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OurHotel Riu Palace Aquarelle All Inclusive 24h is located in White Bay beach. With more than 700 comfortable rooms you can enjoy the all-year round warm climate and have a nice time at our 4 outdoor swimming pools, or the kids’ pool and the Splash Water World to spend a fun day as a family. Pamper yourself in the Wellness Centre, with massages and beauty services. We also offer a complete gym with activities. Let yourself be surprised by the different gastronomic options, like our buffet breakfasts with show-cooking stations, or the delicious à la carte specialty restaurants (fusion cuisine, Italian, Japanese, steakhouse & BBQ-grill options). Discover the best hotel in Falmouth: enjoy beach volleyball or practice water sports, go on excursions along the north of the island, join incredible reggae parties, visit Glistening Bay, where at night the plankton glows underwater, or hike the Cockpit Country area, known as the "Jamaican Alps". Discover Jamaica with RIU Hotels & Resorts.
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Hotel Riu Palace Aquarelle receives accolades for its service, with staff members often described as friendly and professional, although a few guests have encountered hiccups with room service and check-in. While the rooms are praised for their views and cleanliness, some visitors mention discomfort with bed sizes and noise. The hotel's amenities, including a variety of activities and dining options, are generally well-received, yet there's room for enhancement.
Its beach proximity is popular, but opinions on the overall location and value for money vary. Cleanliness is high, though not without occasional lapses, and the vibrant atmosphere may be too lively for those seeking tranquility.
Location
Convenient
Atmosphere
Lively
Rooms
Comfortable
Value
Reasonable
Cleanliness
Mixed
Noise level
Noisy
Service
Friendly
Amenities
Well-appointed
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I apologise in advance for how long and detailed this review is but if you're like me then you always want as much info as possible on a hotel before deciding to go and that the decision to spend your annual savings on a holiday should be as informed as possible.
TLDR version though: Good stay, nice hotel, beautiful picturesque view, solid buffet food, reasonable attempts to entertain you, decent variety of pool atmospheres/areas, very friendly staff. Would stay again as long as I use discounted rates to book.
So I booked this holiday as a couples vacation during Tui's summer sale. The vacation cost me about ÂŁ2700 all inclusive for 7 nights for 2 people. I would say it is just about worth it. A fair price would be around 2400/2500 tops. I only got this price as I used the summer sale price, ordinarily it would have cost me close to ÂŁ4000 which is nowhere near value for money.
I want to start with the good first and then the bad, try and break it down into sections so it's easier for you to skip to the bits you find matter most to you:
Good
Staff The staff were incredibly friendly, kind, and joyous across the board. All of them had a smile on their face constantly, brought energy to the vacation, and were always happy to go the extra mile. They asked you about your day and seemed to genuinely care that you had the best time of the year there. They all love Jamaica and the passion carries over into everything they did for us over the course of our stay.
The rooms Even the basic rooms here are superb, it helps they're so new but they really are finished exceptionally. You truly feel most like you are in a 5 star resort when settling down for the night in your room. The beds are enormous, comfy, and clean, the view from the balconies is spectacular, and the shower is plenty big enough for two. The separate toilet room is a nice touch aswell. TV has an assortment of american channels showing sports and plenty of old reruns of shows, and if you have a samsung you could screen share too. There were a couple of negatives I'll touch on later but as a look and feel the rooms were great.
Relaxing options There is a pool for everyone here, whilst no lazy river or giant signature pool is a small loss overall but it doesn't take away too much from what is a great selection of options. The beach has plenty of space if that's your fancy with the sea breeze and futsal or volleyball played nearby, whilst the small adult pool is perfect for a serene relaxed mature vibe. It converts to a volleyball pool or aerobics pool at various times in the day but in general it's an adult focused area that's peaceful and chill. The main adult pool has a swim up bar and built in tables and chairs in it too which is noisy, loud and fun just how you want it if it's more of a party atmosphere that you want. Pool parties are every day 3-5 and there's at least 2 foam parties a week aswell. Over 18s only and you can definitely tell, but if you're a bit prudish then you may want to steer clear. People treat it like an all day nightclub and the dancing from the entertain team is often very suggestive to say the least. So if that sort of thing puts you off then maybe steer clear once it reaches 2/3pm. The biggest pool is the child centric pool, there's not too much for kids to do in it other than paddle but this is where most families end up spending their day. Entertainment here was either a water dance troupe or a quiz. Next to it is another small bar pool where parents kept an eye on their kids whilst drinking. Finally there's the two water park pools, one aimed at adults and one which was a kids playground paradise. Both a little away from the main pools so the noise and splashes from them didnt disturb you if you were just trying to relax in peace. The water was cool by comparison to the air temperature so you can definitely get cool in them if you wish. Plenty of beds around every pool meant there was always an option for you somewhere to sit. Sunbeds were comfy enough but I'd recommend using a towel on them, any small sunburn on your back feels like its being scraped with a cheese grater if you just have your bare back on the sun loungers. The retractable canopies are a nice touch too, there were sporadic downpours which are easy to underestimate at first so having a retractable canopy was great in making sure you could keep your seat and stay outside whilst it rained without having to sprint inside and huddle in the foyer waiting for the rain to stop. The beach was seaweed free and kept clean of easy to spot rocks and rubbish, but if you played volleyball you quickly found all manner of stones and debris not far below the surface once you messed it up a bit.
