I have just returned from a week long vacation in Jamaica. My wife and I stayed in Ocho Rios at a resort called Club Jamaica.
Being from Toronto, Canada we booked our trip with Sunflight Holidays. According to Sunflight’s brochure, Club Jamaica is a “3 1/2 star”
resort.
I just want to go on record that Club Jamaica is no “3 1/2 star” resort. It lacks much of the amenities that the Renaissance Hotel has next door, which by the way is rated as a 4 1/2 – 5 star place. Differences between the two are quite obvious . Club Jamaica has only 1 restaurant and 1 bar whereas the Renaissance Hotel has 4 or 5 restaurants and 4 or 5 bars. It has a Casino Room with electronic slot machines. Club Jamaica does not have anywhere near these things. Night life at Club Jamaica was tame as compared to
next door.
However, criticism aside, Club Jamaica has its good points. There are no kids. Food is quite good (being an all-inclusive resort) , the staff are very friendly and courteous and the value we paid to stay at this place you can’t beat. A small place like Club Jamaica allows you too meet people much easier and we found many Europeans as well as Americans and Canadians quite friendly. The accommodations were a disappointment, though. The rooms were very basic and there was not enough lighting in them. Our king size bed was also not very comfortable.
The property itself was clean but maintenance in certain areas of the hotel were sadly lacking. The beach area was ok but when compared from the Renaissance Hotel, the
view or location from there was much nicer . The moral of the story is :”You get what you pay for”.
All in all, if you are looking to go to Jamaica on a budget, don’t care about amenities, are single and just want a place where you can relax and just do nothing then this is
a good place to go. However, if you want a vacation where you want to be pampered a little, be in a better environment and have more amenities and money is
not necessarily a concern, then the Renaissance Hotel in Ocho Rios is the better choice.
Ocho Rios has many Duty Free Jewelry shops and prices were not bad on a lot of stuff. If you stay at any of the two places mentioned expect to see lots of cruise ships docking
just off the beach area. Snorkeling was great and the reefs are a real treat. Dunn River Falls is a must see in Ocho Rios and climbing the Falls is also another must.
US Dollars is king and will get you everywhere with the local residents, however, being a tourist can be a very expensive when needing transportation. Expect to
be approached constantly by locals who want to sell you everything and anything. After awhile, this gets
to be quite annoying but over all our trip to Jamaica was great. The weather was hot and sunny and rained only one afternoon.
In other words, I plan to return to Jamaica again.
