ClubHotel Riu Ocho Rios, Ocho Rios

First of all I do not dislike anything, second the service is great, the entertainment is great, the food courts are great and I can go on. This hotel is just overall the best of the best, I love it I mean everything is just great.

We are a family of four, with older kids (17 and 20). We all loved it and would eagerly go back to Jamaica and specifically the Riu. The staff was friendly and helpful. The rooms were comfortable, spacious, and clean. There is plenty to eat, drink, and to do. The weather was perfect which of course is lucky. Their is entertainment nightly and daily with the entertainment staff always available, but not pushy if you would just rather relax. There are guys roaming the beach trying to sell stuff and "stuff", but again they are not pushy and a simple no thanks always sufficed. It is very close to the Dunn's River Falls which is a blast. in short, if you want peace, action, partying, or something in between, this was a great place to find it. The dislikes, if any, were all minor like the long ride from the airport, but still a great value and a great trip.

First off this resort was amazing ! As soon as you arrive the entrance alone is pretty extravagent ! We were greeted with rum punch the bell hop was on point and quick and organized ! We needed to use a phone right away to touch base with home and an employee actually handed me his cell phone ! Our room was very nice I was impressed there was a his & hers sink.. nice sized room.. we had ocean view and we had a freaking beautiful view we were room 1233 we were able to see the landscaping one of the pools and the ocean o it was to die for !! There were a bit of ants but we passed a washcloth and they pretty much dissappeared. Staff was pretty friendly ! Food was seriosuly thumbs down I enjoyed breakfast bacon, french toast, fresh omletts and hashbrowns were very good ! All sodas were flat ! The 24hr buffet was not well I stuck to salads. They have a delicious jerk hut on the beach with an amazing sweet bbq sauce! Ketchup was nasty word of advice bring your own ketchup!! We did some activities must do's are the dolphin cove swimming with the dolphins was a beautiful experience duns river was great a lot of climbing but an amazing experience ! Word of advice purchase your liquor at the airport its way cheaper than in town !!!!!! You have to make reservations for resturants but the portions are rediculously tiny I mean I asked them where the rest of my meal was lol ! Overall this place was beautiful I would definitly go back maybe I'll just pack my own food and drinks lol.. clean beaches and pools it was very live day and nite! It was a wonderful experience! O once you leave the resort you will be harassed for tips that was a huge annoyance they literally ask for there tips but they don't do that at the resort ! Good luck hope you have an amazing experience as we had ;)

I got there on a saturday and there was no hot water in the room. I spend 5 days in the resort and it wasn't until my 4th. night that i had hot water. the staff is not too friendly and on my way back the driver that took us to the airport was very rude and drive like a mad man. I had a bad experience with Jamaica and won't be back

Resort: One of the bigger resorts in Jamaica. The pools were nice, the beach was clean. The daily/nightly entertainment was wonderful. There was even a concert one day. :) There was really no need to leave the resort. Food: Average. Even though there were unlimited meals and buffets the food was not so great. There are 4 gourmet restaurants that offer higher quality food but they must be reserved and are usually filled up by 8am that day for dinner time. If you are an early riser...you will be fine. Drinks: unlimited everything. What else is there to say? After day 3... your body will barely take anymore. haha Location: 2 hour ride from the airport. Not the best. :( Staff: Very friendly women. The men were extremely aggressive. Almost to the point of harassment. Rooms: The rooms were spacious and clean. The beds were a bit stiff resulting nights of tossing and turning. We once dropped a potato chip on the floor and came back to a country of ants! Verdict: I hear this is one of the better resorts in Jamaica. Ocho Rios is far but the resort was worth it. If you have a sensitive stomach...think again. You may end of eating salads and french fries the entire time like we did. If you are looking for relaxation and/or romance... this may not be the resort for you. There is always live entertainment that can be very loud when all you want to do is read a book in quiet.

The Property is beautiful and nicely maintained. The food was very tasty, presented well and lots of it, watch your waistline while there! However; a word of caution. . . . the front desk staff was quite young and unable to meet our needs and several other guests needs in a timely or satisfactory manner, check-in was slow, room changes were challenging and NOBODY wanted to make an independant or immediate decision. They were very pleasant, but unable to resolve simple requests.

