First visit to Jamaica, there for a wedding with a party of 20. Arrived about noon on Monday, we were told our room would be ready in about an hour, checked again after 2 hours and still no room. Finally got into our room after 3 hours, but no big deal, we had a chance to relax, have a few drinks, and a bite to eat. We asked if we could have our luggage sent up right away, as I noticed that it was still in the lobby were we were told to leave it. Waited a while before calling about our luggage, and was told it was on its way up. Waited a while longer and still no luggage. Finally made a trip to the lobby and found it had not moved from where we had left it. I picked it up myself and started heading back to the room. When asked by the bellman “can I help”, I told him no thanks, I needed it sometime today. Others in our party, also did not receive theirs after waiting several hours, and had to get it themselves. Needless to say, our first impression of the service here was not good. However, this soon changed as we did receive excellent, friendly service from the restaurant, bar, & housekeeping staff. Tuesday morning, the morning of our first full day here, we went to make dinner reservations and where told that there was nothing available for the entire week! We did have a private seating in the steak house, for the wedding dinner, (extra money was paid for this) and the food was good (not great). Other than that, I can only tell you about the food in the buffet restaurant. We did not starve, but the food here was mediocre at best, and always cold. Did not see any vegetables for the first couple of days. Not what I would expect from a 5 star resort, although, we have had worse food in Cuba. Best food was the jerk chicken on the beach, it was excellent! There is a 24 hr. sports bar that has vending machine style food and microwave, if your into that (gross). Entertainment was pretty good, better then most resorts we’ve been to. Best night was the beach party, the house band singer is very good. The “un-kept” beach is the absolute worst we have ever been on. It’s covered in seaweed that is seldom raked up. Beer bottles, glasses, and garbage from the previous day can also be found here. You would think that because it is a man-made beach and not so great to begin with, that they would want to keep it as nice as possible. Water is weedy & murky, not the crystal clear Caribbean waters that we’re used to. Walking on the beach is limited because of the barbed wire fencing at either end of the property. I have never seen this anywhere else in our travels, I guess this is just the way it is in this part of Jamaica. (probably unsafe to venture off the property on your own). Heard from many people that Negril is a much better part of Jamaica. We have been to way nicer resorts, so would not recommend this one.
Don’t think we would go to another Riu.
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