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Sandals Whitehouse
April 2011
Thanks Penny.
We had a fabulous time & Sandals
Whitehouse was really awesome. What really stood out - the food was
excellent as was the entertainment, and the property was just beautiful. I
especially liked the fact that it never seemed crowded although I think it
was pretty full. We hired a driver for a day and travelled to Negril. Our
driver was great (Michael Spence) and he was happy to share much
information on Jamaica with us. We stopped at several places on the way
and ended up at Ricks for a beautiful sunset.
The only unfortunate thing was my "allergic reaction to the sun" as the
doctor called it. I ended up getting 3 injections (in the butt no less)
and had to take medication. I don't know what happened as I don't have
very light skin, and I normally tan well and was wearing #30 sunscreen
applied multiple times daily. Sandy is much more fair and had no problems
(although she wore #50 sunscreen).
Anyway, it was a real benefit to have a doctor that makes house calls to
Sandals Whitehouse, as leaving the property would have been a real pain.
Anyway, it was all good, and we went right back to having fun immediately
after the doctors visit.
SAM SPENNACCHIO
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY
April 11, 2011
Penny,
Over all, we did have a good trip.
LOVE Jamaica and the Jamaican people. They truly are the happiest people
we’ve ever met. The food was exceptional. Enjoyed it so much.
Thank
you Penny and we hope you enjoy the pictures.
Rick and Pat
McCall, ID
April 2011
Penny,
Your email just reminded me that I have
not responded to this email yet. I am horrible I know. School just takes
up way to much of my time. We had a wonderful time at Sandals Whitehouse,
and didn't want to come home. The grounds were amazing and even though we
were told they were at full capacity it felt like there was hardly anyone
there since it is so spread out. The staff was wonderful as usual. People
keep trying to get us to try something other than Sandals but I just can't
give up the great service they offer to try something not as great. We
ended up going on an excursion through Talk of The Town Tours and went
fishing, to the Pelican Bar, Black River and even managed to pull the boat
into a bay and stop at a roadside stand to try parrot fish and festival
bread which was amazing. We even saw a pod of dolphins and a sea turtle.
Simply amazing!! I have attached some pictures.
Thank you again for an amazing vacation. We could not have done it without
you and your expertise. I swear we give your name to everyone we know. If
you would like more pics let me know.
Thanks Again,
Amanda &
Andrew Hanson
Kuna, Idaho
October 10, 2010
Hey Penny,
Well, we are back. We had quite
an adventure and it was a lot of fun. I'll kind of give you a running
outline.
As usual we arrived at SeaTac early and hit the bar
closest to our gate. We knew they would close the bar at 10:00 for our
12:00 flight but we fought our way thru that, and were successful in
getting our $10.45 beer for $9.50. We also had a sandwich that was great.
We are unsure we should share that information as I am sure if the airport
knew that they would remove it from the menu.
At ant rate we made
Atlanta just fine, timing was great and we left for Mo Bay with big ole
smiles on our faces.
As we came into Mo Bay the captain told us
that there was some light rain on the ground, but we were aware that the
weather wasn't going to be the greatest.
We deplaned, as they say, and
made our way to the Sandals lounge. We grabbed a half of beer and onto the
bus we went.
Again we were aware the trip would be around 2 hours
and the road would be bumpy.
As we turned onto the “Road to the
Whitehouse” Dar asked me if the roads was going to be like this all the
way. “No” I lied. Before long Dar was car sick and demonstrating the
proper use of the airline barf bags. Yes, we do carry these with us.
The driver asked if anyone would like to stop along the way to use a
restroom. We all lied and said we could wait. So along we go, it's now
raining a little on the plus side of “light rain”. The puddles are getting
deeper, the ditches are getting fuller and the potholes a little deeper.
The driver was doing a wonderful job of hitting almost every pothole.
