TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

The pros outweighed the cons on this 5 night getaway. I want to share what we learned and experienced for other travelers: Room: We stayed in an ocean front room on the 1st floor. Our room was beautiful! It was very clean and the view was spectacular! The bathroom was soooo nice. I loved out outdoor space and took naps out there in the afternoon. Housekeeping was so sweet and professional and took such good care of us. They were never a bother and left us little surprises like towels folded like animals. Butler service: The butlers about drove us crazy! Our room included butler service and they followed us around constantly and never really did much of anything useful aside from having our clothing ironed restocking the mini bar. We felt like they were aggressively trying to earn tips. Our check-in process took forever because we had to wait an hour in the lobby (tired and hungry) for our butler to become available to show us to the room. Then it was another 30-45 min in the room with the butler showing us silly things like how to set the lamps and the water faucets. Our check in process was the most disappointing experience of our stay. Yoga: Although yoga was on the calendar of events, it never happened. I showed up for the first session and it just wasn’t there:( Spa: I had the best deep tissue massage of my entire life from Beverly at the spa. The facilities and hot tubs were great - but you need to ask to use them. They seemed to want to just take you straight back in your clothing for services. But if you tell them that you want to enjoy the facilities, they will let you. So take your swimsuit and be sure to enjoy the hot tubs, steam room, sauna, cold plunge, and heated loungers. Beach: The beach was just spectacular! There were plenty of chairs and umbrellas. So much room to spread out. Not crowded at all. I loved meeting locals and shopping for souvenirs from little kayaks. This alone makes the resort a great value for the price. Pools: The grounds and pools were beautiful. There was a little mildew around the tiles at the water line. Other than that it was perfect. There were always seats available. We loved the quieter pool in the back, but the beach front pool with the bar was lively and fun without being crowded. Restaurants: We ate at every restaurant during our stay. The servers were all fantastic! But we thought that the food quality was hit or miss. They were cutting corners right and left to save money and the desserts were horrible. Flan disguised as cheesecake, flan disguised as creme brûlée, sheet cake advertised as tiramisu……. Jamaican: The best food of all and cute little cats running around! Japanese: most fun experience and great food - we loooved our chef. Cornwall Buffett: awesome breakfast! So many great options. Fresh local fruit was amazing. Surf and turf: our least favorite -bleck Italian: don’t even attempt the tiramisu French: gross Jamaican lunch buffet: This was amazing! Probably my favorite and the best bet for deserts Beach grill: Amazing jerk chicken here! Overall: We had a fantastic time and totally fell in love with Jamaica. Just go with the flow and have a good sense of humor about things. It was a wonderfully relaxing time and well worth the money. Dole out lots of tips and you will receive great service.

I have been to Iberostar before and was impressed then and this time did NOT disappoint! The resort was fantastic, the staff was great and friendly and MY BUTLERS ORAIN AND MARTIN were AMAZING! They were very friendly and personable-awaiting all our needs and meeting them timely! They were extremely accommodating and made my birthday trip/celebration VERY memorable and relaxing! They went above and beyond with their service and their communication-meeting and exceeding all our needs! There needs to be more Orain’s and Martin’s in the world of customer service. THANK YOU BOTH FOR A JOB BEYOND WELL DONE-YOU ARE VERY APPRECIATED!!!!

My husband and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary at the Iberostar Grand Rose Hall in Montego Bay. The property is beautiful, and the rooms are comfortable and clean. I loved the big porch swing for two on our balcony. The restaurants at the Grand were fabulous. Our favorite places were the Galleon Steakhouse (Surf & Turf) and La Toscana (Italian fare). We were able to get al-carte reservations every night we were there thanks to our concierge and the Iberostar App. Our favorite dessert was at the French Restaurant; Fondant Au Chocolat. It was better than the Chocolate Lava cake served at the Chart House restaurants. The breakfast buffet at the Cornwall was also very good. Every morning I was there, Tarah would make me delicious protein smoothies at the juice bar. She was so thoughtful in suggesting different combinations of fruits and would even bring me my smoothie if I sat down to eat so my food didn't get cold. Sheneille Sloley works at the Grand as the Star Prestige Manager and she is totally amazing! She was always ready to help us with a smile or just talk to us. She greets you every time like a ray of sunshine ready to make your day or night. We met her at the Iberostar Members Club lounge and I liked her from our first Hello. She made sure we got dinner reservations every night and always asked how she could make our stay better (if that was even possible). We decided to see what the Iberostar Member Club was all about and ended up meeting another amazing young woman named Cassandra Graham. She was very knowledgeable and showed us around the property and sat down to breakfast with us to get to know us. I liked her honesty & integrity, and she was just one of the nicest people to spend a morning with. She shared with us about her life and about life in Jamaica. Throughout the remainder of our stay, she kept checking in on us to see how we were enjoying the resort. We enjoyed the daytime and nightly entertainment. The Michael Jackson show was spot on and left you singing along to his tunes. The reggae music night on the beach was fun. The synchronized swimming was pretty good also. In the daytime they had different activities going on, as well. You are able to use rafts, sailboats, and paddle boards for free. They had water aerobics and volleyball in the pool. Found out about the rafts the day before we left as I just asked someone where they got theirs from. You get them from the towel stand by the pool. The towel stand also had complimentary sunblock to prevent one from turning into a lobster. Having Dressel Diver Company on the property was a huge plus. During our stay we dove 4 days (7 dives total) including the dive/snorkel Montego Bay Excursion which included lunch at Margaritaville and a shopping excursion in town. They were very friendly and professional. We will definitely be back to the Grand Rose and look forward to seeing some of our friends we made during this vacation. We are also looking forward to Iberostar opening in Aruba and the Turks and Caicos! We've been to a few other all-inclusive, but Iberostar takes the cake (and be sure to eat some while you are there).

