Hi Chicagotraveler500, I'm heading there in 2 and a half week and I've got about the same concerns as you. Now that I can't back off and book another place, I'm quite prepared to most issues raised from previous posters lately. Here are my thoughts though:

-Safety: I've seen other places (true 5 stars), safes being broken into. I keep a minimum in the safe and store the rest in a locked luggage. So far, it worked.

-Rooms: If air conditionning is broken, someone should fix it or they'll change you room. As for towels, you might have to reuse them. Toilets is another issue I guess.

-Buy some booze at the duty free and keep it in your room. You may order the few other cocktails at the bar and bring nice tip. Tip consistently (on every drink). Sad to say, but that can help you cut through the line of "non tippers" (too bad for them if they don't tip!).

-No idea about the pizza or pasta stuff, but that's usually a "classical" So it should be there.

Bottom line, it's better to make the most of it and accept these "drawbacks" too. ;)

It’s a shame that your worried about your holiday…. And not looking forward to it and being really excited as it’s only 2 weeks away.

I know the opinions I gave were only mine… and the other 7 in our group… but we had

• No problems with safes being broken into… or any other security problems for that matter (nor did we talk to anybody while we were there that did)

• Customer service… we’ve talked about before

• Never had a problem with air con… like I said, make sure you get another card for your room to leave in the air con so it stays on… again didn’t talk to anybody who had a problem. No problems with toilet overflowing etc.

• Food…. We’ve talked about that before.

• Cocktails – there’s a good selection.

• The buffet serves the most fantastic selection of home made pizzas every night.

• I also noticed a day or two ago that somebody posted about the jerk bar being closed for several days… while we were there (for 2 weeks and got back 1 week ago)… it opened every day except Monday…..

Please try not to worry and look forward to your holiday…. You’re going to be that stressed when you get there you will be looking for problems…..;)

Please enjoy – and wish your parents happy anniversary from us in the UK….

Love Flecky x

There childrens section of BUFFET is great, pizza/pasta/chicken/fries etc. Also, the pasta bar guy/girl will make whatever you like. Pasta is kind of pre done but hot and they do a sauce and add whatever you like. As Ihave said I have always thought the BUFFET was great.

re: the safes being broken into...

well, they're not really being "broken" into... they actually all have security override codes that reset the safes. we discovered it when we were there last year... you type in 000000 (pretty sure it was six 0's, but my memory isn't great) and it pops open the safe and resets your code.

the staff know about it... that's how they reset the safes after guests leave. so they can open your safe at any time without "breaking" anything.

word of this spread quickly through the resort when we were there... we tried this little trick on numerous people's safes in different rooms, and it ALWAYS worked.

now, i write that based on my personal experience last year. they may have changed the safes since then... but this was certainly the case for the safes that we had.

this is also a useful thing to know, because then you don't have to pay the per day charge for the safe. you can just open it yourself for free.

fyi - we never had anything taken from our rooms, but we kept our passports in our suitcases and had minimal cash with us. but honestly, security was never a worry for us at this resort.

before i travelled to the GBP in april i like you, was fretting about the bad reviews but dont let it mar your excitment of going to jamaica!! Yes there are some bad issues that people have experianced but also some great!! everybody is differnt and want for different things but if a minor problem arises just quote the jamaicans and think "no problm"

To answer your question about the cocktails i found there plenty to choose from but my fav was the pina colada so stuck to that for the duration!!!

I can not comment on the safe as we never used one as i thought the charge was a bit extreme and had too read about the break ins on TA before going what i did was lock my passports and spare cash in the suitcases and always took the keys with me! We left our childrens DS out on a number of occassions as well as our mobiles and glad to report nothing went missing!

This hotel will take your breath away when u arrive and although there may be some thibgs that dont suit when u see some of the hotels in runaway bay u will be smiling that u choose this one it is not all doom and gloom its a great place to base yourself but dont forget there is a different side to jamaica outside of its front door so get out and experiance it!!!!!!!!

Chill a little now and start getting in that holiday spirit IRIE MON

Chicagotraveler,

I was there with my boyfriend about 2 weeks ago and these are the answers I have for your questions.

-Safety - never had any issues at all within the room or on the grounds of the hotel. I always leave valuables at home just to be safe.

-Customer Service - this area did need a bit of change to be more positive. Most of the bar tenders I dealt with were fantastic and same goes for the servers in the a la carte restaurants. The only issue I would have had was in the buffet. More staff were needed in this area.

-Rooms - always had a/c, hot water, short one hand towel and one bath towel during one of the days. When this was noticed we called down to front desk and those towels were brought to us within 10 min. Never had any issues with the toilets either.

-Food - Buffet was ok, not fantastic but not horrible. There was always a good selection to choose from. The a la carte dinners were great. There was pizza and pasta that was made right in front you. You chose what you wanted in your pasta and what type of sauce. That was a really tasty dish.

-Cocktails - There is a drink menu where you can try a variety of drinks. Only certain bars have a blender though.

I did not experiece any problems while at this hotel that I would have to complain about. I hope your time will be equally enjoyable. Don't worry so much and be excited for the fact that you get to go on vacation and make the best of everything once you are done there. Have a great time!

Just got back yesterday - I've submitted my review. I do not regret going and I had a good time.

room safety: our door did not properly lock unless you pulled upwards on the handle (I didn't consider this a big deal, I just made sure it was locked when I left the room!)

customer service: I think the staff are simply overworked - I did not witness or experience any rudeness by staff members.

we always had hot water - we did have a water leak but that was it.

food: pretty good and yes to both pizza and pasta bars - I was there a week and found something every day at the buffet

I was going to go to Gran Bhaia Principle Jamaica for my honeymoon, the reviews were so horrible I could not take the stress anymore so I changed it to Couples Sans Souci. I am so excited. I hope your VK is ok. IF I am not mistaken can't you cancel reservations up to 3 days before and try and book somewhere else

I stayed at the Gran Bahai from June 25th to July 2nd. I did not have any major problems (just some small ones). My a/c worked and the toilette didn't over flow. However, like many other guests I was given a king size bed when I ordered two doubles. The front desk was very kind and let us sit in this KING room (air-conditioned) while they found us a room with two doubles. Some other guests were not as lucky and the front desk gave them a roll-away bed. There was one family of four with a king bed and one aunt and a nephew. The front desk was not always nice.

I asked for stationary and washclothes from the maid and never received them. I used a body towel to wash my face! No problem.

The Orchid buffet was the worst place in the hotel for customer service. When you are seated you are very lucky if you get a glass of water. I dreaded going there, but it is the only place open for breakfast. For dinner there was good pizza and pasta. Because of the poor service I had a hard time enjoying the food. Not much of a variety to me. I liked going to the Pisces snack bar down on the beach. At least there you can get your own drinks.

I never felt that the bars were that busy, I never waited more than a minute for a drink. It seems like they put very little alcohol in the pina coladas and daiquries. Try some other mixed drinks, like the Bob Marley. Good luck, I hope you do not have any problems.

Thanks for your input. We will try to make the best of our trip. Was it very crowded. Do you think they are at or near full occupancy? Did you have a chance to eat at any of the ala carte restaurants. How was the weather?