Soon enough, all us lairs admit that yes, we would like to stop for a
potty break. Well, by now we are driving in water more than we are driving
out of it. The driver stopped twice to allow us to use a rest room but
each time they were locked up so we just kept moving.
Soon we hit
this gigantic puddle that had a bunch of kids and spectators on the edges
of it. Now a reasonable person would conclude that if this is a place that
spectators are congregating there may be a reason. So in we go. Oops, hold
on there cowboy, this is a trap the bus puddle. There we sit in the middle
of the puddle and it appears that the engine has seized.
No
problem as they say, the driver asks the little terrorists to push the bus
out of the puddle and they do. Only problem is that they apparently have
salvage rights to the passengers. This is a toll puddle.
The buss
is surrounded and they are pounding on the windows and trying the doors.
To bad you little thief's, you can't rob us if you can't get in. Nener.
Nener. I locked the door. Ha. Ha.
So here we sit with the driver on
the phone saying can you hear me now? Yes, he got out, no we don't know
why. Anyway we were feeling a little uncomfortable and along comes another
bus, the guy stops and offers to take six of the wimmin and children then
to return for the others and the luggage.
Ian and I decided we
would be willing to pretend to be either a woman or a child. Onto the bus
we went. We had to hide behind our wife's and claimed to be their luggage
porters.
When we arrive at the resort we meet our concierge and
off to our suites we went. Yes, I said suite. My gawd what a room!
The resort is now pretty much in a defense mode as the weather is getting
very wet and windy. We decided that we would order in and watch the waves.
Which were right there. No, I mean right there.
Day two we attended
a meeting with the resort staff. They explained that the road was now
washed out. The resort was operating on emergency power and the phone
lines were out.
We all had a drink.
They explained that
all those who had flights to make would have to be patient and stay until
they could make the proper arrangements. Darn!
We all had another
drink.
Well since we could care less about the weather we just
started enjoying the resort. Many of the restaurants were closed but
eating was never a problem. There was a lot of wind damage and blown over
trees but the staff hit the ground running and never slowed down the
entire time we were there. They did a remarkable job!
On day two
our crazy partner in crime was dancing at the disco with a coconut frome
(a big leafy thing off of a coconut tree) when he did one of his signature
moves and threw his knee out. He spent the rest of the time in a wheel
chair. “Could you push me to the toilet?”
Oh yea, it's still
raining. We found the tiles are very slick when wet.
Lined up the
red stripe in the shower and used a coconut. Pretty cool huh? I refuse to
grow up.
So we had another drink.
So on it goes, each day
the weather is improving still rains but not as much. We hear that they
are able to get folks out to their flights by using another road but its a
much longer travel time.
Many of the staff stayed at the resort as
even they could not get home because the road was out.
Some time
around day two or three I came down with something and had a fever and
Montezuma revenge.
So we had another drink.
I think it was
day five when we were able to get that ole Sandals sun burn as the sun was
finally out more than the rain.
Jeeze, I think we again, had
another drink.
It pretty much went that way the entire time. By the
end of the ten days I had blisters on both my feet, and was popping anti
diarrhea pills like they were candy.
Dar had a bit of my diarrhea,
motion sickness both going and returning, and a huge blister on her foot.
Ian was in a wheel chair with a blown out knee.
Di was having
thoughts of shoving each of us down a flight of stairs.
So we all
had another drink.
I did take toys and spread them around as the
mood struck me. Yep, I wore my beanie hat with the propeller on it and I
had my mustache braided with beads.
I have to remark on the staff.
We were able to reconnect with some who we knew from previous trip's and
enjoyed that immensely. We also found that our new “friends” were
remarkable. In the concierge office, Maurice, (who kept us in snacks and
checked often to be sure we were happy) Lancelot (who I think was the
concierge supervisor and he to checked on us often), the wonderful young
lady that checked us in, our bar restocker ( he responded to our requests
and kept us very happy). I apologize for not remembering names but they
ALL were very accommodating.
