Riu Palace Aquarelle

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

1640 reviews

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  Amazing!!!

  🌴❤️ RIU PALACE AQUARELLE – JAMAICA 🇯🇲❤️🌴 I honestly don’t want to leave! 😭❤️ What an incredible experience we’ve had at RIU Palace Aquarelle. From the moment we arrived, we have felt so welcomed, looked after and genuinely treated like family. The buffet food is AMAZING! 🤤 There is such a huge variety of food and so many options that you really are spoilt for choice. Every day there has been something different to enjoy, and the quality has been fantastic. The à la carte restaurants are also brilliant, but I have to give a special shout-out to the Steakhouse 🥩❤️ — absolutely amazing! And honestly, the staff are what make this hotel so special. They work incredibly hard, yet they are always smiling, friendly and ready to make your day better. 🍹 Bar staff: A massive shout-out to Courtney, Edwards and Demarco. You guys have been fantastic and always made us feel so welcome! 🧹 Cleaning team: A special mention to Jarrett ❤️. We’ve had some great conversations, especially chatting about all the beautiful nature around the hotel. Those little conversations really made our stay even more memorable. And the room-cleaning team have been absolutely amazing — our room has always been beautifully looked after. 🎤 Entertainment team: Rooster and Richardo — you guys are absolute stars! 😂❤️ You bring such great energy and really help create the atmosphere around the resort. 🏖️ Pool & beach service: And my absolute favourite, Rose! 🌹❤️ What a lovely lady. Her service, personality and smile are everything. She deserves a HUGE shout-out! I also have to mention Lisa’s Bar across the road 🍹🇯🇲. It’s a great little spot for drinks, food and souvenirs, and everyone there made us feel so welcome. And a special thank you to Anderson Jamaican Tours and Courtney, who is Lisa’s husband, for providing us with 5-star travel experiences. From the trips to the service, everything was fantastic and made exploring Jamaica even more enjoyable. 🇯🇲❤️ Honestly, a massive BIG UP to every single member of staff at RIU Aquarelle. You work so hard, you are constantly smiling, and you genuinely make guests feel like part of the family. ❤️ This holiday has been everything I hoped for and more. The food, the entertainment, the beautiful surroundings, the service and most importantly the PEOPLE have made this such a special experience. I definitely WILL be coming back! 🥰🇯🇲❤️ I’m genuinely not ready to leave… 😭😭😭 RIU Aquarelle, you have been amazing. Thank you for making our Jamaican holiday so memorable. ❤️🇯🇲🌴 One Love ❤️🇯🇲

  Oct 07, 2026
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  Very nice all inclusive resort

