Riu Palace Aquarelle - All Inclusive

“Great resort and staff”

I am currently at the resort with wife and 27&21 year old sons. I can’t find anything negative to say about this resort. The grounds are beautiful and well maintained. The rooms, lobby and restaurants are tastefully decorated. The food and drinks are good. The staff is extremely friendly and hard … more

I am currently at the resort with wife and 27&21 year old sons. I can’t find anything negative to say about this resort. The grounds are beautiful and well maintained. The rooms, lobby and restaurants are tastefully decorated. The food and drinks are good. The staff is extremely friendly and hard working. They are always checking on how you are doing and eager to strike up a conversation. Some people complain that this a party resort and it’s noisy all day and night. As for the daytime of course there’s noise and activity. Isn’t that what we come to a resort for? As for the night time the shows are done by 11:00 outdoors. There is a DJ in the sports bar after 11:00, but that’s indoors. I’m on the 11th floor and have had no problem falling asleep on the comfy pillow top beds. I stayed in Ocho Rios in 2024 that had more of a party atmosphere. This resort seems to have more couples and families. Some people complain about the beach. It’s beautiful. The water has been a bit rough as it’s been windy every day. I guess if you want a calmer beach go to Negril. But it’s a trade off if you enjoy a lively resort with activities day and night or a calmer beach. I wouldn’t hesitate coming back to this resort or Jamaica. My family says it’s like coming home.

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“THE BEST HOLIDAY EVER!!!”

UNBELIEVABLE HOLIDAY!!! Just got home from 2 weeks spent here with our small children and honestly cant recommend this hotel enough.. The food, the staff, the room, the service, the cleanliness, the beach, everything was perfect! Actually couldn't fault anything here! The staff are truly amazing, n… more

UNBELIEVABLE HOLIDAY!!! Just got home from 2 weeks spent here with our small children and honestly cant recommend this hotel enough.. The food, the staff, the room, the service, the cleanliness, the beach, everything was perfect! Actually couldn't fault anything here! The staff are truly amazing, nothing is too much, you do not need to ask for anything, drinks are always full, smiley faces and genuine, happy & very hard working people... The entertainment both day & night is something else. The team here are what makes your stay unforgettable especially with children, We could have easily spent another week here! NayNay, Miguel, Abigail are just a few lovely faces we will miss so much but cant wait to visit again :) HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!

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“Amazing, will be back”

Being a new resort, everything is fresh and clean. The staff and entertainment team are absolutely amazing. We had such a good time, it's difficult to find fault. The jerk chicken at Pepe's Food is a must. We ate lunch there more often than at the buffet, simply due to the delicious food and the c… more

Being a new resort, everything is fresh and clean. The staff and entertainment team are absolutely amazing. We had such a good time, it's difficult to find fault. The jerk chicken at Pepe's Food is a must. We ate lunch there more often than at the buffet, simply due to the delicious food and the convenience. I have knocked one star off due to: 1. The low shower pressure in the room. It was doable, but took longer than expected. We reported it to the concierge and maintenance made an improvement, which helped. 2. The water park has loungers, but there is no shade in that section. I feel installing a shaded tent like there is right next to it in the kids section would be helpful. 3. As Aquarelle is located further from Mobay or Ochos Rios, transport to excursions can be an issue or cost more.

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“Adult family holiday”

Great hotel with some exceptions. We arrived 29/4 for a two week holiday with our adult daughters and their husbands. This was a last minute booking after our Thailand holiday was cancelled and we were limited to choice due to availability and cost. We booked 3 jnr suites with limited sea view and… more

Great hotel with some exceptions. We arrived 29/4 for a two week holiday with our adult daughters and their husbands. This was a last minute booking after our Thailand holiday was cancelled and we were limited to choice due to availability and cost. We booked 3 jnr suites with limited sea view and requested rooms together when we booked. I later emailed the hotel to request a higher floor and the hotel were very responsive, getting back to me quickly and on arrival we were given rooms very close together on the 9th floor (979) which was perfect. Our rooms offered a full sea view but were at the back of the hotel so not overlooking g the pools etc; we were extremely grateful for this as we had privacy and didn’t get the noise from the pools and bars during day or night. Rooms are very comfortable, clean and well equipped with iron & ironing board, hair dryer (not very good on thick hair), fridge stocked with water, soft drinks and beer and four optics - rum, whiskey, gin and vodka. Fridge and bar stocked daily however we did have issues with water not being replenished and had to request via the app. Housekeeping - hit and miss in our experience. My daughter’s room wasn’t cleaned for 3 days due to it not being done by 4pm when they came up from the pool. Ours was missed on one occasion for the same reason. Room was cleaned one day and the towels weren’t replaced so I had to request them on the app. We found we had to put the green sticker on the door to make sure the rooms were cleaned by the time we left the pool for the day. We tipped daily. Lifts - only an issue at busy times but beware of people just pushing past you -it seems some nationalities don’t believe in queues and have no manners! The hotel do need to address this especially as they have no service elevator so staff use them too for laundry & luggage etc. Restaurants - buffet is superb and one of the best we’ve been to for food temperature, choice and variety. Special shout out to Troya, our lovely waitress who looked after us so well during our stay, she was amazing. There are four speciality restaurants, Napoli the Italian which we loved along with the Steakhouse that does the best filler mignon I’ve ever tasted. The Kyoto is the Asian and there’s Krystal’s which we weren’t so fond of, food ok just limited choice and not to our taste. The sports bar is great for burgers and wings which are very good, they also do great coffee in here. Pepes is down by the pool and opens 12pm on til 5pm serving Jerk chicken, burgers hotdogs etc and is really good - try the corn it’s delicious. There is a cappuccino bar in the lobby that does great coffees, teas, cakes, pastries and a selection of sandwiches (these from 2pm) that you can have toasted. Room service we used a couple of times, and whilst the service is great, the food is very basic and not something I would recommend. I had read of people not being able to book restaurants however we had no issue all two weeks we were there. If you do it through the app, you can only book for two people but you can request to dine with other room numbers in the comments. We were a party of six and were sat together at every booking. Pools and bars- there are two adult only swim up bars, the Kingston and the Marley. We used the Kingston the first few days we were there until the Americans arrived in force on the Friday and we were shoved out. We were using our beds but it didn’t stop them sitting on my daughter’s towel to eat nachos and using said towel to wipe their faces. Some groups were so loud you couldn’t have a conversation. We moved to the Marley which has a larger pool adjoined for kids to use too and this was quieter, still a great atmosphere just more relaxed. Staff at the pool bars and around the pool were all excellent. Beach- I’d read so much about the beach being disappointing however the beach is beautiful. There is sargassum but hotel staff make sure it’s cleaned every morning. Beware of sea life though, my husband was nipped by a crab twice and saw several sting rays and manta rays in the shallows. They do swim away as you approach so nothing to fear but be aware they are there. We watched the rays swimming round a small bay from our balcony nearly every morning. Would we go back - absolutely not! Weed is smoked freely in all the smoking areas within the hotel and the smell is sickening. Hotel staff do nothing to prevent it even though it is illegal in Jamaica. Being in Jamaica is not an excuse to allow illegal drugs to be smoked within the grounds of a five star family resort and Riu should be ashamed. I am not a prude and each to their own but imo it should not be allowed just feet away from where children are in the pool, the smell carries and is awful and something that will stop us going back again. If you’re ok with it, then the hotel is great.

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