This is long overdue...time got away with the holidays and new year
Please find below a part 1 review for travel and hotel for our wedding at the RIU Negril in Nov 2008.
We booked our trip through a travel agent... I recommend this is the way to go, we had a bit of a mixup with novice younger travelers changing dates and such, but it all worked out. Our travel agent got involved when needed and ensured it was taken care, hounding guests for payment too.. she even managed to get us upgraded to frist class
We flew Air Jamaica from Chicago, our flight was good. no complaints, the stewardesses were nice and I was able to store my dress hanging up in the first class cabin. A few of our other guests who did not fly out with us expressed their disgust with Airjamaica and their service. Our party in all flew out on 4 different days, the first 2 flights went off without a hitch, the remaining flight days were delayed, one by 2 hours, the other by 5 hours.
The transportation from the airport to the hotel was provided by a a coach bus company, their name is slipping my mind. The ride can be grueling after the plane ride, but all in all, it was fine. My father however did not experience the same, he was boarded onto a bus going to Ochos Rios instead of Negril, and after 8 hours traveling back and forth and $300 later, he arrived, not happy, but once we got a drink in his hand, it turned better.
The hotel was very disorganized upon our arrival at approx 2pm. We were told to leave our baggage, given a bracelet to be able to eat and drink and told to come back in 2 hours to see if our rooms were ready. Most rooms were ready about 5pm. We were however able to get rooms relatively close to one another and we had close to 30 people attending. Minibars were great, restocked every other day, but if you needed something before the restocking, the front desk would send it over.
There are a few restaurants at this hotel, but the reservation policy for this hotel is beyond ridiculous (my husband and I had never stayed at this resort in Jamaica but had stayed in RIU Ochos Rios 2 years prior). The hotel is big, alot of rooms, but they have not modified or staffed up to accomodate restaurant wise. The best restaurants are Shadows and the Jerk Hut on the beach. We never did eat in Sir Andrews in our 8 days there as we could never get reservations. Rodizio is ok, better than a buffet provided the meat is not overcooked. The buffet was good, they even sponsor theme nights, we had a mexican night, which was quite good. Other than that, you will find alot of the same stuff on the menu every night. They begin handing out reservation tickets at 930 I believe, but people start lining up at about 9. They only hand out approx 36 for Rodizio (broken into 2 seatings), 50 for Shadows, broken into 2 seatings) and 40 for Sir Andrews (broken into 2 seatings). These numbers will go down if there are weddings being held that night. The person making reservations will onyl hand out max of 4 per person in line and you can only make reservations for the same day. Considering this resport could hold 800+ people on a given day, why are only 125 reservations given out. While 2 of the 3 restaurants can probably only seat 5-10 more, Shadows can seat about 50 more than reservations are given. The hotel or the restaurant manager do not care that you are there as apart of a wedding either.
We did receive a jr suite as part of our wedding package, the rooms were very nice. Cleaned every day very well. Pool fun was pure laughter, we spent most of our time in the pool with the swim up bar... make sure you order a Bob marley! The daytime entertainment was comical. We never had a problem with getting towels or seats, but we were usually down by the pool by 10am. The staff in the resort was very friendly... and if you need something special... just offer someone by the pool cash, you can buy almost anything... The bartenders were great, rarely did we not have a drink in hand, note if you are tipping, the drinks are stronger!
We did not spend alot of time on the beach except to search for a few seashells, there were bugs of some sorts, sand flies maybe when we were there, that just ate you up. if you were in the ocean, if was fine, but on the beach, they got you. I still have scars... most bug sprays didn't seem to help, I felt sorry for a company that had a beach party the 3rd night we were there, I am glad we didn't have a beach reception. I do not remember these types of bugs when my husband and I went to Ochos Rios.
All in all, other than the restaurant reservations, great hotel to stay at!
Part 2 will be the actually wedding review and maybe pictures if i can figure how to upload.
