Tripcentral missed the mark

Issues with Tripcentral: --------------------- We contacted Wendy as we had booked with her in the past as she had booked us exactly what we were looking for. This time around, we said money was not an issue, but book us something for two adults and 10 and 12 year old boys. Something great for kids. She suggested the Jewel Runaway Bay as being the best option and we took her word for it. The room was advertised as a Junior Suite with two beds. My impression was that she must know there  [... read more]is a cot, or being a suite there is a pull out bed or something for the kids. We arrived on site, and the room had two double beds, about three feed apart from on another. The room was very small, and unkempt (burnt out lights, broken tiles, dirty, peeling privacy glass). The bathroom door is a swing glass door that opens to the shower, no way to lock it, and no privacy at all with children. When we saw the room, we emailed Wendy and said there was not enough space for our family, and were told there was nothing she could do and to contact Sunwing directly. We called the 1-800 number, and were told nothing that they could do, but to talk to the hotel. The hotel said cots would not fit in the bedroom, and we couldn't pay for an upgrade because of max capacity. This was quite disheartening on our first night, and I really am surprised by Tripcentrals response, support and overall booking experience given our positive experience in the past. I think this is the part that bothers us the most, is booking through a travel agent, and not being given these kids of "heads up". Why even book through an agent? Review of resort: --------------------- We stayed in JRB from Feb 23rd 2020 to Feb 30th 2020. The first building we were booked in (see above for details) was not maintained and dirty. The subsequent nights we were moved into another room in a different building which was night and day. Much more clean and maintained. Overall, the resort is beautiful but you can clearly see how costs are being cut. We have stayed in many different resorts and this is the first one where many shortcuts are taken in the guise to save money. For example, when you go to the restaurants, you are not served alcohol. You have to walk out of the restaurant and pick up drinks at the bar and bring them back to the restaurants. The buffet it is fairly easy to have wine as long as you ask, but again it takes a good 15-20 mins for a glass after you ask. I recommend that before you go to the restaurant, grab a glass or two and bring it with you, and just accept that this is normal. The food for a 4-star is sub-par. The Japanese restaurant one appetizer is a frozen vegetable spring-roll you buy at the supermarket. Literally one cabbage spring-roll in plumb sauce. At the Platinum restaurant there is a tuna appetizer. They give you three dime sized see through pieces of tuna. Such cost cutting methods it is just unreal. Honestly the restaurants are nothing to rave about, the food is mostly sub-par. You can go down the road and pay for a nice meal at Sharkies. There is no fresh seafood available at all outside of soggy shrimp or really soggy cold smoked salmon. But recall you can't actually give yourself the cold smoked salmon because it's costly, they have it behind the glass and they serve it you. Fruit is mostly melons and pineapple. The fresh fruit juice smoothie stand is a nice option. There is one beer left (not even red stripe) in the fridge at night, and after 2am no alcohol is accessible even though the website advertises 24/7 drinks. Kids functions: --------------------- Advertised laser tag was not available. Kids never went across to the ranch, never was an option given to them. They played capture the flag at night and they loved it. The staff are incredible! The water park is amazing, and makes up for missing amenities. Kids can go up to any of the bars and grab lime juice, smoothies or whatever else. Staff --------------------- The staff make up for the sub-par food and lacking amenities. What an amazing crew they have there. We had an absolute blast getting to know them and hanging out. Made several friends and felt safe letting the kids be independent. Can't say enough about the staff. They addressed our concerns and have welcomed us back next year on them, what incredible people. Tripcentral and Sunwing can really learn from their customer service. We are really looking forward to going back just to see the people again. Also saw the lifeguards save a little boy from drowning. When there are waves, there is a very strong current by the reef so be vigilant. Warning --------------------- Our 10 and 12 year old were diagnosed with hookworm this morning. Please keep an eye on your feet as it is an ongoing issue in many of the reviews here. Started on their feet and on their legs a bit, but because of the reviews we were watching for it.

Amazing

Rooms were decent, the resort itself was beautiful, the staff was 100% top notch amazing, beach extremely clean, amazing family resort, we would go back in a heartbeat. Water park inside is very good and fun for everyone. Again the staff made this trip even better!

Enjoyable vacation

Great food, beach and people. Rooms are aged and in need of repair and updating. Air-conditioner not working properly, also sliding doors wouldn’t slide and the safe needed to be repaired before using, the room door electronic lock needed repaired twice, Although the staff responded quickly and were friendly it was still an inconvenience.

Amazing !!!!

Everything about this family vacation was truly amazing! Monika was so helpful and professional! We highly recommend her. The resort was fantastic, the people are beyond accommodating, food was great and rooms were very clean! The Waterpark is amazing just like the staff.

