Club Hotel Riu Negril – Negril – Jamaica

Typical Hotel Riu check in, very quick & efficient, no fuss & with a welcoming drink. We were checked in & in our room within 10 minutes of getting off the coach (which was full).

ROOMS
Rooms were air conditioned and contained two double beds, sideboard, bedside tables, chairs & table, TV, radio alarm clock, mini bar & 4 optics (rum, brandy, gin & vodka), a big wardrobe, twin sinks in bathroom, shower over a full sized bath, hairdrier. Rooms were spotless & cleaned every day. Towels and sheets are changed daily but there were sometimes bits missing e. g. no face cloths or a missing bathmat.

POOL & GARDENS
Beautifully kept & always clean with two fair sized pools, one with pool bar & jacuzzi, the other where the games (water polo etc) were played & the poolside entertainment was held. Situated next to each other.

FOOD & DRINK
The Club Hotel has three speciality restaurants – “Sir Andrews” which was full a la carte, “Luigis” which was Brazillian & “Shadows” which was the steak house. Luigis was an Italian during the day & also acted as the 24 hr bar/restaurant. The selection of food was not great, but perfectly adequate. The quality of the food was the usual Riu standard but wasn’t always hot. Service was very good. Lunch was served in the Shadows restaurant or Luigis (Italian). The Jerk Hut on the beach is superb serving chicken with either a jerk sauce or BBQ sauce with rice & beans. There are several bars on the complex – a pool bar, beach bar, lobby bar, plaza bar and, in the evenings, a bar next to the entertainment area. You can also get drinks from the restaurants when they are open.

STAFF
Jamaicans are known for their friendliness & the staff here were no exception. From the cleaning staff right up to the manager, everyone was always willing to chat & always seemed happy, singing & dancing. The entertainment staff work hard to keep people happy & ensure everyone has a great time.

ENTERTAINMENT
Daytime entertainment was great. The morning entertainment took place on the beach (aerobics in the sea, volleyball, etc) & moved up to the pool area for the afternoon (water polo, daft games, competitions etc). Beach parties & pool parties on a regular basis during the day with live bands, food & drink etc.
The evening shows were on the whole quite good, especially when they had live bands on. Some shows were a bit lame but you can’t please everyone all the time. There is a big beach party once a week at night. The lobby bar has no official entertainment but the barman is a superb singer & often sang to entertain the customers as an alternative to the main entertainment. There is a nightclub on site which is open 6 nights a week from 11 pm to two am.

BEACH
The beach in Negril was trashed in the hurricane a few years ago & hasn’t fully recovered yet. It is not the deep white sands that a lot of people expect but, after saying that, it IS good near the sea; it’s only really at the top end of the beach where it’s not all that good. Cleaned every day & plenty of sunbeds & shady areas under the trees if you want it. The beach gently shelves into the sea, which is very calm, & is very safe for kids. There is a small fish sanctuary at the very far end of the beach where swimming is not allowed but you can paddle in & see some tropical fish.

SURROUNDING AREA
There isn’t much outside of the hotel on the road side so nowhere to walk to really. On the beach though, you can walk around the bay & there are local craft stalls in the trees. These people will obviously try to get you to buy something but even if you don’t they are very polite & friendly & will just stand chatting. There are some real characters amongst them & we had some good laughs with them. There was a free bus on Tuesday & Wednesday evenings at 5pm from the hotel to the Margaritaville bar where there is entertainment (not sure if this is a permanent thing, or just a promotion). Tuesday was family night & Wednesday was Reggae night.

The bus returned every hour on the hour between 7pm & 10pm. If you want a taxi it is only a few miles from the hotel so shouldn’t be all that expensive. Negril is about 8 miles away & is a typical Jamaican town. Very laid back. To take a taxi & go shopping & then on to Rick’s Bar (to see the cliff divers & the sunset) costs between 25 & 40 US dollars & the driver will stay with you all the time, taking you wherever you want. If you do this, go in the afternoon because watching the sunset from Rick’s bar is awesome.

OVERALL
We had a great holiday at the Riu Negril. The only criticism I have is that there is no sports bar (which a lot of Riu hotels have) so anyone wanting to watch football etc has to return to the room to do so. Would I return to this hotel again? Yes, definitely.