Almond Beach Resort at Jaguar Reef

We enjoyed our stay at Almond Beach Resort, which is a section of the Jaguar Reef hotel (they have gradually bought neighbouring existing hotels, that now share a check-in, restaurants, and pools with Jaguar Reef. Our Spa room had a very nice covered porch with lounge chairs, that was right on the beach. Staff were friendly and helpful, ‘Captain Larry’ was very fun, and helped to make our stay memorable. Overall the hotel was very quiet. Not a place to come to if you are looking for a beach party, or nightlife, but this was fine with us. There are quite a few other restaurants within walking distance, and even more are a short golf cart ride into the main village of Hopkins. The beach was nice, but be aware that the sandflies are an issue. Bring bug spray, and even still be careful. We saw some people who had been bit quite badly. Some areas of the hotel were showing some age and wear. Steps with tiles missing, cracks in our room wall with off colour paint, hot tub not hot. One quirk that I had to wonder about was that although staff were on top of raking the seaweed on the beach every morning, their practice is to just rake it back into the sea (including bottles, bits of plastic and other garbage), and make it someone else’s problem. This seemed to be the norm at neighbouring properties too. Don’t get me wrong,it is still very nice, but for the price of a room, you expect things to be a little more polished.

Almond beach is beautiful Very hospitable, clean, good amenities, Food, drinks, comfortable place Capt Larry was amazing with our son Brought him coconuts to drink & played with him He always made sure we had towels on our chair Always smiling

Our experience here was a study in contrasts. The staff, particularly Stephanie, Tahida, and Julio, were absolutely wonderful and went above and beyond at every opportunity. Carti G and Andy were great at the restaurant/bar. When we experienced issues, Stephanie personally sought us out on the beach to address our concerns and arranged a complimentary dinner and drinks - the kind of personal attention that shows genuine care for guests. One absolute standout of the property is the Big Dock bar - easily one of the coolest bars we've ever experienced. The two-story overwater structure is amazing: the bottom floor features multiple netted beds suspended over the water and a fun rope swing, while the top floor also has suspended beds letting you lounge above the water. You can swim and jump in from either level, making it the perfect spot to spend a day. The drinks are good, but the incredible staff and perfect Caribbean vibes make it exceptional. We even spotted manatees swimming by multiple times! While we didn't try it, there's also a ceviche place right there. However, the property itself seems to be a dated resort masquerading as luxury, and the service infrastructure doesn't match the staff's excellent intentions. The rooms are a perfect example of this disconnect - your first impression is stunning, with breathtaking ocean views and elegant decor, but then you start noticing the details: poorly painted patches, scuff marks and dents on the walls, non-functional outlets and lights. It's like a beautiful facade that starts to crack upon closer inspection. At check-in, we were told to "let them know if there's even a hair on the ground," setting very high expectations. What followed was a series of infrastructure issues: the luxury soaking tub (a key reason we booked) leaked continuously throughout our stay, even when unused for 36 hours. When maintenance initially attempted to fix it, they left water and sand everywhere for us to clean up ourselves. We experienced multiple instances of no hot water, notably during pre-dinner hours - suggesting an inadequate water heating system that can't handle peak usage times. Despite promises to communicate about maintenance work, we never received updates about fixes or visits unless we reached out and asked. The bathroom mirror light and outlet remained non-functional throughout our stay. The complimentary dinner arranged by management, while a thoughtful gesture, unfortunately highlighted the property's struggles - inedible tough steak, pasta that tasted like they just cooked the noodles then put some Tapatio on, and mixed desserts (good wild berry chocolate cake, but a coconut mousse that oddly tasted like cheese). My boyfriend will eat absolutely anything and even he couldn’t get through the steak. We ended up going to Driftwood for pizza after (which was excellent). Let's be honest - this place will continue to book solid because the views are absolutely insane. But this property has the potenti