An Amazing Resort!

I would highly recommend this hotel! I’ve been to Cuba and Dominican so many times but this hotel by far is the best we’ve stayed at. Our room was always clean in fact in was cleaned twice a day! Also, every washroom on the resort was always clean no matter what time of day or what washroom you went in it was always immaculately clean and never out of supplies. The staff were so friendly and where there to help you with everything. The food was amazing. And it was plentiful. Food at the wate [... read more]r park, food on the beach, food at the snack bar and Buffett! That’s not including the four restaurants that were open for dinner! I can’t begin to explain how beautiful the beach is. The water was crystal clear, we would bring bread and feed the fish every morning. We got lucky with the weather as the only time it rained was when we were pulling away from the resort back home. We are definitely going back next year!

Great beach

It was ok, older resort, not enough staff to clean it. The beach is amazing but the food was a hit or miss in the buffet. The Italian restaurant was a joke, the dishes were terrible with-no flavour or good texture. Pizza restaurant was the best bet, good cheese and dough although the service is slow and they dont seem like they really give a shit. A few employees had a bad attitude but most staff were pleasant.

Great resort - friendly staff and well kept grounds and pools. Clean rooms.

Grounds well kept - rooms were clean - a little dated - food usual buffet fare - you could place a special order with the chef if would like something specific to eat but hotel does not advertise this - found this out by accident - Access to ocean great. Drinks were made with local liquor not premium liquor. Great time to go as hotel not busy except for week-ends when there were a lot of people there for the week-end which caused line-ups at the waterpark and restaurants. You either ha [... read more]d to wait to ge a tube for the lazy river or didn't get one at all. Kid friendly resort. Entertainment o.k. on week-end but not during week.

Good resort for kids

This was our second time visiting this resort and we loved it! The hotels are close to the beach, pool and water park. The kids really enjoyed the water park and it helped to break up the day. The only downside is that there are not enough tubes for the lazy river so you have to get there early. Other than that it’s really good. There is food for everyone ... the kids had pasta, chicken tenders , burgers , hot dogs. We mainly ate at the buffet and they had a good selection everyday and everyth [... read more]ing tasted good. The platinum had amazing food. The place is really clean and there’s a bar at every corner. They also have a jerk hut in the beach that was sooo gooodd! It wasn’t over crowded we always got a beach chair by the sand or by any pool. I would recommend this resort to anyone with a family,

Best!

Amazing resort, amazing beach, amazing waterpark, amazing food, and most importantly, amazing people! Coral reef right in front of the hotel. Throw some bread in the water and you will be swimming with hundreds of beautiful fish. Better than going on any snorkeling excursion. As for excursions, highly recommend Dunns River Falls and Konoko Falls. FYI's: Drive from airport is about 1:45 ish; get your beach towels early bc they run out, most excursions serve jerk chicken only (two that we [... read more] went on); bring water shoes; atm machine right on resort; waterpark also open to the locals (who are very kind) so it tends to get pretty busy during the day, slows down after 4, stays open til 6; beach area is very windy but the breeze feels nice; hot but not humid; quiet resort; only restaurant w AC is Caribbean, however no need for AC bc of the breeze; only need reservations for one restaurant (tapanaki/Japanese); no strict dresscode; 3 pools, main pool no swim-up, infinity pool does but its pretty shallow and often full of kids (strange they would have the bar there🤷‍♀️); great entertainment, always something to do Definitely returning! Thanks for a fantastic time... IRIE

Had a good week!

We had a good week at this resort. We originally booked a premier room and upgraded to an ocean front junior suite upon arrival. I would highly recommend. Staff were great, very friendly. Food was good. Japanese and Italian were you our favourite. Buffet could be better. Soft ice cream was great! Kids loved it. For the price, good vacation. Francine Small cleaned our room all week and she was amazing! My daughter loved the daily animals made of towels! Water park was fun but tended to be crowded [... read more] with local school kids most days. Unsure if due to end of school year? Breakfast was extremely crowded on Sunday as well. Overall good experience.

Jewel Runaway Bay Resort

It was not what we were expecting at all! I went with my husband and my 2 kids,6yrs and 7yrs old. It was an Okay hotel it's NOT modern. First, there were no towels in our room when we arrived to the hotel. We had to keep asking the front desk to provide us with more. Second, there was no good entertainment as we were use to alot more variety like in Dominican Repulic Bahia Principe Fantasia was the BEST for families as it cost almost the same. I can say though, the food in the Japanese, Buff [... read more]et and Italian was good, especially the Jerk chicken. The water park and the beach was the best part but other than that my family and I will NOT be returning.

