eileen

I used the reports on this site extensively when planning my trip and they were very accurate, so I will try to focus on things that weren't quite as expected.<BR>1) Beware of overbooking by the Ritz, it is a chronic problem. We reserved in October, paid in full in advance and when we arrived they did not have an oceanview suite for us. They kept taking us to other rooms and we kept explaining we had paid for an ocean view suite. They tried to make up for it by upgrading us to the Club level, but this did not matter to us because we had purchased the Key to Paradise package which included meals anyway. After a very stressful and unhappy hour, they finally determined they had a cancellation so they did have a suite for us. But the bottom line is, if they hadn't had the cancellation, we would have not gotten what we had already paid for.<BR>2) More kids than we would have liked, as we left ours at home. Fortunately, the beach walk is spread along the property so it was possible to get away from the very crowded main beach. There is a nice little beach at the end of the property which was deserted. The property would be greatly improved by the addition of an adult pool. As the pool is not that large and at any given time had 30 - 40 people in it, many of them very young children (lots of babies and toddlers).<BR>3) The food was good but not quite as good as we expected. Last year we went to Royal Hideaway, an AI in Playa Del Carmen, and the food was better there.<BR>4) The attitude of the employees is superb. Every employee greets you when you pass, their favorite lines are &quot;Thank you for choosing the Ritz Carlton&quot; and &quot;It will be my pleasure.&quot; They have been trained very well.<BR>5) The resort shuttle service is really well run. It was about 10 minutes until the shopping shuttle and I was willing to wait, but they put me in a Lincoln Town Car and took me there immediately. I found all the shuttles ran like clockwork.<BR>6) The interior of the hotel is very pretty, with walls done in shades of pastels. Our room was peach walls with white trim, the hall was blue, the bathroom yellow, a nice change from the usual white hotel walls.<BR>7) Generally the service in the high-end dinner restaurants was very quick, no &quot;island time&quot; here. Where we had trouble was Mangos, the casual lunch restaurant by the pool. It was the only lunch place so it was really overwhelmed every day.<BR>8) The arrangement of excursions was a problem. Three days in a row we tried to go on the snorkle or sunset cruise and there was always a reason we couldn't (it was booked, it was cancelled, etc. etc.) We finally gave up.<BR>9) For a high-end Caribbean resort in high season, I found the Ritz to generally be a good value. I think they are keeping their prices fairly reasonable (the Ritz on St. Thomas is much more expensive) because they have a lot of rooms to fill. The place was at about 90%+ capacity. We paid about $600 night for a oceanview suite with all meals and beverages, airport transfers included. Compared to other places we've been, this is a good deal for winter.<BR>10) the golf is spectacular and that is the main reason I chose this resort, as my husband golfed every day.<BR>It was a nice vacation, but would I go back? Probably not. I like a spectacular beach and the beach at the Ritz is not good. We also have decided we much prefer small resorts, this one was just too crowded. And lastly, there are just too many fabulous places in the Caribbean to visit! However, I did think Jamaica was beautiful and the Jamaicans were wonderful, much nicer and friendlier than other island. Also, I did wear all my jewelry and I always felt safe, even off property (but we did not go into Montego Bay)<BR>Hope you find this report helpful.

Mariarosa

eileen,<BR><BR>I wish everyone would post such detailed reports when they returned! Thanks! We stayed at the Royal Hideaway a couple of years ago and are considering Jamaica (although the Ritz may be out of our budget) because we have never been there.

bobrxlex

eileen, did you make any dinner reservations prior to your departure? do you go to the rose hall beach club? I was there in June 2001 and i am going back this june. the resort was only 25% occupied the first time i went but now the word is out and im sure it will be much more crowed. thanks

eileen

You probably won't have the trouble with dinner reservations in June that most people had in March. Thank goodness we had e-mailed the concierge in advance and had all our dinner reservations when we got there as it was very difficult to get into the restaurants (mostly Jasmine's and the White Witch Golf Club restaurant -- Horizon's and Mango's were more available but they were not the favorites) Some people were understandably upset that not only could they not get any dinner times they wanted, but they couldn't even get particular restaurants on certain days. We liked Jasmine's the best. There was a buffet every night at Mango's that you could always go to but we wanted to avoid buffets and kids, so that was out for us. If you want to see the sunset from White Witch, which is beautiful, you should make reservations in advance and find out what time the sun sets in June. (In March we had to have a 6 p.m. reservation to see it). But keep in mind, the resort was probably 95% capacity or more when I was there, I am sure it will be much different in June.

eileen

Forgot to answer about the beach club -- yes, we went one day and the beach is much nicer and better for water sports. They have a rustic restaurant and bar there and they did let people charge things to their Ritz rooms when I was there. The beach is also long enough to take a walk, although beyond the beach club it gets kind of rundown and dirty. They bill themselves as the &quot;nicest beach in Jamaica&quot; but that can't possibly be true.

bobrxlex

thanks eileen, maybe i will email the conceirge because even in june it may be busy. 2 years ago you had the place to yourselves but now its gotten pretty popular.

Mariarosa

Hi Eileen! I am actually considering the Ritz, as it is not as expensive as I originally thought (just a little more than Grand Lido). Was there anything about it that was better than the RH in Playa? Did the beach have calm water? What kind of watersports did they have? What was your favorite meal?

eileen

Our room was nicer because we had a suite which had two bathrooms, two terraces and a separate living room. I think it was only about $60 more a night so I thought it was worth it. I did see the regular rooms and they are comparable to RH's except I think the bathrooms in RH are nicer and larger. There are many more ocean view rooms at the Ritz and that was a plus because I did not like not having a view at RH -- I felt very closed in. Our favorite restaurant was Jasmine's which served 3- 5 course of &quot;little plates&quot; so you got to try lots of things. Also, it didn't allow children under 12 so that was a plus. The beach is not very good at the Ritz but there were water sports. The Rose Hall Beach Club is a better beach and has more water sports. The Ritz is a different feel than RH because of the kids, it is a much larger hotel and instead of buildings spread around the property it is one big building. I think the interior of the Ritz is prettier than RH but RH is overall a much prettier resort due to the way it is designed, landscaping etc. The one thing I would caution you about is the children factor as I believe Grand Lido is adults only? If children are going to bother you, I would avoid the Ritz. A big plus for the Ritz, in our opinion -- it was only 15 minutes from the airport. There were people getting off a long plane ride and then they had to take the 2 - 3 hour trip to the Negril area by bus. That sounded like torture to us. We took Air Jamaica from Philly and arrived at the Ritz by 12 Noon.

liza

Just FYI the ride to Negril is now only an hour to an hour and a half, with stops. The new highway is finished.<BR><BR>THe RH Beach Club is definitely not the nicest beach in Jamaica...we just returned from 2 weeks driving around the island and I'd put it at or near the bottom of a list of 20 or so beaches we saw or stopped at