Riu Ocho Rios: AMAZING TRIP

My best friend and I,along with 2 couples, stayed for a week at the Riu from April 24 to May 1.We had an amazing vacation.The beach was beautiful.The pool was great.The food was delicious.The cleaning staff was amazing.They were the friendliest of all the staff.SYYDIA YOU ROCK.Cleanest resort I ever stayed at.The wait staff was very friendly and efficient.The cooks were always smiling and friendly. Unfortunately there is always bad with the good....They really need to do an overhaul on the bar [... read more] staff.Though most were efficient and knew what they were doing, there was no personality at all....there were no smiles,no conversation,very rude when asked a question,different treatment or service for different people.We both worked in the service industry for quite a long time ...we understand it gets busy,you run out of supplies,people hollering over others,BUT WHEN ITS NOT BUSY OR YOU ARE CAUGHT UP ON EVERYTHING ,TRY A SMILE...I go on vacation with the expectation to tip....After 2 days of trying (because we put effort forth to smile,talk,make eye contact with our bar staff) I saved my money.I work hard all year to go on a vacation ...Im not giving my money away to cranky people!!!

Bahia Principe Escape Runaway Bay: Don Pablo Collection April -May 2017 Ontario Canada

Very good location in Runaway Bay. Excellent room vey spacious and very clean. Friendly staff for the most part except some of the hostess not always cheerful. Ex. Jasmin open at 7:30am we are there at 7:28am and they make you wait:( . Check in should be revised we couldn't get our room as promised which is 3:00pm. Have to go to the reception many times to follow up. Restaurants reservations as well. We couldn't get the Italian and the Mikado because of restrictions. Booked on the Luxury Don Pab [... read more]lo Collection we should have priority over the Bahia side. Yet every place we went the restaurant was always half empty. Don Pablo was disapointing compare to our visit 2 years ago. Garden Grill we were rushed , the waiter was overloaded. Order a steak medium rare came raw not cooked enough. Takada should closed food not good and cold. Jasmin was excellent buffet. Picasso and Rodizio were far the best 5 stars. Beach restaurant near the pool was fantastic , jerk chicken excellent. White wine was adequate but the red was awful. Main lobby bar wasn't organized bartenders were all over the place. Beach were great. Will come back maybe. This was our second time at this resort been in Jamaica seven time. Overall still was a very good relaxing vacation. Weather which is not controllable could be better it rain everyday for long time (half day). First time since we been in Jamaica.

Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton: Awesome Resort! Paradise!!

Stayed at Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton for 4 nights with a group. The resort was well beyond expectations. The thing that impressed the most was the vast amount of beautiful space the resort offers. The website doesn't do justice to the vastness of this place. There are so many options of pools and beaches that offer a nice variety of experiences from one day to the next. Then there are so many dining & entertainment options that offer the same variety of experiences throughout the evening [... read more]s. The facilities are beautiful. The food is nice. The rooms are great. It is a wonderful place to spend a week!! We would absolutely look for an opportunity to return!

Sandals Dunn's River: Jewel in Jamaica

If you are looking for a smaller, relaxing resort with excellent food and service, this is your place. The service was fantastic and the people who work there were the friendliest staff I have ever encountered on a resort. The food was great from start to finish. We always had a great meal.

Grand Palladium Jamaica: Lovely Resort

The resort was lovely and very clean. The food was very good. The only problems we had were two nights when we went for showers there was no hot water. We asked for our room to be cleaned in the AM as we like to go back in the afternoon but that only occurred once.

Bahia Principe Explore Jamaica: 2nd visit.. disappointed and wont be returning to this resort