Great Family Vacation

Jewel Runaway Bay was a fantastic getaway. Our room was fantastic (premier), clean and located in the topaz building right beside the infinity pool and water park, which was great as that's where the kids stayed! Food choice was great! Staff are friendly and helpful. Snorkeling was amazing, beach was clean and never overly crowded (end of may). The availability of the free water sports was good. The pools were clean and loungers were always available. (go early for shade) WIFI is not reliable  [... read more]but you can find access in the main lobby or by the kids clubs. My only complaint was the inconsistency in the kids activities and night time entertainment. I think this was mostly given to the time of year we visited, as things would be canceled with no communication given or entertainment would be different from what was listed on the daily itinerary.

Good Food, Lacks Towels.

Rooms - Dated, but clean. Biggest issue was consistency. We had 2 rooms, 1 room got towels daily the other lacked towels at least 50% of the days there. Housecoats in one room only , Spare toilet paper in one room but not the other. The beds were super comfortable and lots of English TV stations. No snacks but 8 bottles of water and a couple soft drinks and beers daily. Beach - fantastic, lots of chairs, close to bars, snorkeling right off beach. Beach towels are an issue. Golf - Course wa [... read more]s really dried out. The greens and tee boxes were good but the rest was yellow. A bit dissapointing, expecially since renting clubs was 40 each, plus caddy and cart fee made golf about $150 (USD) plus drinks and tip. Water Park - Was fun, did get a bit busy but a great extra perk. Food - Excellent, everything except dining under the stars (food was cold, less selection). Everyone was happy with restaurants and the buffet shockingly did change many items throughout the week. The jerk hut was fantastic. Service was just okay. A few bartenders went out of their way for tips but overall was only impressed by a couple of waiters.

Great Family Resort

The staff are amazing and the small resort makes it better to get to know the staff and to build a relationship with. My kids had a blast and want to go back. 3.5 star in quality of the hotel but a 5 star for the kids club staff. The hotel itself is a bit outdated.

Great visit to Jamaica!

We enjoyed our stay. The resort was dated but very well kept. The beach was beautiful and the water park kept my child very well entertained. The food we thought was good with a lot of variety. We would return.

Great family vacation!

Second trip to Jewel in 2 yrs. Pros: Grounds are well kept. Variety of good quality food. Very accommodating to allergies. Waterpark is excellent with something for everyone. White sand and turquoise water. Friendly staff. Very comfortable beds. Excellent water pressure and temperature. Stone oven pizza is great. Snorkeling right off the beach. Cons: very difficult to get beach towels - would recommend bringing a couple of your own. Rooms are dated, but clean. Italian restaurant does not take  [... read more]reservations so you have to line up really early to get in. 1.5 hr bus ride from airport.

Nice family resort

Check in was slow. There werent enough staff working to handle the families that arrived on the same bus. Room was very outdated. Door locks were loose and appeared to have been tampered with at some point. Rain shower was nice and hot water was no issue. Room cleaning was sparse. Some days no one came by unless we went looking and asking. Hotel grounds were beautiful. Kids loved water park....not overly large but great for our 8 and 12 year old. Pools were great and not overly crowded. Beach wa [... read more]s beautiful and relaxing. Tried out the gym. It was very outdated but clean and had all the necessary equipment. Did not participate in many activities but there appeared to be alot to do for the kids. Our son loved the teen centre. Food was good. Restaurants fill up quick at night so arrive early or you end up at the buffet. The jerk chicken hut on the beach was the best!

Great Family Friendly Resort

Beautiful Beach. The staff was very attentive and friendly. The resort does need some up dating but the rooms were clean. The water park was a huge hit with the kids. Not crowded - plenty of beach chairs. If you are looking for authentic Jamaican food, you'll need to go outside of the resort. Overall - if you are looking for small, accessible, affordable and family friendly resort, it's a great option.

Faded charms

No hot water for 3 days. Minimal toiletries and coffee in room. Rooms need updating. This is a resort that relies on its beach and waterpark and hopes its guests will ignore all else at the resort. Massive staff layoffs 2 months ago. Lots of new inexperienced staff. Menu avoids Jamaican dishes for international ones.

Nice resort

This resort is nice, grounds were well kept and rooms were clean. The beach was great with lots of palapas and chairs, always able to find a spot. Pools were nice with lots of loungers. The restaurant foods were good but being a family resort they don't accommodate larger groups. We had 11 of us and every time we went to eat they never sat us together even though we requested table seating for 11. That was disappointing. Kids loved the water park with the lazy river which is a nice feature.