We also were very impressed with our
maid Tanquia. I am sure I am misspelling her name but she’s a sweetheart.
She did an incredible job. The towel animals were something we really
enjoyed.
The pool guy Errol, (he set up chairs for us each day
with towels and flowers)
Our favorite server Camille who we first
met at Negril. She’s just a wonderful young lady. As I said she is our
favorite.
All the bar tenders! As I write this I am a loss for
their names, but what a job they do.
Sasha the play maker is
another name that comes to mind, she was fun! I had heard the staff was
incredible and I have to agree. I don't think anyone passed with out a
nod, smile, or asking if we were doing OK.
As far as the resort
goes our room was wonderful, the grounds beautiful and you never felt
crowded.
My only complaint would be it's too big.
The food was
great. Not one complaint from the four of us. I had to ask Maurice to not
bring us so many snacks as we were just to full.
The Rum, we
prefer Appleton but the El Dorado was OK. Not great but OK. We were able
to get some red stripe in the room as the Caribe beer is pretty bad.
Hey the good news is we got our award for our free week so now comes
the brainstorming for our next trip. We are going to plan two weeks one
pay and one free. Life just keeps getting better. Yahoo!
Sadly, we
had to return home. The road we took back was over the mountain, very
narrow and windy. Dar again demonstrated the barf bags to the uninformed.
The trip was very interesting as we saw the real Jamaica. I believe one of
the churches we passed was built in 1892 if I read the sign correctly.
It was a long drive but I personally enjoyed it. We arrived at the
airport in plenty of time to grab a snack and do a little shopping.
We were then off to Atlanta and then home.
I have a remark
about Atlanta. We/you request wheelchairs at all stops. We are pleased to
have this service available and appreciative of the service we receive at
all stoppes except for Atlanta. Atlanta seems to have made a science of
poor wheelchair service. It's not the airline but the folks they
subcontract to. Air serve I believe is the culprit.
What they do
is get you in the chair, then take you a ways and leave you. “this is far
as I can go. Someone will be along shortly to further assist you” Boom
their gone. Then if some one comes only one will show when they have left
four or more people. They will then move you a bit further and the abandon
you again. It's frustrating.
We got separated from Ian and Di as
their assistant moved faster than ours. Our assistant was going on break,
chatting with another assistant who was not assisting anyone, and they
were playing with their phones.
At any rate we got abandoned just
past customs with another fellow who's final destination was Atlanta. When
an assistant finally showed up we agreed that I would push Dar and follow
the assistant to baggage claim. When we got to baggage claim the assistant
left while I was retrieving our bags. So now I don't know where to go and
I have Dar in the wheel chair, plus our luggage on another cart.
Since I don't know if anyone's going to come back and I don't want to miss
our connecting flight I start off pushing Dar and the cart. I have no idea
what has happened to Ian and Di. I get us to the recheck area and I look
back and there's Ian and Di plus the other fellow abandoned on the other
side of the terminal. Yep, they are waiting for the next available
assistant. I had somehow passed them.
We finally reconnect at the
gate. I pushed Dar and when they arrived Di was pushing Ian. Hey,
assistant did ya lose your chair?
At SeaTac the nice little
assistants pushed Dar and Ian all the way out to the shuttle buses.
So anyway we had a ball! It's the unexpected that adds to the
adventure.
What? Your getting married? Best wishes from all of us!
Gawd I bet that'll be one heck of a party!
Thanks so much Penny, it
was great. I'll try and send some photo's. Think I'll go have a drink.
Dar and Dave (itybitybob)
Di and Ian
July 31, 2009
Hi Penny,
We had a great time at the Whitehouse. Overall the trip was amazing.
I've already been on a plane to THREE other places since getting
back...talk about getting back to reality with work quickly.
We will definitely be going back to a Sandals resort next time.
We took over 100 pictures and even bought a few that they took of us. I
will send you the link to a few of the ones that I've been sharing with
family.
