Jamaica's Luxury & All Inclusive Resorts: Featuring Sandals, Secrets, and Round Hill - Luxury Travel

Things that happened at the Atlanta airport today:

– I realized just how spoiled I’m getting on incredibly perfect airport sendoffs.

– I experienced ATL on a Monday at 8 AM – the sheer volume of people was terrifying. The line, which weaved itself through the food court and snaked around each individual baggage claim, looked like an exodus out of Atlanta. I checked the date to make sure it wasn’t 2012 and the world was coming to an end.

– To my complete surprise, I got through security in less than 30 minutes – and trust me, that line looked like it would take at least two hours to trudge through. For once I find myself congratulating ATL on efficiency. The weirdest part? The TSA agents were friendlier than normal – maybe they just work well under pressure.

– I ran into one of my English major friends in terminal E!

It was an uneventful flight to Jamaica, which I consider an accomplishment after all of the overly-eventful flights in my life within the past couple of years. After checking in through customs, we went to the Sandals room to wait for our transfer – several of the major hotels have their own check-in lounges at the airport (Sandals, Couples, Half Moon, The Ritz, Hedonism [gross – I don’t ever want to check in there]). Our first stop of the day was a site inspection of Sandals Royal Caribbean, which I’ve wanted to see for a while considering the number of people I send/have going to the resort (one of which leaves this weekend, shout out to Natasha & Jason!). I really liked the property – it feels boutique in size, which I love, and even at 100% occupancy it did not feel in the least bit crowded. RC has its own private island with a swim-up bar, Thai restaurant, and plenty of places to lounge – this was my favorite part of the hotel. I could see myself spending hours in one of those cabanas…maybe one day.

After lunch and a full site inspection of the property, we went over to Round Hill, a Virtuoso property with both a hotel block and individual villas. The property is just the epitome of class – it’s small and elegant with beautiful style (Ralph Lauren designed the interior decor) and gorgeous landscaping .

The villas were absolutely stunning – private pools and jacuzzis with full gardens (Laura Allen, you would flip at the flora here) and multiple rooms. The best part: they can be really affordable when shared for a multi-couple/family getaway.