We had a great time at the Riu for our honeymoon. We passed many hotels on the way (2 hr bumpy yet scencic ride) to our hotel and we were so glad that we booked the Riu. It is classy and fun! We were even greeted with a drink! The rooms were beautiful and elegant. The food was great-all of the restaurants are worth trying. They have something for everyone. Concerning food-you have to make reservations at 7-9am (some lined up at 6:15am for Sir Richard-it's overrated) for the non-buffet restaurants. It wasn't bad because it got you out of bed and on the beach. The beach was clean and comfortable. We ventured to Dunn's River Fall and White River Tubing-both were very fun and worthwhile. I would suggest bringing money with you because the resort does not have an ATM machine. Also, bring many small bills for tipping and bargaining at the markets-if you choose to do so.
The Riu in Ocho Rios was perfect! Get there while it is still reasonable!

I stayed at the RIU Ocho Rios June 10-14, 2006. I always try to make these reviews as unbiased as possible, and I hope this helps anyone considering a stay at the RIU Ocho Rios.

In short, the time we had was wonderful!! Check-in was extremely quick and easy. Everyone was friendly, even though we had a few minor incidents; our room keys didn't work, even though we had them re-programmed twice (We got issued completely new ones). Also, at check-in, the lady that took care of us gave us only one towel card instead of two. These were minor inconviniences and the staff was very apologetic and fixed these problems quickly.

GROUNDS: The grounds are beautiful; everything is in pristine condition and kept vey clean. The rooms are comfortable, and the maids always did a great job cleaning the rooms and were very sweet. The two main pools are beautiful; they have fountains and comfortable swim-up bars.

BEACH: The beach is gorgeous! Clean, white sand and crystal-clear water. However, for those of you that like to take long walks down the beach, this particular beach does not stretch super-far. It is wide, but on one side a pier makes an impasse, and on the other, rocks. There is never a problem finding loungers on the beach or near the pool. Shade on the beach is sparse, although you can find it under palm treets without too much difficulty; the beach/pools are never crowded. Snorkeling is very good if you swim past the bouys to the reef. Be careful of boats on jet-skis, though! The vendors on the beach do want to sell their items to you. If you are not interested, do not show any interest and say "no, thank you" and they'll leave you alone with no problem. Ganja is just a fact of life anywhere in Jamaica; you'll get a whiff every now & then. If this causes you great stress, do not vacation in Jamaica.

FOOD: The food is fairly good; they have a very wide selection for every taste. Some of it was a little bland, but most of it really is good. We mostly visited the buffets, as the reservation system for the specialty restaraunts was really is a hassle. You need to show up in person at one bar between 7am-11am to make reservations for the specialty restaraunts (inconvinient if you like to sleep in). We checked out the Asian restaraunt one night; it was buffet-style that served asian-type foods. It was ok, nothing too spectacular. In summary, food was always fresh and interesting, always a selection.

NEGATIVE: The hotel was wonderful, but the one negative point was that much of the service was really dependant on tips. I have no problem tipping when someone gives great service, however, many of the staff expected a tip BEFORE they even served you, which got really annoying. (There were others that always served you quickly & with a smile, even when there was no tip).

OTHER: For those of you that complain about the airport customs and travel time to the RIU, yes, I agree, it is a hassle. However, we are rating the RIU Ocho Rios, and not Jamaica's airport or highway system. The RIU is great. The trip from the airport was long and a bit bumpy (about 2 hrs), and customs at the airport was a hassle, but the resort is definately worth it!

Solely rating the hotel, I give it a 4.5. Beautiful & fun for everyone! Enjoy your vacation if you choose this resort! Very worth it if you book a good deal!

I stayed at the Riu Ocho Rios...it was the best time i've ever had!!!!

The staff at the resort were absolutly amazing. They were very friendly, and helpful. I had a lot of fun talking to them, while they told us good ol' stories about jamaica and the resort and jamaican culture. It was a experiance in itself. They were the most fun loving bunch of people i've met.
The entertainers were awesome, they loved getting the crowd pumped up, and the resort always had lots of stuff for us to do. There were salsa lessons, reggea lessons, different shows every night, and every afternoon by the pool side they had music and entertainers.

