Marriott Is Planning a New Hotel on Montego Bay, Jamaica’s Hip Strip, With 165 Sea-Facing Rooms and a Rooftop Bar
Every room at the planned AC Hotel Montego Bay will face the Caribbean Sea. The new Marriott hotel will also have a rooftop bar overlooking the water, and it’s slated to open in 2027 on the site of the former Sandals Carlyle.
As we first reported, the 165-room property will bring Marriott’s AC Hotels brand to Montego Bay for the first time. Sandals Resorts International Executive Chairman Adam Stewart announced the project in June 2025, when Marriott signed a franchise agreement for the hotel. The announced opening target is 2027, with an exact date still to come.
A New Hotel on Montego Bay’s Hip Strip
The hotel is planned for Kent Avenue, about half a mile from Sangster International Airport. It’s part of the Hip Strip, the stretch of Montego Bay best known for Doctor’s Cave Beach, where you can spend the afternoon in the water and walk to nearby bars and restaurants afterward.
Stewart said the hotel’s design draws on Caribbean reefs. The plans call for sea views from all 165 rooms and a rooftop Sky Terrace Bar, where guests will be able to watch the sun set over the water. The short drive from the airport also puts the hotel in a convenient spot for a quick weekend in Montego Bay.
A Room-Only Option in an All-Inclusive Destination
AC Hotel Montego Bay will operate on a European Plan, meaning meals and drinks are purchased separately. You’ll be able to book a room and make your own plans for dinner, whether that’s on the Hip Strip or elsewhere in Montego Bay.
It will be Jamaica’s second AC Hotel, following the opening of AC Hotel Kingston in 2019. The two properties give the brand a presence in the capital and, with the planned Montego Bay opening, on Jamaica’s north coast.
Montego Bay has another new hotel on the calendar for 2027. The 451-room, adults-only UNICO 18°77° Montego Bay has already opened reservations for a March 1 debut. For the AC, the year is the extent of the announced timetable.
