Holiday Inn Resort Montego Bay reviews
4855 TripAdvisor reviews
Don’t Go!!! So outdated and Not Enough Sun umbrellas!
tompZ362HR on Mar 22, 2024
We have just returned from this hotel. There are so many things. First room, lovely view, aircon sounded like a washing machine day and night. No fridge. Moved to a new block , beautiful but no sea view. You cant have everything I guess. New room fridge and great aircon. If like me you have high standards of cleanliness you will not be happy with this hotel. Room was cleaned everyday, floor however was not. Towels changed every day. Bedding also good. Wifi rubbish apart from main building. Pool area 10 umbrellas to cover 150 beds. One area has 125 beds in rows like the cinema with just 5 umbrellas. The beach brolly’s, we witnessed people arguing because like us they were up at 5am (and eventually 4am) to claim a shady brolly spot. I dont blame either couple I felt sorry for all of them. The Arcada group who Franchise this hotel are to blame. Spend some money on the place, it’s disgusting! Staff are rude and look so unhappy, only when you make the effort and tip well every day will you get any attention. On many occasions my husband walked to the bar to get our evening drink as often we’d finished eating before service came to our table. Same with all meals tea was obviously a problem. Coffee deliveries constant. These are all small things but they add up on a daily basis, reception staff the same. When you have paid thousands of pounds and travelled thousands of miles from UK you hope to be greeted with a smile and a welcome. Sunbeds on the beach outdated and so uncomfortable. Please get some new ones! Water very shallow, probably the same everywhere. Great sea life. Food plates left all over the place, beach and poolside. There are clear places where they can be left but no one seemed to care. Food plates left in the corridors overnight well into the next day. Thank goodness for the cats around the beach and restaurant. Cockroaches in our room. We did not take food to our room. No water provided and often water supplies around the pool (one place) ran out. Bar again best area. Food good and bad, delicious lamb, but too many bones. JERK Hut the best. Spaghetti bolognese far too salty. Fish very nice but not enough variety. I had delicious Lobster $40! in the fish restaurant. Shops across the road interesting. Road very busy and noisy, you can hear it from block5. Rum cheaper at the airport! Go VIP if you wish, still have to cope with all of the above, just better area to sleep, private bar On a positive note, thank you to Osheana sorry about the spelling, friendly, happy professional, a true star??and others who I cant remember. Met some lovely friendly people, great evening shows. You will have fun, kids will love it. If you aren’t too worried about any of these things. Sunshine heat and warm sea.
Wedding planner for a destination wedding .
pshouks (Kingston, Jamaica) on Mar 20, 2024
Service was good . My room was amazing . The beach was really nice . I actually was the wedding planning and things ran smooth .we have over 100 guests and the hotel provided the food and some other services that was really good . The staff were really professional
DON'T GO!
Holly H on Mar 20, 2024
You do not even get the basics... An all inclusive resort should include the basics: Bottles of water, internet, pool towels, toilet paper in the public bathrooms, and a decent common area with air conditioning. If you expect these basic things at an "all inclusive resort" this is not the place to go. We had to buy our bottles of water, the internet did not work 98% of the time, they were out of towels for the pool often, there was no toilet paper in the public bathrooms. My friend sleeps in and I get up early, there was NO place with decent air conditioning to go and sit in a common area. In addition, as we arrived, there were many guests getting ready to leave and wanted to take a shower in the shower area, as we sat there, every single person came out and said the water was only trickling out and the towels were so small, it was barely big enough to cover one leg. The room was okay; however, on our last night before leaving the air conditioner was making very loud noises all night and then started spitting water on to the desk, we gave up and left. Also, the floor lamp did not work, it obviously had a short. I asked for another lamp. The boy came up and wanted to change the light bulb. I explained that if it was the light bulb, it would not light at all. He took the lamp out and brought the same defective lamp back. VERY POOR EXPERIENCE. DON'T GO!
Could be so much better!