  RIU Aquarelle is located in Falmouth Jamaica. Beach is lovely white sand. Lots of chairs, lots of shade, excellent servers serving drinks while you're at the beach. Fabulous. The sea here is very cloudy with sea weed and rocks, coral in the water which in my opinion is unacceptable and makes swimming here unpleasant. You must have water shoes if you go into the water at this resort. All Inclusive meal. The hotel has several a la carte restaurants, steakhouse, italian, fusion and asian. Each is open on a few days with limited hours. We arrived on a Tuesday and tried to get reservations for the Italian restaurant but they were only open Tuesday and Friday and we were unable to get a reservation. Frustrating. We ate at the buffet for every meal although they do have a beach restaurant serving jerk chicken and accompaniments. The buffet serves breakfast 7 am to 10:30, lunch 12 to 3 and dinner 6:30 to 10:30. Breakfast had various breads (bagels 2 of the 5 mornings we were there), fruit, juices, daily porridge, Jamaican food, carving station (ham), omelet station, fried egg station (where they also made basic omelets and cut them up), they had smoked salmon, cream cheese, various other cheeses, spreads, pancakes, french toast and waffles. Lunch was hot dogs, burgers, pizza, Jamaican food, Chinese food, salads, fruits, carving station with various meats changing daily, Jamaican patties and daily changing soups. Various pastries and fruits. If you want whole fruits collect them in the afternoon or evening as they do not put them out in the mornings. I had peaches, plums, apples, bananas and pears. Dinner was pretty much the same as lunch. Rooms We stayed in a swimout room on the ground floor. The room itself was lovely with comfortable king bed. Dresser with ample drawers, closet with safe and ample hangers. TV, Desk with chairs. We had a small loveseat. There was a fridge filled with beer, soft drinks (coke zero and coke), tonic water, and small and large bottles of drinking water. There are also full large 1 liter bottles of rum, gin, scotch and vodka that you can help yourself to free of charge. If you use them the housekeeping staff replaces what you use. The bathroom was a walkin shower with 2 sinks, hair dryer. The toilet however was in a different room down the hall (we didn't love this). Our patio was very large with 2 chairs a small table and 2 lounge chairs. The small pool at the end of the patio had 4 stairs to walk into it but was not large enough to actually swim. Just for dipping I guess. Not sure it was worth the extra cost. The last hotel I had with a swim up room led to an area which was large enough to actually swim. Coffee Bar - open 10 am to 9 pm There is a very nice coffee bar at this hotel located in the lobby which serves barista type drinks, flat white, cappuccino, espress, etc. They have a selection of pastries as well. We really love this addition to the hotel. Lobby Has reception area, large bar, plenty of comfortable seating. Sports Bar - open 24 hours Has hot dogs, hamburgers, nachos, fries, lots of TV's showing all the sports, large bar serving barista coffee in the morning and drinks after 11 am. Entertainment We attended 2 shows. The latin show and the silver birds show. The silver birds steel drum show was very good. There are 2 bars in the entertainment area and they do have servers walking around serving drinks. They have entertainment staff at the beach and in the lobby, urging you to come to the evening shows. They also play and arrange volleyball and other games during the day. There are lots of activities going on during the day from early morning yoga, etc. We didn't partake of any of the activities. There are 4 various pools, 2 have swim up bars, all have chairs fashioned from mosaic tiles that allow you to get wet while in the sun. There is also a large water park at this hotel featuring slides for children and adults. We did not go into the water park.

  Oct 05, 2026
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  American focused

  We had a lovely stay at Riu Palace Aquarelle overall. The hotel is beautiful, the rooms are modern and well presented, the minibar is well stocked, and the restaurants are very nice with staff who are generally accommodating. The sports bar was also a great space. There were, however, a few things that stopped it feeling truly five-star for us. It was our anniversary and we had been promised a bottle of champagne and chocolates, but unfortunately these never arrived, which was a disappointing start to the day. The medical centre also felt quite basic and could be better equipped and more welcoming, particularly when it comes to basic first-aid items. The rooms look lovely but are quite basic in terms of amenities — no robes, cotton pads or other bathroom extras, although the shampoo, conditioner and shower gel were good. We also found the area quite expensive to get around, with taxis being particularly costly. The on-site shop is very expensive too, and the additional tax at the till should be made clearer. Most of the bar staff were wonderful, although a few were quite forceful about tips, which was uncomfortable. The hotel could also benefit from a quieter lounge-style bar for guests wanting a more relaxed atmosphere. Some of the pool areas and evening entertainment could be quite loud, and unfortunately arguments and disruptive behaviour from some guests took away from the luxury atmosphere. As this is marketed as a family luxury resort, I also think the dress code should be enforced more consistently, particularly in the buffet and restaurants. Overall, we had a great holiday and Jamaica itself was absolutely beautiful. With a few improvements to the service, amenities, guest behaviour standards and value for money, I think Riu Palace Aquarelle could be an exceptional resort.

  Oct 05, 2026
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  Family holiday

  Over all very enjoyable holiday,food was great staff are amazing and very friendly, I would recommend you visit didn’t feel that you needed to tip as staff are only happy to help

  Oct 03, 2026
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  An awesome experience

  Love the energy of the staff, the stay was lovely entertainment on point. Love the adult water slides not to mention the events by the pool at night .

  Oct 02, 2026