I experienced an extremely unpleasant time during my birthday trip to Riu Ocho Rios Sept 2026. It is difficult to determine where to begin, whether it be the presence of roaches, the lack of air conditioning, the malfunctioning television, the issue with the ceiling fan, the front desk's failure to answer the phone, unauthorized entry into my room, the state of the bedding, the broken elevator, or the transportation company Nexus.
Upon our arrival on the first night, my husband, some friends, and I reached the dining hall during dinner time. We made our way to the dining area, which was uncomfortably hot, so we opted to sit on the St. Ann Terrace, hoping for a breeze. Shortly after we set our plates down, we noticed two roaches, one on the table and another on the floor. The following day, we discovered that the lobby doesn't have air conditioning and the AC in the dining hall was broken, plus the cooks lacked working fans in their cooking area; which is unsanitary to have sweat dripping in the food. We were informed that, once the AC and fans broke down, they were not repaired. Another issue was that the television had been non-functional throughout the resort during my first two days. On our second night, when we turned on the ceiling fan, water began to spray out, followed by a sound and smell of electricity, and then the ceiling fan ceased to operate. I had to actually go to the front desk since there was no answer after 20 rings. The issue led us to getting upgraded to a Junior suite in building 1.
Next, the resort elevators have a maximum capacity of 8 people, which really means that it's only comfortable fr 4 individuals. We learned that building 1 had only one working elevator, while the other had been broken for some time, slow elevator service, lucky we were on the second floor. In the new room the bedding had coffee stains that did not wash out, but we chose not to complain. The next morning, despite having a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door, housekeeping entered anyway; everything was cleaned and changed except for the COFFEE-STAINED BEDDING and PILLOWCASES. Now, I got upset! In all my years of traveling, I have never failed to leave a tip, but these circumstances compelled me not to do so, for the first time!
Lastly, I had brought a brand new credit card, and the only transaction I made with it was for an excursion through Nexus. The young lady Falsely advertised the excursion on 9/6/26 she stated, "Bio-luminous boat cruise included dinner, the real Jamaican food." Once we got there and were ready to eat, we were told our ticket didn't include a MEAL. Because Nexus NEVER includes dinner with the excursion. We were very embarrassed and had to wait to get back to eat at the hot resort. To conclude, the day after returning home, I received a fraud alert indicating that someone was attempting to use that card for a purchase; you can draw your own conclusion from that. I must say, you should stop using Nexus service and that resort needs to be shut down. I do not recommend this resort and I will spread this news to all who will listen! Riu Ocho Rios is a NO!
