Ocean Eden Bay: Great Resort

We spent 10 days at Ocean Eden Bay and we had a wonderful time! I would not rate it a 5 star, mainly because of the room. The chairs on the balcony could use some cushions and a little table. The plugin in the bathroom was loose, sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. The vanity had a design flaw.... we could not open the tap, it hit the backsplash and we got a trickle of water. Turn it to the left.... too hot, turn it to the right..... too cold. Housekeeping was not consistent. Sometimes t [... read more]hey were ready to clean our room in the morning, other times late late afternoon, just as we were getting ready to go out for dinner! Other than that, the Resort is great with lot of things to do. The food was very, very good. The staff was friendly and helpful. Sure, some didn't crack a smile, but dealing with some obnoxious guests all day long, can you blame them? The beach is small and yes, rocky but nonetheless beautiful. All in all we had a great vacation :-)

Riu Ocho Rios: Great Resort

The resort was clean, room clean, staff great. Reception at front desk when asking for help to reserve dinner was little rude to us. Not everyone uses a phone. Ordering through the application for extra stuff for the room (pop) very slow, like next day. Careful with the floor in the room, they were wet so had to be careful walking. (Condensation).

Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton: Paradise!

Rooms are spacious, but need to be updated on the Lady Hamilton side. Pools are breathtaking. Sunset Cove beach is beautiful. Drinks are good. Most staff are friendly. I did have an issue with staff in Miss Lou’s bar, but nothing major. Food is good, no issue getting reservations if you go to the concierge. Spa was nice and peaceful, a lovely place to spend the day. Best breakfast place is Blue Lagoon. My second time at this resort.

Riu Ocho Rios: Jan 31-Feb 2024

Myself and my wife stayed here from Jan 31-2024 to Feb 7th 2024. I will start with the positive first and then I will advise of the negative. Positive: The hotel itself was very clean, the food was amazing, the daily entertainment and the drinks we were all on point. The nightly entertainment was nice, with the exception of the Bob Marley night. I would have thought this was dedicated to Bob Marley and pure reggae music, but they played dancehall, RNB and Hip Hop which made absolutely no s [... read more]ense to me. They should have had a Bob Marley slide show, and played Bob Marley first and old school reggae nothing else!! The food on a daily was Blessed, especially having Ackee and Saltfish daily for breakfast and fried dumpling was a good look. The cocoa tea was nice or for some they may refer to it as hot chocolate. The plantain porridge was to die for that was absolutely amazing. The jerk hut for the most part was good. I did not however recall seeing any Oxtail at the buffet, but we did not eat at the buffet every day so we might have missed it. BUFFET: One thing I seriously believe needs to change and this is not just this resort it is ALL resorts, STOP asking us as visitors to wear shirts, buffet is a buffet it is NOT an A La Carte, we are visiting a foreign country in 30+ degree weather, nobody wants to have to sweat and wear shirts as men when you have all these women wearing sleeveless tops and next to nothing and you are concerned about a man in a tank top to go to the same buffet that we went to in the morning and afternoon in the same tank top. That makes no sense. A la carte I can understand. Negative: When we first arrived we were given a room that was not suitable. I do not blame the hotel completely for this, I blame sunwing. It was made clear to the travel agent that we both have mobility issues and requested to be put in a room close to the elevator and close to the buffet. They put us in a room that we had to go up 2 ramps which was unacceptable. We came back to the front to request a change in rooms, this was a bit of a tussle but we finally managed to change our rooms. The other issue we had was we booked according to trip central an Oceanview room. We got a partial ocean view room if you are 6ft tall and can see over the palm trees sure. We were advised by the hotel that this was no fault of theirs and that an ocean room view costs more. TBH this was a turn off because I have booked with red tag and other agencies and requested an ocean view room at Bahia Principe for example and I got just what I asked for... When we wanted to depart and had to leave our luggage, it was put into a room that had no lock on it and anyone could access it, this made no sense. Important things such as luggage that is not accompanied should not be put into a non locked storage room where anyone can access it, regardless of camera's. Just put a lock on the door and secure the items. Prevent is better than cure. OVERALL: The overall stay at the resort was good, the negative would not stop us from revisiting this hotel, I would however strongly suggest if you are to stay at this hotel to book for min 8-10 days. From start to finish we started our journey on the plane at 915am, and we did not arrive at the hotel till almost 6pm. We spent 3 hours just in the customs line, and another 2hrs waiting on the bus to leave, plus another 2hr + drive to get to the hotel. So if you book for 7 days your first day is a write off, and we left at 9am so again now the last day is a write off. So in essence a trip to this hotel means losing 2 out of 7 days technically.

