Hotel Riu Negril 5*

Before I start my review, I want to make sure a few incredible members of staff receive the recognition they deserve. I really hope this feedback makes its way back to management because these individuals genuinely made our holiday so special. Firstly, Oshin (“Shin Shin”) from the entertainment team. Whilst the entire entertainment team were incredible, Shin Shin was an absolute pleasure to interact with. She made my daughter Emilia’s stay completely unforgettable. She’s an amazing dancer, the best bingo caller, and, most importantly, a genuinely wonderful human being. Since we’ve returned home, my daughter has cried almost every day because she misses her so much! She has such a natural ability to make every guest feel special. I’d also like to give special mentions to Timmoy, Shadow and Cuban, who were all pivotal in making our holiday one we’ll never forget. Raffael, the lifeguard, deserves huge recognition too. He is, without question, the best lifeguard we’ve ever come across—and we’ve travelled all over the world. He watches the pool like a hawk, constantly keeps the pool area tidy, welcomes everyone with a smile and somehow manages to do all of this whilst remaining friendly and approachable. We unfortunately witnessed some guests treating him poorly, but he handled every situation with professionalism and grace. He is an absolute credit to the lifeguard team. Deniel (main breakfast restaurant), Jovani (Steakhouse) and Akeem (Island Cove chef) all stood out during our stay. Deniel and Jovani weren’t just excellent servers—they were genuinely interested in getting to know us as people, not just hotel guests. Their warmth, friendliness and professionalism perfectly represent the RIU brand. Akeem may not have spoken to us as much because he was busy cooking, but every lunchtime he was singing, smiling, cooking, cleaning and greeting guests. He completely embodied the Caribbean spirit and always made lunchtime feel like an experience rather than just a meal. Finally, Nicoy at the adults’ pool bar deserves a special mention. This man never stopped working! He somehow managed to keep everyone entertained (including some very lively guests!), made incredible cocktails and always had a smile on his face. Another standout member of the RIU team. Now onto the hotel itself… The location is fantastic. The beach is beautiful with soft white sand and clear water. Yes, there is a little seaweed, but nowhere near enough to spoil the experience, so please don’t let that put you off booking. We visited the Hi-Lo supermarket around 10 minutes away using Uber, which was easy and inexpensive. Seven Mile Beach is also close by with plenty of transport options, many of which are free or very low cost. The hotel itself is stunning—modern, clean and very well maintained. Our garden view room was spacious and had everything we needed including a stocked drinks fridge, iron, safe, hairdryer and USB charging ports. We’d read reviews mentioning fire alarms, but during our two-week stay we didn’t experience a single one. The food honestly exceeded our expectations for an all-inclusive resort. The only disappointment was Luigi’s Italian restaurant, which unfortunately wasn’t to our taste. However, every other restaurant was fantastic. There was so much choice and the quality of the food was consistently excellent. It catered brilliantly for everyone, including my very fussy 10-year-old, which is no easy task! Our favourite à la carte restaurant was definitely the Steakhouse—we loved it so much we went three times! I could genuinely talk for days about how good the food was. Every member of the restaurant staff worked incredibly hard and always remained professional and friendly. The entertainment deserves a review of its own. WOW! The entertainment team are absolute workhorses. They completely made our holiday and kept both the adults and children entertained from morning until night. Every activity was varied, engaging and suitable for all ages. The evening shows were brilliant, with both the Beach Party and RIU Party being highlights of our entire trip. One thing that really impressed us was how the entertainment team personally greeted new guests and somehow remembered everybody’s names. That level of personal service and attention to detail was incredible and made everyone feel welcome. The complimentary water sports station was another fantastic bonus. We made great use of the free kayaks and other equipment throughout our stay, and it added so much to our holiday. Overall, this has been one of our favourite family holidays. The hotel itself is beautiful, the food is excellent, the location is ideal and the facilities are fantastic—but it’s the people who truly make RIU Negril so special. Every member of staff worked incredibly hard, but those I’ve mentioned above went above and beyond to create memories that our family will cherish forever. Thank you, RIU Negril. We will definitely be back.

Just returned from a 10 night stay at the Rui Negril. It was our first time in Jamaica. We have thoroughly enjoyed it and fully intend to come back to Jamaica. The hotel itself was spotlessly clean all throughout the resort. The staff were generally very nice, with special shouts to Shadow, Cuban from the entertainment team (who work incredibly hard), “Shanna Lee” from the fitness team who did the water aerobics and deniel (Daniel) from the restaurant who is the happiest friendly waiter I’ve ever met. The rooms were in good condition, and had everything you would need. The mini fridge and optics were all a great edition. Beds were lovely and comfortable. Only “issue” was the fire alarm went off a few times and despite booking three rooms as a party, the rooms were not overly close by which made it difficult with children. I did request at booking with Tui to try and get the rooms close by. The drinks were good and plenty of options, none felt watered down. The entertainment was generally ok, we did find it strange that the younger adults entertainment was lacking. Most of the kids entertainment was in the Ruiland with the mini kids, so my kids missing things like that water polo, darts, boules etc so they were at times a little bored. The foam party was good fun. Food, was very good quality and plenty of choice. The only gripe I have is that we were only able to book one of the restaurants for the ala carte as all the others were fully booked up, we had the same problem when we went to the Rui in Morocco as well which was disappointing as we picked this resort for the options of dining and only a managed one (and again as a favour from the reception) We did a couple of excursions whilst there which I can recommend. The YS falls, the Appleton rum estate, and the jamwest cruise all were fab. The beach was generally spotless, the odd bits of seaweed but nothing to worry about. We saw plenty of fish and the kids went snorkelling with the masks we brought with us. Struggled to do any of the water sports that were complimentary from the hotel. Plenty of sunbeds and the pool temperature was lovely. Rafaelle the lifeguard tried hard to engage with guests, even if at times it was not always seen in the manner it was probably intended. It was my son’s birthday whilst we were there and the domestic staff had kindly put balloons and left a card in the bed and the steakhouse kindly brought out a cake and sang. Thank you! Only pointers and feedback for the hotel, 1) embrace being Jamaica. The hotel seems to be almost replicas of all others in the chain in the world, so we didn’t know we were in Jamaica, we could have been anywhere in the world. it was missing that “authentic Jamaica feel”. 2) the on site shop, £16 for a pack of crisps is extortionate. I fully expect to pay a little extra for convenience but the pricing was ridiculous. 3) ease back on the photographers. I appreciate they have a job to do, and it’s lovely to have memories but we found that everytime we were in the pool, or walking past reception or the restaurant that we were asked to have photos. We did buy some which at £20 per photo, became quite pricy, but it got to a stage where we actively getting out of the pool to avoid being snapped. We have enjoyed our time away. The rui chain has offered good quality food, and clean comfortable safe environments but I think for us we are looking for that authentic experience and the ability to book restaurants so would probably choose a different chain of hotels. Nothing wrong with having a “blanket know what you get” hotel but for us, maybe not our choice. Tip for guests: bring plenty of money for tipping, it seems to be expected everywhere you go more so than anywhere we have been before, not a problem as we do tip, but it felt very much “expected” at most interactions.