Perfect!

The entire resort was awesome. Beautiful beach, great water park, immaculate grounds and fantastic food!! The rooms were big enough for the 4 of us and had a large balcony with furniture. Pools were fabulous and never crowded. A perfect vacation:)

The Jewel Runaway Bay Resort was excellent!

The food was amazing - have no complaints about it - all restaurants were good. The pool area was also very good. The service was great. Staff was friendly and inviting. Felt like I was at home. Didn't want to come back!

Family Vacation

Rooms were ok. Stand up showers, no tub/shower combination. Rooms had AC. Way too many mosquitos! Kids enjoyed the water park. But was over populated with local excursions/field trips. Food was ok. Not a lot of variety. The A-la-carte restaurants were great though! Much better service provided by staff in the a-la-carte restaurants. Service/staff at General food area/bars were mediocre for a '4 star' hotel. A bit young, inexperienced and slow. Wait times were too long. Weren't very informative o [... read more]r went 'the extra mile'. I stayed at the Jewel Dunn's River last year. Services/accommodations were exceptional! Was expecting the same from Runaway Bay. Kids had a great time. Camp counsellors at the kids/twenies camp were great. Kept the kids entertained. Which gave parents some time for themselves. We enjoyed our stay at Runaway Bay. Was just expecting a bit more service and better food.

Amazing Resort

The rooms are a little dated, but clean and very, very comfortable. The grounds are impecable. Loved the hammocks & sitting areas whilst strolling through the grounds. The food, plentiful & very tasty. Make sure you check out the pizza place. Nothing like champagne & orange juice while you are waiting for your pizza. The staff absolutely amazing and took care of your every need. If you have children this is the place for you. Waterpark outstanding and activites galore. If you don't have children [... read more], this is the place for you as well!!! Beach party outstanding!! The premises are being upgraded and my suggestion is for more washroom facilities on the grounds. If you don't have a great time at the Jewels, then I can honestly say the problem is YOU!!! We have already recommended this vacation to our friends

Outstanding!

My husband and I just returned from our vacation to The Jewel Runaway Bay to celebrate our first anniversary. The whole resort was wonderful from the staff, to the food, entertainment and the hotel itself. I loved that our shower had 6 shower heads, so awesome! Make sure to visit Clive at the arts and crafts hut to buy a painting, he's got so much talent. He personalized a painting for my husband and I and it's already got a spot on a wall here at home to remind us of our time there. Also the sn [... read more]orkeling is great at this resort.

Fantastic Overall Experience

I travelled with my husband and another couple to the Jewel Runaway Bay, Jamaica on Apr. 13 - 27th, 2015. Our two weeks stay was wonderful. This was our first time to Jamaica and our friends it was their third. We flew with Sunwing, all went well, we were even 20 min. early arriving at Sangsters Intl. Airport. The trip on the bus was comfortable, they had refreshments for us to purchase. We got to the resort, and were checked in within 10 min. We checked out the resort prior to our rooms being r [... read more]eady. But in no time we got into building #1. We had a room facing the service area, but it didn't bother us. It was clean and comfortable we were fine. A few days later our friends were having some issues and the hotel moved us to building #2 facing the pool. These rooms were comparable with cleanliness and comfort. We had only a few mosquitos and they didn't bother us. Everything was within a very close proximity so there really wasn't a lot of walking to do. The beach was excellent. The fish came up to you as you were swimming. The small reef was there, but in order to go outside of the buoy markers you would have to go down the beach on either direction and enter that way. If you are within the buoy markers then you are the responsiblity of the lifeguards. The food was very good whether it was at the buffet or at an al carte. The pizza, soft ice cream, mashed potatoes, wraps all the comfort foods from home were just as good if not better. (ice cream seemed to be a big hit with our groups praises :) The staff were very friendly, went out of their way to help you even to remind you of putting lots of sun lotion on. We did a few excursions and we have to say the Blue Hole in Ocho Rios was top knotch. Highly recommend you contact Marvin Gayle to arrange something. He got us to the right Blue Hole and his driver Delton was superb! Great job. We did the catamaran, snorkel & Dunns River Falls. We also did a trip to Negril which is 2 1/2 hrs. drive. We did 7 Mile Beach & Rick's Cafe. Watching the cliff divers was amazing. We didn't see a sunset as it rained and was cloudy. We would go to the Jewel again.

#1 Resort and vacation EVER!!

