathroom, tv, refrigerator, and more space to spread out. The reason it wasn't more expensive is because in May and some fall months they offer a single parent discount and when you book two rooms and indicate that you'll have one adult and two children in each room it prices it with the single parent discount. This even works out to be a good value if you have one adult and just one child in each room. So in addittion to this discount, we also got a value season price and they were offering a 45% discount and one night free. In all, we only paid about $3100 for six people, seven nights, in two rooms, without airfare. I did book airfare with them and recommend that. With our airfare it came to about $5800 and we've never had a week-long vacation at such a nice place for less than that. My husband and I calculated that we easily could have spent twice that if we had to buy each aspect of the all-inclusive separately.

From the moment we arrived we were treated really well by the Beaches staff. As people say, we went to the Beaches lounge in the airport and only had a couple of minutes to say hello to Cookie Monster (who was in the lounge), get a free refreshment, and then we were on the bus to our resort. I feel we got really lucky with the drive because that is what people complain most about and for us it was great. They said it would be 2 1/2 hours but we arrived in about 1 hour and 40 minutes. Most of my family was asleep so the driver didn't stop for a bathroom break and I loved watching the scenery. When we arrived at the resort I thought it was beautiful and we got great service. They took care of our bags, gave us rum punch and fruit punch (watch out for that rum punch on an empty stomach), and told us to have a seat in the lobby while they checked us in. We were supposed to have the cheapest rooms, the family deluxe room, but instead we got upgraded to huge oceanview rooms with balconies, had two levels and referigerators they stocked daily with sodas, water, and juice for free. That free water was really convenient to take to the pool-side, the beach, or the gym. We also would bring sodas with us for off-site trips and use the juice for our son's sippy cup. The view we had was phenomenal. We would walk out onto our balcony and see the ocean, the pool, and the stage. Many times we watched the evening entertainment from our balcony. I did ask about getting an upgrade and I'm not sure if we would have gotten it if I hadn't asked, so try, it can't hurt. Our rooms connected too, so it felt like a huge 2 bedroom suite.

When we arrived (it was about 3pm) they didn't have our rooms ready so we were escorted to BBQ Park restaurant to eat. Luckily I had planned ahead and had our bathing suits in my carryon so the kids changed and swam right away. They could even sit at this restaurant in swim suits. It was very convenient.

There are 5 restaurants and our favorites were Arizona and The Venetian. Arizona is a great place for lunch if you're already on the beach. It is a beautiful location overlooking the ocean. The food is Tex-Mex. We liked the nachos and salads and they have great curly fries. In the evening it is beautiful down there. The Venetian has so many delecious selections. We ate there 3 times and I still didn't get to try everything I wanted to. The Venetian is a good place to eat a lot because they bring bread and oil/vinegar, you can get an appetizer (we liked the calemari), a salad or soup, an entree, and a dessert. Be prepared to wait a long time for food at the Venetian though because everything is cooked to order. It is fine if you're not in a hurry and don't have cranky kids. We ate one night at Elenore's and it was very good. It was really quiet and dark. I prefer a more lively atmosphere. You can ask to sit outside and eat by candlelight too. BBQ Park is more of a daytime snack place but I was pleasantly surprised to see it is sit down service where you place an order off a menu and are served. All the restaurants are. I was expecting one or more of the restaurants to be cafeteria or snack bar style. At BBQ park we liked the cheese sticks and the pizza was a hit with my 2 year old. Bayside is the buffet restaurant. Again, you have a server for drinks, etc. but you do serve yourself off the buffet. Since it is the only place for breakfast we chose to eat there only once for dinner and not at all for lunch. I was kind of tiredof it by the end. It is also a difficult process with 4 children to do a buffet. I'd rather go to a place where they serve the food. Also on the buffet you see food that looks familiar but doesn't taste like at home. It was an adjustment with my kids for them to learn that we were in a different country and things taste different: milk, eggs, meat, desserts, pancakes. They tended to think they didn't like it, but it isn't Beaches fault. This is just the Jamaican way to prepare food. There are some standbys though that the kids always liked. They had bread and English muffins you could toast and boxes of familiar cereal. My husband and I liked the omelet station and the smoothie station. Another important note about the restaurants is that they all will wrap food for take-out. You can order to go and eat by the pool, or on the beach, or in your room. One night we got our dessert to go so we wouldn't miss the Sesame Street show. There are a lot of bars but most people use the pool bar. We loved the dirty banana drink but tried many others. They are good at recommending ones. I didn't get much of a buzz from the drinks though and felt they were so high-calorie. I think that is why I gained 8 pounds on the trip, despite my use of the gym almost every day.

