TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

The front door staff are not very friendly, or helpful. Issues with our rooms, take 3 days to fix. Some wait staff are amazing especially in the Italian restarant!! We met a driver who took us out both days off property, amazing personality, friendly and so much knowledge of his country!! Much love for Garreth Brown @ get on board tours who made our vacation fun, and showed us his love for his country!! Amazing man, and highly recommend his services you get you around safely, and with many laughs.

If you're looking for a great low-cost Jamaican vacation, this resort is INCREDIBLE!!!! Every single employee I encountered was incredibly friendly and worked hard to accomodate my group's request to all be in the same building. The resort was busy, and they still managed to make it happen for us. The grounds are extremely clean, it was crazy to see how fast they would tend to issues. The rooms were a little outdated but again - very clean. No bugs on resort! Going a whole week and not getting mosquito bites was a shock. You will find a lot of cats, and a lot of ocean creatures (we even had a stingray visit us right on the shoreline one night) There is no shortage of food, and all of it was really good. They move food and drink lines quickly, much to the pleasure of hungry kids and drunk adults alike ??. My only real food complaint would be that the coffee is instant and never consistently made. I'm a bit of a coffee snob though. At first, I was also put off by all the highway noise - it's really loud at the adult pool and the garden view rooms (I was in building 7). After leaving the resort a few times, it became clear that many other resorts are also along highways so I imagine this is an issue at those resorts as well. Pay the extra for ocean view to get a bit more quiet. Speaking of excursions - to feel more safe we booked with Vinton from JARoutes. He was AMAZING and was more than just a driver. He brought my sick friend tea. He knows the resort well and will make sure you are safe and have the best time away to experience more of Jamaica! If beach strolls are very important to you - know going in that this isn't that kind of beach. This resort is more like little sections of beach separated with docks or rock walls. There are plenty of chairs on every section of beach though - you won't have a hard time finding a place to lounge!

The rooms are spacious. This hotel is beautiful. Entertainment day and night. Restaurant can get very busy but always got a table. Food is ok and always something there we liked. Alcarte was great to ..All the staff in this resort are so lovely. Always got a smile on there faces. Definitely recommend this hotel xx

In reading reviews before we came, I knew to keep my expectations at a minimum, even with the VIP package. Check-in was almost perfect. We were greeted by Wayne as soon as we arrived, who quickly got us to the VIP lounge and offered to bring us drinks to enjoy during the process. The check in process was so smooth that our drinks hadn't even arrived yet! One disappointment was that with our VIP package, we had 2 pre-booked a la carte dinners, but apparently we already missed one reservation! They booked our first dinner for the day we arrived, which was before our flight was even due to land. She didn't offer to reschedule, just threw the reservation away. We stayed in Building 7 and the room was good. The bed was comfortable and the room was always totally clean. Some indicated issues with hot water, but we never had problems. The bathroom is tiny for sure. The sink water pressure had two settings - off or full blast where water will spray everywhere. The air conditioning was via heat pump so it was so nice and quiet and always kept the room at a perfect temperature. The beach and pool areas need more shade. I don't know how many people can say the same thing before anything is done. People would reserve chairs not only at 5 am, but even overnight just to get a spot with shade! They would leave their stuff out day to day for their entire stay. If you're a guest or potential guest or a previous guest reading this, please don't be that inconsiderate. Lunch and dinner buffets were better than breakfast. Breakfast was not great. There was hardly any fruit options - cantaloupe, honeydew, unripe pineapple, occasionally papaya. There were bananas one day. We opted for the a la cartes every night except the first. I was confused by the reviewer who said they could never get into the a la cartes because we never had any problems at all. In fact it was a bonus not to have to wait in line at 7 am to get a reservation like we've done at other resorts. We would show up to the desk before/after breakfast and request a reservation for the next night and we always got the restaurant and times we wanted. I preferred the seafood restaurant, while my husband preferred the Italian. Make sure if you go to the Italian, try to get seated with Robert if he's there, he is the best, such great service. The lounge in building 7 is a nice spot for food or drinks and the bartender Orville is amazing! The jerk hut is an absolute must and the staff there are fantastic. Aside from the staff that I've mentioned, I would also have to echo the other reviewer who have said the staff in the restaurants and bars for the most part don't seem to want to be there. They don't seem interested in engaging with the guests at all. Overall we had a good time and we were there to relax, and we were able to do that, but there are definitely some easy improvements that could be made to make this resort more inviting to return to.

This is my 8th trip in about 12 years to Jamaica; previously, I have stayed at Grand Bahia, Hilton, and Iberostar, and most of the time, my family and I visit in the summer and I don't write reviews often. As you can see, we love Jamaica, the culture, and the vibe, We have lots of this culture in Toronto, and most importantly, I am a West Indian as well We stayed March 14th - March 21st I am aware that I was going to a budget hotel given that I was looking for something a bit affordable around the heavy price tag of March break. Room: The first room we got was in building 5 and the room was not cleaned; there were hair and marks on the sheets , garbage was not empty, etc. I have the pictures but I do not want to turn you off from this hotel. After going back to the lobby we got a new room; the room was now in Building 1. It was a bit older, but everything worked well, and it was quicker to access the beach pool and everything else. Pillows at the hotel are very soft, so if you need hard pillows for support like me don’t count on it. The bathroom is a European size and for 1 person to use at a time. Beach: There are lots of beaches and one with a small man made island. But it is very, very shallow and they all carry lots of seaweed so you are standing on seaweed and very few areas have pure sand but it can be deceiving in the pictures. We actually scouted the entire beach areas and found a spot to go in the water near the exercise building, If you are coming to sunbathe, then this is not an issue to you but Holiday Inn should invest in cleaning their beach and make it much more swimmable ; however, it is still better than swimming in the floating sargassum in Punta Cana or Mexico . Food: When many come to Jamaica you come to have access to a daily Jamaican menu at least for lunch and dinner especially in the buffet area. We asked a few different people at the desk when it would be Jamaica night and on the first Jamaican night we realized that there is no curry goat, oxtail or similar popular dishes. Once in the seven days that we stayed they had curry mutton not goat and that was Jamaican night on Tuesday. Keep in mind there are a few ala carte restaurants, one of them is a Jamaican one that is above the buffet. Great for ambiance, we order the curry goat and oxtail. While the meat was tender for the curry goat I actually thought I was not in Jamaica. I said to myself, is this Jamaican curry it was for sure not Trinidadian or Guyanese since on the menu card it said made with west Indians curries ? My kids looked at me and shook their heads. I think the one thing this resort got right at least from an international standard is the jerk chicken out at the jerk hut we had lunch a few times there. Compared to many reviews that I have read and watched, their food is not that bad in taste when it comes to the international stuff. You will find something to enjoy. Perhaps they are just catering to their bigger British crowd but forgot most of our international cities these days have the real deal from yard therefore they do not need to water down the recipes. Their dessert table is small when compared to other places that I have been to. However a must try is their hotdog and their fantastic soft serve ice cream that comes in many flavors during the day time. Entertainment I notice they try to keep it clean with an older clientele age ground in mind. It's all based on music . No circus or anything of that sort but then again Hilton did not have that either.. I recommend mini golf that can be done before 5pm each day. Lots of good areas for pictures on this dated well kept property . Their wide variety of drinks in the main lobby from their pina colada to their bob Marley's were all good. I just wish the local food was a bit more authentic especially at a resort that had a traditional cultural decor.. The staff is good and at this resort no one is trying to sell you timeshare after all you are on a budget. Safe for kids ,good enough for a budget with a hint of good Jamaican cuisines.