HELP! MY HUSBAND AND I ARE GOING TO BREEZES RUNAWAY BAY IN 3 WEEKS (LAST MINUTE RELOCATION) CAN ANYBODY TELL ME ANYTHING ABOUT THIS RESORT? ROOMS, FOOD, DRINKS, NICE BEACH, GOOD LOCATION...BEST FOOD OR DRINKS TO ORDER?? <BR>HUGE THANKS TO ALL WHO CAN HELP ME!

Karen;<BR><BR>Breezes is a very nice, well run resort on a very pretty beach. Runaway Bay is located about 1/2 way between Montego Bay and Ocho Rios. The resort itself has a wonderful pool as well as many water sports if that is important to you. There is always something available to do if you like and or you can just plop on the beach if you like.<BR>The food is good not great and the rooms are clean but not extraordinary.<BR><BR>If you like to ride horses, I rec. you visit Chukka Cove riding center and take the 2 hr mountain ride. It's a way to see the "real" Jamaica. Also.. get a driver to take you to The Mug and <BR>Jus Cheers for a drink and authentic food. Not fancy at all but safe and lots of fun. (they're within 15 min of Breezes. If you've never done Dunns River, do it so you can say you did.<BR>Skip the market in Ocho, it's a mad house. As a matter of fact dont feel bad if you miss Ocho all together....it's just not worth it.<BR>Good luck...you'll have a very nice time I assure you.<BR>

Karen;<BR><BR>Breezes is a very nice, well run resort on a very pretty beach. Runaway Bay is located about 1/2 way between Montego Bay and Ocho Rios. The resort itself has a wonderful pool as well as many water sports if that is important to you. There is always something available to do if you like and or you can just plop on the beach if you like.<BR>The food is good not great and the rooms are clean but not extraordinary.<BR><BR>If you like to ride horses, I rec. you visit Chukka Cove riding center and take the 2 hr mountain ride. It's a way to see the "real" Jamaica. Also.. get a driver to take you to The Mug and <BR>Jus Cheers for a drink and authentic food. Not fancy at all but safe and lots of fun. (they're within 15 min of Breezes. If you've never done Dunns River, do it so you can say you did.<BR>Skip the market in Ocho, it's a mad house. As a matter of fact dont feel bad if you miss Ocho all together....it's just not worth it.<BR>Good luck...you'll have a very nice time I assure you.<BR>

Hi Karen,<BR><BR>My boyfriend and I just went there in November. It is a beautiful little resort. The beach is nice and snorkling is good. My BF also said that golf was good (I read while he did that) <BR><BR>My favorite drink there was the hummingbird, and strawberry Daquori's are the best at the bar in the lobby. I don't remember what that one was called.<BR><BR>Martino's Italian restaurant is excellent. You need reservations and to wear nice clothes. The starlight grill was also very nice.<BR><BR>The pool is amazing, and the grounds are very well kept. The rooms are very standard, but they were comfortable (except the pillow's, but I am picky with pillow's)<BR><BR>I found that they had lot's of activities if you wanted to do them. I didn't really take part, but other people seemed to have fun at them.<BR><BR>Dunn's River is awsome, and there was a tour to some gardens in Ocho, but I don't remember the name. The shopping, however is miserable. <BR><BR>I overall liked the resort and may someday return. I don't think you will be disappointed.<BR><BR>Just cause I am curious, where were you booked origionally?

Karen:<BR><BR>We went to Breezes last year for New Year's and had a great time. If you do a search on this board you will find my trip report.<BR><BR>Food is good, wine is not...any mixed drink with rum is good. The beach is very clean and not crowded.<BR><BR>We did a mountain bike ride, climbed Dunn's River Falls, went to the botanical gardens and Fern Gully. Like the above message says...the shopping is not all that great. Golf was great as I recall.<BR><BR>The A/C in our room could not keep up with the humidity...so expect everything in your suitcase to be damp when you return...even if you did not wear it outside you room.<BR><BR>Have a wonderful trip!<BR><BR>Sheli

to melissa:<BR>We were originally to stay at the all new Starfish Trelawny. But the renovations are behind, and had to be relocated at this resort. Kinda' bummed us out at first, as after a $5 mil renovation, we thought it'd be the perfect place to go. But from what I hear, this place is starting to sound really nice. (just wish they had mini-bars in the rooms, as the Trelawny was supposed to. Oh well...live and let live!

Karen,<BR>I stayed at Trelawny 2 years ago. It was awful. I can't imagine any amount of renovations doing it any good. We had to drive by it on the way to Breezes, and it still looked awful. When you are going, it is a big yellowish tower building's about half way between Mo Bay and your resort. My boyfreind looked at it and said, glad we're not staying there!! Without even knowing that was the one I had complained about 2 years before. ( I didn't take him last time, left men behind that trip) <BR><BR>You my dear, are getting a wonderful upgrade, and you are lucky!!!! There are no minibars in rooms, but hey, it is all inclusive, you want something, just go grab it.