The pictures of the pool and ocean were taken from our balcony. That
might help other clients believe that the view is as good as it says on
the Sandals website.
.
Thanks again for all of your help!
Tiffany
Sachse, TX
February 10, 2009
HI Penny,
I wanted to send you a little recap from our trip.
It seems like it took us a long time, we got delayed two hours in Miami
because the airline wasn't able to find a passenger but the luggage was
already on the plane. Once we got to Jamaica we were loving the weather
we had a very nice driver and the views were amazing!!!! we got to the
resort and the check in went very smooth after we were all checked in we
got to go enjoy a nice dinner, we enjoyed the entire trip we lounged in
the pools we got to ride in the glass bottom boat, Tanner got to go
snorkeling and he even tried to go fishing but they got skunked. Tanner
ended up getting heat rash on his arms and chest which made it hard for
him to go outside. We liked all of the restaurants the one that we went
to the most would be Eleanor's. The warm sun and the endless drinks the
beautiful beaches, make me want to to go back, actually I didn't want to
go home. The trip home was even more of an adventure we almost missed
our plane in Dallas once we got through customs and security we had to
run to our gate. But all and all we had a wonderful time and came back
with a great tan that we are getting lots of comments about. We meet
lots of great people. Lots of the employees were great. I want to Thank
you for helping us plan this trip it turned out really good, I hope to
be able to go back again soon.
I have attached a couple of pictures, and some with be from the photo shop
at Whitehouse:
Thanks,
Kirsten
Sandpoint, Idaho
June 25,
2008
Hi Penny! We just wanted to say thank you for your great recommendation
to spend our vacation at Sandals Whitehouse! We had a great time!! The
scuba and snorkeling were wonderful and the dive instructors were
excellent. The food was unbelievable, the service and staff amazing. We
couldn't be happier. We can't wait to go back!
 Thanks again!
Jennifer & Dustin
CAROL STREAM, IL
October 17, 2007
I just thought I would let you know how the honeymoon
went. Well it rained everyday that we were there except the day we left
which was absolutely beautiful, however this didn't stop us from doing
almost everything that we wanted to do. The only thing it got in the way
of was scuba diving the last day due to the large amount of runoff.
Sandals Whitehouse was absolutely great along with the
people. We were greeted and taken to the concierge to check in and then
upgraded to the butler class room which at first was a little strange
having someone to do everything for us but it soon because quiet a
luxury. I can see now why people only get that class room. We learned a
lot since it was our first trip out of the USA and there a few things
that
Cole and Susan
MALVERN, AR
July 22, 2007
Thank you and as ALWAYS thank you for the terrific
service. We may not be the biggest spenders you have for clients but
every time we deal with you, you make us feel like we are!!!!!
Matt and Danielle
New York
April 13, 2006
Dear Penny,
We had the most wonderful vacation/R&R of our life at the Whitehouse.
Mr. Jones has really stepped up and created a truly fabulous resort -a
resort with class. I loved it! The resort and grounds were gorgeous, the
restaurants were fine tuned, the employees and playmakers were all
really sweet and a pleasure to be with.
The excursions we took were nothing short of "fantastic". Kesha arranged
for our driver (Ren) one day, whose company we thoroughly enjoyed -he
was great! I have only one recommendation concerning the
rooms/accommodations; get the highest category room with butlers -it
makes all the difference, hands down! Kesha and Dwayne were our butlers
and I cannot praise them enough -they were quite impressively attentive.
I think some of the lower room category guests may have been a bit
envious of the service we were receiving, but ask me if I cared !!
They'll learn!
I hope your trip was all you anticipated Penny, and that you were able
to depart for home as refreshed and rejuvenated as we were. Thank you
for all your hard work. I know beyond a shadow of doubt that our trip
was a little enhanced because of you; we weren't expecting to be
recognized at the returning guests dinner for ANYTHING, so thank you
again. It was great to see you and meet your charming sister; she's is a
kick!
