Beaches Negril

Description:

• Enjoying a high occupancy rate, this colorful, low-rise resort was established in 1997 as the family-oriented wing of the Sandals chain -- an all-inclusive outfit that remains stoically opposed to allowing children into most of its other resorts. Designed like a cluster of clapboard-sided cabanas, arranged in patterns that create a series of small, intimate outdoor spaces, it occupies a highly desirable 8-hectare (20-acre) lot studded with palms and sea grapes adjacent to a sandy beach. At Beaches Negril you can either spend time with your kids or relax on the beach in the knowledge that they're entertained and supervised elsewhere, thanks to a roster of child and teen activities in segregated areas (where adults can enter only at their children's invitation, believe it or not). Among the devices used to entertain parents and children alike are costumed but living and breathing versions of characters from Sesame Street, including Elmo and Zoe. There's a replica of an ancient Roman aqueduct on site, and an impressively vertiginous waterslide, where participants shoot down a stream of water within a plastic tube that rises to the height of a four-story building. Accommodations are clustered in three individual villages, each of which is subdivided into a cluster of cement and wood buildings accented with cedar shingles.

  The resort's five restaurants include the unpretentious Blazing Paradise Beach Grill and the formal Seville Room, where the standard Jamaican and international cuisine and the decor evoke Andalusia. There's live entertainment nightly, usually music from a local reggae band. Overall, this place is bolder, more exuberant, and splashier than the "other" Beaches, which is recommended next.

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Recommended 2010

Other features:

Beaches, kids camps (variety of groups for different ages), children's pool, snorkeling, Sunfish sailing, Hobie Cats, scuba, water skiing, five restaurants, five bars, nightly entertainment, fitness centre and tours/excursions.