I have 3 chilren 11B, 8G, 4G and am considering this resort for a January vacation. I'm not a shopper but my wife lives for it. We do enjoy outdoor activities, water sports, etc. (everybody can swim). Is this place good for a family?

Scott<BR>This resort is Adults only ages 16yrs +

Staying at Breezes/Runaway instead of Trelawny is indeed a blessing.<BR><BR>I would recommend that anyone considering Trelawny wait until you see some trip reports from people who stay there after the renovations are done. Perhaps they will perform miracles.<BR>

Karen,<BR>Did you go to Breezes yet? What did you think?

to Melissa:<BR>We're leaving January 5th...less than a week away! Can hardly wait to escape all this midwest cold, and bake in the sun for awhile. Will definitely let you know how things went when we return. Everyone has been so helpful with thier points of view. A big thanks to everyone!

Hope you get good weather. Went same time last year and most guests wore sweatshirts on the beach,windy,overcast, with frequent cold rain. Talked to a couple from the UK who had two weeks of cloudy skies during their visit. The previous year we had magnificent weather.Good luck.

Karen? Did you come back yet? I am excited to see what you thought of Breezes!?

to Melissa...and anyone else who cares to hear. <BR>Well, we're back! The weather was bad for three days straight, rain sun-up to sun-down. But you can't control the weather, eh? Couple things really upset me about the place, though. Number one, the service at the buffet was absolutely HORRIBLE. Took us forever to get a glass of water, or coffee. And when we tried to help ourselves, we were yelled at by the help! From what we heard, a lot of this had to do with the Sept 11th incident. Seems the tourism went down, so the resort fired a lot of the full time help, and hired a lot of part time help instead. These people are paid so little for what they do, they just don't care. How sad... Number 2. the Starlite Grill was never open when we were there. "renovations" they claimed, but it looked as if it hadn't been open for months. (Sept 11th again) The restaurant Martino's was open. Nice restaurant, but I guess the "pasta table" used to consist of 3 large tables filled with oysters, mussels, pastas, etc. Now, there's one table, containing cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, and pearl onions. The menu was also very limited too. (Sept 11th rears it's ugly head again) <BR>PLEASE DO NOT GET ME WRONG!!!!! The hotel itself was very pleasant. Wonderful beach, good tasting food, great drinks too. Rooms could use a mini fridge though...kinda' sucked filling up the ice bucket all the time to keep the water cold enough to drink. This is definitely a nice place for people who like to walk the beach, like myself. I just hope that if we return again, the Starlite grill will be open, the service will have improved, and the weather will be phenominal Not a whole lot to ask for, eh?<BR>Anyone has any questions, feel free to post a reply, and I'll help as much as I can.

Hi Karen,<BR>Thought about going to this resort in April. Myself and a girlfriend. We both love the beach, dancing, and was wondering about the entertainment there. Sorry you had such bad weather. Oh yes, do the guest range in ages? Dont want to be with a bunch of kids or too old of a crowd. Thanks Linda<BR><BR><BR>

Hi Karen, The Starlight grill was open when I was there in November. It is too bad you didn't get to eat there because it was very nice. That is too bad the service was nil. Again, I thought it wasn't too bad. The resort was only about 25% full when I was there though, so they had lots of time to give us attention. <BR><BR>Did you see Trelawny on your way by though? It looks awful, so I do think you got a good deal.<BR><BR>For Linda, it did seem like there were people of all ages there and the pool and beach are beautiful.

To Linda-<BR>Ages are from 16 years of age on up...no kids. Wide variety of ages when we were there, which was nice. The evening entertainment is ok, kinda' wears out after a few days though. During the daytime, entertainment consisted of "wet t-shirt contests" and so on. Geared more towards the adventurous, I guess. <BR>But no worries about the kids, as there are none! You'll have a good time, I think.

To Melissa-<BR>Yep, Saw the Starfish on the way in...looks as if it'll be another couple months before they open, instead of the January 15th goal they set the last time. It's great that you had a good time and good service. I think a lot of our problems had to do with the bad weather. People were cranky, so they'd take it out on the help, and the help would be a little less willing to "help". Sad, isn't it? Some people think the help is there to be slaves for them. It amazed me how many RUDE people we noticed there. But like I say, could've been the weather.

I ditto most of what has been said.<BR>I just wanted to mention, I do my shopping at the Airport right before returning home. I usually buy Meyer's or Appleton Rum for about 1/2 of what I pay here. We also by Blue Mountain Coffee (about $17 per pound-it is $40+ here).<BR>I think it is best to buy jewelry and things like that here.