We vacationed at the Royalton Negril in October, pre hurricane, on the Diamond Club side. We only came to this resort because a group of friends wanted to come here and weren’t listening to our worries about the reviews we had seen about the resort. So we came with hopes we would be proven wrong, but we were only even more affirmed in our original stance. The review below will be choppy and the grammar won’t be perfect, but I have no desire to perfect this as this resort isn’t worth any more of my time. Zen Restaurant: Very plain presentation, nothing special about the entrees. The appetizers were good, but extremely small portions and the tiniest sushi I’ve ever seen. No gyoza, fried ice cream, or coconut brûlée (all of which we wanted to order). The waitress wasn’t happy to serve us either, even from the very beginning. We were told “no” or “we don’t have that here” to things a lot, mainly for the bar and the options we wanted to drink. Had to sit our party of 8 as 4 and 4, but not a deal breaker. Calypso Restaurant: Right next to the live band at the bar outside and no one at our table could talk it was so loud. It was so rude and not thought out by the resort. The food was not notable, just plain and simple. Nothing fancy. They were also out of a few items on the menu when we all ordered. El Dorado Restaurant: Best food at the resort. Plastic cups were served for some of the drinks, which wasn’t classy. Yellow dressing on the salad tasted like straight up yellow mustard. They had good presentation for the food and the service was fine. French Restaurant: Closed for renovations the entire time we were there. Hunters Restaurant: Decent options. The food was alright. Could’ve been warmer. The server was nice and got vegan food from the buffet for the vegan in our group. No chef ever came out when requested to see what they would make for the vegan, and almost every other all inclusive we’ve been to on other islands or countries have done that. This resort was very inhospitable to the dietary restrictions of their customers. Grazie Restaurant: Just meh Italian. They were out of a few things we really wanted to order. Only had one dessert of the four listed available. The chicken parmesan was nice, warm, and big. Pizza here was better than most resorts have. It was the best you could expect for Italian food at a Jamaican resort. It was annoying that they wouldn’t let you modify any pizzas at lunchtime. It was all or nothing. Armadillo Restaurant: This was the one place that had everything we wanted to order and we weren’t told “no” to anything. Our waiter was actually nice and helpful here. We ordered fries that were supposed to have truffle, parmesan and parsley or something like that, and some sort of Dallas mac and cheese, both with fancy names and descriptions I can’t remember. When they arrived, they were just plain fries from the buffet and mac and cheese that you could tell had been at the kids buffet for lunch. Pictures will be attached of them. Coffee Bar: Good options. Nice and hot coffee. Ice cream and pastry choices that we were told were made the day of, or at least in house. Never had kahlua during the weekdays, even though other bars would have it, this one just never restocked. Which was extremely annoying, and they even had drinks on their menu with kahlua, but had to either substitute it with something else or not make the drink entirely. It gets a little annoying after a while when you have 7 mornings there and 4-5 you’re told “we don’t have that”, but can see it across the lobby at another bar… Jerk Hut: The workers here were extremely rude. Like I’ve never seen shade thrown like that to a customer before so fast. The food was fine and seemed like fresh meat. Sides were just from the buffet, like everywhere else. Unfortunately they throw the leftovers off the back of their stations and the birds flock to them and it’s horrible for their stomachs to process carbs and human food like that. So that was very disappointing to see. Buffet: The buffet doesn’t have high quality liquors that diamond club would come with, and you’re only in luck if your server will walk to another bar nearby to get you some. The morning only has vodka and champagne. They will say no to baileys and such, unless you have someone who will go get it for you. Our Room: We booked the Penthouse room, diamond club level. No welcome champagne. No wine for the room. No welcome fruit. No snacks given in the mini bar. No robes. Our bed was shaped like a V when we arrived (so you both roll toward the middle when you sleep), which thankfully they changed out on day 2. I have a picture of it here that’s very visible. There was no curtain for the bathroom window, so the beach could see in very clearly and we had to hang towels on the porch to keep people from seeing in. The curtains provided couldn’t slide well, if at all, and some were longer in height than others, so it left a foot gap at the floor for light to enter on one half of the blinds. So we essentially kept the blinds closed during our stay, which was sad since the view was so nice. The penthouse pool was leaning to the side and you could tell the base was all messed up. The sliding doors for the bathroom were SO hard to move and noisy. The ABC TV station shows the screen but doesn’t play volume. ESPN worked fine for both. The room in its entirety was very beaten down and it was good they were at least aware of it enough to renovate, we just sadly weren’t there before it was done. Things were dirty and I didn’t wanna know how much mold was behind the walls and in the cracks. We also couldn’t figure out the light switches in the room to save our lives. You have to hit like 4 buttons on 4 different walls to figure out the secret code, and we never could solve it the entire week we were there. Beach: Extremelyyy annoying beach walkers trying to sell goods or services. Boats go right by the buoys bringing waves to the beach and annoyingly yelling at people asking if they want