My wife and I and 2 children just returned from a 1-week stay at Point Village resort in Negril, Jamaica. We went there because most of the better-known resorts were fully booked for the February school vacation week. We knew little about Jamaica or this resort before traveling. We had traveled a bit in the Caribbean and elsewhere including Florida, the Virgin Islands, St. Martin, Bahamas, Cozumel.
We booked Point Village as an all-inclusive through Sunburst. Overall we were quite pleased with the trip and wanted to share some of our comments with this newsgroup. Our biggest complaint is that the charter flight from Boston was changed one week before departure from ATA leaving at 9 AM to Tradewinds (a new charter company) leaving Boston at 5:30 AM. Since they allege that you need to be at the airport at least 2 hours before departure this meant being at Logan at 3:30 AM. We aimed for closer to 4 AM but this still made for a middle of the night, exhausting start of the trip. The flight itself was fine arriving about 30 minutes late, but comfortable and turned out to be the maiden flight for this airline, on an old Delta L1011.
We were met at Montego Bay by Sunburst reps who directed us to buses for the 90 minute trip to Negril. Again this went smoothly. Our rooms were not ready on arrival at Point Village at about noon, so we were given drinks and directed to the buffet lunch. We were given wrist bracelets which entitled us to food, drink and water sports. Our room was ready about 2:30.
The resort is quite large, over 20 acres, and was developed as a condominium complex. It is situated between Hedonism II and Grand Lido on the Point at the northern end of the 7-mile beach just south of Bloody Bay and just opposite the small island (Booby Cay). The site is quite lovely with rocky cliffs and outcroppings interspersed with 2 small beaches. It is well landscaped and the island adds to the beauty.
The best part for us was the excellent snorkeling just offshore. About 100 feet from our room were steps leading down into a rocky cove full of coral, small caves, rock outcroppings, and many small fish. This is the best snorkeling I have seen this close to the beach. We brought our own gear, but reasonable gear was available from the watersports area.
Other facilities were very good, though not spectacular. People who are attracted to Negril for the seven mile beach, for example, will be disappointed by the nice but small sand beaches, one "family" and the other, next to Hedonism, "adult" clothing optional. Still the water is spectacular, clear, clean, and warm. There is plenty of room for walking around the grounds. There is a nice pool (with adequate shady spots at both beach and pool), and a reasonable Jacuzzi. There are some unusual salt water rock pools near the snorkeling area, a single, lighted, tennis court with equipment available. Water sports included in the all-inclusive package included Sunfish sailing (there were 4 boats--once I had to wait for a boat), windsurfing, snorkeling offshore and daily boat trips, kayaks, and glass-bottom boat trips. For some reason we were advised to avoid Booby Cay, but went there anyway by kayak and found a couple of small beaches separated by a path through dense vegetation. Several of the hotels have organized trips there when the island is overrun, otherwise there aren't many people there, but there are vendors of crafts and drinks! The water sports center offers Scuba (including a day course and full PADI certification) and Jet skis at extra cost.
Our room was a one-bedroom suite which included a kitchenette, a living room with fold out couch, and bedroom with double bed. It had a nice view of the beach and was comfortable but not luxurious. It had AC, a small patio, a television with 12 satellite channels including HBO, CNN, Cinemax and Disney. It had a phone and the resort charged $2 US for access to credit card calls. There were also 2 small stores on the resort (as well as a complete grocery in Negril).
The children's center was fairly impressive. They had an attractive free-standing, air-conditioned, building and offered drop off care (part of the all-inclusive package) from 8 AM to 7 PM. The babysitters were friendly and attentive, (they seemed to do a side business in braiding hair), and there were good games including Sega and board games for the kids, a playground outside, and a schedule of activities through the day including swimming at the pool. Our 7 year old son had a good time there, our 3-year old daughter didn't. Babysitting was available at extra cost which seemed to be negotiable.
Food and drink were good but not gourmet. The main restaurant offered buffet breakfast, lunch, and dinner with adequate variety. There were two beachfront cafes that had pizza, pasta, Jamaican food, grilled food (sandwiches, hotdogs, hamburgers, fries). as well as beverages. The service throughout the resort was adequate, though not pampered. For example you always had to go to the bar for drinks, no one would ask you at beach or pool for an order. This suited us as lower key, but obviously others would prefer more personal attention.
People were uniformly friendly and all seemed to genuinely like children. Overall we liked the resort and had a good vacation. Incidentally, they are managed by the same company that runs Negril Gardens, on the 7-mile beach, so you can use their facilities and eat at their restaurant without additional charge.
The submitter of this trip report wishes to remain anonymous. - Denny