I returned from a week at Riu Ocho Rios yesterday, and found it to be one of the best vacationing experiences I have ever had. The restaurants provided an enormous variety of food, and the overall quality of the food was superb compared to other all-inclusive resorts I have visited. We received excellent, courteous service at every meal. The bartenders were also phenomenal, very pleasant and fast. The room was very comfortable, though the air conditioning was not overly powerful. It took a day to get accustomed to the overall heat and humidity, but by the second day, the room felt almost cold when you walked into it. The housekeeping staff was great, and kept the room stocked and clean throughout the stay. I did see two ants in the room over the course of the week, but I think this is more due to the tropical climate than it is to uncleanliness on the part of the hotel. The grounds, lobby and pool are kept in wonderful shape, and if you happen to take a late night / early morning stroll through the hotel you will see an army of hotel staff scrubbing the tile floors, polishing the immaculate woodwork, and touching up the wall paint. The resort as a whole is truly beautiful and blows other resorts in the area away. We were there to watch my cousin get married on the beach, and the staff did an excellent job of coordinating the wedding. The setting was amazing, and they even sectioned off a portion of the beach so that there wouldn't be people walking through the background while we took pictures of the ceremony. If you're planning on visiting the Riu, you are in for a big treat! I saw a lot of negative comments on this site, and I don't know what those people were expecting. Perhaps they had a truly bad experience, but I know I can't wait to return! Just a couple words of warning- be prepared to do some walking, as the resort is very large and spread-out. This actually wasn't a problem at all though, because even though I had one of the furthest distances between my room and the main lobby area, it helped to offset the calories from all of the wonderful food and deserts I had eaten! Finally, be sure to take some $1 bills with you. Tipping is a huge part of the culture down there, especially in the service industries, and it's expected that you tip occasionally. I usually gave the pool bartender a $5 every morning and maybe a couple singles throughout the day and I had excellent service and he would usually look for me as I was making my way to the bar and have my cocktail ready when I got there. Overall, the Riu is an excellent experience, and I highly recommend it!!

The service at the front desk was atrocious. There were 4 of us, for one of the rooms we were only given 1 key and told in a very non-courteous manner that there was no more key blanks. The staff were not courteous, there was some undercurrent rudeness. I wasn't impressed by the food, as I've been to several hotels on the island which served spectacular food. On leaving and calling the front desk to pick up our luggage we were told we'll have to bring them down ourselves. I have never gotten that from any all inclusive I have been to in Jamaica. I guess you live and you learn!

The ocean was wonderful perfect temp. and the pool was fun.. The food was aweful! And I mean not very good at all! My husband and I got there Sat. May 1 and returned May 9th. My husband started getting sick the Thursday after we arrived and he is still sick after we've been home... He has lost over 10 pounds and I think its because he ate something at that stupid resort! He couldn't leave the room the last few days because he was so sick! It ruined our vacation...

I took my family to the Club Riu Ocho Rios for what was supposed to be one of the most memorable days of our lives, at least that’s what my wife and I thought as we were going back to Jamaica, were I am from and where we met to have our second wedding. BIG mistake choosing the Riu Ocho Rios as the location to make our dream come true. First, we got to the resort at about 2:30pm but our rooms were not ready, then at 5pm when we were told the rooms were suppose to be ready ,only two were clean and ready to receive guests. One of the rooms had a TV in it and the room was not clean. That room was never used by us when the staff made countless efforts the ensure us that the room was serviceable. At about 7pm when the last person from our wedding party were arrived that day, his room was still not ready. Sadly, that’s not the reason for me writing this review. To be honest, I would have sucked it all up and not said a word, but the unprofessional performance displayed by the wedding planners/ team is nothing less than total disrespect and no one should have to pay that much money for a service and by treated in this manner. We tried to remain positive in light of the experiences of our first day at the hotel. Because we had paid for our wedding and everything was planed for only three days after our arrival to the hotel, we were told to go up and meet with the wedding planner. We went to her office only to be told to “come back a few minutes later” , we gave her a half hour and she still was not ready to speak with us on the details of our wedding (we had an appointment with her). When she did finally meet with us, it wasn’t long before she was on her cell phone on a personal call in front of us for quite a few minutes. On our wedding day after paying US $50 for a keep sake of our sand ceremony at the wedding, the container of sand had mysteriously disappeared and was never seen, there goes $50 more. When my wife saw the wedding coordinator later that day she asked her where the container of sand was because we figured the staff picked it up and maybe placed it in her office as we were busy getting married. She had a very lax attitude and said, “oh it will turn up, no worry yourself”. The next day it still had not turned up and we inquired again if anyone had seen it and we were told again by the wedding coordinator that “no one had seen it, but no problem”. We still do not have it. It is almost 5 months to the day that we got married and we STILL do not have our official wedding certificate. I cannot put my wife on my health insurance without having that certificate. The wedding coordinator promised we would have that within 6-8 weeks of getting married. I called the hotel numerous times and could not get anyone to respond to me. I then spoke to a manager at the hotel who had the coordinator call me. The coordinator asked me what the minister’s name was, and I had no clue. At that point she seemed unwilling to look in her records so she could find the information to expedite this process. Bottom line, the hotel never followed up with the Jamaican Vital Records to ensure we get the marriage certificate. Right up to this morning (5/5/10) I’ve called the hotel several times and was told that “there was no manager on duty”. So we remain without a certificate. At this point, when I do return to Jamaica for a vacation, I would prefer to stay at Turtle Towers rather than Riu. After having worked in the Jamaican hotel industry for over 10 years prior to coming to America, I’ve never seen such poor customer service. I currently run a travel business and will NEVER recommend Riu to any of my customers.