Arrived to the Rose hall Grand Iberostar hotel on a Monday morning. There was no free shuttle but let me quote from the hotel's website: "Free private transfer Free transfers to and from International Airport Sir Donald Sangster, Montego Bay, for stays of 3 or more nights. • Only available for stays of 3 or more nights and when reserved at least 2 days prior to the booking date. • One transfer service per room is offered and all of the guests will be picked up at the same time and at the same location. • Maximum of 6 people per car. • The service cannot be guaranteed if the flight details are not filled in on time. It is mandatory to fill in the flight information at least 2 days prior to arrival." Even though we booked it 3 months ahead, then moved it up to a month, both times they said no shuttle available, let alone free. We even called them to make sure because the website says so. So we had to book it separately, even though we stayed for 4 nights, it was only 2 of us and arrived at Sangster international Airport. The hotel is huge, beautiful and nicely decorated. "Grand" is fitting name for it. The front door is open constantly, so is the back one, that leads to the pool, so it's hot and humid inside. After checking in on the left side, went to the right side to get set up with the butler(s) service then went back to the left side where we had to make all the reservations for dinner for our entire vacation. Everyone at the hotel, and I do mean EveryOne, asks you the same question. Names ( not like they'll remember it) where you are from, what's the occasion, how long are you staying, do you have any kids/ family, what do you do for living, etc. They are trying to be friendly, we get it, but when you Literally get asked this 3 times within 10 minutes, then the next day all over again, it's annoying ( especially when I got woken up early by an unrequested phone call by Olivia to remind us to attend a meeting about becoming members with the hotel. But more about that later...) So we told them we are here for vacation, celebrating our anniversary. They have a romantic dinner that they do on the beach for the 2 of you if you sign up. They have a fixed menu and of course the experience is extra $$$. Unfortunately on all 3 options, there were meals we couldn't eat so we opted out. We said we'd probably do a couples massage or something. That's when the concierge offered us the couple massage. She told us we'll meet someone Wednesday morning, go for breakfast and we can book the massage then. I asked if it can be earlier, to make sure we have enough time for a massage appointment ( of course it wasn't but I'll get to that also) but she said they want us to explore and enjoy the hotel, so it's gonna be Wednesday 10 am. They set us up with the butlers ( during those 4.5 days, we had 3 or 4 butlers). Honestly it was a waste of money/ service and I'll tell you why. I quote from hotel website: "In select rooms, your butler will make you feel at home 24 hours a day. He or she will show you to your suite, help you unpack your luggage, and customize your pillow, your aromatherapy essence, and your minibar service. He or she can draw a relaxing bath for you or attend to your laundry or shoe-shining needs" We received none of that, even though we were " in select rooms". We were hanging out at the beach when hours later met the butler. He didn't show us to our suite, didn't help unpacking our luggage, didn't mention anything about customizing pillows and aromatherapy essences. We asked about the minibar since it was left completely empty ( he said it's supposed to have some standard drinks to begin then we can get what we want but it was totally empty) I did not expect him to draw me a bath, even though I probably should've, so he would've seen the jets just floating around ( unfortunately can't video of that, just pictures). Every hotel has laundry service but would've been good to know if that was free because of the extra pay for butler service. Website also states " Smart tv, DVD Player, Access to the Spa's Hydrotherapy area" with out butler suit. We didn't have a smart TV, let alone a DVD player. TV constantly paused, skipped and glitched. Showed it to the manager, amongst other issues and he didn't give a crap to put it nicely, but more about that later. And no-one told us about access to the spas hydrotherapy area either. I was trying to take a bath but while I was filling up the tub, one of the jets came out. I told housekeeping, the butler, the concierge. I was told to just push it back in its fine. I told them, (which is common sense), if it comes out while being filled up with water, it's gonna come out when I turn the jets on. The butler said he spoke to maintenance and he was told to just push it back. So I did and I took a video of it. All minus 1 of the jets are floating around. Lovely way to take a relaxing bath... Breakfast is indoors, same place all the time. Still hot and humid and there are bugs but nowhere near as many as there are at the lunch buffet which is outdoors. The meats, desserts and even salads are covered with tiny little black bugs crawling on food and dishes, despite having some fans. For dinner you have a few options. The tricky thing with that is that is could be the same place where you had lunch, they just use a different name at the evening. But food is all the same. Breakfast is all the same except they switch up the oatmeal/ porridge flavors. Lunch is also the same thing every day and if u chose it for dinner, then it