Iberostar Waves Rose Hall Beach: Awesome resort!

This resort was morw than we expected, the rooms were very clean and tidy and elegant. The food was AMAZING, the buffet alone was enough let alone the side rearaurants that were delishes as well. The staff at the iberostar beach were spectacular, so friendly and courteous, went above and beyond our expectations. Shout out to Felicia our concierge who made our stay very enjoyable. Thanks again we will be back.

Riu Negril: Wonderful vacation!

We just returned from 2 weeks at Riu Negril. We’ve been to several Riu Resorts in the Caribbean and this Riu was everything we expected from Riu. The resort is lovely. As other reviews have stated…there is a bit of wear and tear but it is minor—-it’s a seaside resort and that’s par for the course. Also…they are planning to renovate this fall. The resort is pristine. Always being cleaned and groomed. Our room was very, very clean! Spacious and comfortable! The food was very good as well. They [... read more] do a terrific job of providing authentic Jamaican cuisine! Star Apple and Jack fruit every morning! Bammy, festival and dumplings. Ackee and salt fish, calalloo to name a few! The staff—friendly, cheerful and engaging. The entertainment staff…Bravo! Pluto, Bryan, Trovis, Scotty, Miguel, Tantan, Maggie, Titi, Shanelle, Pineapple, Damien, thank you for your professionalism, talent, and dedication to your work. We appreciated it very much! So much fun! We are very happy with our choice to stay at Riu Negril for 2 weeks…we had considered going to a different resort to break it up….no regrets! We had a wonderful time. Even with that crazy weather that blew up all the seaweed in the Atlantic Ocean onto our beach lol. The resort was on it asap and worked hard to clean it up and stay ahead of it! Well done! If you want to experience Jamaica…within an all inclusive resort…this resort has a great Jamaican vibe. We are very comfortable off site, living in Jamaica…so we were a bit hesitant to stay at an all inclusive and miss out on ‘real’ Jamaica…Riu Negril didn’t disappoint…you know you’re in Jamaica at this resort.

Bahia Principe Explore Jamaica: Bahia experience

Grounds beautiful, good food, resort too big, rooms need updating, check in took too much time, a little far from airport, pool freezing cold, really difficult to reserve ala cartes for our group of 9.

Iberostar Waves Rose Hall Beach: Wonderful Stay

We experienced the absolute best service from Dean and Shannon at the lobby bar. The food was exceptional from local fruit to fresh sushi. There was no shortage of entertainment or activities to partake in. The only downfall was the excess seaweed due to the cold front and drastic change in weather.

Catalonia Montego Bay: It was average

The hotel was pretty and the people were nice. The room was not the best the fridge wasn’t stocked with drinks or water. The food was terrible at the buffet and not a lot of variety. It was usually the same thing. There was no options for people who didn’t eat pork to have a substitute. You couldn’t smoke anywhere in the resort except the only place where smoking was allowed by the lobby. It was a resort for usually older people and not many young couples. The entertainment was okay but there co [... read more]uld have been a place where you can dance and have music. The restaurants were limited only 3 one you had to pay for. The service was okay but my room wasn’t cleaned until late in the evening when I was tired and wanted to be in my room.

Riu Negril: Jamaica ??

We stayed at the rui negril Feb 5 to 12 , 2024 There had been a storm just before we arrived. The was a lot a seaweed that had washed up on the beach which was a little disappointing but after a few days the resort had cleared it all up and the bay looked amazing. The staff was very friendly and helpful, food was delicious at the buffet and Al a cartes. The entertainment was very good especially the steel drum show. Rooms were clean and a good size. The whole entertainment crew were very perso [... read more]nable and had us joining in the fun and games.Even the bus driver that took us to and from the resort was very informative about the culture and history of Jamaica he made the long ride fly by I would definitely recommend this resort

