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Riu Tropical Bay 05/12/2003
Reviewers Rating:  Excellent
My husband and I, along with two friends just returned from our first visit to Jamaica! We were in Jamaica for the week of May 1, 2003 to May 8, 2003. We booked with Sunquest Vacations and flew Skyservice into Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay. We left Toronto at 6:15 a.m. and arrived in Montego Bay at around 10:00 a.m. (Toronto time) or 9:00 a.m. local time. The flight was uneventful. Once we arrived at Sangster Airport, we were questioned by a group of doctors regarding any possible SARS infections as we had flown out of Toronto. This questioning was not very in depth and we were finished with the SARS business in a matter of minutes. However, we waited a very long time in the customs lines and by the time we got our luggage and were on the bus it was close to 10:00 a.m. local time. We must have waited another half-hour on the bus before we were actually on our way to Riu Tropical Bay. This was not very organized compared to some of the other places we have visited.
The ride to the Riu Tropical Bay was about an hour and a half. Our Sunquest Representative, Christine, rode with us and gave us a mini tour of that part of the island. We also stopped briefly close to the hotel for a washroom break and a quick drink.
CHECK-IN: This was fairly quick. They were waiting for us with a welcome drink. In order to make things easier for us, they would call out our name and give us our room key and save lock and key (included in the price). The luggage was left in the lobby with a sticker provided by the resort with our room number. A bellhop would then take the luggage up to our room for us. Thereís a very helpful orientation the following morning and I definitely feel everyone should attend as it provided us with some very useful information. [8 out of 10]
ROOMS: We were on the third floor, room 2302. The room consisted of a two double size bed pulled together, a dresser with a television set (21 satellite channels) and a table with 2 small chairs. There was a dressing room area with 2 closets (one large and one small), a full length mirror and the mini bar area. The bathroom had a toilet, sink, bath and shower and hair dryer attached to the wall. The room was very nice. The room also had a balcony with two chairs that we could sit and relax at night. We had a garden view room with a partial view of the ocean. There were no cockroaches in our room as previously noted in other reviews; however, I did see a couple of bugs that crawled in under the door but that was expected in a tropical climate. [9 out of 10]
FOOD/DRINKS: The food was excellent. I think we have finally found a resort that surpassed our Dominican Republic holiday as far as food goes. The resort has 1 a la carte restaurants, Sir Anthonyís. We ate there 3 times during our stay. The beef tenderloin is awesome. The food is excellent but donít bother with the soup portion of your meal. The resort also has a pizzeria, DíAngelos. We ate there quite a few times. The Seafood pizza is excellent. Our group found the Reggae pizza (jerk chicken) extremely hot and we like hot food. There is one extremely large buffet restaurant, The Negril. This restaurant has two seatings, one at 7:00 p.m. and one at 9:00 p.m. On our first visit to the restaurant we were given a table which was ours for the rest of the trip and the 9:00 p.m. time slot. There is also a smaller buffet restaurant called Bloody Bay Restaurant next to the pools and beach. This is where they served lunches if you did not want to go to the pizzeria.
Breakfast was served at the Negril Restaurant from 7:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and continental breakfast was served at Bloody Bay Restaurant 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Breakfasts were always excellent. I think the omelets were excellent, as were the croissant French toast. There was tons of variety to choose from.
Buffet lunch is served at Bloody Bay Restaurant 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and at the pizzeria from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The buffet had something for everyone. I found the food really good at lunch. There is also the Jerk Chicken Shack on the beach next to the Bloody Bay Restaurant. They have great jerk chicken and sausage. I definitely recommend the chicken and the jerk sauce is not to hot.
Dinner was served at the buffet restaurant at two seatings ñ 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. with no reservation needed as your table was waiting for you. You also had the option of reserving the a la carte restaurant in the mornings between 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the Negril restaurant entrance. Seating was limited so it was a good idea to book first thing in the morning, as the restaurant would fill up quickly. There was a lot of choices at the buffet to pick from. My only disappointment was that they never had lobster once during our stay.