will be the same food you had for lunch. Not a lot of variety. Food is okay, nothing special ( husband is Jamaican) but the bugs just ruin most of it. Tuesday morning we were hanging out at the beach when lady came asking if we want a massage. Told her we have a meeting Wednesday and we'll schedule it then. She told us it's about signing up to become members. We had no clue! Then when we went inside I asked our concierge about it. She said yeah but don't worry, if you don't wanna sign up, you don't have to. It's about an hour and we'd get a free massage for it (1 massage is $180/person. We are supposed to get couples massage so double that) Day goes on, we are hanging at the beach again, people come and go and 3 elderly ladies next to me are talking quite loudly about their experience with the hotel and how they tricked them into this sales pitch, spent 4-5 hours with them and it's a waste of time. Later on a young couple ended up next to us who we started chatting with ( yes, they could also put out more lounge chairs) . She said the same thing and also how pushy their concierge and butler was with them about it. ( I mentioned it to our concierge just so they are aware) Anyway here comes Wednesday morning when we received a call ( that was Not requested) to remind us that we had to wake up early and get ready for the meeting. We go to front, meet with Olivia ( who should not be dealing with customers. Her mannerism, attitude, what she says, how she says, after calling us, just did not make our day better). She asks same questions I listed above. For the meeting, you need photo ID, both of you (not sure what for if I'm not paying or signing up for anything yet. If I decide to sign up later on , then yes, I understand you need those). They also check what kind of credit card you have. Then Olivia walks us over ( meaning 10 steps towards the entrance) to a guy who asks us same question. That guy walks out with us to get on golf cart, where the driver asks us the same questions Again. We get to the other hotel, where we meet another guy. SAME QUESTIONS, then he goes back and comes out with a woman who comes back to our hotel for breakfast with us. She asks same questions plus personal ones like how much make, how much we spend, how often we travel, etc. Off the bet, without knowing how long we are staying, what suite we are in, she tells us if we sign up w them, we could've saved a lot more, with flights included. We told her we don't travel that much, or even when we do, we stay with friends, family. She asked if we wanted to stop, but since we are already sitting down, having breakfast ( free breakfast for her, good) might as well, but we are not overly excited especially since last year we already been through this somewhere else ( but there at least we knew what we were getting into). She keeps asking to stop, we keep saying you are already here, so just tell us what you need to. Maybe she'll get our interest of signing up. An hour goes by with her asking questions, going back and forth. Then she said because we are not interested, but already spent time with her, we can just get vouchers for massage. I'm still eating, so my husband goes back to the other hotel with her, where he calls me from to tell me that we are not getting any voucher unless we start another presentation with them over there, which who knows how long it would take. So I told him it's not worth it, come back. I spoke w our concierge, she saw that we spent over an hour with them, and after 45 minutes you are supposed to get a massage ( we didn't know there was time limit for voucher). She said she'll speak with her supervisor about it. Well... That got us nowhere since they didn't have any availability ( supposedly). They offered a ride to the airport, which again SUPPOSED TO BE FREE, but lied to us ahead of time and we had to book our private one already. So eventually they gave us $100 credit which we were told was for our stay there. When we went to check out, gave them the paper coupon for discount the concierge gave us when we checked in towards the items I bought at the gift shop. Receptionist said I can do that, but this $100 off is more. I told her I was told that $100 is discount towards our stay. Meaning the price we paid for the room, not the gift shop items. We didn't do anything additional, such as massage, facial, etc. I wanted to use the the $100 towards stay because I made sure to only spend enough to be able to use the voucher at the gift shop. Asked for the manager. I'm trying to talk to him, but he wouldn't even make eye contact, constantly looks around, and the only thing he addressed out of all the thing I said/wrote above is that they didn't have magic show because the magician got sick. ( didn't explain why they didn't upgrade schedule, but least of my problems. That's why I didn't even get to it above) Can't post video but here's picture of the floating jets. Sooooo Good luck to you, fellow vacationers. Someone can respond to this, try to make excuses. They had the chance to make it better while we were there...

Have heard so much about this resort....and ALL the positives are true ...true ...true!!! Service is excellent, the people and staff are phenomenonal, the comfort outstanding.... And the food is Excellent. ....will be returning again every year!!! "Mi have inner luv fi your time” We stayed on the Adults only property...but had a great time on each of the properties. But I must admit it was nice at the end of the day to relax on the adult only side.