Upon arrival at the Montego Bay airport, it is very nice to have a lounge and front desk for the Ritz right there in the airport. One thing to be aware of is that they will check you in there, but not assign your room. So it still necessary once you arrive at the property to go to the front desk and 'check in' and get your keys. Since we were using Marriott Honored Guest rewards points for our stay, we weren't given any option as to the type of room we could reserve and therefore were looking to upgrade upon arrival. (It should be noted that we could have chosen any Ritz for our stay and since it was our Anniversary, we chose the Rose Hall location above all others.) We were told all the rooms were sold out and yet when we checked the hotel website only a few hours later, there were several types of rooms available for our stay. We checked many times throughout our trip, only to be told the same thing and never upgraded.
Our room was very nice size with marble bathrooms and a nice flat screen large TV, but our view was of the front of the lobby windows facing the pool/ocean and of a service door just below. We would have gladly paid extra for an ocean front or club level view and it was very frustrating not to be allowed that option. The rooms were clean and I requested extra shampoo and conditioner and were given 2-3 bottles each per day. The mini-bar was well stocked but again...very expensive. We called Housekeeping when leaving the room in the morning and it was always clean up on our return.
The only other complaint we had was that all the food and beverages were very expensive. A bottle of water in the room was complimentary but at the pool was $3. A mixed drink was $10 and a hamburger and fries at the pool were $18. Needless to say if you are paying for your trip, you want to do the all inclusive package if you plan on eating at the Ritz. We ate several meals off site and had a very memorable experience watching the sunset at Richmond Hill for our Anniversary dinner. We found the fine dining to be expensive everywhere and as mentioned in other review, taxis are also expensive. $25 one way to Montego Bay. One thing we were not told about was that if you make reservations at the Sugar Mill at Half Moon, they will send a van to pick you up for free....and that is well worth the trip too. Also if you make reservations at Margarittes (attached to Margarittaville but nothing the same), they have a free shuttle that runs hourly from the Ritz. We did use these shuttles once we were aware of them. We did find a place for Jerk Pork and Chicken just down the road (a $5 taxi ride one way) called Scotchies that is worth the visit. It was wonderful to mingle with some locals and have a Red Stripe and Jerk Pork with all the traditional sides for a very low price....all under a thatched roof bar. Well worth the trip for lunch. The best restaurant at the Ritz is defnitely the White Witch and you should head there for lunch for the view and for dinner for the food and entertainment. Expensive again but absolutely great quality. The Jerk Center on the beach is nice for lunch one day too as you sit at a picnic table with your feet in the sand right on the beach.
We didn't find the pool to be too small but we found that the coves along the walkway next to the ocean were absolutely great for lounging in the sun and private. We had our own cove nearly every day. The key to having people wait on you is to go to the bar and tell them where you'll be and that you'll want drinks and food often and they do come around, especially if you tip the first few days you are there.
The staff was overall very friendly and helpful and it is best to make reservations for dinner at the restaurants onsite as well as offsite. Their guest relations department can make those for you but they do expect a tip at the end of your stay if you use the same person the entire trip.
We did golf several places and the White Witch course is definitely the premier course in the area. The caddies are knowledgable and the course is beautiful with 14 holes with ocean views. Bring alot of balls though because it is a difficult course. It again was expensive at $200 per person per round, but if you are there and you are a golfer, even if it is the only course you play, it is worth the money.
Overall we had a wonderful trip but probably would not go back to Montego Bay because of the cost of golf, food and taxis. We have stayed in Negril and Ocho Rios previously but found them to be too far from the level of golf courses we wanted to play, namely White Witch, Half Moon, Tryall & Cinnamon Hill. Plus we didn't enjoy getting off the airport only to be shuttled for 1 1/2 hours to Negril or 2 hours to Ocho Rios, when the Ritz is 15 minutes away. If we do go back it will be to the Half Moon where I'm sure we'll get more of a Jamaican experience.
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