Anna

Just returned from RitzCarlton Rose Hall. Was on a Keys to Paradise package. Overall experience is very positive. Will answer any questions.

eileen

There have been mostly very positive reports about the RC and the key to paradise package. My husband and I have booked it for March. I would like to know what you felt the negatives were. I already know the beach is not that great. Thanks!

jam-man

Eileen,<BR><BR>Did you read my 3-part trip report posted on 11-25-02?<BR>I do have some additional points that may be considered negatives.<BR>The lounge, Cohaba, is the only bar. It isn't large, but can seat about 40 people in the main room and another 20 or so in a small adjoining room. Smoking is allowed in the bar area and that's where the cigar service is provided. Could be a negative for some. When the band started at 9 PM, it was too loud to allow conversation part of the time. Think they would be better served with a solo piano player, or piano and bass and drop the drummer.<BR>The menu at Jasmine was very limited -- 11 items. By the time you get there, that should be adjusted upward by the addition of 7 more items. We ate there twice and cancelled a third visit because of the small menu.<BR>Horizon restaurant is also the breakfast restaurant and the ambiance is limited inside. Outside is much nicer.<BR>There is very limited seating in the lobby area, and the lobby is quite small. Because the hotel is airconditioned, all doors are self closing and are to be kept closed. If you are waiting for a bus/shuttle/taxi, it is not easy to wander in and out to see if transportation has arrived.<BR>Turn-down service didn't come by 2 nights out of 7, and 2 times she came by at about 6:30 while we were getting ready for dinner.<BR>Service at all meals was overwhelming (in a positive way) and quick, until it came time to get the bill. Strange, but we never got coffee fill-up offered while we waited and waited for the check. After the dessert was delivered, the question &quot;Will there be anything else?&quot; when answered, &quot;No, thank you&quot; usually means the check will be delivered shortly. Not so fast as to seem like you are being rushed out, but within reasonable proximity of our indication that we are done for the night. Not a big issue, but a curious one noted at all the restaurants, save Mango.<BR>The bathrooms contain a glass-doored shower on one side of the room, and a bathtub -- not a jacuzzi/spa tub, just a plain bathtub -- on the other.<BR>The shower is too small to allow one to bend at the waist to reach one's feet. Nor is there a seat/bench for balancing a foot on for a quick scrub. And my wife and I are not tall people, so we can only imagine how a 6 footer would handle it. <BR>There are two sinks in the bathroom, but they are, in my opinion, too close to the outer walls, so there was a regular elbow-whack when using it. There is also a scale (!!!!) in the bathroom. It seemed like it was always in the way when trying to get to the sink. Not sure why it was there, unless it was a quiet rebuke to the all-inclusive people to reign in on the food consumption.<BR><BR>Anyway, those are the only negatives I can offer, and, as you can see, they are rather trivial in the big scheme of things.

Pam

I've booked a trip to the Ritz Carlton in March. I was leary of going all-inclusive because I want the drink to come to me versus me standing in a line for a drink... I was assured that I would receive Ritz Carlton service. This is the 1st trip I've booked alone... I'm hoping for a &quot;calm&quot; resort vs. a Hedonism type resort... Any additional feedback would be appreciated...

jam-man

Pam,<BR><BR>You will get exactly what you're looking for at the Ritz. There are a cadre of waitstaff patrolling the pool and beach area. The chaise lounges are equipped with a small blue flag on a hinged flag stick. You merely rotate the flag into the air and within minutes someone is standing beside you, ready to take your order. They will bring a drink menu, so if you can't think of what you want, they are eager to prompt with the list.<BR>I found I loved a mango daiquiri in the morning and a mudslide or hummingbird in the afternoon.<BR>With the AI, you've already paid for it, so drink up and enjoy.<BR>PS: You may want to look at my trip report I posted 11/25/02. It's a 3 parter and covers some of this same issue.<BR>Short version: the only line we ever stood in was when we checked in, and we were second in line and waited about 90 seconds.<BR>Remember, this is first and formost a Ritz Carlton hotel, which happens to offer an all-inclusive package. That is very, very different from an all-inclusive resort.

scale

One of the requirements for being named a 5-Diamond or 5-Star hotel is that all of the rooms must have scales. It seems like a silly thing to me, but that's why most upper-end hotels put scales in the bathrooms.

