Our 2025 Sandals Negril Review

Sandals Negril is one of 7 Sandals resorts in Jamaica, and it was our favorite one until Sandals Dunn’s River opened. To help you decide if this resort is right for you, here is our honest review of Sandals Negril.

Things to Know About Sandals Negril

We have been here a couple of times and enjoyed both stays. Not only is it a beautiful resort on a gorgeous beach, but it also faces west for really spectacular sunsets.

Getting to Sandals Negril

Sandals Negril is located in Negril, about 90 minutes from the Montego Bay airport. When you arrive at the airport, you just have to go to the Sandals lounge and then you’ll be taken to the complimentary airport transfer shuttle. It’s very easy, and the drive is on smooth roads after you get through the town of Montego Bay.

Arriving at Sandals Negril

Every time we have taken the drive, the shuttle driver has always offered to let us take a photo at the Negril sign, which is on the way, but we always ask to keep going to get to the resort sooner. If you do stop, it’s only a few minutes.

Arriving at the resort, we have always been welcomed with a cold towel, a smile, and a welcome drink.

In the past, we have stayed in a luxury-level room. In that case, we were asked to wait in the lobby for our room.

Pro tip: Once you arrive, you can do whatever you want! If there is a wait for your room, go to the bar, go get some food, or even hop in the pool. We always bring our swim stuff in a backpack so we can start enjoying the resort as soon as we arrive.

When we stay in the Club level rooms or Butler level rooms, we are escorted to the lounge to check in. For the butler rooms, we have to wait for the butler to escort us to the room, but once again, if they take too long, we tell them where they can find us. Can you tell we can be impatient?

Sandals Negril Rooms and Suites

Almost all the rooms are beachfront here, and there have been some recent additions, so you have plenty of options for a lovely stay.

Our favorite room is the Bamboo Grove One-Bedroom Skypool Butler Suite. This has an elevated private infinity pool and comes with butler service. We found it hard to leave the room, it was so nice!

There is a huge living room area, a large patio and we love the view of the ocean from our room. There were several times where we would make plans to go to the main pool or the beach but then get too lazy and just stayed in our rooms in our private pool.

There is a Skypool option that comes with a rooftop area, but I don’t think it’s worth the extra price.

Another great new room type is the Bamboo Grove swim-up suite, which is a new room with direct access to the pool.

We also really liked the Longshore Beachfront Walkout Grande Luxe Club Level Room w/ Patio Tranquility Soaking Tub when we stayed there, which comes with concierge and room service and is just steps from the beach. It also has a nice private patio with an outdoor oversized soaking tub. It isn’t always centrally located so walking to breakfast was a bit longer than we appreciated. (We can get really lazy on vacation)

Something to note when you are considering rooms—while the rooms with a tropical garden view are less expensive, they are also near a noisy road, so we always book a beachfront room.

Check out our Sandals Negril Room Reviews

Sandals Negril Restaurants and Bars

After arriving and getting checked in, the next order of business is getting your dining reservations. The only restaurants that require reservations are Brava, Kimonos, and Sundowners.

There are some new restaurants here, including Perla, which serves Latin fusion, and Brava, which has Spanish cuisine including tapas. Both of these are beachfront and have beautiful views. We really liked the tacos and burgers at Perla for lunch. Brava’s dishes are small bites that you share, and we loved the Carne a la Parilla, Gambas al Ajillo, Croquetas de Pollo, as well as the inventive cocktails like sangria made with rum.

Other restaurants we recommend are Kimono’s for Japanese teppanyaki and the Sundowner for its varied menu and great sunsets. Barefoot by the Sea is exactly that, and was our favorite spot for breakfast with an ocean view. We also really enjoyed the Crema coffee shop.

Sandals Negril Restaurants

• Bayside – A relaxed, resort-style brasserie overlooking the ocean, perfect for all-day dining with hearty international fare and casual vibes. This is where we ate lunch several times. Its a good dinner option as well with seating for the entertainment that follows.
• Brava – An open-air Spanish tapas restaurant just steps from the sea, ideal for enjoying flavorful small plates in a scenic beachfront setting. 
• Sundowner – Featuring authentic Caribbean cuisine, this beachside spot specializes in local dishes like ackee and saltfish and conch salad in a laid-back atmosphere. 
• Kimonos – A Japanese teppanyaki experience where chefs entertain guests with skillful cooking demonstrations right at your table.
• Perla – A Latin Fusion restaurant by the beach offering a blend of Caribbean and Latin flavors in a casual yet flavorful dining experience. We enjoyed the tacos.
• Barefoot By The Sea – A seafood-focused venue located directly on the sand; enjoy freshly caught fish and other island specialties with your toes in the sand.  This is are go-to breakfast spot.
• Bella Napoli Pizzeria – Made-to-order Neapolitan-style pizzas fresh from the stone oven, perfect for a relaxed lunch or early evening meal. 
• Crema – A cozy café offering Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee, craft ice cream, and delightful affogatos, great for breakfast picks or afternoon treats. We would go here every morning and most afternoons as well.