There is so much to do at Beaches Boscobel. Most of our days were filled with time split between the beach and the pool and waterslides. My two older kids spent only a little time in Kids Kamp (when they chose to). My 5 year old went for a few activities and when we were gone off-property twice and my infant was there everyday for his 3 hour nap. On the beach we did the Hobie several times, kayak, banana boat, took a glass bottom boat ride with all of us, and did the snorkeling trip once without the kids and once with the older two. I thought we'd pay to do the scuba course but we decided to do the free snorkeling instead and I'm glad we did. We were so busy I don't know how I'd fit in scuba. The beach didn't feel too small to me but maybe because it wasn't crowded. I liked that it was a smaller area to watch my children in. Plenty of space to do what you want. The sand was clean and beautiful and so was the water. Out in the water a bit there is a lot of seaweed but staff is always cleaning it off the beach. We didn't have any problems with rocks or bugs. I even swam some laps in the ocean between the ropes they put up. We brought sand toys and I recommend that. There are plenty of umbrellas for shade too. The waterslides were a lot of fun and the whole new pool area for kids is just great. We spent several hours there almost every day. It is very conveniently located to the rooms, the food, ice cream, the bar, and everything. There are about 5 bigger waterslides and 3 smaller ones. Then there are also some very small ones for toddlers and a play area for toddlers. My two older kids went to the X-box Oasis a couple of times. Around the grounds of there are other things to do that I hadn't heard about, like 3 pool tables, giant outdoor chess, and shuffleboard. The grounds are just beautiful, green, and well cared for. The layout of the place is easy to figure out after about a day. It helps to look at a map before you arrive to get your bearings. Expect to do a lot of walking and stair climbing. There are some elevators and ramps but getting around with a stroller was difficult so we left ours in the room most of the time.

The entertainment was a lot of fun. The staff does a lot to make their guests have fun. During our week stay there were 3 different Sesame Street shows on the main stage in the evening, and a Sesame Street parade that was a lot of fun. We chose to watch the parade from the pool since it ends at the main stage and that was a good choice. They have a marching band and it is so loud and crazy, we loved it. My 2 year old kept saying "Elmo". There are other Sesame Street activities throughout the day and some are at Kids Kamp and some are on the stage. Even if you're a planner it is hard to do them all. I decided to give up on trying to do them because it was more important to enjoy the beach and waterslides. If we happened to see something going on then so be it. The same went for the activities they plan for the adults. They plan pool volleyball and stuff like that but we missed most of it because we were at other parts of the resort at the time. The staff also does evening shows for families and adults later in the evening from a magic show, to game shows, to Carribbean bands, to bingo. It was fun to do when time allowed. We tried the disco once but it was empty (too bad). It was a Monday night and had just opened. We were going to go back on Friday but were too tired. I think at a place with kids not many adults have someone to be with their kids while they go to the disco.

Kids Kamp staff is wonderful. They were so great with my kids. My 2 year old doesn't like being left in daycare at all so this is what we did with him. Almost every day we'd keep him with us for the pool or beach and tire him out. He'd eat lunch with us or eat something quick and then I'd take him to the infant room where they have a separate room with cribs and lay him down myself. He's a good napper so he'd sleep about 3 hours. You can ask them to let you know when they wake up or you can call and check from phones around the resort. They don't give you a pager or anything, you have to let them know where you'll be. We also left him there for a longer time twice when we went off-property but we thought he was better with playing in the child care room after waking up from his nap than if we had to just drop him off and leave. The infant room didn't usually have too many kids but at times maybe 10. My 5 year old was actually with a group of 4-7 year olds. They break the ages up differently than the website says. They put 0-3 in an infant room but include the kids 2-3 in some activities. Then there is a 4-7 room but the 6-7 year olds can stay longer in the evening and do some activities with the 8-12 year olds. Then there is a room for the 8-12 year olds. The 4-7 group always had tons of kids. That is the age where they want to be there and need supervision for parents to have any alone time. The 8-12 was a small group. Maybe because it wasn't a school break and because many 8-12 year olds would roam the resort unsupervised if their parents allowed. I have to say the Kids Kamp staff was very accomodating. There was one day that me and my husband were leaving for a canopy tour and we had to coordinate where my kids would be because my kids didn't want to go to Kids Kamp when we left for our tour since Kids Kamp was doing snorkeling and stuff they didn't want to do but the staff members picked them up from x-box room or the infant room to join their group for lunch and the rest of the day. They knew my kids' names right away and truly cared for them. They plan a lot of fun activities like tie-dying, snorkeling trips, boat trips, games, etc. One tip, each child should have their own sunscreen and tote bag for their stuff. You'll have to drop off a bag each day with all their supplies. Also bring white shirts for tie-dying, even the younger kids.

