I was born and grew up in Kingston, Jamaica so my review might have a different perspective. Firstly, this is not a 5 star hotel but it was suitable for me. The price was decent for an all inclusive hotel. I believe I paid $100 a night. I also have Crohn's Disease and so I have to be careful with what I eat. I pretty much went all out at this all inclusive hotel (which was pretty risky w/ my condition but my body could also be used to the water, etc from Jamaica since I grew up there) and did not get sick ONCE. If you are used to a Sandals or some top notch hotel, then this hotel is not for you, HOWEVER, taking a vacation to Jamaica can be pricey and if this is in your price range, I recommend it. Everything was far from below average, I would say a little above average and I honestly had a good time but I was with good company so that made it better. I believe the company you take on a vacation is sometimes more important than where you stay.

I recommend you take a trip to Negril and visit Rick's Cafe (beautiful). I am scared of heights but locals will show you some of their skills and you will be amazed, quite an entertainment. I don't recall having to pay to get inside Rick's Cafe either. The locals who jump off the cliff and trees might encourage visitors to donate a dollar here and there to show off their skills. Well worth it I think, they probably depend on this for a living. The water there is absolutely beautiful. Although I have never taken the highest jump I have swam in the water many times and it is just lovely .

Also, the staff is very nice. Entertainment was pretty decent at nights too. I guess I could have given more specifics if I had written this review closer to the time I visited, so I apologize.

This was my second visit to Starfish, and it was great as usual!

There were 3 of us who went, girls age 21 & 22. I will try to summarize it as best as possible! To give a little bit of background, I've been to Puerto Plata (DR), Punta Cana (DR), Cancun (Mex), Playa Del Carmen (Mex), Puerto Vallarta (Mex), & Cabo (Mex). I've stayed at plenty of Riu Resorts and also a Mayan Palace resort, just so you get an idea.

Airport: The flight, Customs, and all of that was fine and moved in a timely manner. We only had to wait in the superclubs room for about 15 minutes for our bus to the resort, and were offered bottles of water. The one thing I was a little disappointed about was the bus ride, when I was there in March the driver pointed out spots along the way and told us stories and a little bit about Jamaica, I was hoping they would do the same since my 2 friends had never been there. Unfortunately he didn't though.

Check-In: We booked our trip through Priceline, and then had a 3rd person decide they wanted to join so after calling Starfish they told us she could pay for her room once she arrived. I was a little hesitant about this, and to be honest, dreaded checking in because I was expecting it to turn into a big mess.

I was wrong, we arrived, checked-in, and our 3rd friend paid the regular rate of $60/day without any problems. Of course, we got to the resort at 10:30am, so we had a couple hours before our room was going to be available. We were given our wristbands and changed into our swimsuits to go down by the beach, we left our luggage in the lobby without any problems. Came back up around 12:30 or 1 and were given our keys and a bellhop brought our luggage up.

Room: We were on the 4th floor, which was sometimes a pain because the elevators were terribly slow and you never knew which floor they were on! We resorted to taking the stairs most of the time, which really wasnt all that bad. We had 2 full size beds, that worked out fine. There were only 4 pillows total in the room so if you sleep with multiple you may want to request more. Our closet door was broke, but really, who cares! Our room was always kept clean, with towel animals on each bed. In both of my stays at Starfish, I've never had any problems with the shower- so I must be lucky! Our balcony looked out onto the pool, piano bar, and that area, with a view of the ocean to our left. It was nice being able to sit out there at night and listen to the music while we were getting ready!

