kessh

I'm hoping for some opinions on which resort you would pick for a wedding. I know many of you prefer to not do AI, but since we have 10-20 friends/family with very young children it's just easier for everyone. My travel agent suggests:

Gran Bahia Principe
Riu Ocho Rios
Riu Negril
Iberostar Rose Hall
Rose Hall Resort and Country Club

Of these which would you choose for a wedding? Unless you can think of one that is all inclusive, allows kids under 4, and is under $2000/person for a week. I'm open to whatever. My fiance really wants to pick Jamaica over Mexico and Dominican Republic.

Thanks

KVR

We stayed at the RIU Tropical Bay in Negril and for the type of dynamics and price range you have stated that hotel would fit. We saw lots of big groups and wedding parties with several children. For a couple like us with no children we found the resort guests quite annoying. Loud, overbearing, obnoxious and demanding of staff attention at all times. The staff gladly ignored the other guests in order to handle the large groups.

tivertonhouse

Your TA has recommended chain hotels on the low end/make sure whatever he/she
recommends is a place he/she has actually been to (most haven't). All but Rose Hall are package tourist Spanish developments with low price
the attraction, largely.

Depending on your dates, you might do far better, since you can buy airfare
in blocks of 8 at wholesale prices yourself (or delegate it), check luxurylink.com for auctions and specials on larger, considerably more luxe properties that would work well
for lots of tots -- with the tacky factor of all those on your TA's list.

Halfmoon/outside MoBay
Moondance/and sister villas in Negril
(on beach)
A combination of villas and hotel accomodations at Tryall or Round Hill/both outside MoBay
Ritz Carlton/Rose Hall

If you plan your dates well, you may well find getting far more for your
investment on the higher end.

Travel time from MoBay for tots will also be a convenience factor/Ocho Rios is 2 hours, Negril 1 hour from MoBay.

tivertonhouse

Correction to above:

Make that 'without' the tacky factor...

vavalou

Rose Hall resorts are gorgeous because they're set on authentic colonial plantations. However, they might be pricey & they are also out of the way, as they are not really in Montego Bay (in the event you and your guests want to get out of the resort). If you want an inexpensive, fun option, try the old Seawind Resort (someone said the name changed recently, and I don't know it off hand), also referred to as "the Twin Towers", located at the tip of Montego Bay. It's an all inclusive and the service and food was pretty decent both times I stayed there.

doug_stallings

While Tivertonhouse has recommended a lot of really good resorts, they are all far beyond your price range of $2000 per person. Of the hotels you've listed, I'd steer you away from Gran Bahia Principe and Rose Hall Resort.

The Iberostar is brand-new and their first Jamaica property. I really like their DR resorts but haven't seen this one yet; still, it's the one I'd recommend. Riu Tropical Bay (in Negril) is ok for a moderate AI, but the walk from some rooms is VERY long. I don't know anything about Riu Ocho Rios.

Consider that you have an hour-plus drive to either Negril or Ocho Rios from the MoBay airport, while Iberostar is basically next to the airport.

tivertonhouse

If you plan your wedding post 15 April and before 15 December (Sept-early Nov is often cheapest) with arrivals/departures midweek Tuesday-Thursday, you'll start with 'rack rates' that are considerably lower, and airfare rates as well. Luxurylink.com
is the next step -- finding top-quality places for less. Ocho Rios is an older resort city, Miami-esque, with most resorts behind gates/walls and a very commercialized touristy downtown. Ocho Rios is a good two (2) hour ride from Montego Bay,on roads still under construction and with many trucks from all the new developments under construction. Most of the better places in MoBay are actually outside the city center, on the outskirts (like Rose Hall, Halfmoon in one direction and Tryall/
Round Hill in another. The RIU in Ochie is now running a US$91 per person/day plus extras (read the fine print) with kids free which might keep your costs down. Rather than stage the wedding at
the resort, however, you might find a venue like the Cranbrook Flower Forest,
a wonderful botanical garden/waterfalls
in Ochie, more intimate, more special, more memorable than the standard package 'next, please' resort wedding.

doug_stallings

I must agree with tivertonhouse about Cranbrook being a lovely sight for a wedding. There is a beautiful open-air covered pavilion there (used the Chukka Caribbean Adventures Tours for their night canopy tour dinner). I'm not sure who owns or controls that pavilion, but it's fairly large and right on the riverbank. It would make a lovely spot for a wedding and reception if you could arrange it.

liza

Iberostar seems to have avoided all the labor and environmental and opening glitch problems that have plagued Bahia, the Rius and whatever that new place near Lucea will be if it ever opens.