Where do I start.....well with the booking...Natalie from trip Central made it quick, easy, and if I had ANY questions at all she answered immediately! Thanks again for letting it be stress free!! As for the Resort...Jewel Runaway Bay...WOW!!! # 1 BY FAR!!..The staff for check in were informative, quick and very polite. The buildings were very clean and staff ALWAYS with a smile and friendly greeting. The entertainment was great and fun and so enjoyable. The food..OH THE FOOD.....you would have  [... read more]to eat every half hour on the hour just to try all the GREAT food...not enough hours in the day or room in your belly to taste every thing!! We were totally blown away that you could get sit down full service for breakfast, lunch and dinner if you wished and not even go to the buffet......it was all amazing and fun! We have been travelling down south for 8 years now sometimes twice a year to 4 & 5 star resorts in Dominican, Cuba , Bermuda & Jamaica...this was by far #1 in our books. Can't say enough great things about the people. and staff here. WE WILL BE BACK!!!

Great resort for families and groups

Stayed here March 30 to April 6, 2015. Older resort but very well kept. Rooms in Building 2 were good. Beach is great, grounds were nice and the staff were very friendly and helpful. No problem getting a chair on the beach. Good variety of food and lots of it. Pizza place was quite popular. The addition of the water park is great for kids and adults. Entertainment was average.

Excellent family vacation resort !

Clean rooms with current amenities, great housekeeping staff, engaging, energetic entertainment staff, friendly accommodating service staff, lovely beach, awesome snorkelling, fun water park option, immaculate grounds; delicious food available throughout. See a few opportunities for enhancements - swim up bar pool is in the 'family' pool - a bit small and not always serviced well; evening entertainment could be improved on.

Jewel Runaway Bay

We had the best vacation ever, from the beach, pools, food and the amazing staff the Runaway Bay was perfect. The new waterpark a bonus! Couldn't have had a better time. The resort is the perfect size for adults with older kids who want a little freedom without the worry. Our children enjoyed the many activities away from us but we were still able to locate in a matter of minutes.

Awesome resort

Everything about the resort , the food , the staff was top notch... We did not feel the pressures of tipping because the staff was so helpful we automatically wanted to give gratuity. Clean , timely fashion when needed something, questions answered promptly.,

Still a Jewel!

The resort is a wonderful destination for families with a beautiful beach, great activities, food and most of all an amaizing atmosphere. Everything is open air except for one a la carte. Never an issue to beach chairs at the pool or beach. On our departure day, the hotel was at full capacity and never did it feel over crowded. I recommend the Junior suites for families if you need the extra space (addition of cots). What we love the most is that it's an inter-generational friendly spot that has [... read more] something for everyone.

Great resort -

This is a small resort. Excellent for families with children. Staff very accomodating & friendly. Cudos to Leland @ the front desk & Eggboy. I would definately go back to this resort - had a fantastic time..

Fantastic beach

Its a really nice beach and very quiet/private albeit on the smaller side. Good snorkelling right off the beach. The resort is very well managed and everyone will have fun. Food is decent but nothing exceptional so are the drinks. For the price you won't go wrong specially with kids.

Absolutely loved it....can't wait to return!

Loved our trip to Jewel Runaway Bay...travelled the last week on January with our 13 yr old son. The resort is the perfect size and easy to get wherever you need to go. The staff are phenomenal from the reception, wait staff, bartenders animationcand maids - and a special shout out to Ash and Purple at the Teen Club...our son thought you guys were awesome. The food was great, rooms were super clean and comfortable and beaches and pool were amazing. Played 4 rounds of golf as well which was so ea [... read more]sy to get to...played early mornings and was back to the resort before 10am. Great family resort to relax and unwind - good entertainment at night but not a party place afterwards which was just fine with us. Highly recommend this resort and we will be going again next year. And as always tripcentral.ca was great and to deal with once again

Wonderful Staff and great service. Top Notch!!

We were 16 men on a golf vacation. We WILL be going back and as long as everything is the same, will most likely grow in size and make it our annual destination of choice. Wonderful Staff and great service. Top Notch!! Would highly recommend this place.

Not suitable unless you have kids.

Amazing beach. Rooms average and dated. Sliding glass door in room 1138 needed both hands and a ton of force to open it 12 inches. Swim up bar is in the kiddies pool which makes no sense. Had 2 rooms. First room kids above us awoke us each morning at 6am running around. Changed rooms. That room had an infant next door and had us up at 5am crying each morning. Gave up after that.