My 2nd visit to this resort and to say the least.. very disappointed from my first visit and will not be returning. The customer service was not the greatest and it seemed like the staff couldn't care less if you were there or not, we spend over $3500.00 per couple to come to a 5 star resort.. they should remove 2 stars and list it as a 3 star. Upon arrival, there is no welcome drink, we were rushed into the lobby area, told to sit, advised that a $6 USD charge for the safe per day was if we w [... read more]anted the safe. Our credit card was provided for deposit, I was not given a key like my other friends and was told that my room key would work the safe. NO such thing.. I had to return to the front desk to request a key, which did not work. I then called the front desk to inform them my key was not working and was directed to a voicemail that was full. I did not get back to the front desk until the next day and guess what.. I was charged $6 USD for the one day of a safe not working and had to pay them cash.. unreal. We are a group of 10 people and some are early risers that like to take in the sunshine. Two of my friends were up early and asked one of the staff if there was coffee available until the buffet opened and simply got a NO; however, there is coffee set up on the open terrace on the landing each morning for guests to enjoy. I had emailed several times prior to arriving to try and get our a la carte's booked ahead of time and was informed that our request was sent to public relations where the bookings are done; however, no guarantee we could be accommodated. Our dinner reservations were mixed up from the start. Upon arrival we were provided our packages, I was not told that there was an envelope with our restaurant bookings (only 1 out of the 3 done) in my package and spent an hour upon arriving at the public relations desk trying to get sorted out. I was able to get the steakhouse booked; however, they could not seat all of us together table of 10 was told largest table was 8, that was fine so put 6 and 4 per table. They booked 6 under my room and the other 4 under someone else room not even in our group??. They can accommodate large tables for weddings thou but not 10??? I don't get it. The Italian restaurant (which was booked on our behalf of the manager due to other issues) we were told there was no booking for us when we arrived for our reservation . We then went to double check with public relations desk to find there was no booking reserved for us; however, when the manager who booked it called the next day followed up with us to find out how our dinner was, we found out an email was sent to the restaurant indicating our booking and not an actual reservation (we were given verbal not written receipt). We were told each manager has a phone with email's; however, no one bothered to check their emails to confirm and we were simply told we were not booked for 6:30. The food was not the greatest at the buffet and found several cockroaches crawling over food and on the floor and also in the bathrooms. One friends room smelled like mold and you were bitten within minutes of being in the room (took some work but got them moved to a nicer / cleaner room). The swim up bar constantly ran out of booze and ice. The casino bar had premium drinks for a cost which is fine and we had no problem paying; however, no one knew the cost of a drink that would be charged to your room?? I am one to take trip advisor with a grain of salt when planning a trip; however, after this experience I will take a closer look. Very disappointed return vacation

Bahia Principe Explore Jamaica: 50th Birthday Vacation

The resort was very nice and staff extremely friendly. Food was great. Trying to book a restaurant was an absolute nightmare. There were 11 in our party and they could not accommodate us in any of the restaurants (even though I contacted the resort and travel agent ahead of schedule informing them of the size of our party and tried to pre-book restaurants for 3 of the 7 nights), every restaurant was more than half empty each night, so this was extremely frustrating and spoilt an otherwise wonder [... read more]ful trip. It was a 50th birthday celebration so we expected to be able to eat as a group a couple of times. Also requested flowers and champagne (again ahead of schedule) in the room as a birthday surprise and this did not happen)!

Riu Palace Tropical Bay: What a wonderful vacation

Riu Palace Tropical Bay is a great resort. Our room was spacious, our bed was comfortable and the maids did an excellent job with the cleaning. The beach was sandy and clean. Food was very well presented with great selections. The grounds and pool area were kept neat and clean. We really enjoyed interacting with the staff who were always ready to please. Overall...a wonderful vacation spot.

Bahia Principe Explore Jamaica: Fantastic resort. Dont miss this one

What a beautiful place to spend a week. Gorgeous pools, sandy beaches all groomed to perfection. Food and entertainment was exceptional. All employees were kind and courteous. Not a bad word to say! Cant wait for next year.

Deja Resort: my home away from home

I absolutely loved this resort and everything about my trip was amazing. The staff were outstanding., so helpful and they took care of me before i even asked. They were such great people. My room was gorgeous and well kept as all of the resort was. Great food and entertainment. I'm already planning my next trip and i want to go right back there I've never felt so welcomed and at home. I honestly could go on forever. A trip i will never forget.

Bahia Principe Escape Runaway Bay: Really nice but beware of "adults only"

We absolutely loved this resort however it was our first time staying "adults only" and I don't think we'd worry about it again. Small children can be annoying to those of us who are past that stage in our lives. ..but so can children who are young adults that drink too much, smoke too much, and feel it's ok to be rude to other guests,demanding to staff, urinate at night on the grounds and be really noisy at 2am. There were only a select few who did this. ..but it just made us realize [... read more] that small kids problems are usually smaller and less annoying. Overall great resort! Upgraded to oceanfront room last 3 nights and glad we did however resort was slooooooow to get the move in place

Riu Ocho Rios: Excellent Resort

Everything about the resort was great. The food was excellent and the quality of the food was great. You get a different variety of food buffets so you don't get tired of the same food, it gives you plenty of options to keep you satisfied. The entertainment was excellent, there were planned activities every day to keep you busy and to ensure that you have the best time while on the resort. As well, the room service was perfect, everyday they made sure that your room was clean and the bar re-stoc [... read more]ked. No complains about the resort / hotel, I look forward to coming back again sometime in the future.

