VIP Vacations Inc.

Our trip to Sandals South Coast could not have not started better when we decided to take the Helicopter transfer from the airport. Island Hoppers did a good job in meeting us after leaving the airport and getting us to the helicopter and taking that short 15 minute flight and landing just out side the property where we were met by a Sandals rep who took us by golf cart to Club Sandals to check-in.

We were met by our butlers Davion & Kamar and were off to our room in the Dutch Village. Davion & Kamar did an over the top job during our stay from getting some chairs at the pools, filling our coolers all day long with water and Red Stripe Light, arranging excursions and spa appointments & also helping us out with getting our group of 6 a table at the various restaurants. They even arranged a Surf & Turf meal at Bluefields and an over the top Chef table dinner at Giuseppe's with Chef Claudio. Chef Claudio and his staff gave us a great final meal with more food than 6 people could possibly eat but we managed to clean our plates.

We took the catamaran trip to the Pelican Bar and it is a trip that shouldn't be missed. The trip out the the bar took about 11/2 hours and you stay there for lunch and drinks for about 11/2 hours and then it back on the boat for the party trip back to the resort.

All the bartenders and staff were really good all trip and a shout out to Copeland, Jackson, Kevin & Avril for making great drinks all week and really good martinis at the Martini Bar.

The property is very large but that is a good thing for burning a few calories after drinking and eating all day. It would be nice if they would add a few more restaurants, Kimonos & Soy & maybe Butch's Chophouse, in the future. A final shout out and thank you to our TA, Jennifer Doncsecz and VIP Vacations for organizing our split trip this year. They do an outstanding job when it comes to Sandals and Beaches resorts.

We absolutely loved our honeymoon! Everything was perfect and we didn't want to leave! We would definitely recommend this resort to others, in fact we have been since we've been home. VIP made everything so effortless and stress free which I greatly appreciate. Here are some pictures 🙂 we will definitely be booking through VIP in the future
Thanks again!

Hi Jennifer!!!

First I would just like to say THANK YOU! The entire VIP team made it possible for us to have the wedding of our dreams! You were wonderful from day one! We could not have asked for a better team to work with and are so happy we met you! VIP will always be our go to agents for any and every one of our future trips!

The resort was absolutely beautiful! Pictures did not do it justice! The staff was kind and helpful and attentive always. We were upgraded to a beautiful one bedroom suite in the Dutch Village. The view was amazing. Everyone was scattered around the resort which was nice because we got to see all the different rooms and areas. Everything was clean and tidy always and our bar was always stocked! The food was delicious! The restaurants never had a wait. All of our guests were extremely pleased. The beaches were beautiful but a bit rocky. I would recommend water shoes to other guests! The wedding reception was beautiful! We managed to get the ceremony done between 2 rain storms which was perfect!  Our reception was moved inside because of the rain but I am actually really happy it was! The room was well air conditioned so I think the guests were more comfortable! The meals for the welcome dinner and wedding were amazing! The DJ was one of the best DJ's I have ever heard! He had the entire wedding dancing from start to finish! There was not one guest that did not dance! it was amazing! The bar tenders were great! Everything was just so beautiful! The catamaran was a ton of fun the following day! We ended up changing the time to an earlier departure due to the afternoon storms that were taking place and surprisingly almost everyone made it!  We ended up asking the wedding photographer to join us so we also have a ton of pictures from that! The days following the wedding were relaxing and enjoyable. Everyone was sad to leave and we are all still in the after vacation slump 🙁 lol. Overall this was one of the best vacations we have ever been on and it was the most amazing wedding I could have ever asked for. Doug and I cannot thank you enough for helping us get this together!

The sandals lounge was great too!

The wedding planners were great! We worked closely with Monique and she made sure everything was absolutely perfect.She had everything we planned and discussed in order and helped me knock out all the last little details! The only suggestion I would have is that they schedule your appointment earlier in the morning. We were not given the option for a time it was scheduled and told to us when we arrived.

VIP Exceeded our expectations. Everyone was extremely helpful from day one! Always willing to help with any questions we had and anything our guests had. We have raved about you to everyone we know and everyone we met along the way! You are our agents for life!

Besides you I work pretty closely with Lauren and Ryan and they were both such a delight to work with. They responded quickly to any request we had and were always eager to help when we needed it. You of course were absolutely wonderful from start to finish!