Anna

Eileen,<BR>I've been trying to post this message since yesterday but the browser kept failing all the time. OK, here it goes...<BR><BR>The biggest negative for us was the weather. It was somewhat cloudy for 50% of our time there. Hopefully, you'll be luckier in March.<BR><BR>Another negative for me was a very limited choice of water sports activities at RC. A better selection is available at Rose Hall beach (complimentary shuttle from RC.) <BR><BR>I agree with jam-man on Jasmine restaurant. 11 items on the menu wasn't enough to keep us interested in comming back even for the second time. Keep in mind, those are all appertizer size portions and you can each order 4. So between the two of us we tried everything that looked good on the menu. <BR><BR>I was also surprised by the limited seafood selection at all three major restaurants. They had a seafood buffet in Mango one night so we went to take a look and were not impressed. Ended up going to Horizon's again. The selection of fish on the menu was good, though and they had a lobster entree both at Horizon and White Which. <BR><BR>When dining at Horizon, do try a soufle desert. It takes 20 min to cook but definately worth the wait. Ask for the ice cream on the side. I know you asked for negatives, but I couldn't resist! <BR><BR>In response to jam-man's comments, I can say that my turn down service was done every night, the bathroom seemed roomy enough for two (my boyfriend is 6'4&quot, service was sometimes slow (but I always think that it's I who's too hyper being from NYC and not the service that's slow) and I liked the jazz band at the lounge. I think they were great. The quiter music was played at all the restaurants.<BR><BR>In overall, the positives greatly outweight the petty negatives I could come up with.<BR><BR>Hope this helps!<BR>

Patty

For eileen and Pam,<BR><BR>Here are my list of negatives (I feel I should preface my comments with the fact that the Ritz was at full occupancy during our stay and also we had just come from the Jamaica Inn where the idea of a line is non-existant):<BR><BR>1. Lines at registration and concierge desk, though never very long, still a bit annoying. <BR><BR>2. During times of high occupancy do not expect your room to be available until mid-afternoon. As we were leaving, there were several newly arrived guests waiting in the bar/lounge for their rooms to be ready. Same goes for late checkout, they could not extend beyond the standard noon checkout. All of this is understandable but just keep it in mind if you're arriving early or departing late.<BR><BR>3. Very family oriented resort (except for the corporate/convention guests) - negative for us may not be for you. Mostly toddler aged children and on a few nights, parents even brought strollers into the bar (Cohoba's) at night. <BR><BR>4. Top of balcony railing was right at eye level when sitting in the patio chairs blocking any view. At least this was the case in our third floor west wing room. Ground floor rooms do not have any railing.<BR><BR>5. Beach is much too small for the size of the property. We did not go to Rose Hall beach so can't comment on that.<BR><BR>6. Food in Jasmines was hit or miss in our opinion - a few excellent dishes, a few mediocre ones.<BR><BR>7. We found poolside and beach drink service to be a little slow. I'm not sure what time they start drink service on the beach, but one day we were there around 11:00am (not that early IMO) and couldn't get anyone to come to our chaise lounge. That was the only service problem we encountered. Overall the service was very good with several staff members who were excellent. We were often greeted by name and usually any special requests were answered with &quot;of course&quot;. We ordered items that were not on the menu at breakfast every morning and it was never a problem. I wanted to have dessert in Cohoba's one afternoon and even though they do not serve any dessert there until evening, the bar waiter ordered it and went to retrieve it for me. Little things like that make it very easy to overlook one or two service glitches.<BR><BR>We would likely return had it not been for the fact that we feel this resort really caters to families with children. Hope this helps.

eileen

Jam-Man and Anna -- Thanks both of you for your very helpful comments and yes, Jam-Man, I had read your trip report. I appreciate your approach to detail. We have booked a suite for March and of course are paying a much higher rate than you probably did, as it is high season. I still think it seems like a good value as we have paid $500 a night in March just for a hotel room so we couldn't resist a suite and the AI option for the cost. However, I have read a few comments about too many kids there and that is getting me a bit nervous as we are leaving our small ones at home and don't like to be deluged by other children on our adults-only vacation. We were also spoiled last year by an adults-only resort. Can either of you comment about this. And regarding the half moon beach club -- is it a long stretch of beach you can walk or a small, &quot;cove-like&quot; beach? I know the beach at RC is not that great and was hoping the one at the half-moon beach club would be better. Thanks.

