Riu Ocho Rios

All amenities were great and consistent with prior visits to the same hotel; we would definitely return; we stayed longer this time so our next trip would probably only be a week; throughout the stay the service and reception were fine other than the Sunwing rep was a little short with us on occasion

Great vacation!

This hotel was outstanding! From the moment we arrived until the moment we left, the staff were friendly and attentive and wanted to be sure we were having a great time! The accommodations were clean, the food and choices were awesome. The beach was by far the best we have been to in Jamaica...and this is our third time. The water was crystal clear and the beach was long with tons of lounge chairs in the sun or shade. Even the nighttime entertainment was great! Great job RIU Ocho Rios!!!

Thoroughly Amazing Resort

Well not sure where to begin but my vacation from Feb 18 to 25/17 @ Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton, Riu Ocho Rios was just first class!!!! The beaches we very clean, food excellent,bedrooms alot of space with plenty of place to hang cloths along with many drawers👍👍👍👍👍👍 The maids, waiters etc. etc. were always happy, positive there to help !!!!! We went the group on a 1 day excursion with a tour guide named Javier his Company called KnowJamaica to see various points in J [... read more]amaica and only to say this Tour Compay is rated a 5 STAR plus👍👍👍👍 I would recommend this Resort not a problem👍👍👍👍 we will be back !!!!!!!

Beaufitul resort.

We were on the deluxe side (oceanview) of this resort and it was beautiful. The rooms were spacious and clean and very nice all way around. The pool was amazing - I specifically liked the infinity and swim up bar pool. Lots of very nice lounge chairs to sit and relax on at the beach and around the pool. The food was one of the best I have had during any of my travels. My only vice is that you were not allowed to make a reservation at the a la carte restaurants - it was first come first serv [... read more]e - so if you preferred to have a late dinner you would sometimes miss out. However no complaints about the food at all. The staff is amazing and super friendly and they are all absolutely beautiful people :). We decided to go off the resort to do a bit of site seeing to get to see some of the Jamaican life style and culture - we used an off site company called "KnowJamaica" which is owned and operated by a Mother and Son team born and raised in Jamaica! They are truly awesome people and provided us with a fun filled day. Their prices are very reasonable and also Javia (the son) is very easy on the eyes! (tee hee). Jamaicans are truly beautiful people. Check out their website - www.knowjamaica.com! If you see some pics on their website of 6 crazy looking Canadian women having fun - well that very well could be our group! We were smiling from ear to ear and had a wonderful day. It was money well spent!

First time trip to Jamaica in an Amazing Resort

I had such a great time at this beautiful resort. Not only was i there for a vacation but i was there for my Wedding! The staff were so nice and the weather was amazing! I would definitely go back to this resort! The food was great especially the steak! I thoroughly enjoyed my time!

Fun was had by all!

Staff were friendly and very accommodating. Room was spacious and comfortable. Food was excellent be sure to try the Mamee bay steakhouse, the 8 oz tenderloin melts in your mouth. They are very thick so if you order med rare it is very rare. Gift shop staff were a little harsh monitoring your every move. Bought a lighter that didn't work after I left the store so I went to return it and was told I only get one return? Tried the new one and told her it works so it won't be coming back. Pretty o [... read more]bvious reason for return but I was treated like I was trying to put something over on them?!? That's the only complaint I have about our stay. Riu posts that there is no need to tip but after finding out their wages for 60 hrs work i felt it important to help them out by tipping so bring some one dollar bills. All in all a great vacation!

Absolutely amazing trip!

I loved everything about this place. Super clean, food was great, service was excellent. I would recommend this place to anyone. It was also extremely clean. Did not have a single issue at the resort.

Best Bang for your Buck

Grounds- Large area divided by 2 wings but not too large for you to take forever to walk through. They kept all the public areas clean and you could see alot of workers maintaining the floors, washroom and eating areas Restaurants- great Food! The jerk shack, plantation, Japanese and Sir Richard restaurants were amazing. It was interesting that they didn't take reservations for the a la carte but once you understood the system (wait for the dinner rush to end 6/630pm) it was okay. didn't want [... read more] to long for dinners Rooms: stayed in the Deluxe Wing because we wanted more space, free wi-fi and to be closer the quieter (not alot of kids) pool. The rooms were old school colonial style but were kept clean. The bathrooms could use a major upgrade (tub was peeling and ceiling needed new paint) but it was manageable. Extra towels were delivered daily Pools- Great large pools with a lot of space so they never felt too crowded with alot of people in them Beach- the beach could have used some raking and cleaning up the seaweed but it was managable to walk over to get to the warm ocean. Ample loungers available. The Deluxe section had the better quality clean up of the beach and loungers to relax in Service: Very attentive support workers to attend to your needs.

Great resort

The resort had beautiful Beaches and main areas . Room could of used a little more updating . As well as room service that was stated they had on there web site. Food was amazing. Staff was friendly and welcoming .