VIP has a 200% in our book. We have no complaints and any suggestions for improvement. You were all wonderful to work with and a wonderful part of our wedding memories!

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being awesome and putting together what the resort said was the best wedding they have ever had!

I would recommend Sandals South Coast to others. Everything was very clean and the staff was very pleasant and helpful. Our rooms were clean as well as many various areas around the resort. A lot of the staff was up around 5:30-6 o'clock sweeping sand round the pool areas and hallways, stocking the pools with clean dry towels and restaurants were up and running full breakfast by 7-7:30. Loved the beachfront view from all the rooms. We enjoyed a catamaran ride on the Caribbean and snorkeling as well as paddle boarding and kayaking. Even when it was raining we were still swimming in the pool and having drinks at the poolside bars. The wedding was beautiful! The rehearsal dinner and reception after the wedding were excellent the staff enjoyed our group as well!

As a guest, all my arrangements were handled well. Making our arrangements for the stay at the resort through VIP was easy.  The transportation from Montego Bay to the resort and back was appreciated! What a ride!!

Hi, Jennifer!

Our Sandals South Coast, Jamaica destination wedding was a tremendous success! We also want to thank you all at VIP Vacations for the thoughtful card and frame. We just put a wedding picture in it.

The resort was beautiful and the staff were fantastic! They were super attentive and friendly, especially the bartenders at the French pool. We spent the vast majority of our time at the French pool, which was considered the “party pool” and most convenient to our guests, most of whom were in staying in the French and Dutch buildings. We were upgraded to the club level so we had a fantastic room and the view was killer too! South Coast was definitely the right choice!

Even when the rain and storms rolled in, there was plenty to keep us occupied. After bringing the fun to the French pool during the day, we certainly made the Martini Bar our own personal hangout and dance club for most of the weekend (and after the wedding reception too).

Numerous Sandals staff even commented with excited and wide grins that they had never seen or experienced a wedding like ours. From our beautiful wedding that included guests dressed as the cast of Gilligan’s Island and the homemade slip-and-slide we made from the Sandals pool rafts when we had to temporarily exit the pool during a storm, to the never-before-seen dance moves during the orchestrated “dance off” we called upon four of our friends to take part in, it was a spectacular and unforgettable experience. A few of my personal Sandals favorites were the fresh bakery, the Jerk Pit, the beef patties and my special order rum punches.

Sebrina was awesome! She was thorough, thoughtful, attentive, helpful, responsive and patient. When there was a delay in setting up our dinner tables and reception, they made sure that the DJ would remain for at least as long as the delay. They and the DJ made sure we had a great time and were also likely enjoying themselves and the spectacle of the event because I think they stuck around for a few more encores than even we expected. But because of the delay, we did have to move the three dinner tables closest to the water. I still chuckle, however, when I think about how my aunt was slowly sinking in her chair with each arriving wave as the tide came in. Seriously, I can’t tell you how many of our friends and family commented or told us that it was the best wedding they’ve ever attended. And in all honesty, we feel the same way and not just because it was our own. It really was an awesome good time!

Having VIP Vacations do most of the organizational work really made it low-stress experience. VIP was great and those little pink beach bags were a big hit too! Even the Sandals staff would ask if we were with the party with the pink bags. They made our group easily identifiable and were widely utilized by our guests.

I would definitely encourage you to recommend Club Mobay at the airport. For $30 they will expedite you through customs and security to a comfortable lounge with all the food and drink you care to take down. The staff there were as friendly and attentive, or maybe even more so than the staff at Sandals. Seriously, this is a good investment.

Our trip to the Sandals South Coast in Jamaica was fun!    Your company did a fantastic job at keeping everything well coordinated and organized!  I have zero complaints with the way you and the rest of the staff handled everything!   GREAT job!   It was great knowing someone was waiting for us upon our arrival at the airport in Montego Bay to help assist with our ride to the resort! As far as planning and keeping everyone in the loop, you did an outstanding job!   The note left by VIP in our room was a great touch and so was the postcard after we got home!   I felt everyone at VIP Vacations went above and beyond what I would have expected!  Again, well done!

Hello!