Pool/Beach: We never really spent much time by the pool, we chose to lay out every day on the island. Usually made it out there around 10am everyday and had no problems getting chairs. Always a nice breeze out there! A lot of the locals hang out in the ocean around there, they will probably offer to sell you something (shells, jewelry, jamaican special grass!) they LOVE to talk even if you aren't interested in buying something they don't care, and they will leave you alone if you dont wish to converse- most of the time they will just tell you hello and ask how you are doing! There were jelly fish in the water our second day there, and of course all 3 of us were stung (those jamaican jellys must have it out for us americans!) One of our friends, Squidly Diddly (he's always out on his surfboard, this week he had a star bleached into his hair) got us some fresh aloe vera and we rubbed it on and were fine within an hour or so. That was the only day we saw them.

They had these giant floating rafts that multiple people could sit on that were really nice, we snagged them a couple days in the ocean. This was new from when I was there in March. There were lots of puffer fish in the ocean, cute pudgy little things that swam around, you could grab them and they would puff up into a spikey ball. They didn't hurt you, but they were fun to play with!

There are rocks built up around the island that the locals will sometimes dive off of into the ocean. It's really fun to watch them, but please don't attempt it yourself!!

Food: Decent buffet food, as to be expected. I don't go to all-inclusives expecting the best food of my life though, so I wasn't disappointed. Always a large variety, everyone in my group was happy with what was offered. You can go to Casablanca (one of the specialty restaurants) and chose items off of their menu that are no extra charge if you wish, the food there is excellent. We went to the japanese steakhouse in March, and the food was incredibly good! The grill by the ocean always has good snacks (pizza, nachos, fries, burgers, jerk chicken, etc)
I recommend keeping your cup for beverages instead of constantly getting new ones, they seemed to be having a hard time keeping up on washing them so many people had to wait to get a cup down there to use the soda machine. We would just use the same one all afternoon and had no problems!

Entertainment: It was good, there didn't seem to be as many shows as when we were there in March. A band played every night for dinner, we saw the circus act and listened to kareoke night from our balcony. We didn't go to Bubbles (the disco) at all this week, although we went almost every night in March. It's fun if there's a lot of people in there! There is a reggae bar just down the road from the front gate of the resort that we went to every night, a lot of locals go there. $3 beer, but we would just bring a drink or two down from the hotel (as long as you bring the cups back to the resort, they dont care). Reggae music, dancing, fun. It's more of a 20ish younger crowd there. If you want to hang out with some of the locals I would recommend just going down there to hang out, play a game of dominoes, dance a little and laugh! We also had a bonfire with the locals on the beach one night, down by Leon's lobster hut and the shacks on that side of the beach. Don't be intimidated by them! Of course, be smart about what you do, but honestly they aren't out to kidnap you or harm you or anything. I'm not into smoking, and they were totally cool with that, so don't think that they're just trying to sell you drugs or something! They're really fun, I promise! Leon reggae-rapped for us for a little bit and we were cracking up!

When we were there in March we watched all of the shows every night and weren't disappointed in a single one!

Activites: We went out on the luminous lagoon, which was AMAZING. It's $28 but it's worth every penny. You take a boat out to this lagoon, and because of the organisms in the water, when you jump in you glow. Everytime you make the slightest movement in the water, it glows! The more you move, or the faster you swim, the brighter it glows. Apprarently there are only 4 places like this in the world, and this is the brightest. I HIGHLY recommend it.

We wanted to go snorkeling but don't want to pay $30 through the resort, so one of the locals ,Squidly, offered to take us for $10/person. We walked about 1/2 mile down to the public beach where the coral is at and went right in. We probably snorkeled for about 45 minutes to an hour, all of us found starfishes that Squidly then cleaned out and dried so we could bring them home. There are a bunch of tropical fish, lobsters, coral, etc and its REALLY clear warm water. Whether you go through the resort or another means, I recommend it as well.

Staff: Junior at the lobby bar is our favorite bartender! He is very attentive and is always smiling and singing and dancing. Huie and Kevan on the entertainment staff are friends from when we were there in March and are always great, we love watching them dance and laughing. The lifeguards are all super friendly and Jermain, on the beach with watersports is great too! The circus crew never ceases to amaze me, no matter how many times I watch them perform.