Something cool here is that you also have access to the family-friendly Beaches Negril, so you can go to the restaurants there. We liked Yuka, a Peruvian restaurant that serves dishes family style, and the Soy sushi bar.

The Beach at Sandals Negril

Sandals Negril is set on the world-famous Seven Mile Beach, which has soft white sand and clear, calm water. It’s perfect for swimming and all the complimentary watersports, which include not only the usual nonmotorized activities but also motorized activities like tubing, waterskiing, and wakeboarding.

There’s a reef just offshore, so you can even snorkel here right from the beach. It’s also nice and long so you can go for extended walks along the beach if you enjoy those. And it’s generally easy to find beach chairs.

However, this beach isn’t private, so there are vendors on it. They usually won’t bother you, though.

I have always been able to find beach chairs here, but the butlers will save a lot of the ones that have umbrellas. A trick we have learned is to wait until 10 or 10:30, and if the guests have not arrived at the chairs yet, you can sit there. Just let the butler know if they come by.

The Pools at Sandals Negril

Sandals Negril has multiple pools. The main pool has the most going on, with music and activities as well as a swim-up bar. This is where you will find me playing pool volleyball and enjoying water aerobics.

There is also a lagoon-style pool by the swim-up Crystal Lagoon suites, as well as by the Bamboo swim-up suites. These pools have beach views as well, and guests who are not staying in the suites can still enjoy them. It does feel a bit awkward since the swim-up pool looks into the suites.

Sandals Negril Activities and Amenities

As we talked about in the beach section, there are tons of complimentary watersports at Sandals Negril, including motorized as well as the usual nonmotorized, such as snorkeling, kayaking, paddleboarding, glass bottom boats, and Hobie Cat sailing. As at all Sandals, scuba is included for certified divers.

There are land activities like tennis, beach volleyball, bocce ball, croquet, and pool, and there’s a fitness center with classes as well.

At night, Sandals Negril has entertainment including beach parties, theme parties, live music, and more.

You can also go to Beaches Negril, which has watersports and a waterpark. (We also think the beach is better there, so we liked going just to hang out.)

Services at the onsite spa are extra, as are area excursions.

Excursions at Sandals Negril

You can choose from a wide variety of area excursions if you want to see some of Jamaica during your stay. We recommend the trip to Rick’s Café, where you can see daredevils jumping off high cliffs as well as have a drink and something to eat. There are even lower cliffs that you can try jumping off if you want to.

Other popular excursions include zipling, catamaran cruises, the Mayfield Falls river walk excursion, rum tours, ATV tours, deep-sea fishing, and cultural tours.

Sandals Negril Honeymoons

Like all Sandals resorts, Sandals Negril is romantic and excellent for honeymoons. You even get a free honeymoon package if you come within 30 days of your wedding. This includes a bottle of chilled sparkling wine, a romantic turndown service with flower petals on your first night, breakfast in bed one morning, and fresh flowers.

Sandals Negril Cost

Sandals Negril is one of the more affordable Sandals resorts. Currently, rates here start at $226 per person per night. Oceanview rooms start at $264 per person per night. The Butler suites start at $331 per person per night.

All of our clients ask if the Butler service is worth it or if the nicer suites are worth it. I wish I could give a straight answer, but it really depends on budget and what people are looking for. For extroverts who want to spend all their time with other guests, I think the room type matters less. For Introverts who want a private pool or swim-up pool, I think it can be a great value.

For some people, forgoing the more expensive room can mean more nights or more vacations and I always support that as well.

Sandals Negril Pros and Cons

We really like Sandals Negril and would recommend it. Pros are the newer rooms, which are especially luxurious and quieter; the beautiful beach and the ability to snorkel from shore; the extra watersports; and the new restaurants.

Cons would be that the beach isn’t private and that it takes about an hour and a half to get here from the airport.

If you are interested in Sandals Negril, check out our comparison with Sandals Montego Bay.

After reading our Sandals Negril review, what do you think? Would you stay here? Let us know in the comments! And if you’d like help planning your trip, feel free to contact us!