The resort was amazing. Everything was great. The wedding planner was very nice and helpful. We loved the room and we rented a cabana for a day which was awesome. We had such a great time, we ended up staying an extra night!

Hello Alison!

Just wanted to check in and tell you about our trip! We had a wonderful time. Everything was really great and we can't thank you enough for all you did in planning our trip for us. We can't wait for our next one! We would love to try another resort next time.

VIP,

Jesse and I would like to thank you all for helping us have the most amazing wedding we could have asked for!

A special thank you goes to Jennifer. We greatly appreciate the time you took to site and meet with us. You answered all our questions in a detailed and timely fashion throughout the entire process. We cannot thank you enough for the patience, guidance, and professionalism you gave to us!

We would also like to extend a big thank you to Ryan. His worry-free attitude made our experience with booking flights an easy and stress-free process. He managed to help our family and friends book the same flight times!

Lastly we would like to thank you for the beautiful frame we received in the mail! It was such a nice surprise to come home to after out amazing trip.

Once again thank you! We are both going to work extra hard so that we can book your anniversary with you next year!

All the best,

Since we have been married our life has been so super busy! The wedding was better than we ever expected, everyone had such a great time and anyone I speak with I encourage them to do the same, so little stress and everything went so smooth!

Thank you so much. I appreciate all you guys did!

The wedding was really great.

We really loved South Coast, and want to go back there. Negril wasn't the best in the world... but South Coast was amazing! Glad you were able to get us to split the stay. We are really interested in going back next year.

South Coast was amazing and went on a personal tour with the GM. Beautiful. We can't wait to go back to South Coast. Everything at South Coast was ten times better than Negril... food, view, the property, people, pool, quiet, you can find fun when you want it, but quiet when you need it. Very classy.

The honeymoon was amazing! We had a great time and it was depressing to leave. We stayed on the resort the entire time, as there was a ton of stuff to do there. Everyone was so nice and helpful, which made our experience even better. The food at all of the restaurants was top notch, everything we ate was terrific. It rained the first two days, but it didn't really hold us back. We still relaxed on the beach and at the pool, as it was still 80-85 degrees! The rest of the time it was mostly sunny and very warm. The resort was at about 40% capacity (per a Sandals worker), which was nice for us since we never had to wait for food or fight for beach chairs.

We had such a great time that we are considering going back there again very very soon. We will keep you posted if we do. We definitely enjoyed ourselves and it was very relaxing and enjoyable. Like I said, we are hoping to go back again soon. The all-inclusive idea took a day or so to get used to.

Thanks again for all your help. When we decide to go again, we will let you know. We were very happy with your services and recommendations.

We had a GREAT vacation!  We got upgraded to a larger room that was super nice (everyone else that had that room type had butler service).  We had a pretty nice view.  The turn down service every night was fun; they made different animals heart-shapes with the towels every night.

The food and drinks were great!  There was a nice selection between all of the restaurants. We really loved the resort.  It was clean and well kept.  There were wild peacocks that took a residence at the resort.  They were really fun.

Another thing that we really liked were the activities on the resort.  Chris and I are not beach-sitters, so it was nice there there were so many activities.  We got our scuba certification and went diving every day!  We also did and excursion where we went to the YS Falls and a river cruise. The falls were so much fun!  They were just as pretty as the pictures and the people that worked there were the most friendly people we met on the entire trip!

The beach was very clean; every morning a man combed it by hand (I watched him with great amusement)!  The water is prettier than the picture.

Overall the experience was GREAT!  We really appreciate your help and are definitely going to use you guys for our next vacation!

Jennifer,

Just wanted to let you know Sandals South Coast was AMAZING!!! Great weather, people, everything was great!! Will def go back!!

We did meet a lot of people that came from Sandals Negril that said Negril was awful. But I think only because Negril caught some of the hurricane a couple weeks ago!

Thanks again!!