Overall, I would say that the food was well prepared, presented and flavored. [9.5 out of 10]
Drinks were very good. I had to keep reminding the bartenders to go slow on the alcohol. Thereís no such thing as a watered down drink at the Riu. The Mango Daiquiris are excellent. There are 3 bars and a discotheque with a bar serving drinks. [9 out of 10]
BEACH / POOL: The beach was beautiful. The water was that beautiful shade of turquoise. I had read some reviews stating that this was the most beautiful beach in the Caribbean. I must disagree. I thought that the beach in front of Casa Del Mar, La Romana in Dominican Republic and Playa Pilar at the end of Cayo Guillermo were superior beaches. However, the beach was awesome and I spent a good deal of my time in the water as it was bath water warm and not too much movement as far as waves. (Note: make sure you do not lose the beach towel as there is a $30.00 US fee for each lost towel). [9 out of 10]
There are 2 pools at the resort (1 adults and 1 kidsí/ activities pools). The pools are not very large. I didnít really use the pools since I preferred the beach but my husband and friends did and enjoyed them as they sat at the swim up bar. There were plenty of chairs around the pool and them didnít seem to be occupied. There are also 2 whirlpools to enjoy. [9 out of 10]
ENTERTAINMENT: The resort needs to work on this somewhat. There were a couple of shows that were not too bad. But for the most part it was just okay compared to all the other excellent services available to us. I must say that the staff does try however. The disco was okay. We ventured in there once. Itís not that big and becomes very smoky. It was alright but if I want that atmosphere I can go to any club downtown Toronto and get the same thing. [6 out of 10]
EXCURSIONS: We went on two trips.
We went on the Rickís Caf頡nd shopping excursion into Negril. We were harassed as soon as we got off the bus at our first shopping stop. First by a number of gentleman selling whatever drug you desired and secondly by a woman begging for money (the only one I saw during our trip). The first group left us along when we said we were not interested however the woman did not. I must say that shopping is not the best in Jamaica. Our driver took us to the Lighthouse in Negril to kill some time before Rickís Caf鮠 Rickís Caf頷as also a disappointment as it was cloudy and we were not treated to a beautiful sunset. The trip cost us $15.00 per person as we gathered a group of ten together. [7 out of 10]
The second trip that we went on was the Black River Safari and YS falls trip. This cost approximately $70.00 (U.S.) each and included lunch. We went on a boat down the Black River and saw the flora and the fauna of the area. The highlight of this trip was when were taken to a little inlet in the river were the crocodiles would come up to the boat and you could take there picture and pet them if you wanted. We had lunch a Luna Gardens, in the Jamaican countryside. The food was good. After lunch we went to an orchid farm and then we were driven to the YS Falls. You could swing across the swimming hole of swim in the pools that gather under the falls. It is said that the waters of the YS falls have healing powers. This was a beautiful trip as we got to see a bit of the Jamaican south coast. [9 out of 10]
On both these excursions we had a very knowledgeable and informative guide which helped us understand the Jamaican culture.
RESORT: We thought that the resort was beautiful. It is not too big. There are gorgeous plants everywhere. The groundkeepers do a wonderful job of maintaining the grounds. They are stunning. We saw several weddings taking place in the beautiful gazebos on the resort. Overall, the resort was wonderful. It was far nicer looking than the Couples resort next door and the Grand Lido two doors down. [10 out of 10]
STAFF: The staff at the Riu Tropical Bay were wonderful! They were friendly and helpful. We tipped our maid everyday ( $1.00 per day and a small gift). We felt we were provided with exceptional service. We also tipped the waiters at the different restaurants, not because we had to but because we enjoyed the service they provided us and therefore wanted to thank them. [10 out of 10]
AIRPORT DEPARTURE: This was the worst part of our trip. Sunquest really needs to do something to improve this. We were scheduled to leave the resort at 6:30 a.m. local time. We left at 7:00 a.m., got stuck in a traffic jam and arrived at the airport at 9:00 a.m.. We waited another 35 minutes in line so some security person could pretend to check our luggage and another 15 minutes to finally get up to the Sunquest counter. We went through security at the entrance to the departure gates at 10:00 a.m. and boarded our plane at 10:15 a.m. (the plane was suppose to leave Montego Bay at 10:20 a.m.). The plane finally took off at 10:45 a.m. Very poorly disorganized. Sunquest really need to improve this. Only good thing is that the departure tax was included in the price so we didnít to dish out $27.00 U.S. per person. [4 out of 10]
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: We have traveled together to Mexico (Club Viva Maya in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico ñ Mayan Riviera),to the Dominican Republic (Casa Del Mar in La Romana), the Iberostar Daiquiri in Cayo Guillermo in Cuba and the Royal Decameron Costa Blanca (Panama). We used these as our standards. Overall, we loved our trip to Jamaica. Itís a beautiful country with wonderful, warm, smiling people. There is poverty in Jamaica but I found that it is not as bad as in Mexico, Dominican Republic or Cuba. We never got sick. [10 out of 10]
I will travel to Jamaica and the Riu Tropical Bay again. I loved it very much and would recommend it to anyone who loves good food, times and a wonderful beach.
Juliana and Edgar Vieira
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