Riu Ocho Rios All Inclusive

This was the second time we stayed @ a Riu property & we weren't disappointed. The first time was Riu Tropical Bay in Negril, & then now in Ocho Rios. The views were spectacular, the food was terrific & the amenities were plentiful. We stayed in the deluxe wing & didn't have to walk to the other side of the resort to use the pool. There were separate pools, restaurants, & customer service desk for our convenience. Housekeeping was a lil pushy about cleaning the rooms. Some days we wanted to just relax & sleep in & they kept knocking to get in to clean. If we had a do not disturb sign it wouldn't have been a problem. Overall, we had a wonderful experience & would visit Riu properties again & again!!

Beautiful resort. Fantastic Value. Staff- I have never met friendlier staff. They were very happy and accommodating. They went out of their way to bring us drinks, ask about our stay and make jokes with us. We received a phone call to ask about how our visit was going. They also gave us free postcards to send to family. Lots of extras. The staff always say things like, "I'll get that for you. You're in Jamaica, mon. No worries. You relax." The staff really do work hard and it shows. We left small tips because we appreciated the service. Beach- I've done a lot of traveling, and this is the most beautiful beach I've seen. It is pristine. The water is turquoise blue and mellow. Great for swimming. The beach has the perfect ratio of palm trees. The staff climbed the trees and brought down fresh coconuts for us. They chopped them open and we were able to drink fresh coconut juice on the beach. Early every morning, the staff is outside cleaning the beach and they periodically take cups, etc. Lots of lounge chairs. We were never at a loss for private space. They also have free kayaks, paddle boats, and wind surfing. We took advantage! LOVED IT! Great value. Food- I was worried that this was going to be a greasy Vegas buffet. But I was PLEASANTLY surprised. There are lots of restaurants and food options. Fresh tropical fruit each day (including exotic ones). They also had fresh seafood (even lobster tails one day). My favorite was the jerk chicken that they grill on the beach every day. Very tasty. Some of the food was a little greasy, but you can avoid it it you want to. Plenty of other options. Salad bar is fantastic. We were there for a week and didn't get sick of the food. Rooms- The rooms are nice. Nothing too fancy, but clean and spacious. We had a tv and couch in our room. The cleaning staff left towel sculptures on our bed everyday--swans, hearts, etc. We always had hot water. AC and fans all worked perfectly. Free drinks in the room, including large water bottles. Replenished daily. We tipped the cleaning staff at the end of the trip. Internet- Internet is free for 90 minutes in the lobby. You have to use your own computer. Sometimes it was a little slow during heavy traffic times, so we used it early in the morning before breakfast and it was fine. You really only have "one free session" per day even if it is under 90 minutes. We honestly didn't use the internet that much since we were on vacation, so it wasn't a big deal. You can pay for premium service if it's important to you. Entertainment- The steel drum band from Kingston was AMAZING. They were the real deal. Lots of live music. We loved Lady Champagne, a reggae singer. Some of the performances were not family friendly--women wore thongs and dancing was sexualized. They do have special performances catered towards children though. Pools- Pools were fancy and clean. They have a swim up bar. The main pool has some entertainment during the day and music, but other pools are quiet. Something for everyone. Classes- They have water aerobics, beach aerobics and dance classes during the day that I liked. Taxis- My only complaint is that the on-site taxis are very expensive. We were adventurous and walked/took local transportation, which is not recommended by the resort but we were fine. Location- We flew into Montego Bay and took a shuttle that we booked through this website. The resort is about 2 hours from the airport. It's totally worth it even with the long ride. Resort is close to Dunn's River Falls. We totally recommend it! We scratched our heads the whole time wondering how the hotel makes money when they give everything away for free! Great value!

Me and my friend celebrated her bday and I'm so happy we choose this resort! The poodle were great! the room was awesome! And the food was wonderful... my friend is a picky eater and she loved it.

Trip from airport to hotel was good and comfort, hotel location are in good conditions, all staff was very friendly specially with my little kid, drinks good, food average nothing special except for the Italian food ( pizza was very good and the beef lasagna was delicious, Asian food no good taste just regular nothing special. Beach beautiful! Amenities good Our only issue was about the cleanliness in the room, it was very poor and we saw some little roaches on it in our last days. Next time I will inspect room once we start our vacation time, after this the rest if things was okay

We had the time of our lives! The staff members were the best and made our stay comfortable and lots of fun. I'd like to mention Latoya, Gregory, Damien, Sheldon, and Peacock for their amazing service. It was my second time at your resort and I'll definitely be back next year! Respect!