Jennifer,

Thank you so much for helping make our honeymoon so special. Sandals South Coast was very nice. It was much different from Negril and Ocho Rios. It seemed to have a much more European influence than the others. That took me by surprise but was nice. It was kinda funny. When we arrived we were somewhat let down to learn that while they had upgraded us to a butler suite, they had not included the butler. However, on our second night there we had the Sandals Select dinner in the ballroom and by the luck of the draw we ended up sitting next to Tamon (The supervisor over the butlers). He was a really cool guy. We really enjoyed conversing with him over dinner. He asked us what room we were staying in and when he learned that we didn't have a butler he gave me a wink. Susan got up to go to the restroom and he quickly went to action. He left the table for a brief minute and quickly returned. When he got back, he told me that we would have a pleasant surprise when we returned to our room. When we got back after dinner, Kamar (The Butler) was waiting at our door. He gave us a phone and took excellent care of us. I can't brag on these guys enough. I know they must really have to deal with the most stuck up, spoiled people in the world yet they remain extremely pleasant. We didn't use Kamar all that much but he really went out of his way to let us know that he was there to make our trip special.

We went on the zip line canopy tour. On our way back, Kamar called to ask where we were. We told him we were on our way back and in a panicked voice he said "Can you give me 10 minutes before you come back to your room?" Susan told him that when we returned to our room, Kamar had ran us a bubble bath complete with flower petals, champagne,and chocolate covered pineapple (Delicious!!!).

Due to the storm we didn't get much scuba diving in. We dove the day after we arrived. The next day we were signed up for both dives but when we got up we saw the dive boat leaving. They moved it to a safe harbor in Negril expecting the waves to get bad. However, it turned out that our side of the island was barely affected by the storm. However, Negril side saw 8'-9' swells. Therefore, even though there were several days that we could have dove, they couldn't get the dive boats back from Negril until the day before we left. Charles at the dive shop knew how bad we were itching to dive. So the day before we left, we dove the 9am and 11 am dives and Charles agreed to schedule a semi private 3pm dive for us since it would be our last chance to dive this trip.

All and all we had a blast. We are both still dying to go to St. Lucia but it looked like they got hit pretty hard by Tomas. You are getting ready to go to South Coast right? Well, tell everybody Hi for us. Remember to tell Tamon and Kamar thanks again for us. Also, I'm not a seafood eater but Susan is and she went crazy over the muscles at Neptune's. So if you like seafood I guess you have to try them....so I'm told anyways. Hope you have a blast.

Thanks again. Hope to be able to use your services again in the not so distant future. I will try to send you some more pics.

Hi Jennifer,

We were very impressed with the way our wedding and honeymoon turned out at Sandals South Coast, Jamaica! It was great to have you as our travel agent, and also help with the planning of the rehearsal dinner, wedding ceremony, reception and honeymoon. It was nice to have your assistance in the planning and coordination of 30 guests that traveled to our Jamaica with us.

The rehearsal dinner turned out very nice...definitely exceeded our expectations. The service and food were great! The wedding planner at the resort you referred us to did a wonderful job. The location of our wedding ceremony was gorgeous. The cocktail party was a nice touch for the guests while we were finishing up pictures. We had a great time at the reception as well, it was set up perfectly for our party. The DJ kept our guests drinking, laughing and dancing until the end!

Thank you for helping to make our big day and honeymoon so special and memorable!

Alison,

Your service and attention to detail was impeccable throughout our planning process, I can't thank you enough.  The package you had put together made everything stress-free and easy!! Larren and I had a wonderful time on our honeymoon!!  We enjoyed every minute of it and already started discussing our plans on returning to Sandals South Coast!

We met a couple there that have gone every year for 8 years.  I can see why; the butler service was excellent, the room location was perfect, and the food and drinks were incredible. I HIGHLY recommend the Catamaran cruise to anyone going to Sandals South Coast!  It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip, totally worth the cost!

I will definitely be recommending VIP vacations to everyone I know.

Thanks again for everything Alison, you're the best!

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Hi Jennifer!

I'm so blissfully happy! I just love looking at our pictures over and over again! They make me smile every time I look at them! I would ABSOLUTELY recommend a destination wedding! And VIP made it so easy for our guests to book their trip (LOVED the 'Save the Date' postcards we mailed out to our friends and family), and ask questions without my having to be a 'middle-man' or go-between. Your help as our liaison with South Coast was GREATLY appreciated!!! The small group at the small resort was just perfect! Sandals South Coast is a stunningly beautiful resort!

