Royalton White Sands

A couple weeks ago I saw a deal on discount site Gustazos for 65% off a weekend at the Royalton White Sands Resort. I absolutely love Gustazos, use them often and I will have to dedicate a whole post on using them at some point. I don’t often go for large all-inclusives (I tend to prefer smaller/boutique properties), but we decided to give it a go.

Getting There

With the new highway link, getting there was pretty quick. We were there within 2 hours of leaving Kingston.They market the property as being located in Montego- Bay, but it is actually about 35 mins away near Falmouth.

The Resort

The grounds at the property are quite nice and well- maintained. For a chain all- inclusive, it is a relatively small property, but they’ve used the space creatively. This also means you don’t have a far trek to get to wherever it is that you want to go to.

 

During check in, we were offered champagne while we waited. The process isn’t long and you received a bracelet with a chip that serves as your room key (which pretty much guarantees that you won’t lose it). We received  a sheet which detailed all the activities that happen around the resort and were told this was available each day.

The room that we were assigned on the main building was a little on the small side, in keeping with the original footprint (which was formerly the Starfish Resort and Trelawny Beach Hotel).

The resort seems to be a popular destination wedding spot. I saw at least four wedding parties over the course of the weekend.

Where I ate

There are several restaurants on property The Main Buffet, Zen Teppanyaki and Sushi Bar, The Italian Trattoria, The Steakhouse and the Sports bar. There is also a beach grill and a Cafe. Only Zen requires a reservation.

Breakfast

Breakfast is served at the general buffet restaurant, so we ate here both mornings. The buffet is also a lunch and dinner option.

Lunch

Since we were hanging out at the beach, I had lunch at the beach grill on the first day. I had intended to have pork, however the batch was finished when I was being served. I ended up going with jerk chicken instead against my better judgement. As I expected (as is the case I have found at most all-inclusive chains), it wasn’t very good.

Dinner

We had dinner at the Italian Trattoria on the first night and at Zen Teppanyaki & Sushi Bar on the second.

Dinner at the Italian restaurant was ok. I had the evening’s special, which was a tasty seafood thermidor. Stef’s  lasagne left much to be desired. The room service meal he ordered from the buffet later that night turned out to be much better.

Reservations for Zen open at 9 am on the morning of the date you would like to dine there. Beware, they hold some tables for Royalton club members, so the seating available is more limited than it would seem. Zen seems to be pretty popular; I called at about 9:45 and I  was told it was already booked out. When passing through the lobby, I spoke with the concierge directly and he only just managed to get us a 9pm seating.

I was a little disappointed that sushi only made an appearance during the appetizer round. Not quite what I’d had in mind with “sushi bar” in the restaurant name.

Following appetizers we watched as our chefs prepared the food.

 

One of the chefs started mini- karaoke while prepping the food which went on for a couple rounds. To be honest, I could have done without that especially while we were actually eating. Seems I was the in the minority though as most of the other guests joined in and enjoyed it. The food was was good, especially the beef.

Other

The Cafe/Ice cream shop serves up hot beverages along with a selection of pastries and ice creams.

What we did

After dinner on the first evening, we strolled around the resort for a bit before ended up at what turned out to be a cool concert. The performance was pretty good and the band well rehearsed and on point.

We spent most of the next day down by the beach.

We lounged around a little before joining a volleyball game. We hung out in the pool and watched some of the other beach activities before heading over to the small water park. The water park has 4 slides and a very nice children’s area. The only thing missing  that’s missing is a lazy river. That night we had a late dinner so we didn’t explore the entertainment options before heading up to our room.

Overall it was a good weekend experience.

Tips and Extras

• There is 24 hour room service included.
• Royalton Club member enjoy a quite a few benefits such as an exclusive beach area with cabanas, priority reservations and more varied room service options.
• Most of the Gustazos Jamaica offers valid only for Jamaican residents.