Bahia Principe Explore Jamaica: Not worth the money !!!!!!

The worst resort I have ever stay the people for the most part was really rude. The bar runnning out of ice was very common and no dark rum in stock. Also never towels there on time alway had to wait a hour . The bathroom lights were out or the doors were locked no toilet paper . Jets not working in the pool . The list could go on but customer service was the worst . I would never recommend this resort to anyone not worth the money at all .

Jewel Paradise Cove: Excellent experience

Everything about this resort was pleasant. Beautiful rooms, lovely beach, friendly staff, quick service for how busy it got at some points. Food was great and drinks were delicious! I would definitely go again.

Sandals Ochi Beach Resort: Another great group trip with Kim Hartlen to a Sandals resort

We recently arrived home from a great 10 day vacation at Sandals Ochi.. It’s a long trip from the airport to the resort, on most days 1 ½ hours, but the day we arrived it was a 3 hour trip because of the annual kite festival, which tied up traffic. The resort itself was very nice, however seemed “cut up” because of 2 distinct parts – below the main road near the ocean and above the main road. It was hard to walk around the resort much because it is very hilly and the roads and path [... read more]s do not connect well for a long walk. The food was excellent, overall the best of any of the 7 different Sandals we have stayed at over the last 7 years. The main pool at the upper level was great and we spent a lot of our time there, but did spend some time at the “quiet pool” on the upper level as well as at the beach. We found the playmakers fun and full of energy. Service at the pool bars was good. We always wonder about the thoroughness of cleaning of the drink glasses at the pool bars, maybe more care could be taken there, but we have seen that at all the resorts -- possibly one of few weaker points of Sandals. We found the staff very friendly and helpful, overall the best staff of any of the Sandals we have stayed at. We have to mention our room attendant, Sashana Campbell, who kept our room very clean all 10 days we were there. She was definitely the best room attendant we have seen at Sandals. She was very friendly and continually surprised us with her “towel animal creations” each day. Restaurants -- for evening meals -- we enjoyed all evening meals and ate at all restaurants except for The Southern Table. Our 2 favourites were the French, Le Gourmand, and Italian, Valentinos, restaurants. We ate at both twice and had fabulous meals with great service every time. We had Jenthrow for a waiter 3 times (both times at the Italian restaurant and for breakfast at the French) and he was excellent and went over and above to make sure everything was perfect for us. The sushi at Soy was excellent and the meal at Kimonos was very good – but the “chef show” there was short and just average. The only meal we had that wasn’t up to par was at Kellys and it was because they had run out of some of the ingredients, which we only found out about when the meal came. We had ordered the penne with peas and mushrooms and a side order of mixed vegetables. The meal consisted of just penne – as they had run out of peas, mushrooms, and mix veg, quite disappointing as we had heard such great reviews from others in our group. Tip – eat early in the evening there to ensure they have all the ingredients for the meals. Lunch – The buffet at Sky Vista was very good, the buffet at The Southern Table didn’t seem as good. The pizza was good at Bella Napoli, as was lunch at The Mariner, and The Great House Café. Breakfast – Mostly we ate at The Southern Table for breakfast. The omelets there were excellent as were the smoothies. You have to ask for a smoothie but they will gladly get it for you. The buffet breakfast at Sky Vista was also excellent. A pleasant surprise was the meal and service at the French restaurant for breakfast. Our experience at other Sandals has been that at the a la carte breakfast restaurants the service is very slow and the meals inconsistent. However we ate at Le Gourmand three times for breakfast and the service was good and the food excellent. Other waitresses / waiters we found exceptionally good and friendly were Meldon and Melissa at the French, Kimoy at Southern Table and Manor, and Massian the maitre’d. Royan from the loyalty desk was always very friendly and helpful and we seemed to run into him every day. Evening entertainment was very good on most nights; we especially enjoyed the steel band and the staff talent show. The Rabbit Hole was fun and worth a visit at least once or twice. We went on a catamaran cruise with “Island Routes” which was very enjoyable and well organized. Definitely worth checking out. The gardens didn’t seem to be as colourful as some of the other resorts, but there were plenty of trees and shrubs. Maintenance – we had a few minor problems which were fixed up quickly by maintenance, however a few in our group had more issues which were not fixed as quickly. Concierge service was inconsistent with 2 calls one day for a request resulting in nothing happening. Also we didn’t have any white wine for 2 days and had to call concierge twice in order to get this fixed. A couple of suggestions:  Garbage cans around the resort were very hard to find, a few more would be nice.  It was very hard to walk down to the main road as there were no sidewalks once on the resort once you got closer to the road. A good sidewalk plus a pedway going over the main road would make the 2 sides seem joined together more, and be a nice walk to get a little exercise. (the shuttle does travel between the 2 sides every 10 minutes and is easy to catch). Overall we really enjoyed the resort and would rate it in the top three of the 7 Sandals resorts we have been to.

Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton: Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton - 7 day stay

We arrived at the resort last Saturday midafternoon to be welcomed off the bus to the famous Jamaican punch drink. Check in was fairly easy and they didn't even ask for a credit card to have on file which was different. The staff were really great, cheerful which is what you want after a long day of travel. The feel of the place is very inviting. It wasn’t the nicest resort we’ve stayed at but it had its own uniqueness. You don’t have to reserve at the restaurants so it takes away that  [... read more]stress. If it’s busy yes you put your name down but it wasn’t an issue for us, we waited maybe 10 minutes tops. We only ate at the steakhouse which is highly recommended. We ate their three times and had the french onion soup & the fillet mignon (so good!!). The Italian restaurant next to it was closed for renovations so that was disappointing as it would have been my first choice. We didn’t bother pursuing the other restaurants. The buffet the first day we were there was disappointing to my husband but after that the selection of food was much more appealing. In regards to our room we had booked the honeymoon suite so we already knew the room would be amazing. It was spacious, inviting and the hot tub you basically could call it a mini swimming pool, it was huge. This was on the Lady Hamilton side which seems to be known to be the nicer side. I think we could agree as it had the nicer beaches and additionally we had the adult pool just around the corner from our room. The main pool I stayed away from. I tried it once for a few minutes only to be disappointed as it was quite dirty and it smelt bad. The adult pool seemed better maintained. It’s not very big and to be honest the pictures on the site made it look huge. So when I saw it I was a bit of surprise how small it really was. But it was a great place to hang out and they played great music. Drinks anywhere on the resort we had no complaints. The resort carries high end alcohol which was surprising and if you asked for a strong drink you will definitely get it. Most of the bartenders were great. A few were a bit grumpy but over all I give it a 9 out of 10 for service. My husband’s favorite drink similar to Baileys was the Rum Crème on the rocks. Internet gave us lots of problems until a few days before we left. We finally met with one of the IT guy’s named Sean and all he had to do was adjust some wires and it worked great. So if you are having constant issues demand that an IT person meet with you. We were so angry by the end of the week we finally got Sean to meet with us once front desk took us seriously. I have my own business so it was something I needed to have. That was my main stress at the resort. I snorkeled (brought my own snorkeling gear) at Coral beach several times which had a good amount of fish and also had my first encounter with an Octopus which was such a treat. What I was disappointed with was there was garbage in the water which I tried my best to pick up what I could. I really hope management has one of their employees go in and clean it time to time. There is nothing worse than snorkeling to find garbage, very sad. One guest even found a piece of sharp glass. Over all it was a great experience. I would say the beaches were the nicest I’ve seen on any of our resort trips except Maui (we’ve done now Hawaii, Cuba, Florida, Mexico & Jamaica all several times) I would go back but we normally try something new each time we go away. I like exploring and personally get bored too easy. Hope this helps future travelers. Stayed May 2017, travelled as a couple

Grand Decameron Montego Beach: Great location!

The hotel was very nice! I would say a 5 star compared to Cuban 5 stars! food was good! Entertainment was fun and staff was friendly! Loved being on the hip strip to walk to and shop during the day and go party at Margaritaville at night! Overall a great trip! The free water sports were a bonus and proximity to everything made it easy to get around

Grand Palladium Jamaica: grand palladium jamaica

what an amazing resort, people were so friendly, rooms were beautiful, and fantastic food.it was a beautiful place for my daughter get get married. we would go back in a heart beat.weather was amazing, a little rain that lasted about half hour on two separate days

Grand Pineapple Beach: Grand Pinapple beach

Sadly this was the worst hotel we have ever stayed in. The pictures depict a nice clean hotel, instead the reality is; the hotel was old, dirty and damp, with leaky ceilings. I wish someone would have told me that the Garden view was across the street. This was such an inconvenience. Not to mention after paying $50 for internet it would not work on the Garden view side. The staff were rude. The food was mediocre. Peddlers did nothing but pester you all week long. They were relentless. The beach [... read more] chairs were disgusting. I was so disappointed. Trip Central needs to tell the travelers about this.

Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton: Everything was amazing from beginning to end!!

This was a family getaway. Our children ages 13 - 28 had a blast. The food was awesome with a large variety. The service and hospitality was amazing. Friendly atmosphere. The excursions were fun. I enjoyed the spa and the spa services.