I've read pretty good reviews of it too. It is what it is, but if you're going "Spanish chain" that's probably the best one right now.

Rose Hall has been remodeled I think...that's worth finding out about because it was fairly run down when we were by a few years ago.

Agree that no matter what, consider an off site wedding. Lots of wedding coordinators in Jamaica who can help you arrange for a unique and private location, a photographer, minister, etc etc. The large chains really do crank them out, quite a few in a day.

liza

By the way, a private villa or set of private villas near each other or part of the same resort community would be in that price range.

Then the wedding could be onsite AND personal and private.

Have a look at

sunvillas.com
jamaicaescapes.com
jamaicavillas.com
villasinjamaica.com

..for an idea of what you can get for the $. Villas get more and more economical the more people you have.

JAGIRL

I would avoid Gran Bahia Principe like the plague!

If you decide on Ochie another place you could look at as a venue would be the Coyaba Gardens. I also would really check on what Tiverton said about the more upscale places. Tryall is an absolutely lovely setting for a wedding.

The Rose Hall Resort and Country Club will be closed for re-modeling until November of this year I think. So the facilities might be somewhat nicely updated if you're considering a wedding next year. That hotel would be the closest to the airport and thus more convenient. Rose Hall Resort has a fun water park which I believe the kids would love.

However, you should know that there's nothing really within walking distance of the Rose Hall Resort and the Iberostar Rose Hall Properties. So, if your guests are planning to go off property, factor in the cost of taxis/shuttles into your price range considerations.

kessh

Thank you all for you replies. I'll have to look into your suggestions.

Thanks a lot

Reisender

We just returned from Sandals Dunn's River. The RIU Ocho Rios abuts Sandals and it is HUGE. We went over and took a courtesy tour and the rooms are very nice (no room service in any room regardless of category). The grounds are nice, the pools are big and very nice and it has a great stretch of beach. However, it also has 850 rooms and each one can have up to 4 guests so when full you are looking at 3200+ folks. The decor is more Spanish than Caribbean but that is to be expected. It looked like an OK place if you want big and spread out. We were happy to retreat to the nice small SDR.

JamaicaBride

I will be getting married in Jamaica this October. For the past 6 months, I have been working with the Gran Bahia and even made a long weekend trip down there from the states to check it out. With our wedding now less than 3 months away, we have decided to move over to the Iberostar!

The wedding planner at the Gran Bahia is awful. We have 60 guests coming down and she told us there was no way for her to reserve a restaurant for all of us on our wedding night. We were willing to pay extra but she told us they couldn't do this. She suggested that our guest call and make reservations at this restaurant the day of! Hard to believe, huh? I'm still in shock myself! They were not going out of their way at all to accomodate our group. We really just wanted to make sure we have a welcome drinks/dinner one night and take over a restaurant for our wedding dinner. The past 6 months have been very difficult and we just can't take it any more.

We have been working with the Iberostar wedding planner for less than a week and dealt with her more than we did the planner at the Bahia in the past 6 months! She seems to really know her stuff and is much, much more accomodating and willing to make things happen.

I do have a ton of pictures from our stay at the Bahia if you are curious. However, i would highly recommend staying away! They do not have their acts together yet. the resort is beautiful but not worth the frustration. We did find a great church though in Ochos if you are interested.

kessh

thanks for your replies. We decided on Riu Ocho Rios. Price was good and nice wedding package and allowed 3 year old kids which was the hardest thing for me to find.