Just returned from 10 days at this hotel and it was excellent. It's a smaller resort (compared to the RIU next door), so the service is more personal. The rooms are spacious and very clean. Note: If you are looking for an early night's sleep, I wouldn't recommend the oceanview rooms, as the music is VERY loud and runs late most nights. The mini-bar in your room is always well stocked, based on your consumption. There are numerous activities available on this all adult resort, whether it be tennis, yoga, shuffleboard, golf, etc and Jamaica Tours are available for anything off resort. The food was very good (both buffet and a-la-carte), with a "Dinner on the Pier" night with live music on Friday. The Spa is good, but very pricey (as is the case in all resorts). There was never any problem getting pool or ocean side lounge chairs. Would suggest you come with enough sun tan lotion to last your visit, as the mark-up for these items at the hotel is crazy. Each night, hotel staff drop off a listing of events for the next day, restaurant availability, etc. Yes - there is no in room WiFi available (but we were on vacation). The only minor negative (as mentioned by others) is the limited beach area, this is not Seven Mile Beach by any stretch of the imagination. This was my third trip to Jamaica and by far one of the most enjoyable stays to date. I will definitely travel back to the Jewel Resort - Dunn's River.

My wife and daughter stayed here during the first week of January.
The resort itself was nice and I have no complaints other than with the front desk staff and manager.
I booked this trip for them through AAA. When I set up the trip I asked for two double beds. Somewhere between AAA and the resort things got messed up.
Upon arrival my wife was given a king bed room. She explained that she had requested a room with two doubles as it was just her and my daughter.
At first the front desk suggested they could setup a roll away bed.
No, sorry I’m not paying this kind of money to have my wife or daughter sleep on a cot.

They then said they had rooms with double beds but in a different building and it would cost $80 more per night. After travelling for hours and not wanting to get in a big argument my wife accepted. She called and told me what had happened.

I went online and found that the resort was offering those rooms to AAA members at only $13.75 more per night then the King rooms. Not $80.

Over the next two days and numerous phone calls I basically got nowhere with the front desk staff and reservations. I could never get a manager on the phone.
AAA even called on my behalf and got the same answer.
I didn’t ask for the room at no extra charge. I just asked that they charge me the published rate.
Since then I’ve written a letter to the Hotel management which I assume at this point ended up in the garbage because I’ve never gotten reply from them.

And for the duration of their stay the resort was maybe half full.
You had plenty of rooms available and easily could have avoided any problems by charging me the $13.75 more per night. Instead you decided to gouge me for every extra penny you could get.
No problem man. I may only be one person but I’ll be sure to never recommend your resort to anyone. I don’t care how nice the place may be.
Your customer relations are terrible.


PS - IS there nothing you can do about the drug dealers on the other side of the fence ?
It's one thing to see them on the street. But people don't expect to be hassled by druggies while trying to relax on the beach.

I'm from Jamaica and I love my island and I support their hotels. I live in New York and I brought my boyfriend for the first time for his birthday. The hotel was nice, but some of the staff made us feel like we did not belong there. We went for dinner at their Asian restaurant and the hostess had a problem with my dress and refused to seat me and my guests. The other patrons had on similar attire and she never addressed them, when the manager came nothing was done. I would walk into the gift shop and the staff would greet certain guests and not the "locals". At breakfast certain staff will ask certain guests if they need anything and ignore others. When asked to speak to the general manager the front desk made it impossible. I left a message for the general manager and she never respond to my complaints. I cannot say all the staff was cold, but it made me look at Jamaican hospitality in a whole new light.

my wife and i recently made a 4 day trip to jamaica ( first time) and stayed at jewel dunn after reading several good reviewes and were EXTREMELY pleased. We normally dont write reviewes and unless its something really bad we dont complain either.

the best stuffs first:
1. the resort lives up to the positive reviews written on the TA. very clean , well maintained and approprately sized, not too small and not too big to get lost like the nearby RIU.
2. very good food and excellent services. there is sometining so contagious about jamaican's smile and their hospitality in this resort. amazing staff who are always friendly. cannot name anyone in particular but to group them the guys at the bar, girls at the pizza place, the manager and waiter at moonlight restaurant, the japanese restaurant, the coral restaurant and the caribbean restaurant, concierge desk, the front desk, the lifeguards, beach securities and house keeping, and of course the entertainment crew ; everyone was just AMAZING. no wonder there were people whom we met who were there for their second or third visit.
3. the pool is good size and never crowded. towels always available. 2 swim up bars , always ready with drinks( they are standard drinks and cocktails), available most of the time until very late in the night.
4. lots of daily activities including sports, gym, free water activities like free kayak ( loved it), sailing, jet ski and snorkling for minimal price, pool and beack volleyball, tennis , cricket matches .poolside entertainment by ENT and evening entertainment and the list goes on.
5. the rooms are clean and good. we had a mountain/ garden facing room with balcony which i believe is cheaper than ocean facing but we didnot miss being there. the reason being it is quiter on this side whtout noise from the beach or night time entertainment and music. the view of the hils and garden is beautiful and since the resort is not that big, the beach and pool area and restaurants are very closeby from whereever your room is. so unless you are particular about having an oceanfront room, you will save money and not loose much by having a mountain facing room ( sapphire).
5. the gym, beach, golf area, tennis couts everything is pretty good. there is a big chess board which we loved to play everynight after dinner.
6. you can book your tickets to nearby attractions in the resort itself and they provide transportatin at the same cost. the Dunn river fall is highly recommneded. i would not recommned combined tour to dunn river, botanical garden and ocho rios with an hour at the shopping center as botanical garden can be avoided adn would rather do dunn river and few hour trip to ocho rios ( to enjoy the town and its local feel) individually.
7. remember its adults only so dont have to worry about kids makng noise or disturbing you.
8. the resort has decent number of rooms so after few days you tend to get familier with other guests and most of them are friendly. most of the guests were from canada and canadians have a reputatin of being friendly.

now a few areas that could be improved ( not very concerning though)
1. the beach is a little small, if you are thinkin of a large swimmng area or think of jogging there.nevertheless is kept clean and well secured to prevent locals from entering in. it has a nice pier too.
2.there is no wifi in the rooms. there is wifi in the lobby with few monitors on the first floor for use and is convenient. but again ,its not a big deal not to have internet or TV everyhwere when you are on a vacation.
3. the drive to hotel from airport may be too long if you have to wait for the shuttle at the airport. it takes almost 2 hrs to the resort.

all in all a great vacation ( first time in jamaica) and at jewel dunn, OR. only regret is should have planned for a little longer vacation. damn...