We have been taking winter vacations for the last 10 - 15 years, and this resort had to be one of the best, for the price.
My wife was worried because of all the bad reviews, but we were VERY pleasantly surprised with what we walked into. We travelled in a group of 16 from January 21, 2012 to February 4, 2012

GETTING there: We booked with Air Canada, because of the price, and especially because of the flight times. we have never booked with them before, because they were usually the most expensive, and had the worst flight times. We hate coming back on the midnight flights and were encouraged to book because of the best flight times. We were very surprised to see the best price and flight times. Once we had all booked and paid for the trip, we were sent e-mails stating that the flight time had changed, from early evening arrival home, to arriving home after 1 a.m.. Not much we could do . when we arrived at the hotel, we asked the reps why the flight was changed, and we were told that the flight had not changed, and it has been at that time since they started working there a few years ago............hmmmmmmmmm......BAIT AND SWITCH.........ya think. If booking with Air Canada, make sure the flights are going to be what they say they are, unless you don`t care about flight times.

HOTEL ROOMS: Very clean and spacious. Great view of the beach and bay. Hit and miss, with the phone service, from room to room. Doesn't always work, but keep trying, it will work, usually on the second or 3rd try.
BARS: Lots of bars, but, as in any resort, very under staffed and a bit of a wait. They paid no attention to the the guests at the swim up bars. Standing in long lines was faster than the waiting at the swim up bars. Shortage of certain liguors and creams made drink choices difficult depending on the bar and time of day. One of our fav drinks was made with RUM CREAM, and depending on which of the 6 bars you visited, they may be out of it, until they got their next order. You could always get it, but not at all the bars. This hotel has a NO TIPPING POLICY, which is unfortunate, because it doesn't give the bar staff anything to work for, and the service is slow. If you want to give a tip, you have to hold it in your hand, and shake hands with the bartender.
BUFFET RESTAURANT: LOTS of choices and some of the best food we have ever gotten at a buffet restaurant. Always fresh and when they run out, it is replaced almost immediately.
Again, the buffet was understaffed , which is understandable, since the average wage in Jamaice is about $500 month. The unemployment rate in Jamaica is approx 50%.
A LA CARTE restaurants: We were a group of 16 friends and family, and not one person had any complaints about the food served in the 3 restaurants. Food was great, although portions were very small, as it is in most Fine Dining establishments, the service was terrific.

HOTEL STAFF: VERY friendly and willing to accomidate your every need. No problems with management and staff. They make the best, with what they have to work with.

AIR CANADA REPS: Senior and Veronica. What a waste of time. There posted hrs stated 9 - noon. Some days , they were there till 3, most days they showed up late, and a lot of the time, they were not at their desk during posted hrs. They were helpful in arranging excursions, but thats about it. If you flew with Air Canada, part of the deal was that they would make all your A La carte reservations. Don't waste your time. Its better to make them yourself in the front lobby. We were a party of 16, and requested that we all eat in the same restaurant, same time, same day. We didn't expect to be seated at the same table, but same time and restaurant would have been nice. They had us all at differant restaurants, differant times and days. Which really up set a few people in our group. When we confronted our reps, we were told it was the front desk staff's fault. When we went to the front desk, on differant days and times, speaking to differant employees, they all told us it was COMPLETELY up to our reps, and any and all errors were %100 their responsibility.
For the second week, we made SPECIFIC reservation requirements, and AGAIN, they mixed everything up.
If you are trying to pay for an excursion with traveller checks, through the reps, don't bother, unless you sign your name EXACTLY the same, everytime. A member of our group, tried to pay with travellers checks. He had passport in hand and signed the checks in front of Senior. Senior refused to take them, as the signature was not EXACTLY as was first signed on the checks. Who, signs their signature , the exact way everytime? This upset our group member enough, that he was brought to the point of wanting to grab Senior and pull him over the desk.

BEACH: Beautiful beach in a quiet bay. No real waves to speak of. No peddlers, as there are in Mexico and Cuba. The beach is a private beach, with security at each end. If you wish to walk the whole beach, and go past the security, you will be hazzled as soon as you go past security, but the rest of the stretch is fine. If you go in the ocean, make sure you have water shoes on, as there is seaweed and sea urchins in the water, A couple of our group stepped on them, and if not for the onsight nurse, they would have been in a lot of pain for the duration of the trip. The nurse was very quick, and painless in removing the barbs. I have read bad reviews about the cruise ships coming in and blocking the views. The ships do come in 2-3 days a week, and are there for 8-10 hrs. The only view they block is that of the old run down docks at the far end of the bay. They are not a nusiance.
TOWN: The town if Ocho Rios is at the end of the hotel driveway. When you leave the hotel property, you are told to go RIGHT, to the tourist section. You will be hazzled every step of the way , to buy everything from drugs to crafts. For the most part, I found it entertaining, but for most of our group, it was very irratating, and they would not go back to Ocho, for that reason only. the only time you got a break, was when the cruise ships were in, and there were police everywhere, making sure the pests didn`t bother you. If you go left, you are taking your chances. We did go left, because we went in a group, of some very large guys, and we didn`t have a problem. If you want to go left, ask the Air Canada reps, and they will have a taxi there in about 20 minutes,, no charge, who will take you to the safe spot of town. He takes you to specific shopping areas, that is a high pressure shop. Once finished there, he will take you to a SHANTY shopping area, that is just as high pressure. I was kicked out of the shanty area, because myself and a lady friend were just sitting and not shopping. We were told to go back to our bus, because we were sitting and not shopping, even though 10 members of our group, were shopping and spending money. Not impressed.