Buffet Food (Overall) The food on the whole was solid. Breakfast was the standout with gorgeous bacon, omelette, hash browns and beans and sausages making for an excellent way to start the day. The array of Jamaican options too was welcome although hit and miss in terms of how well they reproduced some of the dishes on mass. The buffet meals in the evening offered a decent choice too, although us Europeans will probably turn our noses up at the American's attempts at a chicken burger for example, but the meat options were great and the cold platter options were extensive too. The humidity made it a challenge for some food options to stay good for the whole service but overall buffet food options were decent.
Proximity to places/location The hotel is really conveniently located to the airport in Montego bay, being just an easy 35 minute ride away and the first stop on Tui's transfer service along with the neighbouring Royalton. Falmouth is jut a short 10 minute taxi ride away too and the main bus service in Jamaica (think megabus in the UK) is just down the road from the hotel (maybe a 2/3 minute taxi ride or 20 minute walk down the road). This Bus stop for the Knutsford Express allows you direct access to all the major cities across Jamaica at a very affordable price. Journey times vary but if you fancy a day trip to Kingston off your own back then this is the option for you. The taxi people all wait outside the hotel so it's super simple to access any part of jamaica from your base here. And after a 10 hour flight a short transfer was welcome. The hotel is also next door to the famous luminous lagoon. I'll let you decide if that excursion is worth it but it's a sight to behold if you're lucky and the hotel is right next to the harbour where catamarans depart for this experience.
The entertainment team All inclusives can live and die by their entertainment team. If you have one which is flat and clearly looks like they're just there to be paid then you really do suffer. But I can safely say the entertainment team here are phenomenal. Their energy is mostly at 11/10 throughout the day, whether they're leading aqua aerobics classes, or mini competitions, or running the pool parties, they are full of dance moves, call outs, joy, and fun, and that rubs off on you too. Even the biggest grinches will grin whenever they hear "the rooster" doing his morning shout, or chuckle when the bartenders get involved in the choreographed dances. The happy birthday and good morning songs always put a smile on my face. I think there were a few moments where they ran out of steam but overall they were superb. They run one of the show nights with them forming a dance troupe taking you through the history of Jamaica through dance and song and it was definitely the highlights of the entertainment across the week.
Drinks selection It shouldn't be a surprise an all inclusive has good drinks options. Their slush machines and mocktails were fruity, and their alcoholic selection/cocktails were punchy and wide ranging.
Now onto the bad bits and probably most important for those of you interested in reading essays for holiday reviews lol:
Shocking wifi This wasn't just a me problem, other guests voiced their frustrations too but the wifi was shockingly slow and unreliable. Trying to use social media at points was sometimes impossible and on occasion the wifi would be quicker sat on the beach than in your room. "well you shouldnt be on your wifi anyway", fair enough, but you're at an all inclusive, there's only so much lying in the sun or reading a book you can do in a day. After a couple of mini activities your mind inevitable turns to your phone to wile the hours away, or when you're in bed at night you just want to catch up with people it's a slog. Sometimes it worked okay others it worked really slowly and other times it just didnt work at all. This might not be the most important thing at an all inclusive but when you pay this much money for one it's really annoying after a few days
Limitations of the entertainment team I know I bigged them up in the positives and they are superb but that's not to say they didnt have some faults. For starters the music around the main pools is on loop every day, that means get ready to hear a chris brown, usher, nicki minaj, ed sheeran etc playlist on loop every day, the same songs in roughly the same order are played every single day. By day 7 when you're hearing the same Usher song come on around midday you really do roll your eyes and think there must be more songs they can play than this. Theyre human, no one has limitless energy and it shows when all 10 or so entertainment staff seemed to be on shift all day every day, and after a few days in you could see a noticeable dip in energy from most of them which is fair enough they arent robots, but someone should plan it better, maybe have all of them on shift one day then split them up into teams of 4/5 on other days and rotate. Shout out though to miguel, Rooster the machine, and the dude with the two mini pigtails in his hair, those 3 never lost an ounce of energy and always were at 11/10, I don't know how they did but those 3 are born entertainers and they seriously put a smile on our faces every day. Their antics may grate on some people after a bit but in doses over a day spread out they are unbelievable so shout out to those 3. The others were great too but they flagged after a few days in, they weren't as energetic or enthusiastic and it felt like more of a chore for them as the week went on.
