We stayed at the royal plantation as part of our honeymoon from 11 June for 7 nights and had an amazing time! I'll try to give as much detail as possible as I appreciated the in depth reviews myself.

We flew from Newark with air Jamaica - I will never fly this airline again. Terrible service and uncomfortable plane - the staff were extremely rude. Thanfully our return flight was with Continental. However all was good on arrival in Montego Bay. Met promptly by Sandals rep and shown to the lounge. Didn't have time really to spend there as we were in our private transfer before we knew it. Took about 1.5 hours, stopping for Jerk Chicken on the way. Beer & Water in the car also.

Met at RP to do check in. Got a glass of bubbly with Sugar Cane and Cold Towels - just what we needed. There had been a problem with our booking - they had us down as European Plan (Room Only) when we had booked and paid for Royal Plan ( All inclusive). This was very quickly fixed. We then got taken on a tour of the property before being shown to our room - a Honeymoon One Bedroom Plantation Suite - room 206. Was amazed by the room - living area, bedroom with 4 poster (v comfortable), balcony, luxury batchroom with jacuzzi tub and rain shower, standard bathroom and large wardrobe/dressing room with a safe. There were 2 TVs, DVD, Video, I-POD Dock In and CD player/radio. Air conditioning was excellent - remote controlled. After about 10 mins staff promptly arrived with spirits etc for mini bar - fully stocked with champagne ( sparkling wine really...), beer and plenty of soft drinks, water & mixers.

Food was fantastic in both the Beach Grill and Le Papillion - La Terraze wasn't that nice to be honest so we only ate there once. They open the beach grill on one evening which was the nicest location for food as you were right by the sea. Dress code wasn't as OTT as I expected - jackets aren't needed for Le Papillion. Breakfasts were fantastic - loved them, esp the banana bread. They had the Monday night BBQ which wasn't great, but the desert selection was out of this world. My hubby doesn't do desserts, but he ate one every night! Didn't pay the money for a private dinner as to be honest, if you got a good table at the Royal Grill then it's not too far off being private!

The pool was small and I only used it once as the beach was so nice. As said before they set your table up and brought you a mangosa to start your day off, then platters of fresh fruit were brought round late morning. Cleon on the beach was brilliant and Curtis was a young shy guy but always made an effort to speak. You got your flag to wave for service, but I thought it was a bit much to wave a flag - I just waited till Cleon was passing me and caught him then! Try the Miami Vice at the beach - half pina colade, half strawberry daiquiri - to die for - want one now! Food at the beach was spectacular - particularly the Club Sandwhich!

Other good points - they sent up a bottle of champagbne, chocolates and a $50 spa voucher for our honeymoon.

Afternoon tea was amazing sometimes I missed lunch as was still full from breakfast so tea at 4pm was just perfect to keep me going till dinner.

There are some negatives, but nothing major but just worth being aware of.

- it is really, really quiet at night time - no-one really sits in the bar after dinner. We quickly learned after the 1st couple of nights to book later for dinner as the 2nd & 3rd night we ended up back in our room by 9.30pm when we had a 7.30 dinner and watched TV - not what I want to do on holiday. The entertainment wasn't great - bit cheesy elevator music with dinner.

- you have to book for dinner every night - this isn't because tables are limited ( but you get a better table the earlier you book) but so they can guage numbers in each restauarnt. It gets a bit annoying to be stuck to a time everynight - sometimes you just want to play it by ear.

- you are constantly being asked if everything is okay - good to a point, but they actually don't know how to react if your not 100% complimentary - I really don't want to have to give an update on my thoughts constantly. They even phone after room service.....

- the beach grill closes at 4.30pm for food and 5pm for drinks. Typically my hubby and I like to sit at the bar till the sun goes down having a few cocktails - not really an option here.

- there is nowhere to get a snack - it's a meal or nothing. You can get potato chips or anything similar to keep you going till dinner.

- Ordering more drinks (beer really) in your room is hit or miss - sometimes they send it up no problem really quickly and other times they will say no we only have 4 then you wait for an hour for it. It depends who answers the phone (there was 1 culprit for this)

- Spa was very overpriced - the cheapest treatment was $85 so the $50 voucher didn't go far. I also had a faciaf where she bumped up the price by $70 half way through my treatment as my skin was so conjested. But the quality of the treatments was exceptional - best massage the hubby has ever had and best facial I have ever had. They do try very hard to push the products on you.

In summary - I'd go back in a flash! I heard when leaving they are opening another one in Negril in the fairly near future - will definitely give that one a go as and when!