This is long overdue...time got away with the holidays and new year Please find below a part 1 review for travel and hotel for our wedding at the RIU Negril in Nov 2008. We booked our trip through a travel agent... I recommend this is the way to go, we had a bit of a mixup with novice younger travelers changing dates and such, but it all worked out. Our travel agent got involved when needed and ensured it was taken care, hounding guests for payment too.. she even managed to get us upgraded to frist class We flew Air Jamaica from Chicago, our flight was good. no complaints, the stewardesses were nice and I was able to store my dress hanging up in the first class cabin. A few of our other guests who did not fly out with us expressed their disgust with Airjamaica and their service. Our party in all flew out on 4 different days, the first 2 flights went off without a hitch, the remaining flight days were delayed, one by 2 hours, the other by 5 hours. The transportation from the airport to the hotel was provided by a a coach bus company, their name is slipping my mind. The ride can be grueling after the plane ride, but all in all, it was fine. My father however did not experience the same, he was boarded onto a bus going to Ochos Rios instead of Negril, and after 8 hours traveling back and forth and $300 later, he arrived, not happy, but once we got a drink in his hand, it turned better. The hotel was very disorganized upon our arrival at approx 2pm. We were told to leave our baggage, given a bracelet to be able to eat and drink and told to come back in 2 hours to see if our rooms were ready. Most rooms were ready about 5pm. We were however able to get rooms relatively close to one another and we had close to 30 people attending. Minibars were great, restocked every other day, but if you needed something before the restocking, the front desk would send it over. There are a few restaurants at this hotel, but the reservation policy for this hotel is beyond ridiculous (my husband and I had never stayed at this resort in Jamaica but had stayed in RIU Ochos Rios 2 years prior). The hotel is big, alot of rooms, but they have not modified or staffed up to accomodate restaurant wise. The best restaurants are Shadows and the Jerk Hut on the beach. We never did eat in Sir Andrews in our 8 days there as we could never get reservations. Rodizio is ok, better than a buffet provided the meat is not overcooked. The buffet was good, they even sponsor theme nights, we had a mexican night, which was quite good. Other than that, you will find alot of the same stuff on the menu every night. They begin handing out reservation tickets at 930 I believe, but people start lining up at about 9. They only hand out approx 36 for Rodizio (broken into 2 seatings), 50 for Shadows, broken into 2 seatings) and 40 for Sir Andrews (broken into 2 seatings). These numbers will go down if there are weddings being held that night. The person making reservations will onyl hand out max of 4 per person in line and you can only make reservations for the same day. Considering this resport could hold 800+ people on a given day, why are only 125 reservations given out. While 2 of the 3 restaurants can probably only seat 5-10 more, Shadows can seat about 50 more than reservations are given. The hotel or the restaurant manager do not care that you are there as apart of a wedding either. We did receive a jr suite as part of our wedding package, the rooms were very nice. Cleaned every day very well. Pool fun was pure laughter, we spent most of our time in the pool with the swim up bar... make sure you order a Bob marley! The daytime entertainment was comical. We never had a problem with getting towels or seats, but we were usually down by the pool by 10am. The staff in the resort was very friendly... and if you need something special... just offer someone by the pool cash, you can buy almost anything... The bartenders were great, rarely did we not have a drink in hand, note if you are tipping, the drinks are stronger! We did not spend alot of time on the beach except to search for a few seashells, there were bugs of some sorts, sand flies maybe when we were there, that just ate you up. if you were in the ocean, if was fine, but on the beach, they got you. I still have scars... most bug sprays didn't seem to help, I felt sorry for a company that had a beach party the 3rd night we were there, I am glad we didn't have a beach reception. I do not remember these types of bugs when my husband and I went to Ochos Rios. All in all, other than the restaurant reservations, great hotel to stay at! Part 2 will be the actually wedding review and maybe pictures if i can figure how to upload.