The facetime ringing sound This may mean nothing to you now and seems an odd one to put in but hear me out. The DJ that plays songs around the pools and the tracks in the playlist have the annoying facetime ringing noise as their call sign, and boy that button gets pressed again, and again, and again, and again, to the point it drives you insane. Think school music class when you all got funky keyboards and kept hitting the random buttons that would shout "DJ" cos you thought it was funny when you were 12, yeah it's like that, all day, every day, every couple of minutes, you'll go to sleep at night hearing that sound by the end of your trip lol
The specialist food The buffet is largely exempt from this criticism, the food is okay but it's a buffet in a country that averages 30 degrees air temperature even in the evening and is an all inclusive, like it's what you expect. However the specialist venues are supposed to be a higher standard. You can only order one plate per person per course, you have to book a day in advance and spaces go fast, you dont expect gourmet but you expect food that you would be happy to go out for an evening with your partner and pay okay money for. The food was generally the same quality or worse than the buffet. The specialty options are limited to only 4 restaurants outside the buffet and bar: Italian, Steakhouse, Japanese, and Gourmet. The Italian was the best simply because pizza, pasta, breads and oils are hard to get drastically wrong, although the plated food I ordered was horrifically cold, It seemed that most of the restaurants just set aside food from the buffet on plates and left them under heat lamps waiting for people to order them throughout the evening service. Nothing was cooked even remotely close to order. The Japanese was so-so but really bland. With such limited options I thought they'd pull out the stops to make them flavorsome, it shouldnt be hard to make Gyozas or season skewers but they clearly just chucked some frozen ones in a pan and plated them up. You book a table, dress up a bit, the room is well decorated, you order your food and then what's served to you is on par with something you'd hurriedly chuck in the microwave after a night out for convenience. Like just serve the food in the buffet at this point and use the restaurant spaces for something else. The worst of all though was the gourmet restaurant. Whatever you do dont go in here on a special occasion. The food was atrocious, it looked like something a child doing GCSE food tech would put together, and it tasted like they'd cooked it in a lesson and brought it home for you to try. I had the beef bourguignons whose accompaniment was a sad pile of microwave mash with raw carrot chunks and pea pods sticking out of the top of it in alternating patterns. The cheesecake we were served for dessert was luke warm and tasted like cardboard with the consistency of porridge, it was inedible. The wait staff in here didnt care for anyones complaints they just seemed fed up. Multiple tables walked out. Outside the buffet you really are short of choice in an evening. If you want that variety of nicer meal options over your week then look elsewhere. There's just 4 restaurants, 1 serves inedible food, 1 serves tasteless food, 1 serves freezing cold food, and the final 1 we didnt get to try because it wasnt open on a saturday lol
Watersport activities Now to be honest we never tried these so I can't say how good or bad they are. But your choice is either pedalo or canoe, you can only go about 10 feet out to sea with either and have a small enclosed area in which to use them. During our entire week stay we didnt see a single person use any of them which perhaps says all you need to know. Meanwhile the resort next door had one of those water cars, inflatable obstacle course, jetskis, banana rides, just night and day. If you want to swim in the sea good luck, after 4/5 steps of lush sand you hit sharp spiky rocks, with the sea never getting deep before you hit the rope, either your feet or knees will take a battering
Noise levels Again you may say "you're at an all inclusive of course they party late" but the rooms are nowhere near soundproof. Main entertainment doesnt start until 9pm and if you're still on European time this is basically 2/3am our time before anything even starts. The big show of the night usually ends around 10.30pm with an afterparty continuing until 11.30pm, close to 5am european time. This means if you want an early night because the tiredness is hitting you then bring some earplugs because the DJ is loud
Room issues I liked the rooms as I said but there were some issues. The floor gets wet really easily, and I'm not meaning from shower water like the floor literally sweats each day. This might not be the hotel's fault, I'm sure the weather is the main factor, but I assume the floor material couldve been different to avoid this happening. The TV doesnt connect to the internet. Not sure if this was just our room but the TV didnt have a network connection so we couldnt connect to the internet, there were no in built apps either so no chance of some netflix or D+ in the morning or evening in bed
Room service I want to stress the general room service was fine but there were two bug bares. The biggest was the over-exuberance of the nighttime cleaners. No matter what they would come round knocking on your door anywhere between 9-10pm at night asking if you wanted room service which was a little odd due to how late this was. But they would always persist, knocking multiple times, calling, before eventually just barging into the room and asking again. One night we had hit the hay early, it was just after 9pm, knackered from jet lag, drifting off to sleep, lights off, room quiet etc. 9.30pm we hear a knock that stirs us awake, a few seconds later another knock, then a shout of housekeeping, then another knock, by now we're both awake and annoyed that we've been disturbed, next thing we know door opens and a lady is calling out housekeeping, us barely respond due to being half asleep still and she actively steps a few paces into our room calling out again before seeing we're both trying to sleep and have no idea what she's on about, just a lady in cleaning robes at the foot of our bed both of us naked like it was just weird. Another night similar situation though we weren't yet asleep we actively shouted "no" back at her, but she kept knocking and calling and still came in the room again despite 3/4 "nos" from us. We didnt have a green card on our door either for turn down service so this just seemed a bit far and quite annoying. If you were at the entertainment you wouldnt notice this but they came as late as 10pm some nights so be aware. After 3/4 days one of our sinks started to stink from the drain, we reported it on the app and asked someone to look at it but no one ever did for the entire rest of the trip which was irritating too as it made the bathroom stink of bad drains for the second half of our stay