The resort was beautiful. The rooms were very clean and very large in size. The hotel staff were alwasy cleaning, and there was not one moment were i felt like i couldn't walk barefoot in my room or down the corridoors after being at the beach.

There were two dissapointing factors of the hotel. The first being that the food was not something that i enjoyed at the hotel. It was very western. Going to jamaica i wanted to eat some traditional jamaican food. However, since the hotel was very westernized i was unable to do that. The other thing which i did not like about the hotel was that if you have friends and family living in Jamaica it would not be possible for you to see them. The hotel charges $80 usd for someone to come onto the resort to see someone. Which i did not appreciate, as i have friends in Jamaica, which made it difficult for them to come see me, or even come onto resort property to come pick me up.

All the staff and hustlers on the beach had named me "indian princess"...and i must say i do miss being called that...lol

Oh yes...there are lots of hustlers on the beach and off the resort also, but they do not harm you in anyway shape or form, they just want you to buy there stuff. Just remember it's there way of making money...also remember that they will probably ask to give you ride to certain pleace and stuff but try to stick with the registered taxi companies.

The hotel has its own taxi's but keep in mind that these ones are a lot more expensive as they quote you prices in US dollars only. However if you walk off the resort and catch a local registered taxi teh price is half of what you would pay. Just make sure you only get taxis' with RED license plates, as they are the registered taxi's.

Dont' be scared to leave the resort...we left a bunch of times, and it was fine. Just try not to be flashy. Also try to have Jamaican Dollars with you at all times. We found that it was a lot cheaper if you choose to pay in Jamaican Dollars as opposed to paying with US Dollars.

The hotel is only about 15 mins from Dunns River, and Dolphin's Cove, and about a 20 min drive to both Margaritaville and the craft markets in Ochi.

Dunns River is just beaultiful....Dolphin's Cove is amazing...it's a unbeilevable experiance... Margaritaville is a fun place to go...they have a pool inside the club which you could go on...it's lots of fun. The Craft Markets are a lovely place to shop, but be aware of everyone wanting you to come visit there shop. NEVER BUY ANYTHING WITHOUT BARGAINING WITH THE VENDORS FIRST!!!!! lol..

Other than that...the hotel was beautiful, and Jamaica was awesome. I would go back here again. And i would suggest anyone going to Ocho Rios to go stay at the Riu Ocho Rios.

Jamaica was awesome and i can't wait to go back to the island!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I stayed at the Riu Ocho Rios with my seven year old daughter in the first week of June and we loved it!!!

Yes there are minor downsides like the journey from the airport, beach vendors and quite a bit of rain but on the whole it was totally amazing and tops our list of best holidays!

From the minute we arrived we felt really relaxed and well looked after. A 'tropical pick me up' in hand we strolled over to our rooms while a porter brought our bags!

Our junior suite was great and we loved the view from our balcony, mini bar and whirlpool bath.(Fantastic after a day in the sun or a busy trip out!)

We stayed over on the suite side in room 1456 which seemed much more peaceful and laid back. We never struggled to get a lounger at either the pool or the beach! The music from the bar was never too loud and it had a great family atmosphere. My little girl played happily with the other chlldren there and I was never concerened about her safety because the pool is quite shallow, the lifeguards are excellent and children are free to play because it was so safe and not too busy. She truly had a whale of a time and made a good friend who lives quite near to us at home!

I have to give the towel hut guys a special mention for being funny and really helpful!

The beach is beautiful and yes the vendors do approach you but a friendly 'No thank you' and a chat is all it takes for them to leave you to get on with your holiday. They seemed more interested in chatting about England and football than hard sell.
Just remember they are human beings-don't ignore them or be rude-I saw this happen a couple of times and was disgusted!

Many people on this site slate the food at this hotel which just seems crazy to me! Not being a big drinker food is one of my only vices and I was more than happy with the superb choice at the Riu!

It's not haute cuisine but it's fresh, plentiful and really good! We all ate really well each day and the choice was fantastic!

Breakfast was a personal favourite-I loved the smoothies (bought a smothie maker since arriving home), the pancakes and honey were lovely, bacon and scrambled eggs delicious, pastries, muffins and croisants fab, fresh fruit refreshing, coffee wonderful, toast and jam yummy!

