A NEW CHAPTER BEGINS: HELLO DUNN'S RIVER
The brand-new Sandals Dunn's River opened to much fanfare on May 19th, making it the company's seventeenth resort overall. Sandals Dunn's River is a fully new and utterly redesigned hotel and experience, located on a gorgeous stretch of white sand beach that was originally chosen by the late Gordon 'Butch' Stewart, the famed hotelier and creator of Sandals Resorts International. The 260-room luxury all-inclusive resort has innovative culinary ideas and upgraded suite designs, providing guests with a profoundly intimate connection to the resort's seductive environment on the northern coast of Jamaica.
"Ocho Rios has been the backdrop of some of my family's most pivotal moments, including along this very beach where my father grew up and turned a perhaps once unimaginable dream into one of the world's most well-known hotel brands," said Adam Stewart, Executive Chairman of Sandals Resorts International (SRI). "Today, we celebrate innovation and a commitment to excellence as we unveil the next generation of Sandals Resorts in our home country of Jamaica. I cannot think of a better way to honour his legacy and acknowledge the incredible future of our brand than to welcome our very first guests to Sandals Dunn's River. It's great to have you home."
Sandals Dunn's River was built to reflect the rivers, woodlands, and towering banyan trees that are so emblematic of Jamaica. From the lobby waterfalls to the cascading pools of the Red Lane® Spa, all the water at Sandals Dunn's River comes straight from the Dunn's River Falls' natural reserves. The first-ever trademark scent from Sandals will be unveiled at Dunn's River for guests to enjoy. Guests are greeted in the open-air foyer by a perfume that is an explosion of colours, from white flowers and fruits to notes of sandalwood and musk in the background, all designed to evoke the romanticism of the Caribbean and capture the beautiful flora and wildlife around the resort.
The Tufa Terrace SkyPool Butler Suites at Sandals are the first of its kind in Jamaica, with infinity pools that stretch the length of the balcony and look out over the Caribbean Sea. The Coyaba Sky Swim-up Rondoval Butler Suites with Private Pools at Sandals are redesigned versions of the resort's classic solitary circular villas, along with spacious rooftop terraces ideal for enjoying the Ocho Rios weather and night sky. Although the Travertine Beachfront Club Level Rooms are named after the enormous, natural limestone steps of the world-famous Dunn's River Falls, the Mammee Bay Beachfront Butler Suites® boast wide balconies overlooking the sea with unparalleled sunset views. The resort's personnel look as good as the resort itself owing to a relationship with famed fashion designer Stan Herman, who worked closely with resort employees to create a range of clothing and accessories perfect for the Caribbean.
One of 12 new restaurants, BLM maintains a link to Jamaican cuisine. The tiny coffee shop, named after the island's beautiful Blue Mountains, serves customers a one-of-a-kind coffee drinking experience, complete with 25-cup cold drip towers, nitro cold brew on tap, and Modbar pour-over machines for extracting the most flavour from Jamaica's prized bean. Dunn's Rum Club is a Caribbean rum bar where visitors may sample rums from all across the islands. Dunn's Rum Club celebrates the iconic spirit by fusing tales with well crafted, imaginatively titled rum flights, and it has the greatest range of rum on the island of Jamaica and at any other Sandals Resort. The elegant Lapidus Lounge, named after the renowned architect Morris Lapidus who created the original resort on the property, the Arawak Hotel, and whose bright décor typified 1960s Caribbean elegance, was the perfect place to while away the evenings. Here, you may drink a Morris Manhattan while marvelling at the building's many architectural nods. Guests may relax with their toes on the sand and a drink in hand at Laughing Waters Beach Bar, so named after the neighbouring freshwater falls that cascade softly into the ocean. The Jerk Shack is a classic Jamaican eatery, serving festival-fried sweet corn cakes and 'jerked' meats and shellfish spiced with local allspice and scotch bonnet pepper.
Hamani, an izakaya-inspired sushi restaurant that brings the elegance of traditional Japan to the Caribbean; Edessa, where the Caribbean and Aegean seas meet; an Asian-fusion menu at Banyu, which offers a blend of cultures all in one dining experience; Central and South American flavours at Zuka; Italian at Cascata; a taste of France at L'Amande; Greek specialties at Graze; and more. Taking Visitors Deep into the Heart of Ocho Rios
Sandals Dunn's River puts Ocho Rios' natural treasures at guests' fingertips with its signature Luxury Included® offerings, such as free green fees at the nearby and remodeled Sandals Upton Estate Golf & Country Club, scuba diving to explore the depths of the ocean and marine sanctuaries with world-class partners at PADI, and rafting the Martha Brae River on a 30-foot, artisan-crafted bamboo raft.
"Building extraordinary resorts that make it easy for our guests to authentically experience our home countries and the people that bring these incredible places to life, is the work of Sandals Resorts. The Caribbean is wide and diverse and brimming with flavour, and fun. There is so much to discover here and we want to bring our guests closer to it all," said Stewart.
Discover more: Dunn’s River