Indoor activities There is nothing to do inside. Again, you're in jamaica most of your time should be outside by a pool but it rains in jamaica, like a lot more than you think. We had days start off as cloudless 30 degree skies and by 2pm some of the heaviest rain you've ever felt. Now yes it passes but this rain can last for 2/3 hours even on days that are generally sunny, and when this happens you dont want to be sat on a sun lounger. So you retreat inside, but there's nothing to do. The restaurants dont open till 6 so you cant even stuff your face, the bars are open but thats about it. There is a single sad looking shuffle board table in the lobby, there's a small gym and there's a couple of pool tables, oh but they cost money to use lol! There are 2 onsite boutiques which I guess are okay but very expensive, and there's a tiny spa which costs an absolute fortune to use but maybe there's 5/6 people who'd use that. Aside from those 30 odd people (in a hotel for 1000+) there will be nothing to do but go to your room and wait like a grounded child. Oh but the wifi will be shocking, and the TV doesnt connect to D+ or Netflix so better hope there's something decent on American terrestrial channels in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday. Seriously though this is the big area that needs improving. I'd demolish the interior of the 4 specialty restaurants as they're awful, and turn one into like a retro arcade with free arcade machines or some consoles, put a bunch of ping pong tables or fusbal/pool tables in another, put a load of beanbags and board games and small tables in another room, and have the last room be something Jamaican themed. We got lucky as the two worst days for weather we went out travelling. But we had a few days where an hour or two before you head in for the day huge rainstorms came and we ended up spending that time sat in our room sleeping or mindlessly watching some old reruns bored out of our mind. People pay so much to be here and no one can plan for the weather, but the hotel should do more to accommodate bad weather. No one wants to sit outside in downpours, and there's only so much novelty to sitting at a bar indoors in your swim trunks and drinking at 11am that one can take. I know other resorts have games rooms, or console/board game rooms, or even like indoor squash courts or pickleball courts. Here there is literally nothing so unless your weather is perfect you better have a shed load of expensive excursions planned over your trip that aren't also weather dependent
Any questions ask and I'll answer. I couldve written twice as much lol!
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Date of stay: December 2024
Value
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Location
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Service
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Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Â Bring your own wet weather contingency like cards, multiple books, or a laptop etc
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Online Reputation Director, Other at Hotel Riu Palace Aquarelle
Responded Dec 24, 2024
Dear James H, We would just like to thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed and positive review. Your impressions will be forwarded to the responsible department for an appropriate follow up. We take this opportunity to offer you our RIU Class loyalty programme, a totally free membership that allows you to earn points every time you visit one of our hotels. You will be able to enjoy various advantages such as: redeeming your points for extra expenses at the hotel, transferring your points to other Riu Class accounts, sending special requests and much more. Thank you for staying with us and we would love the opportunity to serve you again. Wishing you happy holidays and a prosperous New Year! Hotel Riu Palace Aquarelle Online Reputation Manager
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Riu Palace Aquarelle, is a new hotel, opened on May 4, 2024 (one month), approximately 35 minutes from Montego Bay airport.
Its reception is very welcoming, as are its rooms.
Although check-in had been previously carried out through the APP, I did not notice any difference in time VS the average time it takes receptions to complete a registration. As always, before arriving at this property, from afar you can see it, it is impressive as Riu Palace always are. They welcome you with a welcome cocktail. Our room was facing the sea with all the comforts, services requested by the app such as towels, soap in the shower and others arrived quickly The restaurants: WHITE BAY: The varied buffet includes a section of local Jamaican food. Kyoto, Steak, Napoli and Krystal are the specialty ones, all with their menu not relevant to my taste; What I do appreciate is the waiter service, I really value the love they show to their service for serving diners well. The bars are nice, I highlight Pool Bar Kingston, with good music and quiet, the Pool Bar Marley is cool but the noise from the guests is exaggerated, ordering a drink was only for those who have a loud voice to speak. Sportbar air conditioning too cold Fun Splash Water, good space for a while of laughter and watching others scream while going down the slides During the night, there is nice music, the best show of the night is the Jamaican, with its local dances and the energy of the guys is really interesting. Yah Mon. The beach is beautiful, clean, wide, at the end of the afternoon you can see crabs.