Patty

eileen,<BR>The beach club that the Ritz shuttles guest to is Rose Hall beach club (we did not go there). Half Moon beach (which is gorgeous) belongs Half Moon resort next door and I'm not sure what their policy is regarding use by outside guests. If you are looking for an adult atmosphere, in my opinion this is really not the place. The one place where we did find a quiet, elegant atmosphere was dining at White Witch. Expect lots of kids in the other parts of the resort especially the pool and beach areas.

jam-man

Eileen,<BR><BR>Can't help on the Rose Hall beach question. I think my experience at RCRH may have been colored by the fact we were there the week before Thanksgiving week and the place was at 60-70% occupancy -- it felt like less than that, but there was some type of conference going on and I don't think those folks used any of the hotel amenities like pool and beach. Since we kept seeing the same few people all the time, my wife and I started joking that there were really only 50 people there.<BR>The kid situation was minimal when we were there. Lees than a dozen in strollers, maybe 2 dozen toddlers. No more than a half dozen older than that -- the benefit of that week is that parents won't take their kids out of school the week before a holiday.<BR>I think our timing is also what let us have no lines. However, the day we left, the Saturday before Thanksgiving, everything changed. Long lines at check in, only 3 of us at check out. All the chaises at the pool (we'll it seemed like all of them) and the beach were filled. I can understand Patty's comments about slow pool and beach service considering the difference in the number of folks there. Plus, there was a substantial influx of school-aged kids in the pool and at the beach.<BR>Eileen and Pam, I'm not sure that just being there in season is necessarily going to mean you'll see it crowded the way Thanksgiving week was.<BR>I also think my view of the RCRH is tinged a bit by the fact that I booked it last March when Air Jamaica was running some post 9-11 tourist-building specials. We got the week at RCRH, all-inclusive, including service and taxes, plus air from Atlanta, plus transfers, for $1250 each.<BR>I would not go to the RCRH paying full rate and I doubt I'll go back. It was great to do once for the experience. <BR>We usually do a villa at Tryall or the Jamaica Inn in Ocho Rios. Much quieter, calmer, and relaxing.

Anna

Eileen,<BR>When we were there (1st week of Decemeber) there were a lot of kids. Mostly todlers and pre-schoolers, though. One family had 5! That didn't bother us in particular since most of them were always supervised by the parents, well behaved and some were just very adorable looking. But I can see how this can be an annoyance if you're looking for adult-only vacation. Maybe you'll see less kids in March because of the higher prices.<BR><BR>-Anna

Anna

Eileen,<BR>I forgot to comment on Rose Hall beach. It is considerably bigger than the RC's but I was not impressed with it at all. There are also chaises and shade from the palm trees and a bar where you can get some drinks. The shuttle bus will have towels so you don't have to bring them yourself. We went just once. IMO, don't count on having a great time at the beach or you'll be dissapointed. Cannot comment on the Half Moon beach, but their shopping village is very pleasant w/good selection of shops. RC shuttle goes there but it's just a short walk away.<BR>-Anna

liza

jam-man, can I ask a question about the villas at Tryall? We've done the JA villa thing several times but always in Ironshore (just east of MoBay).<BR><BR>Are the villas at Tryall independently owned and if so, are there common facilities like a beach/bar/changine garea that the villa guests can use?<BR><BR>From Ironshore we went to Doctor's Cave or Rose Hall, and paid for those, there is no beach specifically for the villas at Ironshore (lovely views of the sea though).<BR><BR>Thanks!

jam-man

Liza,<BR><BR>Yes, all the villas (55 or so) are individually owned with management and rental being handled by Tryall Club. The beach, tennis courts, and golf club are available for use by villa renters during their stay. <BR>There is a beachside restaurant with restrooms large enough for changing, but we didn't use them for that, and there were so few people there when we were this past summer, that I didn't see anyone else changing there either. We just thew on a coverup and brought along towels to sit on when we ate there if we were at the beach. Most days we finished golf and just walked across the street and sat down for lunch. We were staying at a great house villa this time on an all-inclusive package, so we ate at the beach restaurant. When we rented Fern Hill we always raced back up the hill after golf to see what wonderful lunch Patricia, our excellent cook, had put out for us.<BR>Having your own golf cart to come and go may well mean you won't need a changing facility at the beach, since you can just whiz right up to your villa and change there.<BR>Each villa has at least 1 golf cart for transporation around the grounds (Tryall covers 2200 acres). The villa we've rented twice, Fern Hill, has 4 carts. It's a 4 bedroom house, and the owner wanted everybody to be able to come and go as they needed.<BR>There are a dozen or so 1 and 2 bedroom villas hanging on the hill beside the great house (we had a 1-bedroom here this summer). Renters here use the shuttle that runs regularly between the great house and the beach (3 minute trip).<BR>About a dozen villas are down at the ocean's edge. Some have their own small beach areas. One, Randolins, has an ocean pool enclosed by a low breakwater.<BR>The rest of the villas are spread up the hillside and almost all of them have magnificent ocean views out over the golf course. A few are on the island side of the hill and have sweeping views over the back nine holes of the golf course towards the hills that run there.<BR>Check Tryall Club's website for more details.<BR>Let me know what else I can tell you about. I do like to talk about Tryall.