Our stay was excellent. My husband and I went for a week with the idea of just relaxing and that wa exactly what we did. The hoitel had many activities going on also.You were able to snorkel jet ski zip line etc. if you wanted or do nothing but lay at the pool/beach and relax. The staff was also very freindly and got people involved in doing dancing or whatever was going on. Much more value for your buck. Will go back or even visit a different Riu in another area.

We stayed at Riu Ocho Rios from 4/5-4/11 and had a fantastic time. Staff was excellent and very friendly, beach was beautiful, and the hotel was always clean. Only downside was the somewhat aggressive beach vendors and the inconsistent food in different restaurants (steakhouse, fine dining and buffet were very good/ italian and asian were not). Location is great to several fun attractions and lots of great shopping at town center. Overall great vacation for the money.

The food was very mediocre at all of the non-deluxe meals. At some meals the food was honestly lacking in quality. For example, the breakfast bacon tasted heavily of smoke. My wife and I would go around the buffets trying different things every meal. The only sure winners we discovered were hot cocoa, ham and cheese sandwiches, and omelets. Everything else was pretty hit or miss. We expected higher quality on the buffet line for an all-inclusive. Perhaps our expectations were too high. The reservation dinners were good. Unfortunately, we were only able to make 2 reservations during our 4-night stay. Room service would not clean our room before 4:00PM. We would leave the room and put the sign up at 12:00PM hoping they would come by before we finished at the beach, but every day they would come after we had already returned for the evening. Honestly, it looked like the room service ladies just stood in the hallways. We couldn't figure out why 2 ladies would be on a single hallway for 4 hours without cleaning our room. All-inclusives seem to seek other small ways to make money off of patrons. At this all-inclusive, they would leave a 1.5L bottle of water of in your bedroom. If you wanted water from the bar, you would have to get Jamaican tap water in a glass. They did not stock bars with small bottles of water. They did, however, sell small bottles of water at the gift shop. Items at the gift shop had a considerable mark-up. 2 doses of a common ointment for cuts would cost $4USD. Cigars would cost almost twice as much as if you bought them outside of the resort. I suppose you could call it a convenience fee. Also, the hotel charged you additional money to play arcade games in the bar, the pool table and the ski ball table. All of our excursions were canceled because my wife found out just before the trip she was pregnant. Apparently, pregnant women are not allowed to ride horses, go on zip lines, or do anything else fun. We decided to book a sunset cruise, and all seemed well. Then the sunset cruise was canceled for 2 consecutive days. I was upset that we didn't do any excursions during our visit, so my wife decided to hire a taxi to take us to Dunn's River Falls. That was the highlight of our trip. Don't let the canceled excursion stop you from going out into Jamaica to explore. Finally, I think that sites like this one need to reference if the people at resorts are paid realistic wages. It turns out that many of the housekeepers and staff are paid the Jamaican minimum wage which is $50-60USD per week. If I had known that the workers were only paid about $1.30 an hour, I would have probably chosen a resort that took better care of the workers. You can tell that the workers are grateful for having their jobs, but I truly feel sorry for the workers that do no get tips daily such as the towel boys or the people that clean up your dishes. The resort was very pretty and clean. The service from the Jamaicans we met was exceptional. You could tell a lot of care went into maintaining the facility and the grounds. I just thought it would be good to shed light on the few problem areas. If you're looking for a cheap place to go on your vacation, this is a good hotel for you. I might try a different resort if I go back to Jamaica.

Great 3.5 / 4 star resort. The value factor is what makes Riu Hotel chain worth being loyal to when traveling to the Caribbean destinations. The only drawback is that they do not offer premium liquor at the bars. They only offer no name brand liquor I am a single malt drinker and prefer at least at a minimum blended malt Johnny Walker Red Label if they want to serve non premium brand.

This is a really great location. It's all inclusive, so the food is buffets. There is no heat, so if you are prone to being cold, bring plenty of warm clothes. No hot tub, warm water in the shower was iffy. It was realloy difficult to find a way to warm up. We loved all of the boating activities offered on the beach!