Opportunity for improvement: The line that forms to get to the elevators is incredible, after 5 at the end of the activities in the pools or after the show or even when leaving with luggage to check out in the morning, I think more elevators were necessary to the lowest wing of the building. Booking a la carte restaurants the night you check in and the second night are a real challenge, very difficult to find space. If you are good, the host of each restaurant can get you a space, but I really notice a certain reservation about occupying empty tables because I noticed free spaces for a long time (more than 1 hour) and they said that they did not have the seats. Another observation, the APP should block the possibility of making several reservations on the same night for restaurants, this system does not identify if you have more reservations on the same night and lets you reserve as much as you want, blocking the opportunity for other guests who did not have reservations. They must control the mosquitoes, there are too many of them in the theater and the spaces outside the sports bar, I think that the guests are their buffet when we sit there, I have many bites from them on my arms and legs. Placing palapas on the beach would be great to cover a little from the sun
Recommendation: swim up rooms on level two are spectacular, private pool per room and beautiful sea view. I suggest allowing the sale of these rooms for 3 adults, I could not take it because it only allows two adults (minors are not allowed)
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Date of stay: June 2024
Value
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Location
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Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
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Wonderful new resort with full amenities and AMAZING service. We stayed in a 2 bedroom family suite: which had 1 bathroom. We are 3 people so that was fine by us. The toilet is a separate room than the shower so multiple people could still get ready at the same time. Beds were firm and very comfortable. One bedroom had a king bed and the other bedroom had two singles that separate or can be pushed together as a very large king. Mini bar was always replenished fully. Not like 1 bottle of Coke at a time but great service given to stock it fully, lots of bottled water (big and small bottles), fully stocked liquor and lots of mixer choices. Towels and washcloths were plentiful and refreshed completely each day. We had tons of towels which is very much appreciated! Showers were full pressure and warm and no issues with provided amenities of shampoo, conditioner and body wash. If you want bar soap: bring your own. The resort really shines in what it offers outside the room: attentive staff, delicious meals and great entertainment and shows. It was mango season and the buffet did not disappoint with providing a constant supply of these delicious fruits. The buffet was consistent in standard comfort fare but also changed offerings daily so it never felt like it was on repeat day after day. It also offered traditional Jamaican fare, and it was delicious. Loved the jerk chicken lunch poolside every day! The entertainment and shows were incredible from the Silver Birds, to the Reggae show, to karaoke, Kahoot trivia, silent disco, Reggae singers, DJ after parties, kids sing alongs, aquatic synchronized swimmers, foam dance party, I mean the list goes ON and ON. The effort and hard work this team puts into their shows is incredible. Lastly the staff bend over backwards for to relax and enjoy your vacation in this tranquil part of Falmouth. They do not hassle you to put any reviews online: but these people certainly brightened our vacation and made each moment so much better… Antoinne and Melissa W at the Kingston bar and Amanda at White Bay. Thank you Riu!!! We can’t wait to come back!!!
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Date of stay: June 2024Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Â Bring mosquito spray, your own insulated Yeti drink cup, small bills for tips (though never...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Online Reputation Director, Other at Hotel Riu Palace Aquarelle
Responded Jun 6, 2024
Dear TrailBlazer98935, Yours is a heart-warming feedback. It makes our efforts worthwhile when we read that our beautiful guests enjoyed a much-deserved holiday. It is us who wish to thank you and we look forward to welcoming your family and you again very soon. Warmest Greetings! Hotel Riu Palace Aquarelle Online Reputation Manager
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1) Water from tap marked "FOR HANDS WASH ONLY" was added to the smoothie of my son. That's one of the cases when I noticed. Accident: May 7th, pool bar between 6-7pm 2) 2 adults +1 kid in a room, every day during 4 days we received 2 towels only. Escalated that multiple times, same result. 3) After multiple escalation, house keeping knocked at the door 22:30, woke us up. 4) 4 days mini bar, in particular bottled water wasn't refilled. Multiple requests and escalations 5) Not family friendly: no step stool, sinks are too high for 4 years old. So my son wasn't able to brush his teeth. 6) Guests walk and rest on a pool with their own music (speakers), while music from pool bars sounds as well, and stuff has 0 reaction. 7) A la carte restaurants hard to book, usually in a restaurant 5 busy tables out of 18, but reservations are not possible. 8) Asian as well as Italian restaurant have nothing in common with Asian or Italian cuisine. 9) Stuff is very slow. 10) Pool is being closed at 6pm...when finally you can relax with no sun they close the pool 11) Activities: no morning activities, yoga at 4pm, when temperature is above 100, SUP (stand up paddle board) - cheap plastic empty inside, not possible to stand. Paddler is low quality and for short people (I'm average height but it was impossible to paddle) 12) there are dirty drains into ocean 600 feet right from the hotel (have video proof) 13) is not possible to swim in the ocean, bottom is very rocky, hundreds of black urchins and sting rays are on the bottom, safety issue. 14) Dirty dishes were not taken from the corridor for almost 24 hours after room service. 15) Tiles near the pools are slippery, first day was an accident with one of the guests
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Date of stay: May 2024
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Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Â Don't go there, save your vacion
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Online Reputation Director, Other at Hotel Riu Palace Aquarelle
Responded May 22, 2024
Dear Tanya K., Thank you for taking the time to provide us your feedback on your stay at our recently opened property. In our pursuit of excellence, it certainly saddens us to read that you were left disappointed with some areas. Truly, this is not the level of experience that we seek to provide our guests. We are surprised to learn you could not find anything of your liking. The management will be notified. Your feedback will be shared with our team and we hope that you will have a more favourable experience the next time you return to us. Best Regards, Hotel Riu Palace Aquarelle Online Reputation Manager
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Arrived at the resort on the 26th May for initially a 10 days glorious holiday, but instead it was a disaster! The staff are rude and makes inappropriate remarks, the buffet staff got no manners, not very helpful. The cleaning staff especially camillie very rude, she got no customer services she needs to be retrained as soon as possible and not to challenge the customers. We put the sign on our room door for room to be cleaned and fresh towels, on three occasions no replacement, we had no towels, we have to chase that up every time!