Bahia Principe Explore Jamaica: A solid budget oriented choice

We stayed at the Bahia Grand from Feb 4 to 11. We are a a couple in our late 50s and usually prefer smaller, adult resorts where we can chill out and eat and drink well. We were apprehensive about the size of the Bahia but were pleasantly surprised how much we enjoyed our stay. Check in was quick and smooth. We were in our room on the 7th floor of building 23 with our luggage within 15 minutes of arriving. We were registered as Grand guests but our room was located in the Luxury Adult section [... read more]. We understand it is being used for overflow of adult Grand guests due to reno's in other Grand buildings. The room was large, clean, and had a great view over the quiet adult pool and ocean beyond. However, it was a bit loud at night until around 11 with music from the Luxury section lobby immediately behind our building. The room showed a bit of wear and tear but nothing that hampered our stay. The furniture was in good repair and the king bed was comfy. We loved the large private balcony. The property is quite large - over 1 km from end to end along the waterfront. We regularly got 12K + steps per day, despite all our poolside lounging! The grounds and public areas are very well kept. We spent our days at the quiet adult pool near the pool bar. It was easy to get a chair around the pool as long as you're there by around 10 am. Sadly, the hotel "no reserving" policy largely ignored by guests but the chair game wasn't nearly as bad as some resorts we have visited where you'd have to snag a lounger by 7 am! Because there was a cold front and the weather was a bit unsettled all week, we mostly stuck by the pool. We did a few beach walks to the far side of the resort but decided with the unsettled weather it was too far from shelter and facilities to set up for the day. It was a decent size beach though, with a sheltered and shallow bay. It looked nice so maybe next time! Dining at the a al cartes was good and we chose the adult oriented restaurants for our 3 included meals. Rodizio (Brazilian) and Takara (Asian Fusion) were great. The Don Pablo (French) was just "OK". The food was acceptable but the ambiance was lacking. We really enjoyed the Round Island buffet near the Jamaica sign for breakfast and lunch and the Activity Poolside jerk grill for a mid day snack and the best chicken ever. Yum. The major disappointment was the main buffet family side. We had no choice but to eat 4 dinners and one breakfast there. Ugh. What a zoo. Insufferably loud, chaotic, and poor quality food with limited choices. It reminded us why we really don't like large resorts! Avoid it if you can and, if you must eat there, request an outside table to reduce the chaos. Likes - By and large the staff were friendly and accommodating. They really made our stay! - Resort layout makes it easy to find an area to suit your preferences. E.g., Pool vs beach, active vs quiet. - Overall the food was good with the exception of the main buffet as noted . We loved the Round Island buffet breakfast and lunch - this is listed on the maps as a steak house but has been renovated to a modern multi station buffet with gorgeous ocean and pool view terraces for outdoor dining. We really wished it had also opened for dinner for our 4 buffet nights where we had to brave the main buffet! Bars everywhere with generally well made drinks and fresh Red Stripe on tap! The pool bar in the quiet section and the lobby terrace bar were our favorites. Needs improvement: Elevators - being on the 7th floor this was important. There was only one elevator for our area and it was slow and somewhat unreliable. We had to take the stairs a couple of times. Reservation app for a la cartes - sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, sometimes it lost your reservation. And I could suggest, guests housed in the adult section like we were should also be allowed to also eat in the adult side buffet close to the room, rather than in the "zoo" buffet!

Grand Decameron Cornwall Beach: Our 7 days of nonsense.

The grounds were beautiful…sunsets stunning. Food ok, no variety and if you didn’t make the first sitting you were out of luck We moved rooms twice after waiting way past check in …so room….mediocre…no way of getting a spare pillow…after multiple people asking ….3 pillows for two people. Next…no hot water most of the time. Finally we learned that if you run it a half hr it will be Luke warm. The Ala Cartes…line up the day of to get seats 36 only can go. 12 people per sitting. 3 sittings…Had t [... read more]o take second sitting because there were 4 of us…really, smaller tables then first seating…we were fourth in line to book so not because we came late. Anyway, dinner at the ala Cart…I ordered shrimp and scallop linguine….I got shrimp only…salad bar was cleared in the first sitting and no refill. No coffee makers, 6:30 it’s supposed to be out downstairs but was late many days. Had an issue with the fan in out room. Terribly noisy. Nothing done about it…our friends had no safe in their room as the inner mechanisms were missing. Beach towels. Bleach stained thread bare if you could get one. Also ran out of some alcohol…not sure why…There was more but reliving it makes me sad for our money gone.

Bahia Principe Explore Jamaica: Outstanding experience!

The resort was beautiful and clean; the rooms were clean and modern and even had added touches like drying racks on the balcony; the beach was beautiful with bars, grills and bathrooms easily accessible; there were tons of activities and entertainment around the pool; kids club was helpful to add more activities to the day; the food options for all of us (including vegetarians) was excellent; evening entertainment was great especially on Bob Marley night and Steel Band night - wow! Guest service [... read more]s was very helpful and housekeeping was great. Everything was restocked in our fridge each day including water, pop and beer. Criticisms: All of the restaurants and theatre were kept way too cold that you needed a sweater; a la cart availability was very minimal; there was outdoor entertainment at the main building that went till 11 PM each night which was extremely loud and made it difficult for the kids to go to sleep as the noise and music echoed all over the resort; if you get a room on the main floor it is very busy and loud at all hours. Criticisms: All the restaurants are