Best Time Ever

This is my third trip to the Jewel Runaway Bay and our first time bringing the kids, although our kids are 16 and 19 they had an amazing time, we all enjoyed the beach and the entertainment was ongoing from morning to night. We especially enjoyed the New Years dinner and entertainment and the beach party with bomb file and smores. My husband enjoyed the complimentary green fees across the street so he didn't have to spend his vaca on a shuttle to and from the gold course. All in all I recommend  [... read more]this resort to couples and families that want it all without all the walking. Frederick and Austin were the best at the 24hr outdoor grill and all the night time beach bar staff were amazing. Thank-you Jewel's see you next year :)

Resort trip with pluses and minuses

RE: BOOKING NUMBER – 72995783 Regarding my recent trip to Jewel Runaway Bay Resort, I have the following comments, which are complaints as well as suggestions, but generally resulted in a disappointing trip. The Elite service on the way out was satisfactory, as was the flight until the food service where I took one item and my son the other. Both proved to be awful, making me wish I had just got a cold sandwich at the Toronto airport. Watching a movie on that small screen 3 rows back was hopel [... read more]ess. We were advise we would arrive ½ hour early, great until we were ferried to the buses for transport to the resort where there seemed to be a lot of confusion as the 7 of us waited for some action. We were boarded onto a large bus where we sat breathing diesel for over 1 ½ hours. A transfer to the hotel literally took 3 hours arriving at the front desk at 4:45pm. The front desk personnel definitely lacked any friendliness, and we all had to stand around front desk trying to get service. However, the next day while in the front desk area, arrivals were seated in comfortable chairs, given hot towels and front desk personnel came to them. Two parties were overheard requesting upgrades, and both were granted without question, which makes me wonder what was wrong with us. We arrived at our room passing many great looking rooms, the classification PREMIER was definitely misused. Things only got worse when opening the patio door we were overlooking a construction site, about which we had received no notice or indication this was going on. A number of us went back to the front desk to seek alternative accommodation before unpacking but were told nothing was available, period. This seemed totally contradictory to the number of guests (few, definitely not full) we saw later that evening and next morning throughout the hotel. The resort grounds, pools, beaches, lobby, and eating areas were all well maintained and the staff including the cleaning lady, restaurant staff, grounds keepers, and entertainment staff were all fantastic and were the main attribute of this resort that stands out in my mind. Unfortunately, other issues of infestation of mosquitoes, flies, ants and wasps throughout the stay were absolutely annoying to the extent of wearing long pants at night. I had over 20 bites on one leg in two days and had to avoid wasps as my son is allegoric to their bites. One of our group had indicated that prior to an ownership change in the last 2 years, the resort used to fog daily but not now. Considering the concern over mosquitoes in the Caribbean, you would think more action would be taken. My overall opinion of the food was very poor, not what I had expected, with all meals other than breakfast being a challenge to enjoy something. Even the hamburger outlet proved to be a grease burger with little flavour. The friendly lady at the pizza outlet proved to be a godsend for some eatable enjoyment and her friendliness, always jovial. Even the sandwich on the golf course proved to be better than the hotel. Back to the room which was small compared to other locations where I have flown with Sunwing including Cuba. The washroom felt like you were sitting/squashed in an airline washroom. It took forever to get hot water in the basin, and I had to call maintenance as shower was always cold, to find out the taps were mislabelled and presto hot water eventually came. We could not leave clothes on patio due to construction dust and even sitting out there to play cards and have a drink proved impossible. I called about the air conditioning, which was set at 20 degrees, but it was certainly not that level in the room, which the maintenance chap agreed, when I called for im arriving with a screwdriver and after ½ hour could do nothing to help besides saying to leave it and see if it gets better. The return transfer to airport was much speedier than the arrival. The plane was an older model with narrower seats even with ELITE service, providing little comfort. No champagne service on return, no big deal. Noone had said keep earphones for the return flight so I had left them on the plane on arrival, so I was out of luck, but then you show an animated movie “How To Train Your Dragon”, are you kidding this is 99% adult flight. Again good news, we were arriving 20 minutes early. The confusion on trying to find the carousel with our bags, while not Sunwings’ fault was confusing with two separate arrivals from Montego Bay. ELITE service did not seem to work on return the best way. Three out our 7 golf bags did not turn up. After close to an hour we were filling paperwork in at the Sunwing lost baggage desk, with a number of young ladies providing hopeless service in doing that job versus answering the telephone when we were all upset. Paperwork complete the others were on there way out when we got advised, three bags had been found. Fortunately, we were able to catch our out of town friends in time. Again while not necessarily Sunwing’s fault, it is strange all oversized baggage went on together yet 3 get lost, but your lost baggage staff in my opinion could certainly do with some customer service training considering the stress one is under losing luggage. My bottom line is thank god for the servers, who were taken care of well with the service and enjoyment they provided in a rather negative vacation trip. I would return there but only with some changes particularly in the culinary area, regardless of being in and trying Jamaican, we still like some home style grub now and again. Kudos to my large lady friend at pizza bar who should be put to the front desk as a greeter that one would never forget.

Fantastic Destination

The resort is very well kept and clean. There were many choices for eating and the food was fantastic. The staff are incredible and very personable and accomodating. The golf course was in great shape and the caddies are top notch.