The food was outstanding and there were just enough activities to keep everyone busy or allow people to just sit back and relax. Each guest could decide to do things together, or on their own, and yet not lose the rest of the group (this would not have been so easy at the much larger resort we stayed at for our honeymoon, Grand Riviera). My photographer Jeff Salvage and his wife Jennifer (also my college roommate) went scuba diving each morning and got a fabulous underwater shot in HER wedding dress! Check out THEIR idea of a destination wedding that never ends at www.onedressonewoman.com. We LOVED the beautiful rooms and beautiful views! Rich especially loved the french pastry shop that was open early in the morning and stayed open way past dinner! I loved the antipasto buffet at Giuseppe's, and the jerk chicken and pork at Bluefield's by the volleyball pool.

The winding pot-holed ride through the mountains to South Coast was a bit rough on those with motion-sickness issues, but hopefully they will improve the roads as South Coast expands to include a golf course, and adds a family resort (Beaches, I assume??). Glad I knew ahead of time to make Rich take Dramamine! We passed around our bottle of champagne during the ride! We had 2 small buses to transport 20 of us to South Coast. When the buses pulled up to the resort, the beauty of it just took our breath away! The decor and the colorful tropical flowers growing everywhere were stunning! All of our luggage made it safely to the resort. . . but Rich's sister's and his daughter Lisa's bags got placed in the wrong room, and it took a couple of hours for the manager to find the bags and place them in the correct room.

Rich loved his massage at the Red Lane Spa! My mani/pedi looked great for the ceremony, but began to chip by the next day. Glad I got it done the morning of the wedding, and glad I didn't have to pay for it. My nails are still recovering from splitting and peeling. But don't worry, in my job as a physical therapist in a hospital my nails always look awful because I wash my hands 100 times a day.

Weather was near perfect! Every day was in the 80's, never needed a sweater at South Coast. Only two significant rainfalls... Apparently it rained just before our ceremony, but since I was still upstairs getting myself ready, I didn't know about the rain! The sun came out when the wedding planner came to the door to collect me for the ceremony, and the clouds cleared away during the nuptials! As we got married on Friday the 13th, we were the ONLY wedding that day! The next day had FOUR weddings scheduled, and it poured that afternoon for an hour! I don't know if that affected anything for those weddings.

The resort's wedding photographer was present during our ceremony (at the wedding planner's urgent begging to allow him to photograph something) and kept getting in the way of my friend who was our designated photographer. No worries, though, as Jeff got lots of great shots! The wedding planner provided music for the ceremony via an ipod, but the clarity was awful, full of static, but no one could really hear it anyway. And I was so happy walking onto the beach with my dad toward our ceremony site at the water's edge that I didn't care about the music. She was also supposed to provide the background music during the cocktail hour, but I guess she forgot, and she was nowhere to be found after she took me to meet my dad for the ceremony.The food for cocktail hour was delicious!! The raised gazebo on the beach was perfect for our small group, with its great view of the ocean and shelter just in case it started to rain again. We toasted with champagne 🙂 I think not everyone liked champagne, and I thought there was going to be an open bar during cocktail hour, but at least there was a full, well-stocked open bar for the dinner reception in the garden! The reception pictures were a bit dark, as I think the weding planner may have forgotten a few tiki torches, but we all had fun dancing anyway! We didn't see the wedding planner again until the reception dinner. She DID do a good job as 'emcee', and the DJ was FANTASTIC!!! Everyone got up and danced from the moment he began to play. Even my shy wallflower brother got up and danced! The DJ played everything we asked for, and blended everyone's tastes and requests perfectly! I would use him for functions in the states, if he ever came to Philly. He was THAT good! And he let Rich's oldest daughter Lisa sing into the mike like she was doing karaoke! The mike also came in handy during Lisa's hilarious impromptu speech about moving back in with us and making the house messy and how much her family loves each other :-)Everyone kept coming up to me to tell me how much fun they were having, how beautiful the resort was, how great the food was, and how they wished they were staying longer! My mom begged my dad every day to change their flight and extend their stay! The food at the reception was out of this world! Even though they had run out of crabcakes, the rum soaked shrimp we chose to substitute was an outstanding appetizer! The beef tenderloin was sooo good! And Rich's new favorite dessert is the baked Alaska! Thanks for the suggestion! The resort chefs were outstanding about accomodating all of our dietary issues! My sister LOVED the gluten-free chocolate cake she got for her slice of wedding cake, AND she got to keep the entire layer cake that her slice came from! Mine was dairy-free vanilla, kind of bland, but I'm really a chocolate lover and I really did appreciate the dairy-free baked Alaska! A few of our guests were bothered a bit by bugs during the reception, but we were already prepared with bug spray that helped! Never had any issues with bugs any other night.

