Riu Palace Tropical Bay All Inclusive

We just returned from a weeklong vacation at Riu Palace Negril from 11/25 to 12/2. This was our second time at this hotel and we were not disappointed. We traveled with our two kids and my in-laws and found that the beach is one of the best in the Caribbean (compare to Riu Palace and Hyatt in Aruba, Secrets in Punta Cana DR). The water was shallow, clear and calm most of the time although we got two days of waves. The resort is compact and everything is nearby. We stayed in Building 1 in the ocean front rooms on the second floor. The building is only steps away from the beach. Rooms have nice balconies although the ocean view is somewhat abstracted with the trees. We did not spend much time in the room or on the balcony, but we enjoyed falling asleep and waking up to the sound of the ocean. The rooms were spacious and comfortable. One thing that we did not like is that mattresses were too firm. The house keeping cleaned the room twice a day and followed requests for extra towels. Daily tips probably helped. The food was decent for an all inclusive place. We are not big fans of the fried stuff, but always managed to find something we all liked. We noticed that variety was better around Thanksgiving and diminished toward the end of our stay. For breakfast we liked smoked salmon with toasted bagels and cream cheese (although we only found salmon the first four days), hot oatmeal and porridge worked well for kids. Typical omelets, meat, potatoes, yogurts, fresh fruits, pastries were plentiful and tasty. At lunch time we liked the soups, jerk chicken, fish, fresh salads, fruits and deserts. The dinners at the buffet were nice with many choices and even lobsters one night. As a general observation, the best selection is within first hour or two and diminishes after that, do not hesitate to ask if you do not see something that you like, and tips will go a long way… We fine dined at Krystal and Steak House and liked them both as a nice change from the buffet. We ordered drinks at the restaurants – try the Canadian Club whiskey in the cognac glass – it is excellent.

Staff was amazing, rooms beautiful and clean: great airconditioning! Entertainment enjoyable, beaches clean, plenty of chairs for everyone. Problems: only 2 bathrooms in main lobby upstairs and down stairs for entire resort including beach area; sometimes shorter to go to room. no elevators for rooms, and food average at best; breakfast staff--suckis

Had an awesome vacation at this hotel - staff was super friendly and helpful - Beach and swimming was superb - food at the buffet was plentiful and a great variety - entertainment nightl;y very entertaining - only negative is the bugs - got bitten to pieces - every thing else excellent - highly recommended

Beach is beautiful and clean, food is excellent. Staff are friendly. Our only disappointment was that our room was not ready for check in when we arrived at 3. Had to wait an hour and half.

We had a great time here, the Beach is the best part of the whole place. It is also the best beach on the entire strip of the resorts in Bloody Bay. Having to make reservations for dinner was a little frustrating especially since the restraunts were not even full. The food was good but not great, i would eat at the buffet there are more options and it is more relaxed and enjoyable attmosphere. but overall the place is beautifull and we are allready trying to figure out next years trip.

Great resort! Staff was friendly and nice. Will visit again the future.

The hotel is about an hour and a half ride from the airport. Check in was fast and easy. There were A LOT of mosquitoes in and around our room. I have a lot of bug bites as a result. That was really the only negative of this hotel. There were not a lot of kids so we were really able to relax. The staff is really the best part of this hotel. They were attentive and friendly. I would definitely return to this hotel

From check in to check out we experienced a wonderful all inclusive vacation. What a beautiful place to spend a few days! Very clean place and considerate, helpful staff. Thank you for a beautiful vacation! Thanks to Ardien for telling us about the snorkel trip and Renee at the front desk!

Went for a honeymoon the second week of march and had a really good time. The location is fantastic and the beach was truly great. Our room was very clean and the mini bar was filled every day. One of the best parts of the Riu Palace was the staff. Any help we ever needed from the front desk was fulfilled and everyone we encountered was friendly. The cocktails from the bars were never watered down and I was pretty impressed with that aspect. My wife actually had to ask for less rum in her drinks. The buffet food was anywhere from pretty good to just ok depending on your taste and selection. Getting reservations at the restaurants was a little frustrating because we only got to go the places that weren't booked already. We went to the japanese and steak house and I would sayboth places were ok. I was fine with that though because we went for the location and not the food. Overall it was a great place to go and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this place to my friends. We really did have a great time during our stay.

Wasn't sure what to expect from Jamaica after seeing some mixed reviews and worrying about safety, but it was all good. The Palace Tropical Bay was a great place to stay. We ended up in building 5 on the ground floor which was fine. Did get some mild extra noise being on the ground floor but this was not bad at all. It was still well shielded from the night time activities that took place, could barely hear anything from our room when we were trying to sleep. Our room was spacious for 4 people and was in good condition. The staff was outstanding at the resort. All were very friendly and accommodating, no bad experiences. While gratuities are supposed to be included, had read from other reviews about tipping anyway. We only felt pressure to tip from the watersports staff, which appears to be contracted out from the RIU. We ended up doing some tipping out of courtesy and for excellent service and this was always well received, after all they work hard aren't getting all that much for pay. The beach was AWESOME, very well kept. Great snorkeling on the beach despite having no reefs. Great for kids since it the water was very shallow for a long stretch with no nasty undertoe or riptides. There are vendors who walk the beach offering services and products but they left you alone with a polite "no thank you". We did end up visiting the RIU Club down the beach and I have to say the Palace had MUCH nicer beach and grounds. Glad we were at the Palace! We ended up doing the snorkel excursion which was very nice. One thing to note for the specialty restaurants they changed their dining policy which sounds like a substantial improvement from what it used to be. We were able to book all our specialty restaurants for the entire stay in just one morning. We ended up lining up at about 7:50am and there were only 2 other folks waiting. Food overall was pretty good, the buffets really had good variety for all meals and good to very good quality. The Japanese and Fusion restaurants were very good, the Italian was only so-so. Overall a great stay, reasonable price for an all inclusive, excellent staff and outstanding beach.