Overall, you're getting what you pay for. It's a pretty good steal for a beautiful beach getaway. The rooms aren't 4 star, but they have beds and showers and who wants to spend that much time in there anyways! The food is edible, and pretty darn good almost all of the time! They do move at their own pace, but cmon your in jamaica sit back and relax a little, take it easy! There's always a broad spectrum of people there, which makes it really interesting. You will meet all sorts of fun people though, I'm sure!

I stayed at Starfish from Aug2- to Aug10, and it was great. I was abit concerned that it was only a three star hotel but it turned out to be better than expected. I stayed at the mountain view room and honestly i prefer that the ocean side. Meaning that each room had a private balcony. All those in the beach view, sure they had a view of the ocean but also a view of the pools downstairs. So for example when u stepped out into the balcony in the "beach" view hotel, there was no privacy, You could see everyone and everyone could see you. In my room you had a view of the beach, the mountains, and thats it. VEry Private and relaxing.
The showers were annoying. The water was always cold but i dealt with it the best i can.
The A.C made sum noise all day but it never failed on us.
The drinks at the bar were good, but ran out of bananas, it was a bit dissapointing, especially since my fav. drink was made with them.
Entertainment was fun. It kept from not being bored on the hot nights.
Food was good. The scrambled eggs were gross, but they're omlettes were really good. You just have to wait in line for a bit.
Jerk chiken and jerk pork was scrumtious. Saturday night was Jamican Night, and having jerk for dinner was delicious. Never tasted better.
The staff is extremely friendly and nice.
Oh yeah internet ran out for almost the entire week there, so that sucked.
The beaches were incredible. Nice, warm, turquoise waters, and white sand. AMAZING. The vendors at the beach never really bothered us. There is security at the beach, so nothing to really throw a fit over.
OH yeah, the price for water actvities was a bit pricey. 30 american dollars for 15 minute ride in a jet ski(sea doo). But the guy was kool with us he let us use for 30 mins.
we never had a problem getting chairs at the beach even when we got there around 12 pm.
the pool was always more packed with people than the beach.
Overall my experience in Jamaica was one to remember, definety going back there again.
Everything was close to perfection.
oh yeah be warned the elevators kinda suck. They didnt work for like a day, and we were on the 7th floor. Theyre slow and old.
but i never got stuck in one. THANK GOD.
ane be warned there's jellyfish in waters. My mom got stung by one and she was close to shore.
but other than that,it was great,
My family was content and happy with the resort
Hope i helpful :)

We visited the Starfish 7/29 to 8/5 with our 6.5 year old son. We picked the Starfish over the Riu Ocho Rios because it was closer to the airport and seemed to have more kids activities and pool slides than the Riu. To put this review in perspective, we've been to many of the Sandals but have also visited the Sunspree Montego Bay and the Crown Paradise in Cancun.

The Starfish is better than the Sunspree, but not as good as Crown Paradise, especially when it comes to food, kids activities and entertainment. For the same money, you can visit Crown Paradise and have a much better time.

One warning we want to give everyone is that there is a 48" height restriction on the slides (including the kids slide) which is not posted anywehere on their website so when we arrrived and my son wanted to go on the slides, he was told he was too short. Since this was the main reason we picked the Starfish, we spoke to a watersports supervisor who gave us special permission. 4 days into the trip, another lifeguard gave us grief again so we had to talk to the General Manager. After us telling him that we would go to another resort, he gave in and allowed my son to use the slide for the next 2 days. It was very frustrating to have to go through this and get upset on your vacation when this could have been avoided by posting the correct information on the website.

Here are our comments, pros/cons, on the remainder of the resort:

Front Desk - No line which can be frustrating, especially since I am not a pushy person. We waited about 30 minutes to be helped and then had to wait an hour for our room; however, this was because we asked for a King and a Single instead of 2 double beds. this was okay because we went to get some drinks and food. A bellhop was very nice and served us drinks in line. We received our key and went to our room which had the King but did not have the single. Peter, a fantastic bellhop, immediately got a housekeeper and their supervisor to bring a single bed into the room.

