Sandals is a chain of all inclusive resorts scattered throughout tropical locations. I went to Montego Bay, Jamaica a few years ago and it was awesome! Wanted to go to Negril for a day but never made it. If you got a room with a butler definitely take advantage of it, if not you have a little more work to do including getting up early to save a spot on the beach and making dinner reservations (at least 1 day in advance). Also don't forget that it's all inclusive at dinner lol I know it sounds obvious but I always found myself looking for prices
-there is lots of poverty and sketchy areas if you were to just go walking about town -the tourist trade is how many people make a living, so they are super aggressive at times -at the airport it's pretty nuts with people wanting to carry your bag to your shuttle or taxi. Aggressively so. Even if you don't want their help they may grab your crap and take it towards the transportation area so keep a couple bucks in your pocket to tip them and not cause a scene. -$1 USD was worth quite a bit there when I went (maybe 15 years ago), so tipping just a buck or two (USD) was A LOT for the workers there and they always accepted USD. -the shuttle from the airport to our Sandals resort was pretty lengthy and they stopped halfway at a bar/market for people to stretch their legs, grab a drink, and/or buy weed. Seemed like the driver got a cut of what tourists spent or some kickback and the stop was rather long, maybe an hour. -there will be lots of folks trying to sell jewelry and things while you're trying to just chill on the beach. The resort employees kinda try to keep them away but not really. It's annoying. And they'll put a bracelet or something on you super quick and when you try to give it back they hard sell and hard sell. -we stayed at a "cliffside" Sandals which meant no sand beach, but they had a free shuttle between it and the white sand beach Sandals a few miles away. No beach = no solicitors so we visited the beach Sandals a few times but really liked our resort. -nearly everyone was super friendly and giving them respect gave it back. But sometimes being friendly turned into a hard sell so most folks outside of resort employees aren't just being friendly and chatty for fun, it's to lead towards getting your money and targeting tourists.
So 100% not sandals Caribbean (so not necessarily related in any way), but a dude in my town worked at an all inclusive resort in Mexico. One night he decided to take a stroll just outside of the resort. A few blocks away he was confronted by Mexican "police", they put him in "jail", stole everything they could, and in the cells nearby he could hear a woman repeatedly being raped and a man (presumed boyfriend/husband) being beaten obsessively. They let him go if he promised to get them more $. Could be a plot in a movie, could be truth more stranger than fiction. 99%+ of humanity is great, but the <1% happens. Be safe my friends.
A friend of mine visited Columbia and said he and his gf found a bible left at a bus stop. When they flipped through it, it was emptied out and had a bag of coke inside. They left it but said that if you do take it, people are watching and consider it theft if you take it with you. They come at you and ask for a hefty sum of $$ to pay even if you want to give it back.
I have been thrice to Sandals in Jamaica. White House and Montego Bay twice. We toured Appelton Estates, world's oldest rum distillery. Went snorkeling once. Other than that pretty much stayed within the resort and just beach and drinking. Having a butler is cool, but if you are with a group like I was, just have one couple get a butler, they'll serve the whole group.
All in all, probably could have done something similar in FL or Hawaii, but it's a neat experience. Never really saw anything bad crime-wise, but we were also far away from the capitol where most of that stuff happens (Kingston).
I went to Jamaica about 35 years ago and I can confirm everything Anxiouz says and can add a few. You want to be friendly and not be seen as the "ugly American", but they make it nearly impossible to avoid being rude.
Inside your resort you are protected from the locals. Outside of your resort, the locals are aggressive and will offer you anything in order to separate you from your money. Don't tell the locals your name. Souvenir hawkers will ask your name ("What your name?" Whatever you answer is a "Good Jamaican name".) and immediately carve it into an item like a bamboo cup they will then guilt you into buying. Once you turn down all of the handmade souvenirs, they start offering you other things. My wife got offered coke (she thought they meant Coke). One guy said to me, "You want pretty girl? I get you pretty girl." Many locals will approach you and offer to be your "tour guide". You can't shake them. We told one young guy we were in sight of our motel and didn't need a guide. He walked with us a couple of blocks talking all the way and asked for a tip when we reached our motel. We gave him the equivalent of about $0.50 and he got really upset that the "rich American" didn't give him more. The second day another tour guide latched on to us and we couldn't shake him. We had him arrange with a "taxi" to take us to a bird sanctuary in the hills we had heard about, and he got in the vehicle with us. When we got outside of the city, the "tour guide" said "Good thing you come to Montego Bay instead of Kingston. Kingston, they take you out like this and rob you." The tourist information we had read before leaving the US said never to leave your valuables alone (even in a hotel room), so there I was on the first full day in Jamaica out away from everything with every dollar I had for our trip on me. I am 6 foot tall and was about 170 at the time, but our driver was about 6' 6" and 250. We agreed to a price for the taxi trip (they waited for us at the sanctuary for about 2 hours), but after returning to Montego Bay the driver asked for more than twice what he had agreed to.
Once at our all-inclusive resort (not a Sandals), we relaxed a little but heard stories from other guests. One girl said she took a picture of an old church. A guy came across the street and demanded she pay him because she took his picture. Two young women had gone to a music festival called Sunsplash in the evening. They said guys were grinding on them the entire night.