We did two tours we booked with the tour desk and loved them both. I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend the extra money but I'm really glad we did them because they were such unique experiences. We did the canopy tour which is the zip lining. We also did the Dunn's River Falls trip. The canopy tour was just my husband and myself. It was a nice get-away. Be prepared for a long day though. When we took off from Boscobel we had to stop at 4 other resorts to pick up people. Then you drive quite a bit to get to where you get on a different bus to go up in the jungle. When you finally get to the zip lining it goes pretty fast and I'd like to have done it again. It was thrilling though. The Dunn's River Falls trip we took all our kids except the 2 year old. I was very apprehensive when we got there about having brought our 5 year old. She fell asleep on the drive there and woke up cranky. She thought the water was cold and the climb was very trecherous for a 5 year old. Luckily my husband helped her a lot and her mood improved. By the end she didn't want to leave. It was such a neat experience to be able to climb up rushing water and slide down natural slides. I'd recommend either trip.

As far as packing I have some tips. In general, don't pack too light. Bring plenty of underwear since you'll probably go from swim suit to clothing a few times a day. We tended to get dressed into clothing for breakfast and change into swimsuits for the rest of the day until dinner when we'd change into clothes again. I wish I'd just started my day in a swim suit with some sort of dress or loose clothing over my suit. But either way you probably need a couple of outfits per day, plus any clothing for the gym. On our last night we decided to take advantage of the free photo session and I wish I'd planned coordinating outfits for that. Also pack enough clothing for kids that go to Kids Kamp for you to put extra clothing in their bag. Mostly you'd be fine with shorts and tank tops but bring some t-shirts. Evenings some people stayed casual but most would dress up. If you do the canopy tour you'll need longer shorts and a t-shirt. For the falls trip you'll need water shoes. Bring good sunscreen. We brought cheap stuff from Walmart and it didn't work. We also had a different brand that was ok but you need to apply it a couple of times a day. When you're in the pool you need to put it on more often because it washes off.

There are people selling stuff by the beach and we bought some stuff there. We were told not to buy coffee from anywhere but reputable stores because it might not be what they say it is. Also, they say buy jewelry from reputable stores. They have hair braiding all over too but we didn't do that. It would have been fun but seemed like a waste of money since it runs from $40-90. We were never offered any marajuana.

We had such a great time I could go on forever. If there is anything specific you want to know, email me. I would love to go back there but also want to try some different Beaches properties.

My family (children ages 7 and 14) spent 10 days at the Beaches Boscobel Resort in Ocho Rios, Jamaica during Spring Break.

I always use TripAdvisor when I plan my trips and utilize the reviews so I always provide a thorough review myself whenever I visit a hotel or resort. Below is a detailed review of the Beaches Boscobel Resort, by category.

Getting There:

The Montego Bay Airport was much more modern than I expected. We had no problems with Immigration or Customs or getting around. (In fact, they never went through our luggage for inspection) and there were very small waiting lines to get through immigration (we had nothing to declare).

We booked our trip through Apple and they welcomed us at the airport handled our luggage and we had a small wait in their lounge having cocktails while we waited 10 minutes to board the bus.

The bus ride was comfortable and air-conditioned. The driver explained the sights as we took the 2 hour ride to Ocho Rios. The new highway between the airport and the resort was nearly complete (they started construction is 2000) and there were no problems.

At the resort, they took our luggage and there were no problems with check in. They made us feel very welcomed and treated us as special guests.


Hotel Rooms:

We had an Oceanfront Terrace Suite on the Conceirge level. The room was smaller than I thought based upon the price we paid, but it turned out to be acceptable. It had two double beds and a pull out sofa. TV, microwave, small refrigerator & coffee pot. The usual. The view of looking out over the ocean was tremendous.

On the concierge level, they come and restock your liquor and beverages daily. It took a 5 dollar tip to have us supplied with what we wanted: Red Stripe (the only beer on the island), spiced rum and diet coke as well as Sprite and juices for the kids. Damaine, who re-stocked our fridge, even offered to go to the local market for us when they ran out of Red Stripe Lite for a day (due to Easter holiday). .

The furnature was a little dated, as described in other reviews I have read, but it was nothing to be concerned about.


Resort Activities for Kids:

For little kids (up to about 10 yrs old) they have great daily activities in their Kids Club. My seven year old always checked the schedule and informed us which events he wanted to attend. The staff was very nice and great with the kids (keep in mind they are on Jamaica time and thus start and end times are usually 5-15 minutes behind schedule). They really do a great job.