Mike G (Leicester, United Kingdom) on Mar 20, 2024
We travelled to this resort hotel through TUI following a Marella Cruise. We stayed a week as a couple. All accommodation is all-inclusive. The guests were a mixture of North American and Jamaican with a minority of British, French & German guests Lets get the good and excellent out of the way first. The resort is clean, exceptionally so, and the grounds and buildings are immaculately kept. Our room was huge and - for us - the air conditioning unit was silently efficient,and again ,the room was spotless. The bed was enormous and comfortable. The room was serviced daily. The resort WiFi was fast and had excellent coverage. However,there was occasional noise from adjacent rooms, the corridor and traffic noise. The shower was uncontrollable and the temperature & volume of water varied with time of day. Our bathroom sink didn't have a plug! Although I rarely watch TV on holiday, there were no watchable channels available (mostly distorted mush). Like many others our check-in process was dreadful. Initially we were allocated a room that proved to be occupied. It was then a case of repeated "come back in 20 minutes" - only after getting assertive through the TUI rep did we get a room - some 4 hours after arrival. This is simply unacceptable. The food was pretty grim - it was only available from the buffet canteen. This venue was noisy and crowded. The experience was reminiscent of a 1970s motorway service station. And don't think you're going to be eating in the 'speciality restaurants' because there was no availability every time we asked while we were there - other British guests reported the same (I was told that $20 to the reception had suddenly found a 'cancellation' - I cant verify that as genuine). The food from the beachside shacks was reliable, but repetitive & uninspired. We can't fault the bars and the selection of drinks, the bar staff would generally try their best to mix up a cocktail to order. The only beer is Red Stripe (no 'Lite' beers). The non-alcoholic drinks were the usual boring Coke & Sprite etc - although again, the bar staff would mix up a Mocktail to order. The beach is clean and safe (plenty of lifeguards). There are a lot of sunbeds but they get taken quickly - we generally spent a lot of time around the Adults Only pool where sunbeds were nearly always available. There are a few cabanas at the Adults Only beach - but these were taken by early morning (and I saw one 'reserved' overnight). There is also a lovely quiet beach and paved area beyond Building 1, near the Seafood Restaurant, unfortunately it's a long walk to get a drink! The public areas, although clean, are very dated and rather run down. The no smoking areas are generally well respected, although vaping is tolerated. The 'Showtime' entertainment is a mixed bag with some excellence, and some over-amplified mediocrity (and it never seemed to start at the same time two evenings running!) The resort site is constrained by it's boundaries of the sea and the main road - it's long & narrow which means there is a lot of noise 24/7 from the road - only on the beach do you really escape from traffic noise! The staff didn't - on the whole - seem happy in their work which probably reflects on the management. There were some lovely members of staff in all areas, but many were surly and didn't seem to care about the resort or its guests. For guests with disabilities the picture is very mixed. There are ramps and rails, and marked toilet facilities for those with physical disabilities, but the provision for other disabilities such as sensory issues is non-existent (for example the noise levels in the buffet would be unsuitable for many autistic or neuro-divergent guests, and there is no alternative). I really cannot recommend this resort, and I'm really unsure how it remains in the Holiday Inn franchise.
Service had declined ……
bigpeg2014 (Chesterfield, United Kingdom) on Mar 20, 2024
Second time at this hotel, and whilst I would say these things did not spoil my holiday, I’m just so disappointed to find such a decline in service since my visit 4 years ago. The staff, well 80% of the staff are so very rude, I don’t think I have ever talked to so many rude and totally ignorant staff in any hotel any where in the world. Complaints - Went to towel hut , first morning to collect beach towels at 8.00 am the opening time displayed, by 8.20 no staff had opened up , a staff member from the water sports said he would help and came round and opened up , NO towels! I went to reception They sent me to guest services , who told me no towels, I asked them when as we had no beach towels with us as should be provided , they could not tell me ! We went to get a drink around 9.00 am, no drinking cups available at any drinks station and all bars closed, again very bad in such hot temperatures not to be able to get water or drinks at an all inclusive hotel ! Wrist band on one of our party was too loose and slipping off , as we knew there was a $100 fee if lost , she went to reception to replace it. Reception staff asked what we wanted said ok then went on phone chatting for over ten mins eventually another staff member swapped it out. The bar staff are rude and do not acknowledge you at all ! The staff that take the bookings for the restaurants were so rude I really did struggle to stay being polite. Now there are people who will comment and say if you are polite to staff they will be back , well I assure you I am nothing but polite and respectful always to any body I meet , it makes no difference to the staff at this hotel . Now having said that there were a very small number of staff who excelled at customer service. If only the others could watch and learn . The entertainment staff are excellent, the hotel is reasonably clean and everything in the rooms work. Drinks stations constantly running out of syrup , Arne buffet slow at filling up certain foods, which also were not always hot if early to the buffet be it breakfast , lunch or dinner ! My friends and I had a fab holiday but feel the hotel needs to improve in several areas, in the main customer service !