a ride. The water was at least nice and clear and had good sand. Jellyfish are there so beware. We’d see someone get stung once or twice a day. The resort is next to a nudist beach at couples, so if you’re walking the beach or near building 1 on the diamond club side, beware. The beach huts were always out of towels. You had to be down when they opened to be able to grab one. So just hang onto yours for the week and let it dry outside overnight. And honestly, if you can bring your own, I would. They seemed really old and dingy and who wants an all brown towel?? Pool: The pool level at the diamond club side was a good 2-3 feet lower than it should’ve been for half our time there. You could see the seats at the pool bar it was so low, and no one could tell us why it wasn’t being filled up. Spa: We went for the free hydrotherapy we got with our diamond club purchase. We have been to one before and enjoyed the process and had someone walk you through everything, taking you to different stations and such, along with a 10 minute neck and head massage. We went to this spa expecting the same thing and it was so different. Someone shows you where things are, and then leaves you. It’s just a dry sauna, wet sauna (which wasn’t working), and the hot and cold pools with jets. However, the hot and cold pools were the same temperature. Both like bath water almost, not hot and not cold. I think we left after 20 minutes and that was with 10 minutes in the sauna and 5 of figuring out what to do. General Thoughts: The restaurants all had the same side dishes it seemed, and half the time it wasn’t even what it was entirely described as. The a la carte restaurants had nothing special that wasn’t at the buffet. We sadly “enjoyed” the food at the buffet more than the a la carte restaurants, which means a resort is not one you want to come to if that’s the case. Their buffalo sauce is sweet and tomato-y, not spicy. So if you order the buffalo wings at the pool bar, be prepared. Lots of plastic silverware and cups at the dinner bars, not a lot of glass, which is annoying and not classy. It’s extremely hard to get a reservation for dinner spots, especially if you have more than 2 people in your party. We were with a group of 8 people, and it was like pulling teeth to get reservations together, if at all. Some nights we were sitting 4 and 4. One person finally had to put his foot down and speak with a manager for us to be able to have our group time together for dinner and be accommodated. There was no umbrella in the room even though we were told we should’ve had one, so we had to work on that later with our butler since it rained in the afternoon almost everyday. Also we arrived with no welcome champagne bottle, no in room wine bottle, no robes, and no welcome fruit and snacks. Thankfully he brought us all of those the day or two before we left after I realized what we were supposed to have them with the diamond club. All of these things were included in the diamond club, but sadly we didn’t get them when we were supposed to in order to be able to enjoy them during our stay. So be sure to check the website on what you’re entitled to have on your stay. Our butlers were fine, but I wouldn’t write home about them. They seemed to do their best and get what we needed, but they also ruined our anniversary night plans for my husband who asked them to decorate our room after we had gone to dinner (they knew when it was because they booked it), and we walked in from the pool to find them in our room… So he was extremely upset since that’s not what he had told them to do and he had even more balloons and gifts to set out along with what they did. So not necessarily the best service on their end and he lost the surprise he had been planning for me. Everywhere is HOT indoors, even in October. Bring an automatic or manual fan with you, there’s no way to enjoy dinner without one. The food’s bad enough there, so don’t let the heat make it even worse. The only place we found friendly servers and staff was at the Hideaway side. They were fun and nice and wanted to have a conversation, unlike the family side. One night around midnight we were leaving the main lobby to head back to our room all the way over at building 1. It was pouring down rain and other people were stranded too. There’s a shuttle that goes around, but there wasn’t a driver in sight for maybe 10-15 minutes of waiting, even though there was a golf cart right there. My husband went to the lobby upstairs and asked for a ride, the worker playing on his cellphone behind the desk said he would call someone. Another 10 minutes go by, and nothing appears, so my husband goes back up. He’s met with, “oh really, let me call the night manager again.” Another 5 minutes go by and we know this isn’t working, so my husband went up and stood there and told him to get someone now, and the man proceeded to walk a few steps, open a door, and the person in the room he opened the door to was the manager who took us. He just never told him, or the manager didn’t care. When we got in the soaking wet cart with everyone else crammed in, the manager kept apologizing to us, and clearly knew he had messed up. We were heated. This on top of everything else the resort had failed on. And this of course could have been avoided if we had been given an umbrella in the room to begin with. This was the worst vacation we have ever been on and we will never return to Royalton Negril. We feel awful for the people affected by the recent hurricane and all the devastation that was caused, but even if they started this hotel from the ground up again, we would not return.

Gift shop prices are extremely overpriced. A bag of chips was $15 USD. We were there during hurricane Melissa and the prices were never marked down. Basic pain relief pills and tampons were ridiculous. Comparing to Couples Resort next door, who was also overpriced was $10USD, during the the hurricane. A rip off to all customers especially during an emergency.