We got flooded three times, the AC was leaking very bad then the shower was blocked and flooded the bathroom, then we had heavy heavy rain which came onto the balcony flooded the hallway and into our room, everywhere was flooded, all our belonging our suitcase with our clothes shoes etc would have got ruined if we did not act quickly and gather our things and fled the room. We reported it and in my view the hotel managers should do something about it, I don’t want anyone to experience what we have gone through. We spent a lot of money for this holiday and was very disappointed, the hotel was built on a swamp big black mosquitoes is swarming you every night and every morning, the bites is terrible it stings and hurts and swollen with red spots.
The buffet was nice but should be more desserts and more of Jamaican cuisine. The ice cream taste like it was made from Lasco milk it was not nice at all!
The Italian restaurant was awful the lasagne was dry, no bechemel sauce or cheese was added the pasta taste like dumplings! Chef need to be trained
The steak restaurant was terrible our steak was served raw! Chef need to be trained!
The Chinese restaurant was very nice the pad Thai was so delicious the rest of the dishes was not too keen on it was serve cold and rubbery!
The pool was nice couldn’t go in the swim up one someone vomited in it and that was that we didn’t venture in that one again!
The beach is very rocky and dangerous my daughter stumble on a big rock and cut her toes!
Overall our family holiday to this newly built hotel was a disaster and in my view all the staff need to be retrained and the hotel should make sure all drainages is unblocked and working and do something to avoid flooding due to Mother Nature! I will not recommend my family to come here and as for me and my daughter it’s a no no! Royalton negril is for me!
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Date of stay: June 2024Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip: Don’t come in May it’s raining season in Jamaica
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Online Reputation Director, Other at Hotel Riu Palace Aquarelle
Responded Jun 17, 2024
Dear Ja-bijou, Thank you for choosing Riu and for sharing your feedback. As we strongly believe that guests come first, we regret to find that you were not happy with your recent stay and that there were some aspects that overshadowed your experience. If you wih to place a formal complaint, you may do it at: complaints@riu.com We have passed your concerns to the management department for an appropriate follow up and we sincerely apologize, as we hope you will give us another chance to welcome you again and share a more pleasant experience. Best Regards, Hotel Riu Palace Aquarelle Online Reputation Manager
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My family and I loves to travel to Jamaica. We usually take a family trip around the same time every year. One of my sister is a faithful fan of the RIU brand, so this isn't our first RIU. In fact I prevented a Fire from becoming much worst at RIU Reggae when we traveled there November 2023. I digress, in any event I was at RIU Aquarelle the week of June 16 -21-2024. The line to check in was manageable, it was not time to get our rooms so, we were told to come back a little after 3pm. By that time, the lines were long and no one available to assist. Fast forward, I was not impress with the beds, my mom called them extra large twin size beds, very hard and uncomfortable. I later found out from one of the staff that all the beds in the entire resorts are the same sizes Our room was full ocean view, that made my day, the same for the dining room area, the beach absolutely beautiful. I understand that the resort is new, and they are getting all the department situated, but housekeeping was extremely poor. It did not matter that I placed the green tag requesting if they could clean my room, but communicated to housekeeping asking if they could clean my room and the failed to do it. I submitted a request via the RIU App, it still did not work. Housekeeping failed to clean our room for three days, we had used towels piled up on the floor and we were running out o toilet tissue. The night before our departure, a supervisor actually came inside the room to observe the shenanigans. I was so upset it turned me off the RIU brand instantly. I was disgusted even more the following morning, when staff refused to take two minutes out of their time during breakfast to sing happy birthday for my 13 year old son. I was calm but extremely disappointed. I told myself that I would make it up to my son when we return to the State. Yes, the resort is beautiful, the food not so great, they did not have a sufficient amount of specialty dishes like oxtail and curry goat, most o the cooked food were slightly warm, and the liquor was bottom I mean bottom shelf to say the leased because it did not agree with some of us. If you wanted a reservation for the a la Carte restaurants, you had to stay up after 12am to get a reservation. My son wanted steak to celebrate his birthday, we all look sharped for our steak dinner to be totally disappointed because the steak had the gas grill after taste. I can't say I will never do the RIU brand, I'm just not sure I will be going back to Aquarelle again. I hope they will improve as they become acclimated. I will probably tell others of my experience, but I will also tell them they should go make their own experience. Not so excited
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Date of stay: June 2024
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Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Â The lines are extremely long when the jerk hut just open. If you fancy omelets for breakfast...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Online Reputation Director, Other at Hotel Riu Palace Aquarelle
Responded Jul 15, 2024