Rui Ocho Rios - a great resort!

Very good resort. Stayed first week of January 2017. Lots of activities. Food was very good. Great buffet meal choices, sit down restaurants were also very good. Lot's of places to get drinks. Pool areas and beach were outstanding. Check-in process experience not the greatest.

Good experience

Good experience, excellent food, ok service, ok room, excellent beach, excellent grounds, excellent corridors/lobby, excellent terraces for eating areas, excellent restaurants. There was a continue buzzing on the VIP beach -like a noise coming from a big vacuum. There were not enough seats in the theatre during the shows. Poor quality shows. The TV in the room was to small and we had no internet access in the room. It was hard to exchange the big dollar bills to 1 dollar bill (for tips)-no [... read more]t available at front desk. Sunwing experience was bad -the flight was delayed for too long and we arrived at the hotel at 1am. We were very scared on the bus drive from the airport to the hotel. Nothing happened but Jamaica is a dangerous place and we should not travel during the night time.

Beautiful resort

Dining rooms nice, grounds are beautiful as well as the pools. The washrooms were to far from beach and dinning. The jerk hut on the beach was very good. Chicken amazing the sides were just okay. Upgrading was not worth the extra except for the beach area. No extra for the al a carte . Had to wait just like everyone else. The entertainment was very good. The staff were very friendly and helpful. The excursions were very expensive. The ride from airport was much to long, stopping for the  [... read more]smokers who took there time. Going back from hotel to airport was quick with no stops except to pick up passengers.

Average Resort

Entertainment was great for all family members. Housekeeping in the hotel was also good, the mattress need to be replaced 'VERY UNCONFORTABLE'! Information counter very slow, waited 20 minutes. There was also the one day that they ran out of pool towels. Food was good but not enough, also not enough Staff to serve people during dinner time. They were not prepared for our large group (15) from when we got off the plane.

Nice resort

The hotel is beautiful the service at the front desk is terrible and some waitresses and cooks are very rude.The rooms are very clean and the housekeepers are very nice, how ever the beds are extremely uncomfortable. The beaches are very nice .

Good time

Everything good. Staff very good. It would be even better if you could go to the a la carte restaurants without waiting in line, but no a big deal since the buffet food was good. I found the flooring very slippery so I walked carefully. A piano bar would be a nice addition. Some of the evening performance was very good.

Ok Resort....

The hotel is a little dated but clean, not what I had expected from the photos. Definitely wouldn't rate this higher than a 4 Star resort. The housekeeping and mini-bar staff, not very helpful or consistent. When we arrived the first day we had a one litre bottle of water which we had drank the second day we were there and we were there for 6 days. The bottle of water, the mini-bar and the glasses in the room were never replaced nor was the mini-bar restocked throughout the entire trip. I had [... read more] even left money and a note asking the housekeeping staff to please ensure the water was replaced. On day 3, I specifically spoke to the housekeeper on our floor who sent me to speak to a housekeeper on the 2nd floor, as she told me she was the one who would clean my room, who then told me it was not her job but the min-bar attendants job to replace the water and re-stock the mini-bar. On day 3 I just resorted to taking a bottle of water from the cart the mini bar attendant was pushing around on another floor. And on day 5 I resorted to doing the same. As I said the water, the glasses and the mini-bar were not restocked for our entire trip. Although they have bottles of liquor in the room as this is a RIU and what they are known for, its kind of hard to make a drink without glasses! Not at all what I am used to. We have travelled many times all-inclusive and I have never felt this frustrated! The beach was ok..not great but ok. I will say though, that the food and the rest of the staff were amazing! The restaurants and the servers were outstanding! Overall, if we were to go back to Jamaica we would stay at a different resort.

Not too impressed

The hotel was outdated, a few people from the front desk were rude and not very helpful. They did not decorate our room for our 15 yr anniversary even though it was mentioned at the time of booking and also 5 different times once we arrived. They gave us an oceanview room even though we payed for OceanFront. The kitchen staff was great, Kimarley from the buffet was very nice. They were not conscious of vegetarian food being separate from meat dishes, nor were the serving spoons separate. Being a [... read more] strict vegetarian, I cannot eat anything that gets contaminated with meat. I was very disappointed about this.

Amazing Staff

We stayed at Riu Ocho Rios for a week in November. Our family loved the staff and they were wonderful, sweet and kind. The resort is run down and needs a refresh. It is the staff (ie cleaners, cooks, wait staff and entertainment crew) that may the experience unforgettable.

Ok resort

Food was good, ocean dirty, hotel old needs updating, good size, loved that you didn't need reservations for dinners nothing horrible nothing great. Went to a wedding. It was beautiful, kids club was great! Beef patties awesome! Kids loved the turtle pond, pool was cold

Rui on the decline

The Rui in Ocho Rios is not a five star hotel, shabby rooms very old beds and poor food. Have stayed in a few Riu's and this was definately a disappointment. Luckily we had a really nice bunch of people to hang with