My husband and I had a horrible honeymoon when we married in 1998, so for our 10th wedding anniversary it was HIGHLY important that we stay at a fantastic place. Well, needless to say...WE FOUND IT! Let me tell you that this resort looks exactly like the pictures. No funny photography here that makes it look more colorful or beautiful than it really does. It was so nice and clean. It was laid out just beautifully. The gardens and landscaping are magnificent. The pool is nice. The beach beautiful. The service was great; however, I will say this-you are in Jamaica, they don't tick to the same clock we do and things will take longer (ie: waiting on room service) than you may necessarily want them to, but hey, you're on vacation so why be in a hurry!? =) We enjoyed everything. We dove twice while we were there, we sailed on the Hobie cats, we swam in the ocean, we went on a zipline tour. The meals were very enjoyable and our waiter Gary, at the Le Papillon, was such a great guy. Our private driver to/from the airport, Shorn, was super nice too. We just had a vacation that we will never forget. Now, the only problem...how to top this one? If you are contemplating going...you must!

Royal Plantation was lovely. The resort was beautiful and not too big. It was just the right size for a romantic escape.
Everyone was nice and they always asked about your day is etc.
But never did it feel intrusive. My hubby and I wanted to be left alone and we were. There were other couple that were more friendly and the staff was more friendly, so you get what you give.

The room was super nice, we had a honeymoon/roman suite. It was nice to have the extra room as the hubby gets up early so he never bothered me. The patio was so nice, we spent a lot of time out there. They have a safe in the room for your use, we used our own code and used it everyday. The maid service was good but you never knew when they were coming, it might be done at 9:30am or it might be done at 4:30pm. They do have a turn down service, which was nice, but no chocolates on the pillows. Also our room did not have a "do not disturb" sign, which would have been nice to have but we never asked for one either.

We thought the food was great. There was enough variety to keep you well feed for a your time there. We ate at every restruant and all were good. The house wine is nice if your on the royal plan. We LOVED tea time. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. I think we both gain at least 10 lbs each. The drinks were wonderful. The peachtini was the best one in MHO and I tried alot of the "tini's". The pina coladas were awesome, I tried to get it mainlined but they wouldn't do it.
The beach service was great. The Mangosa are AMAZING!
We did splurge on a private dinner which was really lovely. Our private buttler (Derrick) was great. You spend most of your dinner just the you and your loved one.

The snorkling is pretty decent, I liked it alot better than snorkling in Hawaii. They have several spots to snorkel.

The driver from the airport was great. We had Cool Dave. He really can help you out with WHATEVER you want. I bet any driver can help with any request you have. The drive from the airport was nice and relaxing. It can take between about an hour in half to 2 hours based on traffic. There really was beer/soda and water in the car. We also did a tour with him, which was great. Just be prepared that the roads are um BAD(might be an understatement). We went to see Bob Marley's home, which was really cool and worth the almost 3 hours round trip. Fern Gulley is very cool. If you do decide to leave the "compound" go earlier in your trip and if you like your driver check with him first, he is bound to save you some money.

Overall we wanted to just relax and not do anything and Royal Plantation was perfect. I do think it was worth ever penny and there were a few things that got to us, but nothing really awful. With that being said we will totaly go back.

The only really downer from the trip was flying American Airlines.
We flew out of JFK and from what I gather that flight is ALWAYS late which means coming back it is ALWAYS late. And when you think getting a taxi at JFK at 1:00am in the morning will be easy...think again.

My husband and I just returned from a 6 night stay at the Royal Plantation. We had a blast. It is so relaxing and everyone is soooo nice. The staff is just awesome. Our room was AMAZING! We were in the Prime Minister suite which does cost a bit more, but I think it is worth the extra money. I can't say enough about how wonderful everything was at the RP. Definitely try the Hummingbird drink at the beach....we really miss having those every day....also, the mangosas are really good. We both thought the food was good, but not the best. Fortunately, neither of us are really that in to food, but for those of you who are...you may be somewhat dissappointed. Nothing was bad, but nothing was just really really good. We did do the Royal Plan which was nice. It was one less thing to worry about. We would recommend you taking dollar bills and fives. We had 10s and 20s for tipping, so I think we spent more on tipping than others. The staff definitely deserves it, so you may want to tip with 10s and 20s....but they don't expect it.

This has nothing to do with the hotel, but when you first get off the plane in Montego Bay...watch your stuff and be careful. We had someone approach us to see if we wanted to buy weed. We said 'no'. When got to the hotel, we met a few other couples who heard that some of the people who approach tourists for weed are actually the police. They arrest you, take you to room and take all of your money....wow - that would be a nightmare.

When you book the tours, know that it will take up half a day. We went on the dune buggy tour...which was really fun. We had a blast and the staff there were great as well. The only problem was that they stuffed us in a bus, and we stopped at all of the Sandals resorts on the way to pick up others. Request for a private transfer if possible.

We really miss being at RP....I would definitely recommend it! Especially for honeymooners and couples.