Paula and Jim with their travel agent, Penny and
daughter and son-in-law Rex and Adrienne
It is wonderful to report that our Mar/Apr 2006 stay at
the Whitehouse has to be the #1 best trip we have ever had. In fact,
daily I pondered, "am I dreaming? how could this be real?". Well, all I
can say is, it was a "Dream Vacation" that will be very difficult to
duplicate.
Penny, please accept our sincere thanks and do pass on to Mr. Jones our
highest regards and gratitude to him and all of the Whitehouse staff as
well, for their true professional excellence. James and I hope to see
our friends at the Whitehouse again soon.
James & Paula Smith
Meridian, Idaho 83642
ps. sorry so wordy...I just can't sing enough praise about our trip!
Dec. 19, 2005
Penny,
I've been meaning to send these to you for the past 2 months. Mike and I
had a great time in Jamaica - even with the bad weather. As you can see
by the pics, the weather was beautiful for our renewal of vows - only
for about an hour - perfect timing! This was one of the most special
events of our lives - I cry every time I watch the DVD or look at the
pics. It was so meaningful for both of us - our children laugh and say
we look like kids in the pics .
When I told them last Wednesday, it was our 2 month anniversary, they
laughed again
Hopefully one day they'll so the same thing - and then they will get it!
Happy Holidays,
Mary Kay Eaton
Clifton, Virginia
October 10, 2006
Hi Penny,
Sorry it has taken so long to respond but here area few pictures of our
trip. We had a wonderful time! Everything went smoothly. We loved our
room,
the beach, and especially the French caf. We couldn't get enough of the
delicious pastries.
We recommend the canopy tour to anyone who truly wants to
be in the "wild"
swinging from tree to tree! We did wish for a closer town to do more
shopping but it was nice being secluded.
Thanks for all of your help in making this trip possible.
Sincerely,
Shane & Julie Smith
Sapulpa, OK
June 18, 2005
Hello
Penny!
THANK
YOU
VERY
MUCH!
We had the absolute BEST time in Jamaica at Sandals
Whitehouse!!! Everything was so perfect, and we did not have one bad
thing to say about anything!!! We especially loved the resort and
how it was so beautiful and new and the people were so nice and
friendly!! It was just what my husband and I needed after being
separated for 5 months. My husband is now back in Korea, and I am at
home in Richmond, but we are already planning our next Sandals or
Beaches vacation possibly in the spring of 2007. We are so very
thankful to you for making it amazing. I've attached a couple of
pictures for you. Thank you Penny and have a wonderful summer.
Sincerely,
Sarah and Kevin Holton
Glen Allen, VA
May 18, 2005
Hi Penny.
We made it back from our honeymoon! We had a great time, but we were
definitely ready to get back to the kids.
The food was decent, the activities were pretty good, and the service
for
the most part was exceptional. The only issue we ever had with service
was
while eating dinner at Guiseppes. We barely saw our waiter, and I went
twenty minutes with no water, because he never refilled it, and I asked
two
different people for drinks and never got anything. I let them know this
on
the comments card at the end of our stay, so hopefully it will be taken
care
of. No big deal.
The activities staff were awesome, and they definitely
made our stay great.
Everyone was friendly as could possibly be! Our room was great, and
always
clean and well stocked.
Other than the things that I mentioned, our stay was
wonderful. Just a few
minor glitches, but nothing that we were going to let ruin our stay.
Cindi Raffield
Ocala, FL
April 30, 2005
Hi Penny,
We had an INCREDIBLE time at the new Sandals Whitehouse! The resort was
amazing (not finished yet, but we barely noticed), the staff was so nice,
the weather was perfect, and the beach was gorgeous. Thank you so much for
helping us get the trip put together. It was something I will remember
forever, it was the best week of my life!
Thanks again for everything Penny, and please tell your clients that
the Whitehouse is fabulous!!
Tiffany Beck
Boise, Idaho
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