Dear Cheri L, We appreciate the time you took posting a review. As it is one of our priorities to give an outstanding service to all of our guests, we are truly saddened to find that you weren't fully satisfied with your recent experience. You may rest assured, that we have taken these issues to the attention of the management team to discuss and to immediately implement remedial action. We hope to see you again on your next trip in the area to have an opportunity to share a more positive experience. Best of hopes, Hotel Riu Palace Aquarelle Online Reputation Manager
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The Good: - The resort is brand new and so everything is in great shape, the rooms are modern and clean and the air conditioning works great. - The mini-fridge is well stocked with water, soda and beer, and each room has various bottles of liquor mounted on the wall, should you want a mixed drink. - The ocean is really beautiful, there are plenty of beach chairs and umbrellas, and they offer service on the beach though it is intermittent. One day, I had 4 people ask if I needed anything within an hour, and the next day I didn't see anyone for an hour. - The swim up bars are reserved for adults only and they're very strict about this. This is great so you can avoid 14 kids ordering mud slides and Shirley Temples and waiting 20 minutes to get a drink.
The Not so Good: - They offer free transportation from the airport. HOWEVER, this is managed through multiple third parties. There is a tour company - Nexus Tours was the one we were assigned and apparently the bus company is yet another separate company. What they don't tell you is that the buses leave the airport on a fixed schedule and as a result we were at the airport for over 2 hours after we landed. Yes, some of that was spent de-planing and getting through customs, but we sat on the bus, in the parking lot for over an hour before leaving. Our ppwk said our return was at 10:45am. The bus didn't show up until after 11:30am. - Check-in was pretty much a disaster. We arrived at the hotel a little after 3pm (check-in is at 3) and were told our room wasn't ready and that 3pm is "just when we start the check-in process" WHAT? We didn't get the room we booked but rather were given two separate rooms next to each other. Pretty much every other family in our group had problems with their room, including one family being given a king bed to sleep three people (no, there was no pull out couch). - The food is not great to say the least. I never expect anything spectacular with an all-inclusive, but the restaurants that required reservations were pretty bad. At least the two we went to - the Asian restaurant and the steak house. The menu at the Asian restaurant was very limited to begin with and then they were missing items as well. - They did a huge buffet for NYE dinner and it was very seafood heavy. Most of the seafood looked suspect. Shucked oysters that looked super dried out and that I wouldn't touch, as well as lobster that was a color I've never seen before that I would not touch. - Overall, I think there are too many rooms for the size of the overall facility. The main pool was chaos as it is really the only pool (besides the swim up bar pools), and trying to go to breakfast in the morning was difficult given the number of people.
Don't get me wrong, we had a good time overall, but I would not go back again.
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Date of stay: January 2025
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Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Â The pool gets crowded so be there early. Book your own transport if you can afford to do so.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Online Reputation Director, Other at Hotel Riu Palace Aquarelle
Responded Jan 7, 2025
Dear Dan M, We really appreciate you taking the time to share your constructive feedback with us. Please let us explain that we experienced a highly atypical volume of arrivals and departures within a very limited time frame. We are saddened to learn that you had the impression we were not fast enough, please accept our apologies. We are disheartened to read that your some aspects did not exceed expectations and that you were unable to feel entirely relaxed during your time with us. We will do what we can within our power to work on these issues, therefore, we will share your impressions to our team and we hope we have the opportunity of welcoming you back in the future to impress you. Best Regards, Hotel Riu Palace Aquarelle Online Reputation Manager
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Went to riu palace aquarelle for 10 days nice welcome with a rum cocktail given wrong room had to wait till the next day to be moved room was beautiful very large.reception staff were all fantastic all inclusive food nothing special but plenty of choices 3 pools 1 family 1 chill out 1 drinks bar some bartenders were more Interested in chatting to the women rather than serving drinks Plenty of sun loungers beautiful beach but beware very sharp rocks In The sea decent gym grounds are beautiful and kept clean was on the 3rd floor got constant banging from 10.00 am To 11.00 pm this came from the cappuccino bar where the coffee was made good drinks 🍸 good bar staff hotel shop very expensive as was the spa...lots of greedy holiday makers stuffing there faces with overloaded plates 🍽 didn't bother with the entertainment however could hear it from my room and a disco which went on till 1 in the morning Sone cleaners would clean your room if they felt like it some other cleaners were fantastic Had Italian food was so so Did the steak house roughly the same Didn't bother with breakfast last 3 days no taste in the food All the staff I came across were really nice and helpful But I doubt if I'd come back As this hotel is a very noisey hotel from morning to night
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Date of stay: October 2024
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Trip type: Travelled solo
Room Tip:Â Don't get a room facing the beach