Riu Montego Bay: Nice Resort

We thought this resort was extremily clean, well taken care of. The house keeping staff as well as all of the dinning staff were extremely friendly and very appreciative of the gratuities, but most of the bar staff were not that friendly and actually expected a .gratuity. We did not know this in advance but it you stay at the Riu Montego Bay you are not allowed to visit the Riu Ragae or the Riu Palace but both of those have free access to the Riu Montego Bay, You will not have to worry about  [... read more]getting a glow as your drinks are all ice. there is a bar in your room with four bottles Johnny Walkers red, Rum, Smirnoff Vodka, and Gordons Gin. none of the bottles were full when we arrived, the Johnny Walkers red was a quarter full after having a few drinks from it and into our second week we requested they replace it, their response was sorry we don't have any more. The rooms were very clean and nice but the mattress and the pillows were very uncomfortable. We thought the food in all of the restaurants was very good ! The Sunwing Rep was very difficult to find, they claim they are there all day long, but on two occasions there were four to eight of us waiting for over 40 mins. at there station and they never did show up, when we confronted them and explained that we could not find them to book a tour so took a taxi instead they told us that was impossible as they are there all the time ( so I assume that all 8 of us waiting for them must be wrong ) also we were told to see the sunwing rep a day prior to check out again there were six of us waiting for them and the sunwing reps were no where to be found. We asked the other two travel reps, if they new where they were and there response was they had not idea but seldom seen them. When we finally did find the sunwing rep they were extremely rude with all of us. We asked others on the trip home if they experienced any issues with the sunwing staff and their storries were far worse than ours. Very unorganized on the trip home as there were three planes one to Toronto, one to Ottawa and one to Montreal all leaving within five minutes of each other so it took us two and a half hours standing in line with no Air Conditioning waitng to check through Four swimming pools and a lot of people sitting around them, but three of the pools were empty as the water was very cold, the bar pool was full and I am sure it was warm as most of the people in there were drinking all day and I didn't see anyone get out to use the washrooms ! needless to say I did not go in that pool either. LOL To sum it up once again most of the staff were amazing and very pleasant, food was quite good, resort was well maintained and clean. Most of the aggravation was with the Sunwing Staff .

Bahia Principe Escape Runaway Bay: Top notch guest services

From the moment we arrived, everything was organized and the staff was extremely friendly, polite, and professional. The hotel décor itself is a bit dated, but it was cleaned well and comfortable. Overall the food was tasty with many options available. Overall very impressed with how attentive the staff was, and in particular our guest service representative, who made sure to check in with us everyday and truly made our stay enjoyable.

Bahia Principe Explore Jamaica: Frustrated experience

We three families total 6 people recently visited above resort had very frustrated experience never recommend anyone.The expectation we had when left Toronto for that resort was very high as previously we visited the same resort in punta Cana but it was wastage of our money as well as vacation some managerial staff was cooperative but they had no power to make decision

Bahia Principe Explore Jamaica: Disappointing experience at Grand Bahia Principe Jamaica