Oh and back to the rehearsal/welcome dinner. . . my only complaint would be that we were not given any choices for location of the dinner. The wedding planner made it seem like our only choice was in this nice ballroom that was really way too big for our small group of 22. Our voices echoed in the cavernous room! I didn't even think to ask if we could have set it up elsewhere, such as by the infinity pool. But the FOOD was excellent! And the SERVICE at this resort was great! Everyone was so friendly! We would consider staying at South Coast again, maybe do a small group of couples, especially if they fix the road! Although, next time we might try Negril...we were just looking at the Sandals Negril and the beach online! Maybe for our anniversary!! And a friend of mine just booked her honeymoon at a Sandals in St. Lucia. . . can't wait to hear about that!

We had a great time on our honeymoon, as Ocho Rios is where a lot of the off-resort excursions are located in or nearby. We went horseback riding on the beach (a lifelong dream for me!), and ziplining through the rainforest (highly recommend this one!)! Grand Riviera was a MUCH bigger resort than South Coast. This was nice for having many choices for activities and restaurants and for meeting other couples, but I think it would not have been a good choice for a wedding group. Guests can easily lose each other, between the Riviera side and the Villas side. Staff here was not as friendly or accommodating. Some restaurants got very crowded and did not take reservations and then could not guarantee seating. I knew ahead of time which restaurants took reservations, and so we made them shortly after our arrival. My one criticism of VIP (and I take some responsibility for this) was the lack of specific room confirmation for Grand Riviera. All along leading up to our trip I assumed we were staying in an oceanfront concierge-level room on the Riviera side. But when we arrived, after a 3-hour taxi van ride from South Coast, we found that we were booked in the Romeo and Juliet Honeymoon suites on the farthest edge of the Villa side! I'm sure the suite was gorgeous, but it was so far from EVERYTHING on the resort so we immediately requested a room change, which they did arrange within an hour. We enjoyed being closer to all the action by staying on the Riviera side. Even though we could hear the noise of the nightclub after we went to bed, we didn't mind it on the nights we stayed out late dancing with the nice fun couples we met! One of those couples was staying in the Romeo and Juliet suites, and they said it was beautiful, but one day they had no hot water, and another day they had no water at all! And the shuttles that circulated through the Villas and over to the Riviera side were inconsistent for them, one night waiting 40 minutes! The beach is not nearly as nice as South Coast, and they ran out of towels by mid-morning. And you already heard the story about our nightmarish last day from Rich. At least we can laugh about it now! Our private dinner on the beach was super-romantic! Very relaxed, candlelit (and tiki torch-lit to keep away the bugs), under the stars at the water's edge, and we each got to pick our own menu! And our couples massage was wonderful! All in all, Grand Riviera served the purpose we sought for our honeymoon -- a pretty resort on the water with lots of activities on and off the resort,with lots of dining options, with lots of people to meet, play with, party with, eat with, and dance with, and a place where we could relax as well. It was a very different resort from South Coast, and I think we were spoiled by South Coast 😉 Obviously we LOVED South Coast. We liked Grand Riviera.

Wow. Did that answer your questions? Haha! With any of the little glitches that occurred with the wedding at South Coast, I don't think anyone but Rich and I noticed anything wrong! So please don't think I'm complaining. Just letting you know what happened, so you know for future reference. We had a magical wedding day, and ALL 22 OF US had a fabulous vacation! It was exactly what we wanted! Rich and I were so relaxed during our 12 days in Jamaica that we forgot it was winter! We started to make plans to go to my parents' condo in Sea Isle NJ only to realize that it was still January! And we flew home to snow-dusted Philly airport. . .

Now we are getting ready to celebrate my birthday at the same wonderful little restaurant where we got engaged last year. . . called HONEY in Doylestown!

Thanks again for ALL of your help!!!

Hey Jennifer,

Everyone had a great time and it looked like we missed Sandy by a week. Thanks for all your help and the picture frame was nice of you to send.

Thanks again and will be calling again soon for another trip.