My 14 year old was not at all interested in the Teen Club activities, so cannot comment.



Great resort for kids.

Water Park: They have a new water park consisting of eight water slides. Three kiddie slides, two intermediate and three larger slides for older kids and adults. They also have other water features for toddlers. Great addition to this resort. My kids (and the adults) had a great time at this water park.

Tennis/Basketball/Shuffleboard/Lawn Chess: Great features of this resort. All can be used by kids. The lawn chess was a big hit with my 7 year old who loves chess. He spent a lot of time there with the oversized chess pieces. It is close to the pool so we were able to keep an eye on him as he challenged (and usually beat) the other kids and adults that played with him. If your kid loves chess, they will spend a lot of time here.

Beach/Watersports: The beach is very nice, but the swimming area is very small as advertised on other reviews. You cannot go out very far (for an adult, the water will only reach chest area). This is good for small children, however. No worries, mon. They have a lot of water sport activities that you can use at no charge. Glass bottom boats (you have to make reservations by 8:30 or so), hobie cats (boats with a sail), banana boat rides, sail surf boards and water trikes. Some of these activities only operate between 2-4 PM, so be sure to plan your day accordingly. They also have scuba dives for those that are qualified divers. We didn’t do this so I have no information about that. My only warning is that they cut off most of these activities exactly at 4:00, so if you are in line for one of these activities and it becomes 4:00, you will not be able to go, so plan ahead.

Restaurants:

There are five restaurants on site. Discounting the pool grill that closes around 5:30 and the formal restaurant that does not allow children, there are basically three choices for dinner. The Arizona (Tex-Mex) has great food, but limited seating, so get there right at 6:00. The Italian restaurant is also good, but has limited choices for children that don’t like Italian food. The best bet is the buffet restaurant. Although they have theme nights that change nightly, (caribean night, international night, fish fry, jamacain night, American night, etc.) there is always a children’s section that has typical food kids like, such as hamburgers, mac-n-cheese, chicken fingers. There is always sufficient choices for adults to find something they like, and if all else fails, go to the children’s section.

As we stayed on a concierge level, we were able to make reservations with guaranteed seating, but if you have regular rooms, be sure to get to any of these restaurants at or before 6:00, or there may be a wait. The only exception is the buffet, as there is a lot of tables at this restaurant.

Hotel Staff/Tipping:

Jamaica is very laid back. The people in general seemed to be relatively slow in response to requests. Being from the Chicago area, where we are very fast paced, this drove us nuts. The hotel staff will always tell you “no problem, mon” to any request, but you need to follow up often in order to verify that your request is actually being completed. If you just follow up and assume it will take two requests to get one thing done, you will be OK.

Although tipping is not encouraged at Beaches resorts, we found that selective tipping gets great (and I mean great!) results. I found that if I told them “if you do [this] for me, I will take care of you once it’s done”. Once the task is done, and you tip them, they will go way out of their way to make sure you are taken care of. If you tip them first, the task may not get completed. US money goes a very long way in Jamaica.

Misc:

Internet: This was a huge issue for us. My 14 year old wanted to go on his laptop to chat with his friends back home and I wanted to be able to stay in touch with work. I called ahead of time and they told me I would be able to have internet service in my room through TV Web. This information was incorrect. We left our laptops because of this information and was upset we were misinformed. Let me give you the real internet availability.

This resort has NOT switched to the TVWeb format (Negril has). Your only options is to pay for internet service (we paid $70 for the week). They will give you a password for your laptop, phone, ipod, etc. to connect to their server once you pay the fee. However, please be aware that the ONLY place you have this wireless service is in their lobby! This was fine for my 14 year old (and many other teens who hanged out in their lobby with their laptops at night) but did not work for me. The price seems excessive, but if you want internet, you have to pay. They do have kiosks for those emergency situations, but the prices are outrageous for just 15 minutes of service.

Getting Home:

I was worried about this but it turned out just fine. We had a 1:00 flight. Our bus left at 8:00. arrived at the airport by 10:30. The airport outbound immigration was in the new revamped airport section, so it was relatively quick and easy. They did not even go through our luggage. Upon boarding the plane, they do a random search of passengers (every tenth person, etc.) and I was one of the lucky ones. They simply checked my bags, checked my shoes, waved the metal detector wand, etc. IT was no big deal. The departure portion of the airport has been revised and is modern with many shops and restaurants.

Summary:

Overall, we had a great time. This is a great resort for families with children. We had very little problems, once we got past the laid back atmosphere and work habits of the Jamaican culture. I would recommend this resort to anyone with children.