A++++++
We loved this place. First off, we'd never done an all inclusive before, so we didn't have anything to compare to, but we were blown away. When we arrived, they upgraded us from St. James to Wild Orchid. I have no idea what the difference between the two is, because they're on the same property, and were built at the same time, and share all the restaurants... so maybe the rooms at WO are nicer, or they were just telling us it was an upgrade to make us happy. Either way, we're suckers, and we loved it.
We paid a little extra for a "preferred" room... totally worth it. On top of the normal stuff that's included, we had a private beach and pool area that we shared with the other preferred guests. It was less crowded than the main beaches on the resort, which I heard got a little crowded on the prettiest days. Also, there were a couple ladies who would come around and take drink orders. They were a little slow bringing them back, but hey, I got to continue laying on the beautiful beach, so that was fine with me. Also with the preferred area, there was a lounge with free internet (two computers), and round-the-clock snacks, both hot and cold. And a bartender with a cart full of goodies.
As part of the free honeymoon package, we got champagne breakfast one morning, delivered to our room. We also got flowers when we arrived, and had a bouquet waiting in the room too.
The food was mostly really good. At every meal, there was at least one thing that I REALLY liked... one place, the soup was the best part, another, the pasta was amazing... and of course, there were a few meals we didn't like as much... but nothing was downright awful. That's saying a lot, because I'm a picky eater.
All but two of the restaurants are clustered together, on the Wild Orchid side (although still not that far from the St. James rooms). There was an open air stage near them, and every night there was entertainment. There were different bands, a sax player, reggae singers... and even if you were at the farthest restaurant from the stage, you could still hear and enjoy the music. It was wonderful.
There is a ton of stuff to do on the resort.... and we didn't do hardly any of it! (We just enjoyed relaxing and hanging out together. Sappy, I know.) There were small sailboats, kayaks, snorkeling, bike tours into town, random games like beach or pool olympics.... Every night they gave you the next day's itinerary of activities. Also, they had things you could pay to do... glass bottom boat tour (we did that, and loved it), scuba diving, water skiing...
They also had shows every night. We went to one, and it was a reggae-dance-musical show, and we really enjoyed it, even tho DH isn't a musical kinda guy. We didn't go to any of the other shows.
One night, they brought in local artisans to sell their crafts along one of the sidewalks in the resort... That was really neat, but the stuff is a little pricey, and they're a little pushy... but we still bought some goodies
We only left the resort twice - once for a half day tour, and once for a full day tour, and we were still enjoying it as much on the last day as the first. The only problem we had was that the batteries in our in-room safe fell out (while it was locked) so we had to call maintenance, but it was kind of our fault for closing it too hard. And that's a pretty small problem! Everyone was really nice, and would say hello to you when you walked past, and would try very hard to seem interested that you were having a good time.
Also, the price was pretty good, from what I can tell... we stayed for 5 nights, and it was $2,400. That included taxes, all gratuities (you were not expected to tip at all, even at bars or restaurants), room service if you wanted, and meals/drinks.
We loved the slower pace of everything, and would go back in a heartbeat.
Our room.... which had mood lighting, a shower, enclosed toilet, jetted tub, and soaking tub on the patio:
This is the view from our patio. You can see the preferred pool area and then further out is the preferred beach. It is empty because it was early morning.
