We (my husband and I) stayed here the week of Feb 22-Mar 1, 2013. This was our first time to Jamaica. We stayed in the South Tower, on the 9th floor in a renovated oceanfront room. The view was terrific from this room and the room was updated and kept clean! They are just basic hotel rooms with a tub/shower combo. The actual hotel buildings that house the rooms do appear a bit dated, but like I said everything was nice and clean and the grounds were beautiful and always immaculate! The buffet was good...we are not picky eaters so we always found lots of yummy food to eat! The jerk chicken and pork were great and the rolls are melt in your mouth! For breakfast we were always there around 7am when they first opened so there was always lots of food, however, another couple that were travelling with us went later several times closer to 9:30ish and the selection is getting smaller, of course because the breakfast buffet closes at 10 so they are not going to replace everything in huge amounts as they do not want huge amounts of food left over. I have been to resorts where there was more selection available in the buffet and the rooms were nicer....but I also paid several hundred more to go there! So you get what you pay for in my opinion!
A huge shout out to Ms. Campbell who works the morning and lunch in the buffet...we always sat in her section and she was always smiling and super nice!! We travelled with Air Canada and they guarantee 3 a la carte dinner reservations and they are made for you before you arrive. However, we had no problems to change days or times if needed! So we got to try 3 of the a la cartes....asian( Ginger Lily), italian (La Diva), and carribbean (South Beach). The food in all three was good and we enjoyed getting dressed up and having romantic dinners! The nightly entertainment, I thought, was not my cup of tea as a large portion was just singing. There was one night where there was quite a bit of interaction with the crowd and I enjoyed that! Other then that the waterslides were fun. I did not spend anytime in the pools...all my time was spent on the beach and it was great! Like most other resorts if you want a shaded area you need to get up at a decent hour to reserve your spot on the beach...but as for finding chairs it was never a problem any time of day! There was also some decent snorkeling out along the two points...saw lots of colourful fish!
For day trips we did the Cool Runnings Catamaran Tour to Dunn's River Falls and snorkeling....that tour was a lot of fun and I would highly recommend it!!! We also did the Blue Mountain Bicycle Tour where they take you 7000ft up the moutain in a bus and you get on bicycles and ride down the mountain. Brunch and lunch were included and you get to go swimming at an awesome waterfall at the end....this excursion is definintely worth the money. It was also a great way to see the countryside!!
Another nice thing about this particular resort is its location....you are close to lots of things to do....including being able to just walk off the resort and explore the town of Ocho Rios, go shopping, have a Red Stripe at a local bar and grill, etc!! Would definitely recommend this resorts to others!