West Palm Beach Florida & Sandals Montego Bay

After multiple cancelled cruises Phil and I decided to go big over Christmas and New Year’s. We were gone from home for a total of 12 nights. We stayed one night in Chicago before flying to West Palm Beach Florida where we stayed 4 nights. My dad and stepmom live here and we got to spend lots of time with them! After this portion of our trip we headed to Jamaica to stay 7 nights at Sandals Montego Bay.

We flew to Florida on Christmas Eve, I loved seeing all of the Christmas decorations at the airport. Once we got to Florida we stayed at the Palm Beach Shores resort in Singer Island Florida. The hotel is only about half a mile from my dads apartment. We had beautiful warm weather on our first day and enjoyed drinks on our balcony and a walk along the beach. We ended the day at our favorite dinner spot in Singer Island, Johnny Longboats.

Christmas day started off the way it always does in the Dempsey household, cinnamon rolls and mimosas! Once we had full bellies it was time for family time. My dad picked us up from the hotel (with all of our booze) and drove us to his place. He made us a very yummy Christmas dinner and we relaxed by his pool. The weather took a turn on us the rest of our time in Florida, it was chilly but nowhere near Central Illinois chilly! It was perfect weather for drinking some wine. Towards the end of the night my dad wanted to walk to the ocean front and see the sun set. Well me being me I ended up falling on a rock and busted my face and knee up. Is it even vacation if I don’t get hurt?!

The next day my dad took us out on his boat. We got to cruise the intercostal canal. We bar hopped along the way for cocktails and appetizers. As the sun started to go down it got very chilly so we started to head back. On our way back we got to see some beautiful Christmas lights!

Our last day in Florida was Sunday Funday! We enjoyed brunch at Johnny Longboats and watched some football. It rained a good portion of the day but we cared more about watching the Bears play anyway. The Bears won their game meaning we were going to the playoffs!

The next morning was a very early morning. My dad drove us to the train station so we could take the train to the Miami airport. It was about a two hour train ride to get to the airport and then we were off to Jamaica!

Prior to our travel I spoke with a sandals representative and she asked me if I wanted to book club Mobay. I had no idea what it was but she explained it to me. Club Mobay fast tracks you through customs. After we got off our plane we were met by a Club Mobay representative. She helped us navigate through customs and of course our lines were much shorter than the non Mobay lines. We got through customs pretty quickly, about 20 minutes, and were free to explore the Sandals lounge or the Club Mobay lounge. After about 20 minutes our transfer was ready for us!

We stayed in a Butler suite again because we are totally hooked now! When you stay at Sandals Montego Bay and book a Butler category you get a private transfer to the resort. The resort was only about 10 minutes away. Fun fact about this resort: its right by the airport! You will see planes take off right over your head everyday. It is a little noisy but there are not that many planes each day. I actually thought it was a very cool sight to see and really enjoyed it!

Here’s a video of a plane taking off!

Once we arrived we were taken to an arrival lounge and were offered a drink, yes please! After about 10 minutes our Butler was there to escort us to our room. On our journey to our room our Butler was pointing out the different areas of the resort. Once in our room we got a room tour and of course some bubbly and snacks! We were handed the Butler phone and it was time to enjoy part 2 of our luxurious vacation.

Take a tour of our room!
Beachfront Millionaire One Bedroom Butler Suite w/ Outdoor Tranquility Soaking Tub

The beach at Sandals Montego Bay was much bigger than the previous Sandals we stayed at, the Grande St Lucian, so we had multiple different beach spots. Our first few days we hung out right by our room. We were very close to the over the water bar and of course had booze in our room so we were set! Oh and of course our Butlers always hooked us up with a cooler by the beach. Most days we had Red Stripe (the island beer), water and even champagne in our cooler! I’ll be honest, we didn’t hang out at the pool at all. The water was very cold so we spent all of our time at the beach!

The drinks at Sandals Montego Bay were fantastic! Cafe de Paris kept us caffeinated, of course there was booze in our coffee and espresso! The champagne was flowing and the sugary cocktails were made the Caribbean way, STRONG. Make sure if you go to a Sandals in Jamaica to order a Bob Marley 🙂

The food. OMG THE FOOD. I miss my cruises dearly but I must admit I do think the food at Sandals is slightly better than on a cruise ship. We had brunch multiple times at Cucina Romana. There were so many amazing options for lunch. Nothing beats pizza on the beach! I also really enjoyed the quesadillas from the Mariner, these are a must have! While in Jamaica jerk chicken is an absolute must, the Jerk Shack was perfect for lunch. I loved the dinner at Bayside, we actually ate there twice. Our all time favorite Sandals chain restaurant is at this resort, Butch’s Chophouse. This place is steak and seafood heaven.

We were at this resort over New Year’s. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you much about the NYE party, we fell asleep after dinner (oops!). We did set an alarm to wake up but either we didn’t set it properly or it got shut off. I woke up at 12:30, like really Ashley? You couldn’t have woken up 45 minutes prior? So we turned on the TV, popped some bubbly in our room, and watched the ball drop at midnight CST. We got to celebrate our actual Illinois midnight but at the beautiful island of Jamaica! We ended up staying up in our room drinking until about 4am. Its vacation so who cares!? It still ended up being a fantastic New Years Eve.

New Years day was our excursion day. We were now questioning our sanity since we stayed up drinking until 4am. UGH, coffee please! Of course our excursion was a catamaran cruise, thankfully it didn’t leave until about 1pm. We cruised to Margaritaville to hang out for a little bit, there was even a slide and inflatable water activities. Of course both of us went down the slide! The curve doesn’t look too bad but man that thing whips you around and spits you out so fast! I actually pulled a muscle going down the slide LOL. Yes, I would totally do it again. The catamaran ride back to the resort was full of rum punch, shots and dancing. My perfect combination. Once we got back to the resort our Butlers had a surprise for us. Our room was beautifully decorated and there was a bubble bath for us on our patio. It was the perfect way to unwind from a party excursion.

The Butler service at this resort was amazing. If it is in your budget to book a Butler room category, I highly recommend it! Butler rooms aren’t totally necessary for every type of traveler but I am totally “extra” so it has become a necessary luxury for us. If you are going on a honeymoon or anniversary trip, you totally need a Butler in my opinion. They make you feel so special and make your vacation worry free. The main things we utilize our Butlers for are: breakfast in our room (normally 2 days of our trip), setting up beach chairs with a stocked cooler for us daily, brining us lunch by our beach chairs, booking dinner reservations for us and booking spa reservations and excursions. It feels like they become your best friends by the end of vacation. We had two fantastic Butler’s at this resort, Katrina and Andre. Thank you for the awesome hospitality 🙂

One of my favorite things to do on vacation is get all fancy dressed up for dinner. Sandals offers free photo sessions, they normally run around 20 minutes. You do have to pay for pictures but they offer a lot of different packages. They will even walk the beach during the daytime and take pictures of you. We ended up buying a lot of our pictures from this trip, the memories are so worth it!

All good things must come to an end… after 12 nights away from home I was actually excited to sleep in my own bed again. We felt refreshed and rejuvenated from our wonderful getaway. Thank you Sandals Montego Bay for the amazing memories 🙂