What an amazing vacation...
We were scheduled to go to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico and had to cancel due to the swine flu epidemic. We rescheduled to the Riu Palace in Negril the Monday of the week we were leaving. Needless to say, some of the reviews made me VERY nervous. I have come to realize that there is just absolutely NO satisfying some people.
I will agree with the fact that the room DID smell a little moldy/mildewly...however
you are in the Carribean with people coming into the room and throwing their wet towels and bathing suits all over the furniture, what do you expect??
-FOOD: The food was great, the buffet was delicious. However, the reservation system for the a la carte restaurants is terrible. Everything was booked very early and they only do it every other day. If this happens, nicely introduce yourself to the restaurant manager and asst manager, and they were very gracious in getting us into the table service ones. And the Italian restaurant is the BEST! Even the buffet is wonderful though.
-ROOMS: Not as big as I thought they would be, but they were clean, nice, and nicely decorated. LOVED the fridge with the beer stock, water, and the in-room mini bar! Our garden view room had a view of the ocean, so I'd even say that was a great deal!
-SERVICE: I would give this an A+. These people work their butts off and do it with a smile and a laugh. The bar tenders at the pool bar were great and incredible efficient. The hotel also always has several bars open and you never wait very long for a drink. The bar by the Steak House restaurant (which also serves lunch buffet) is great and always quite during the day. David was a great bartender and always served with a smile. We were in Mexico last year and these bartenders would serve 20 drinks before the Mexican all-inclusive bartenders would serve 3, no joke.
BEACH: As others have said, absolutely breath taking. One of the most
beautiful beaches I have ever seen (with only Sandals Antigua topping it).
Oh, and I DID love the topless aspect...although SOME of those women should have never even been in a bathing suit! Yuck, if you DON'T have it, PLEASE DON'T flaunt it!
TIPS: Always accepted our tips with a thank you and a smile. Don't expect to get too much more exceptional service, but it's nice to help them out and give them a little extra, they certainly deserve it!
ACTIVITIES: We did a snorkling cruise with our two small children and had
a blast. Like the other reviewers have mentioned, Ricks Cafe is an interesting place and should certainly be visited. The waters were beautiful, clear and warm. We brought our two small kids into the ocean with their own vests and goggles and they held bread into the water. The fish all gathered and nibbled the bread from their hands. Another amazing experience. We also took a cab to the Times Square shopping mall. VERY tourist oriented. Everything is in USD. The taxi was $30 round trip for all 4 of us and the guy waited there for us to finish shopping, so cool! We wander out of the shopping mall a bit to see what else was down the street, but we quickly ran into a hostile guy wanting us to buy something from him and buy him a beer, so like the tourist books say, they're not too
friendly outside the resort, but it was only 1 experience.
OTHER: There is a long stretch of beach between the two Riu hotels and you can use the other facility. One of our best days was walking that stretch with our kids, stopping at the vendors in the bushes along the way. But be prepared to smell marajauna the whole time and asked constantly if you want to buy some!
OVERALL: An amazing experience, well worth the travel time. We definitely want to revisit some time.
THANK YOU JAMAICA!