stevebintley
Google
Stayed here for seven nights in mid-January and have to say the place really grew on me and I would recommend, despite a number of shortfalls. It is a good two-hour drive from Kingston airport but the complimentary hotel transfer was seamless enough in a small mini bus, complete with decent reggae music along the way! Arriving late at night meant the introduction to the services wasn’t as great as I’d expect but they do offer a daily ‘orientation’ tour at 10am which is great to get you familiar with everywhere in the large complex. ||Our room was on the fourth floor and down the side of the property. At first this felt a little ‘cut off’ but actually was really nice - there were still good ocean views from the balcony but it came with no noise from the pools or evening activities so was totally relaxing. It was a shame that the mini bar was empty on arrival, with no instructions on how to get it stocked, and indeed there was no guide to any of the services or facilities, so the morning orientation session is a must!||It was annoying there were no light switches next to the bed so you need to navigate from the door in the dark, not helped by the fact the bedside lamp was badly broken; some maintenance and touch-up in the room wouldn’t go amiss. It was also frustrating that the shower had really weak power and, while great at always returning throughout the day, housekeeping were very random with what they did - sometimes exchanging four towels for two, large with small etc.||However the main the room was great - really large and spacious, wonderful balcony with seating, effective air-conditioning and ceiling fan, loads of storage space, huge comfortable bed and everywhere really clean. Eventually we found there was a website where you could request the mini-bar to be stocked, as well as make restaurant reservations which was really handy; just a shame it wasn’t advertised better!||The variety of restaurants is great, although most require a reservation to be made. The buffet restaurant had small changes each day to try prevent it becoming repetitive and the food quality across them all was generally good. The various bars throughout the complex are fantastic - great staff, a huge menu and both premium and local spirits available.||There’s a couple of pools and both felt a little dirty as the day went on. There’s also no umbrellas for any of the loungers, so if you’re not a sun lover you need to be careful securing one of the few options in the shade, but otherwise there’s some good comfortable seating available. The swim-up bar is a real gem with wonderful service and a good amount of seating for the size of the pool.||There’s plenty of free activities on offer including various water sports. The glass bottom-boat trip was a nice highlight, giving a good overview of the local area as well as the sea life. Each day there’s also some form of activity on the beach or by the pools, but fortunately none of it is too intrusive and there’s never pressure to join in if you don’t want.||Overall if was a great hotel for a week of relaxation and I’d certainly consider staying again!