PRICES: EVERYTHING is very expensive. A lot more than prices in Canada. Considering that Appleton rum is made in Jamaica, all stores were asking at least $30 for a 26 oz bottle. They were asking at least $30 for Blue Mountain coffee. You could talk them down to about $17 for the coffee, but they usually wouldn`t budge on the booze. We have been to Cuba and Mexico, and their Rum and Tequila, respectively, are a fraction of the price you can but it for in Canada. It was suprising that they were trying to sell it for so much, considering it is made there. They need to take a lesson from Cuba and Mexico. They would probably make more money if they priced it reasonably and they would sell more. None of the stores we entered, except for the shanty shops, were owned by Jamaican nationals. they all seemed to be owned by East Indians, which may account for the gouging. Booze and cigarettes are cheaper at the airport. Appleton Rum, 12 year old, 26 oz bottle, is $19 and cigs, only Canadian brand they sell, is Rothmans, is $27 carton
TOURISTS: Whenever we travelled Mexico, most resorts were overrun by loud, obnoxious Americans, which is why we switched to Cuba, which we discovered , was overrun by loud, obnoxious Quebecuois. This resort was differant. it was about 95% Canadians, 2% Quebecuois, and about 3% Americans and Europeons. It was nice to have a nice, peaceful, vacation and not have to be bothered by rude, obnoxious Americans and Quebecuois.

POOLS: They were plentiful and clean, never overcrowed. As usual, the only thing missing, was enough lounge chairs. Even getting up at 6, didn`t guarantee that you would get a chair by the pool or beach. Even though we were up at 6, trying to reserve seats, by placing towels on them, didn`t mean you had them when you finished breakfast. There were a few Quebecuois, that didn`t know that towels left on the seat, meant that they were reserved. Many arguements took place because of this.

ACTIVITIES: Pool games and activities, took place in just one pool, which was nice, because the rest of the pools were quiet and led to some relaxation. Evening activities in the Entertainment area were plentiful and sometimes colorful.

OVERALL: The staff are VERY friendly and accomodating. They live by the phrase NO PROBLEM. Could use more staff and lounge chairs . EXCELLENT choice for the money. Would recommend it to anyone. If bookng with AirCanada, it is well worth it to book the MOBAY VIP lounge at the airport. For the extra $30 per person, it is well worth it to not have to wonder around the airport for 3 hrs. The VIP room gives you a cool , comfortable area to wait for your flight. Open bar, free food, TVs, friendly staff, and showers. This can be booked , in advance, through your Air Canada reps at your hotel

This hotel was one of the nicest I have stayed in. Our room (on the 11th floor) was spacious, clean, comfortable and had a nice view of the sea. The food was excellent and of quality at every mealtime. The staff are polite and helpful, nothing is too much trouble. The reception staff are friendly, efficient, polite and helpful while being proffessional. The drinks were good and as far as I am aware not watered down. The bar staff, again were a credit to the hotel.
Location is good as once out of the grounds your in Ocho Rios main street with shops, bars and market. Only downside as with any other hotel, the spa and beauticians are expensive. They wanted to charge the equivalent of £40 for a manicure and pedicure and a salon down the street charged only £16. Not the falut of the staff, but greedy owners. They are putting themselves out of business which is a shame.
Be up early for a sunbed around the pools. There is lots of beds on the beach but they go by 10 oclockish.
There are plenty of lifts so this hotel is suitable for disabled. They are in constant use and guests are never waiting more than a few minutes.
Got a good deal with alpharooms so would deffinately go back.

My family and I stayed at the Sunset Jamaica Grande for 1 week mid Jan before we cruised. I have to admit that after reading some negative reviews about the hotel I was dreading it.....Well I am pleased to say that overall our stay at the hotel was very good. The food is very nice, (I actually thought the buffet was better than the a la carte) for breakfast there are 3 egg stations and contrary to what some people have said about the wait, I know that I never waited more than 5 min for my omelette in the morning. The bars were fab with plentiful supply of rum punch amongst loads of offer drinks. The staff were extremely helpful and friendly to us. When we had our welcome meeting we mentioned to our rep Andrea from Virgin Holidays that we had no fridge in our room and by the time we finished our meeting and went up to the room, the fridge was there! I must also point out that Andrea was also very nice and treated us well and done all the things for us a good rep should do....again not too sure about the previous negative comments on this site.

My two slight criticisms are that yes the hotel beach is quite small but there is plenty of room by the pools or you can also use the public beach which quieter and is immediately next door! Regarding sun lounges you have to get them early otherwise you will be waiting for some to be free in the afternoon. My second issue is that after we returned from the cruise and stayed for 1 night more before we returned home, we were not given a room of equal standard to what we had before and the return check-in was way too long. Our room for the first 7 days was clean, decorated, flat screen tv etc... our room for that 1 night could have been cleaner and it seemed to me they only put us there because we were due to leave the next day. (that's why I gave four stars instead of five)

Overall I would say the service is very good and I would stay there again.

We have visited the Sunset Jamaica Grande in Ocho Rios for a second time and enjoyed it even more than the first visit. Great people (the Jamaicans), great food and beautiful scenery. We came to relax and that we did. The staff really made the trip for us from housekeeping, lovely Ms. Erica and Ms. Janice as well as Clifton. The dining staff, Keniah Carby, Hank Campbell, Sonia, Michal, Lavern and Jessie to just name a few. The bartenders, Horace and Sandra make the best drinks always with a smile. The water slide and snorkeling rental staff, Ms.Sandra, Trevor and Andrea. No worries as security is not an issue and we were well taken care of by the property nurse Trudy, Lynette and Dr. Clarke. Only disappointment was not being able to find an available lounge chair. I am sure we will return and want to thank Mr. Gary Holgate and Mr. Marcus Barrett as well as Eric for being such great managers and going above and beyond to ensure we were taken care of. Thank you for sharing your very special piece of paradise with us!

Roxanne and Momma