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Holiday Inn Sunspree Jan 4-11, 2003 01/25/2003
Reviewers Rating:  Good
This was our fourth stay at this resort and it will be the last for several reasons.
FOOD: The buffet was one half of what it used to be. Anyone who stayed at this establishment during the time that we did will have noticed a lot of empty counter space, which used to contain food items. Line-ups occurred because of this. As well, the selection of food was poor. We travelled with three children (22, 17, and 13 years old). One evening my 13 year old came to the table with a plate of lettuce and stated "there's nothing to eat." That night the selection was curried goat, eviscerated fish (real fishy tasting and at the buffet each night and some lunches)and jerk chicken (which is available all day at the jerk hut - try it at the hut because it is great). Vista's food is excellent but get in line before noon to get a seat. We tipped at this place as the service and food was excellent. Casa Verandah is Jamaican, why go - that is what they serve at the buffet. We could not get into Sea Breezes and it was not open every night.
DRINKS: If you like Red Stripe and rum drinks you'll do fine, if not your out of luck. Don't order a Margarita because you'll get a white sugary drink. Find Garfield at the adult pool bar (bartender, he is a real nice man and can mix good drinks that don't have rum.
WATERSPORTS: The snorkling is no longer included and horrible in the knee-high shallow water around the resort. The hotel wanted $20.00 US per person to take us out snorkling for 1/2 hour - family of 5 = $158.00 Canadian. Unfortunately, I bought my own snorkling equiptment, at a hefty price, thinking that I would do this daily. The weather was extremely poor when we went so there was only two days that I can recall that the watersports employees allowed the peddle boats etc to be used.
POOLS AND HOT TUBS: The main pool was overrun by roudy children who were NOT being supervised by parents. The adult pool is good. The sea side hot tub was locked up every other night!! I could not believe this. We asked at the front desk why it was locked up and they said it must be being worked on. Worked on every other night and not a worker in sight!During the day it too was overrun by unsupervised children who thought that it was a great bath/play area. The adult hot tub was good in that this was the first trip that we felt we were not being watched by voyeuristic guards. We actually had some privacy at night.
ENTERTAINMENT/WITCHES DISCO: I would rate the entertainment as being quite poor. Much of it was aimed at selling - for example Margaritaville, the bar, was the entertainment one night and they were trying to drum up business. I had the impression that the entertainment was supposed to make people tired so that they would turn in for the night as opposed to eat, drink and be merry. The two beach parties never happened but it did rain most of our stay. Witches disco is not worth the climb up the stairs - it certainly could be if the management so desired. The daytime entertainment and games was good, when they did it.
ROOM: Four times at this resort and a family of five amounts to a lot of revenue and I think that repeat guests would be desired. Our room's view (parents) was of the back of the tennis hut. We complained and asked for an upgrade and were told to come back in the morning. In the morning we were told to come back at 1 pm, coincidentally when bus loads of people have just arrived to check in. We stood in line and were told that there were no more rooms try back again. This continued on for two days and finally, I believe as a result of our Holiday Inn Priority card and continually showing up at the front desk, we finally were moved to a better view. We had no problem with our water pressure but the rooms do now need some work - i.e. bathroom upgrades and paint. We did have some lights that did not work. Our children arrived to room to find a blocked toilet. This took more than 24 hours and a lot of complaining to have fixed/plunged. Three teenage boys need the use of a toilet! The rooms were short on bath towels - 3 towels per room. The sliding doors required the strength of Hercules to open and close in both rooms.
STAFF: The staff work quite hard and have a lot of people to please, many of whom I am sure are unpleasable. They are not, for the most part, a happy bunch but I have to say that catering to people 24 hours per day, 365 days per year would take a toll on even the most jovial.
OVERALL IMPRESSION: The strengths in this hotel - and there use to be more otherwise we would not have returned so many times- are the location (10 minutes from the airport), the shopping arcade across the street (since free shuttles to Montego Bay are not included anymore), the adult pool section in a hotel that has oodles of children at it and plenty of lounge chairs scattered throughout the property. I hate to write such a poor review but I had the feeling that the hotel must be hurting for cash since they have really cut back on food and activities. We are seasoned travellers and we do not expect the Ritz; however, this last visit to the Holiday Inn was certainly differet than the prior three. I will not return to this resort but I will return to Jamaica.
S. Chambers
S. Chambers
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