For lunch we walked across to Plantation(the beach restaurant) and really enjoyed the pasta station, chicken from the buffet or marvellous 'JERK HUT', sandwiches of your choice, burgers, rice, salad, chips, pizza......etc
I am a big dessert lover and thought they weren't bad at all-especially the chocolate brownie cake and fruity orange coloured ice cream!

One night we tried a speciallity restaurant. (The steak house Mammie Bay)
We found the food here much blander than in the St Ann's buffet so decided not to bother with the others. We would have liked to try the Sir Richard and were up in time to make reservations a couple of days but I was worried it may have been difficult to find something my daughter liked.

The St Ann's did theme nights, Italian, mexican and spanish while we were there and we loved the Jamaican corner too!

We ate really well (have come back 8 pounds heavier so beware!) and the service, cleanliness, choice, freshness etc can not be faulted!

I have read some reviews that moan contantly about the food-Hey you're in Jamaica NO PROBLEM MAN! I think some people are just never satisfied!

Should also point out most drinks are great! (wine is a litle ropey but not that bad!) A Strawberry daquiri without rum was the drink of the week M mmmmmmm! Also the capucinnos are really lovely especially when it's a bit chilly after the rain.

Hotel entertainment was enjoyable-we thought the Michael Jackson show was excellent even though we're not keen on Michael Jackson!
I was really gutted cos the day we left was the Grease show-bet this would have been really funny!
Left during the Miss Riu competition cos it was getting a bit risque for my daughter to watch and really did n't like the play with sex and guns! (Take note Riu managers!)

Bar service at night was good although you could see they were very over worked and tired! Non-alcoholic drinks choice was great and the odd alcoholic cocktail I had was lovely too!

We took our own snorkels and thought the snorkeling was very good. You only had to go to reefs about 20 yds from shoreline to see rays, lots of different fish, starfish, urchins, conch etc. My daughter loved her first snorkelling experience, we snorkelled daily and taking our own equipment was definitely the thing to do! (quite cheap at Decathlon)

My friend went a bit further out and even saw a huge Baracuda (he was a bit taken aback but said it was an amazing experience!)

Trips out-we had a really busy week because I don't believe in travelling all that way and sitting in my hotel all week!

We went on the Irie adventure (Matha Brae rafting and Dunn's river falls) really excellent trip-climbing Dunn's is spectacular-a real must do! Lunch at BiBis in Ochci was great too!

Horse riding was an amazing experience despite torrential rain! My little girl was a little nervous at first but her guide DEVON-same name as my daughter was fantastic with her!

Galloping in the sea was soooo good! Great fun, we laughed our heads off and really had a super time!

The south coast safari-a good trip BUT four and a half hours on a bus there then four and a half hours back made it hard going. My daughter was really really well behaved but would have been a disaster with more restless or boistrous kids!

Rum factory-Appletons is a great experience-we were pleasantly surprised cos we thought this would be the boring bit! Beautiful scenery and very informative-you can taste all 24 varieties if you can stomach it!

YS falls-we only had an hour here which was a HUGE shame-absolutely beautiful place-rope swing across falls was exhirlarating and scary-so glad I did it! Daughter loved playing on tubes in pool at bottom! Too rushed -would have loved to properly see the hummingbirds feeding on nectar feeders!

Black river boat tip-started to chuck it down and thunder and lightning while we were having our lunch.(which was very tasty!)

Still got to go on river with big yellow rain slickers on! Saw 4 crocs- they were not very up for it because of rain apparently. Birdlife on river was good too-shame it was so wet and did n't see more crocodiles but still a really fantastic experience!

Although bus ride was soooooo long got to see a lot of Jamaica. Passed through 9 parishes in total-this was good for me as stepfather is Jamaican and I feel I got to see lots of the real Jamaica that you don't often see as a tourist!

Riu was a great base and we enjoyed the luxury-not 5 star but a very good 4! Weddings on beach looked nice definitely the way I'd like to do it!

IRIE,AMAZING, FANTASTIC, UNFORGETTABLE, BEAUTIFUL, WONDERFUL, SUPERB......I could go on....a really enjoyable week and I wil be visiting Jamaica again xx