Room - Not incredibly spacious but served its purpose for the little bit of time we spent in the room. The air conditioner struggled during the day but kept us comfortable at night. The room was clean except for the floor. We had no towel or washcloth issues, but we also tipped 2-3 dollars a day which might have helped ad got us some cool towel animals and designs. Water in shower will go hot-cold-hot which was frustrating but not a big issue. The closet doors were broken, but who cares, you're on vacation. The one problem we had with the room was the noise from the entertainment at night and the noise from rude people in the adjoining rooms or out in the halls making noise until 2-3 in the morning and starting up at 6 in the morning.

Pools - besides the slide issue the pools were okay with 2 of the 4 being cloudy (makes you wonder why for such small pools) and all not being very clean. We didn't have any trouble finding chairs or exchanging towels as long as we did it before 11 am. The pool closest to the hotel is supposed to be an "adults pool" but is not. We also told the General Manager that this was misleading on their website. This pool was always nice and cool and shaded which was enjoyable in the afternoons. The lifeguard at this pool, Peter, was fantastic to our son and they enjoyed teasing each other all week. If you go, please tell him Carson says Hi. The vendors on the beach were of little concern and a simple "no thank you" after listening to what they said sent them away. One major disappointment was that we couldn't see the ocean from the pool deck because of bushes planted along the sea wall.

Activities - didn't match what was posted and were definitely on Jamaican time and schedule (whatever and whenever the activities crew wanted) Evening entertainment was nice and okay, especially the music during dinner. Mini golf and tennis courts were very good; the ice rink was a joke.

Food - okay, not great. Buffet didn't match the menus posted (again a Jamaican thing) and had a decent variety but many dishes were Jamaican oriented (a large part of their clientele), too spicy or very "tricked up". We think it would have been better to stick to the basics. There were always hot dogs, fries, and something else for the kids to eat on the dinner buffet. My biggest issue was finding hair in the breakfast potatoes every morning. I thought it was a fluke the first day, but then it became a game to see how many days it would happen. My son loved the breakfast smoothies, and the lunch sandwiches, and the omelette and egg line always had the longest wait. We liked the self-serve feature of the grill where you could get nachos, hot dogs, popcorn, pizza, Jamaica patties and drinks without standing in line. The jerk chicken was very good; the burgers were a little disappointing. Giuseppe's and Munasan were very good and worth the surcharge. We were disappointed when the entire hotel ran out of bananas and tomatoes 4 days into our trip which are 2 of the items we really enjoy in Jamaica.

Staff - we thought the staff was pleasant and very good. Visitors have to understand that many Jamaicans are quiet and reserved and are not being rude. Visitors also have to understand that Jamaicans move at their speed, YOU ARE ON VACATION and if it takes a little time to get something, it's okay. I had good laughs watching people get upset because a drink took too long to be served. We tipped the housekeeper, the driver, the bellhops and the waitstaff/Teppanyaki cook at the specialty restaurants. No one else ever seemed like they expected a tip.

The mix of clientele appeared to be 30% Jamaican, 40% European and the remainder US, Canada, etc. Over the weekend, there was a rush of Jamaican families which made us wonder if the hotel was giving day-passes or if these people booked for one night. The buffet and grill had difficulty keeping up with the increase in people for these 2 days and the resort didn't seem as clean.

All in all, this was a good vacation because we relaxed, met some very nice and interesting people and tried not to let the few issues ruin our time.

Would we talk someone out of staying at the Starfish? Maybe. Will we go back? Probably not.

Are there resorts that give you bigger bang for your buck? Absolutely.

Our biggest disappointment in the Starfish was the quality of the food and the noise at night.

We hope this helps.