This resort is easy to get to and safe and a great option for families who want to stay together. The villa option is the only way to go here, in my opinion. I would not stay here otherwise. With the villa you get a chef, butler and maid and a private pool and 2 golf carts. The cooking and eating at home every day was the best part. Breakfast and dinners together around the pool was really fun. The staff were pretty nice, a little testy at times, but I've found this to be true at most of the Jamaican resorts I've stayed at. Beware of the quality of the rooms in the villas though. They are outdated at best. The air conditioning worked only some of the time- not at all in my room- the televisions worked rarely, and we saw a rat. Apparently they are common in the villas because of all the food and cooking. During the day we would play tennis- amazing tennis facilities- and then head to the beach. The beach is nice. Not great, but nice. The food in the restaurants is decent. Not great. We ate lunch everyday by the beach. The best thing to order is the buffet. Service was slow and staff seemed annoyed by us but again, I feel this is the norm in Jamaica. The villas overall are a great value and racing around the massive property in the golf carts with family was really fun. Definitely take the kids to see the dolphins in the lagoon and definitely go to the beach BBQ- this was a highlight. For some action head down the road at night to the Ritz for better food, higher prices, and better nightlife.

Stayed there for 1 week. The property is very beautiful and vast. They are currently a 4 diamond rating and working on becoming a 5 diamond, so that said if you find something unpleasant...find the right person to take it up with and you'll be well serviced.

Initial resevation was for a superior room, the bathroom was a dingy mess - peeling and chipped paint. Looked like the main part of the room had been renovated but not the other parts. The outdoor patio was ok. I complained about the bathroom to the front desk manager (as looking at it every day I knew would eventually annoy me for having paid 400.00 plus a night). I told them I was not looking for an upgrade - just another room. They pleasantly surpised us and moved us at no charge to a Habiscus suite, a much more expensive and much nicer room. It was one ground level and spilled out onto the beach. So part of our wonderful time there I think had much to do with our location on the resort.

The general service was great. Meaning outside of the resturants. Derrek (front desk person) was very attentive through out our stay and always going out of his way to see to our comforts.

Service is slow in the resturants (except for the Sugar Mill, it was much better service, in fact great and much better food - we should have eaten there every night, prices are same similar to other places on the resort).

Bar service is also slow but once you give a good tip or two it vastly improves -- sad to say but probably true for most places.

After walking around the resort, I would say if you are going to stay in a Superior Suite, only book it if you can get a Ocean View, some of the ocean view Superior Suites are great and well worth the money.

And lastly, off resort excursions...try to book a private with Raffeal (works for Juta Tours), works directly with Half Moon through one of the touring companies. He was outstanding we booked 2 days with him for touring of MoBay and a trip to the falls. So much better than touring with a group of people when most of the time they turn out to be very annoying! We learned that on the Ocean Saffari trip (which I don't recommend at all).

Like others we were a little nervous about booking this trip. It's not inexpensive and we really wanted it to be amazing. Debated on just staying at the Ritz since it's familiar to us.....however, we were pleasantly surprised!!!!!! Upon our arrival, even at the airport , they were waiting for us. Everything was smooth and we were at the hotel in about 20 minutes as they bring you into the VIP room with a waiter to bring you a drink. We stayed in the Hibiscus suites and it was huge space for us since we have only one child. Our veranda was huge and they set up breakfast on it every morning. The food was delicious and the view of the ocean as we ate was tranquil. By the way, this ocean view is really an ocean view, about 15 feet from our room. Not like a high rise hotel. I could throw a rock into the water. The food was really good, we loved the Sugar Mill and the Italian restaurant. Definititely go with the Good Life Package because the restaurants are expensive. If you have young children, the hot dogs and hamburgers were a little different so my son stuck with the chicken fingers for lunch. There is soooo much to do. The dolphin lagoon, tennis lessons, horses, biking, the beach is great because it's a lagoon which keeps the water very calm. You could just float around on a raft like a pool. So many nice people. My son met a group of really nice boys that he had a blast with. The best part. . .we were biking one afternoon and there was a big event going on at the Royal Pavilion so we stopped our bikes to watch and out came PRINCE CHARLES!!! We had our camera and took some awesome pictures. He was staying at the hotel! The experience was amazing. The only 2 negatives is the beach service for drinks and chair set up is a little slow and the rooms are not pristine and super glamorous (with tons of marble, silk and flat screens). Overall, can't wait to go back.

I did not expect the to love the Half Moon- I did not think that any property that big would feel intimate, no matter what my travel agent said. And in fact, at the last minute, I almost got cold feet and booked the Ritz Carlton, which I know from experience is my comfort level. Well. i am so glad we stuck with our original plan. The Half Moon greets you like a regular, and the warmth keeps up through out the stay. Contrary to some other reviews on this site, i thought the service was pretty darn good. The food was not bad to excellent- I found the lunch (both buffet and a la carte) to be better and fresher than the dinners. We met a ton of great people. My only issue was with children. For the most part, the resort is so well designed for privacy, we were never felt that the presence of children was an interference. However, the last 2 nights of our stay, a very noisy family of 3 kids and 2 loud adults moved in next door to us. The Hisbiscus suites, while quite luxe, are also very large. And a large family can pile into one. A large, low-class, one piled into this one, and his loud chatting into his cel, (I think he was arranging drug deals and wanted to show off) her screaming at the kids, and the kids' general unruliness kind of soured our stay. I would definately either ask to be placed in a low-kid risk area, if that is at all possible, or perhaps book a smaller suite. Or bite the bullet and go to a (shudder) adults-only all inclusive!