Riu Ocho Rios - All Inclusive

Customer ratings & reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

13229 reviews

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  Will not be back to a RIU

  Will not return to any RIU establishment. The stay started with the wrong room, different from what we booked and paid for. We were without a room for a day waiting on them to put us in correct suite. Housekeeping never serviced our room. We were without toilet paper and fresh towels one day even after multiple calls to swing desk. Our room smelled like mildew with multiple broken items. The food is mediocre and drinks watered down. The Jamaican people are lovely and kind. The only plus to the stay. I’ll return to the island, but not a RIU resort.

  Mar 27, 2025
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  Riu Ocho Rios

  3rd time staying at a Riu hotel and im very dissapointed that Riu Ocho Rios had very poor cleaning of the room we checked-in to. The floor was dirty as they had not cleaned it after the last guest, I had to request new bed sheets because the bed was remade with the previous stay. The front desk people were rude, did not offer good customer service, all the females there were talking and laughing. Definetly did not fell welcome. The food in the buffet was OK some trays were empty and did not refilled. Only few of the bartenders were happy. Most people here do not smile. This hotel offers a very nice beach and its very close to outdoor activities.

  Mar 27, 2025
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  Great Family Resort, but Room for Improvement

  We loved our vacation here for our family of four. The larger family style room, with two bedrooms and three beds was ideal. Room was clean and beds comfortable, with well-stocked mini fridge. Balcony was a decent size and overlooked the water park. Food was decent (loved the Italian restaurant) and made-to-order omelets were good for breakfast. Also loved the coffee and smoothies available in the mornings. Activities were fun with the neon party, beach party and karaoke. Catamaran for snorkeling and to Dunn's River Falls was really fun! You have to wear a life jacket to snorkel and they provide all gear. Overall great for our first family all-inclusive resort, but definite room for improvement vs. other hotels we have stayed at. Downsides - waterslides hurt your back, so prepare to wear a shirt. Bath towels almost all had hair stuck on them that wasn't ours. Staff in gift shop wasn't super friendly or helpful and sunscreen is $30/bottle, so bring your own and check a bag to save money, as you'll use at least a couple bottles during your stay. The staff doesn't understand how resort credits work and told me to email the RIU Class support team, but they don't respond until 10 days later. I just got a response yesterday and returned from my trip a week ago. $600 in credits were lost due to this. Also, check in took about an hour - we weren't told about how to book any tours/excursions, provided towel cards (which are required for pool/beach towels to be obtained), told about any amenities, etc. They tell you to refer to the app, which in general has good information, but was down about half of our trip, which also prevented us from being able to always make dinner reservations. Also, you can't make reservations for dinner until you're checked in, but they were booked out multiple nights, so we didn't make it to all the restaurants during our stay and ate at the buffet multiple nights (this could be due to spring break being extra busy, but it took away from overall experience). Overall, we would return, especially now that we have figured out all the information they don't tell you, but you have to work for it instead of it being provided to you. I would recommend bringing your own sunscreen, beach towels, snacks and verifying how to use your resort credits before arriving, as well as scheduling your dinner reservations as soon as you check in. Also, US dollars are accepted everywhere, so bring plenty of small bills for tipping.

  Mar 27, 2025
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  Spring break with the family

  The four of us. Wife and 2 adult kids went to RIU Ocho Rios. We wanted to be away from Montego Bay and found this resort. For the value we had a blast. The property is shaped like two horseshoes with pools in the middle. There is the more party side and the white side that had 2 infinity pools in them. We enjoyed both sides. The beach is very long and didn’t have one person try to sell us anything. The 2 bedroom suite were in a building behind the horseshoes by the small water park. We didn’t mind not having an ocean view, but the water park and palm trees still made the balcony nice. Our most enjoyment was the service. Wisconsin people get getting to know the bartenders was easy. Alvin was the families favorite and by day 2 all we had to do was swim or walk up and he know what to make us. Romone was also a fav. But I can say every person from the front desk, cleaning and servers were the nicest people we’ve met. The restaurants I would either do the jerk chicken shack at lunch by the party side or the buffet had plenty of options. The asian restaurant would be the only one we would go back to. If you are heading there and see either Alvin or Romone let them know the blue eyed family says “hi” For the value it was worth it…. You do have an 1.5 hour ride from Montego Bay Airport but it goes fast and the drivers both ways have great history and things to do if you don’t want to do the main excursions.

  Mar 27, 2025
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  NOT 5 star Quality !

  Came here because daughter said that all the Rui hotels she had been to were amazing !! We paid premium price for the 5 star ! Room was lovely and good shower--however HUGE COMPLEX--and had to walk so far for meals etc. Never any seats in theatre --as FAR TOO MANY PEOPLE ! SAME SHOWS EVERY WEEK !! so second week nothing to see !!! NEVER been to a hotel that does not have two weeks of different entertainment. The Michael Jackson show was REALLY BAD ! It sounds like we are complaining about everything, but could not believe staff ignoring you at the bar--felt invisible --Americans just came up and were served at once--then realised they TIPPED EVERY TIME--and there were tip plates all over. and even at breakfast staff were falling over themselves to serve them as they left lots of dollars for them. I have NEVER seen this at ANY resort anywhere in the world!! I do think RUI need to make the acceptance of service tips banned. OK at the end of a holiday for good service but NOT EVERY TIME you get served. British and others were ignored as we do not come from a tipping culture as USA staff are so poorly paid that tips make up for their bosses poor wage scheme. A lot of staff never looked you in the eyes or smiled--and the food was SO BAD-- Rui need a Restaurant MANAGER --who oversees the empty offerings. Cold fried dried eggs --no poached eggs -maybe one or two that seemed to have been left as again cold--greasy bacon and potato hash browns that all have been deep fried with oil dripping from them UGH!! Waiting for tea and coffee again this morning took 15 minutes --yet w couple of Americans came in and the young guy was pulling their chairs out for them--falling over himself to serve and we had been sitting at the table watching all this !! GLAD to be going home --NEVER to return!! The restaurants you HAD to book for were no different. Waited 3/4 an hour between courses and should have walked out ! Fillet steak was SO tough only fit for the cats as you could not eat it. The chinese that you did not have to book for --our dirty plates were left on the table throughout our meal--one glass of water --not refilled even though empty glass !!! I could go on and on-- pillow cases never renewed in two weeks as has as had light stain on one and it remained there!! Entertainers were cheery and good with the children, but again shows were repeated. Party on the beach --NO CHAIRS for older people so could not take part- As I said NOT 5 star quality ---I would say a good 3 --and no good if your walking is bad either. Sorry I came

  Mar 26, 2025