Wedding Review of RIU Ocho Rios!

[Spazz]

Hey everyone,

I just found this review posted on tripadvisor.com...sounds great!!!

 

 

"Ocho Rios: Riu Ocho Rios: "Amazing Weddingmoon"

JamaicaJuneBride, California Jul 2, 2007

My experience with this property took place in:

June, 2007

Would I recommend this hotel to my best friend? absolutely!

I recommend this hotel for: An amazing honeymoon, A romantic getaway, Girlfriend getaway, Great pool scene, Families with young children, Families with teenagers, Tourists

My age: 25-34

Traveling group: Family (extended)

My visit was for: Personal event (wedding, ...)

We stayed at the Riu Ocho Rios from June 7 until June 13, 2007 before heading off to the Sandals Grande down the street for our honeymoon. We were a group of 20 there for our wedding, which was on June 11! The hotel and setting was absolutely fabulous and we couldn't have picked a better location for the wedding. The Riu accommodates groups really well for a couple of reasons 1) there is only really one main walkway, so it was always easy to find people and 2) there were always large tables at the buffet style restaurants (however, my mom would like to recommend that if you are a large group, bring walkie-talkies since you are usually out at the beach or pool and not in your room). Hands-down it was one of the best beaches I have ever stayed on, and it was worth it for that alone (I live in California). Also, the food was pretty good and the Jerk sauce at the beach hut was great! The hotel also has some of the best fruit I have tasted (try the champagne mangos, which were in season, and the fruit shakes).

 

The only complaint I have about the entire stay was the need for the hotel to hire more maintenance staff so that the front desk can adequately address real problems they have with room keys. I stayed on the suite side and our battery in our door for the keycard was slowly dying, so that by our wedding day, we were unable to get in our room unless a porter at the front desk accompanied us. It would have taken a maintenance person 2 minutes to get a screwdriver and replace the battery to fix the problem but instead, my husband and I had to change rooms while in our wedding dress & Tux, (I actually have no complaints about that either since they upgraded us to a full suite with a Whirl-pool in our room to compensate us), but it must have looked pretty funny. I have other stories with our guests about the room situations but it’s small in comparison to the important aspects of a vacation. To be clear, I would definitely stay here again because everything else was perfect. The full suite room is probably the nicest room we will every stay in, the balcony was right over the beach, and most other resorts in Jamaica don’t have marble bathrooms (we stayed previously at The Rockhouse, Royal Decameron Montego Bay, and Sandals Grande Ocho Rios).

 

For those brides who searched the web like me looking for other stories, the wedding was absolutely amazing. It rained on my wedding day (4:00 pm) but for my group of 20 we fit perfectly at the Mammee Bay restaurant, which is also gorgeous, with a view of the ocean in the background. Everything was set up very nice, and we had the steel band play. I highly recommend getting live music for the ceremony, it was worth every penny. Our steel band was fabulous and I saw a saxophonist for someone else’s wedding that was equally as good. The Minister was really good as well and he spoke with the groom (right before the wedding) to ask details about what type of ceremony we would like. The wedding photographer (Michael) is also great! Although he’s very busy and I would highly recommend talking to him before the ceremony so that you can plan adequate time to review the photos you want to choose (it took us ~2 hours). "

 

Overall, it was the best vacation ever and the resort and staff were great!

[Heidi]

ooh, great find! I haven't checked tripadvisor lately; this is great!! Thanks!

[pouchie]

That review makes me feel great about my decision. It is so hard to pick when you have never been there. I occasionally get my doubts. Trip advisor also has many great photos of the resort. Many of them are the same over and over but it gives you a good idea of what the resort has to offer.

[MsShelley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pouchie That review makes me feel great about my decision. It is so hard to pick when you have never been there. I occasionally get my doubts. Trip advisor also has many great photos of the resort. Many of them are the same over and over but it gives you a good idea of what the resort has to offer.

I also used Trip Advisor for my decision! it's good and bad. Good Luck making your decision!

[Spazz]

I just found another review from someone who recently got married at ROR:

 

 

Ocho Rios: Riu Ocho Rios - Traveler Reviews - Wedding was "no problem mon!" - TripAdvisor

[starchild]

No way! I was there during those dates and saw a bunch of weddings, that was most likely one of them. There were a few large wedding groups hanging out around the Riu.

 

And the jerk hut is soooo good, I second that. BBQ on the beach...everyday...mmmm

[Spazz]

I emailed one of the reviewers from Trip Advisor about their wedding at the Riu and this was their response: (I tried to space it out a little (since its so long)so the paragraphs will be easier on your eyes!)

 

Thanks for posting that! It makes me feel so much better to know that she thinks Chandlyn is a great coordinator and that she had a great wedding.

[Heidi]

wow twinkletoes - thanks so much for posting that! great info!!

[starchild]

Sensory overload....it really is that beautiful!!

[MsShelley]

great review, twinkletoes