You won't get any peace and don't get a room above the...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Online Reputation Director, Other at Hotel Riu Palace Aquarelle
Responded Nov 15, 2024
Dear arsenal1414, Many thanks for choosing Riu and for sharing your experience with us. We are saddened to hear that your recent stay did not match your expectations in all aspects, as we are always maintaining a strong commitment to dedicated service. Your experience is not reflective of the quality service we wish to provide, and we will forward your comments to the responsible team to look into your concerns. We sincerely hope that we will have the opportunity to welcome you back again for a more satisfying experience. We remain sincerely, Hotel Riu Palace Aquarelle Online Reputation Manager
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Worst Experience ever!!! The only thing that is good there is the hard working staff. Waiting for a room for for 6 hours is ridiculous. Making reservations to restaurants is not allowed till you check in by the time you get your room everything is booked. Pools do not open till 9am or later whenever they get cleaned. Only 5 small restaurants for a resort this size is absolutely crazy. And RIU really dropped the ball during the Hurricane. Over charging people that were not able to fly out due to airport being closed is beyond my understanding. People were getting charged more then they originally paid for there stay. People if you want to go to Jamaica stay anywhere but RIU palace Aquarelle. I went to Jamaica twice this was my first time and my last time. And I really hope the upper management sees this review because they are the once that can fix this not the hard working staff.
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Date of stay: July 2024Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Online Reputation Director, Other at Hotel Riu Palace Aquarelle
Responded Jul 10, 2024
Dear Max T, Many thanks for staying with us and for sharing your review. It is clear by your feedback, that we did not fully succeed to offer you a satisfying stay on this occasion. We make every effort to please every one of our guests from beginning to end as our aim is to exceed our guests’ expectations. We shall share your words with the corresponding department hoping that there were also many positive aspects of your stay and that this will bring you to visit us again in the near future. We remain respectfully, Hotel Riu Palace Aquarelle Online Reputation Manager
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I was debating whether or not to rate this property four or five stars. What I realized was that for the vacation that my family wanted, this was 100% 5 stars and we were really happy in the end that we chose this resort. That does not mean this was the most luxurious resort we have ever been to or that we experienced the best service, but for our needs this resort was an incredible time and overall great value.
We stayed in the Superior Family Room with Ocean view- This is not a suite, but rather it is two separate rooms connected by a separate shared entry way. This may be an issue if people are looking for rooms that are truly connected to one another, but our young kids managed. The rooms were brand new and clean. Housekeeping was amazing and helpful. The view was beautiful. The in-room free liquor/bar was also amazing,
The grounds are beautiful and we took advantage of the kids water park. They have two waterparks/slide areas- one for older kids and adults, and another for younger kids. We spent most of our time at the younger water park and the kids had a blast. There were tons of chairs at the pool and there was no need to "save seats" by the pool early in the morning like we have experienced at other 5 star resorts.
The beach is beautiful and great for young kids because the water, for the most part, was calm, while we were there, and you can stand in the part of the ocean that was roped off by the resort.
This was our first time an an all inclusive, and the food was passable, with some food better than others. We did not have high expectations for the food and it was not the best food we have ever had but it was good and got the job done. For the kids, its nice to have a lot of options and not feel bad spending $20 on a slice of pizza that they took one bite of and then ignored (which happens at places that are not all inclusive). At night, there are different restaurants you can make reservations at through the RIU App. We only went to the Italian restaurant and it was very good.
The service was very good for an inclusive resort. Again, it in no way compares to true 5 star hotel service but for the amount of people at this hotel I thought they did a great job.
TLDR: We had an amazing family vacation and I would return with my family. If you are looking for a romantic, luxurious resort this hotel may miss the mark. But for a family looking to enjoy beautiful Jamaica at a reasonable cost, this place is perfect!
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Date of stay: January 2025
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Online Reputation Director, Other at Hotel Riu Palace Aquarelle
Responded Jan 30, 2025
Dear Joe, We count ourselves lucky for our lovely guests. Positive feedback makes our day. Thank you very much for being our guest! We look forward to working for you again soon. Kindest Regards, Joe! Hotel Riu Palace Aquarelle Online Reputation Manager
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There are more places to choose from in the Florence Hall Village area.
PRICE RANGE
C$509 - C$707 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
LOCATION
CaribbeanJamaicaTrelawny ParishFlorence Hall Village
NUMBER OF ROOMS
753
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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Yes, it offers wheelchair access, reduced mobility rooms, and facilities for disabled guests. For specific enquiries, we recommend calling ahead to confirm.