Since we are now back from our trip to Jamaica (that we booked with Trip Central), we would like provide our feedback and express our disappointing experience with Grand Bahia Principe, Jamaica. We booked three rooms from February 2nd to February 9th, 2024 for ourselves and our two friends i.e. three couples - six people in total. 1) On Feb 1 evening, a day before our departure on Feb 2, 2024, we found out (something that we wish that Trip Central had advised us earlier) from one of our  [... read more]friends about the Bahia app which once downloaded, can be used for express check in to avoid line ups at the hotel lobby on arrival as well as booking dinner reservations for restaurants at the hotel in addition to other features. After struggling with the app for a considerable amount of time, we finally were able to check-in by uploading our pics and entering the requested info in Bahia app. Unfortunately we could not do anything else with the app as our booking number (provided by you) was not working. The following day while at the airport, Steve Langstaff, our contact at Trip Central also confirmed via email that he too could not get the app to work. Thus, as mentioned above, all we could do in advance was at least check in and we hoped that this would enable us to facilitate a quick and timely check-in. 2) After reaching at the hotel lobby, we did not see any separate designated line for guests who have already checked in, therefore we ended up waiting for about 45 minutes when we finally got attended to and got our room keys. This was a very frustrating experience as there was no order at the check in area and many guests just proceeded to go ahead of other guests to check in. 3) Unlike the others, our room was extremely cold. We attempted to change temperature settings, however not knowing how, we gave up. We did use the blanket in the room as we were exhausted from our flight from Canada. Next morning we asked the staff who do housekeeping and they assisted but I guess they too didn’t know. We then requested additional blankets. Finally frustrated, we requested front desk to send someone on the Sunday of our trip (as nothing was changing the temperature). We spoke with someone named George who advised to go and wait in our room and he would send someone to check the settings. We waited for over 1 to 1 and 1/2 hours and no one showed up. We proceeded to call three times during our wait asking was anyone coming. We were told repeatedly someone would come. Finally we gave up and came back down to the lobby and spoke to guest services who said she would send someone but while looking in system said nothing had been entered on their system indicating an issue. Again we waited and while waiting noticed a person walking in the hallway. We asked if he was there to check temperature setting - he said he was maintenance but wasn’t there for our room - but he finally assisted in explaining how to operate the temperature controls. The fact that no one was able to assist and or explain was beyond frustrating. 4) On Saturday, we had booked an all day excursion trip to Negril via Coming2 tours ( booth in the hotel lobby area) and also had a restaurant booking at restaurant - The Knife at 9pm. Unfortunately due to stormy/rainy weather, we did not make it back to the hotel until 9:15pm. We went to guest services upon our arrival back to the hotel and asked if she could check from the restaurant if we could still go for dinner. She ( Taneesha) said she would check and let us know via telephone in our room. We waited in our room changing our attire for dinner. Unfortunately no phone call came from guest services. We called a few times however no one was answering the phone. So then I decided (wife was still getting ready) to go back to guest services and see if any advices from the restaurant. When I got there and spoke with the same person (who was busy laughing on the phone) she said who are you and I asked why haven’t you called our room to advise. She said yes, we could go to the restaurant- the Knife - as per her checking. We went to restaurant and as four of us are vegetarian, we requested the various vegetarian options and were told they had none of those available as it was late. We were very disappointed as if they were not able to accommodate the guests and provide the options noted on the menu then we should have been advised accordingly to go to the buffet restaurant instead. 5) While chatting with another guest at the hotel, we realized that we should try to talk the front desk as she had done - specifically Michael Darby. We then did proceed to talk to Michael and he said he would talk to his Manager (I think Mr. Naroo was his name ) who would then call us to discuss our concerns further. We never did hear from the Manager. However, we did speak to Michael again and he then said to also talk to the Guest services person (Damian Redway) who we then explained the whole process of our above mentioned frustrations again. We also explained to Damian, that we are repeat guests at the Baha’i (we have booked the Esmeralda at Punta Cana & the Bahia in Mexico) and felt very frustrated at the whole process and had felt (unlike the great comments from travelers of having a great holiday in Jamaica) very disappointed overall. We also explained we had come to celebrate our anniversary and birthday of spouse of our friend and there was no recognition of any of these events or that we were repeat guests. Damian Redway confirmed that Trip Central/you did provide notes on our reservation of being repeat guests and intent to celebrate our anniversary and birthday, however these notes were ignored by the hotel entirely at check in. Damian asked if we had been provided any recognition (banner, champagne). We said no! He did ask if we wanted now and we felt that as it was now Wednesday it was pointless as we were leaving on Friday. 6) We also had requested rooms near each other and unfortunately that too did not happen! Our friends couple were given room # 23311 while we were given # 23323 and other couple friend room # 23325. First couple had issues with the safe ( not functional) and shower so then upon advising the front desk were finally moved to a corner room 23327. It was closer however not similar to ours which frustrated them even more. We also want to comment on the food which we found very mediocre at best and the vegetarian options minimal. It would be helpful if a vegetarian section of soups and other items were to be provided. We feel that our overall experience has left us definitely disappointed with Jamaica and especially with the Bahia Principe, which we do not feel we would go to again.

Bahia Principe Explore Jamaica: Very nice resort

Very nice resort , some buildings more dated than others . Grounds immaculately groomed . Staffs very friendly and helpful. They must have had some upgraded training .food was excellent, lots of choices and variety for everyone. I have stayed on both side , luxury and family side. I traveled alone and much preferred the family side . It's closer to the nicest Beach.

Jewel Paradise Cove: Great Resort

Very clean, friendly ..good vibes..beach not great..but everything else worth the trip. Great Service..Buffet best bet...Restaurants very slow service and average food. Would consider going back. Smaller older resort but well kept..grounds lovely..good value.

Riu Reggae: Amazing resort!!

It was our first time in Jamaica and this resort was clean and well maintained. The staff were courteous and the food was fantastic. The beach is ok. Overall we had a fantastic stay and are looking to bring our kids with us next time