Riu Palace Jamaica - All Inclusive - Adults Only

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

5027 reviews

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  Amazing & Attentive Staff

  I am a repeat visitor to Riu Palace Montego Bay. The food is delicious with plenty of options, the beach and grounds are well kept, and with access to all three resorts, there is variety in entertainment. With all of that stated, what brings us back are the people. After our first visit, we were greeted with, "Welcome home" and it truly feels like coming home. The Palace has a unique and outstanding team. They anticipate your needs and wants, and go above and beyond in delivering top-notch service. For our most recent stay (as well as previous stays), there were so many people who contributed to a wonderful experience. The following list is not exhaustive of everyone, but for the ala carte dining, there was Audley, Biggie, Felissa, Dr. Phil, Mr. Grant, and Causten, who sang to me along with another gentleman whose name I didn't catch for my birthday. In case you're wondering, several members of the dining hall team will sing to you for your birthday. I'm convinced being able to sing is a part of the job requirement. In Vogue Bar, Ms. Boing and Odain were friendly and great conversationalist. There are so many examples of outstanding service and if I wrote all of them, this review would become a novel, so I’ll highlight two examples. We always sit in Biggie’s section in the ala carte dining. Biggie was off the day of my birthday. The following day, she decorated my table with balloons, a birthday stash, and she just had festive decorations. It was thoughtful, caring, and completely out of her pocket. She did not have to do this, but she wanted to celebrate my birthday. I will be forever grateful for her thoughtfulness. The second example involves Audley. My mother likes to have hot cocoa after she has her breakfast. One morning, my mother finished her breakfast and before she could even hold up her hand to get his attention, Audley was at our table with her hot cocoa. Audley is excellent at observing what the guests need, while never appearing rushed and always having time to talk to us. When we were leaving, Sheldon from the front desk, came out to give us a hug. We were so touched by this because it made us feel that we weren’t just guests, but that we’re a part of the Riu family. Riu Palace Montego Bay has assembled an amazing team. If you want to experience excellent and friendly service, I highly recommend.

  Feb 03, 2026
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  An honest review

  Like any resort, there are positives and negatives. Let me first say, the service was first class. Everyone was eager to please. Service at the beach was amazing. The rooms were clean and a decent size (though I'm not a fan of having a jacuzzi bathtub in the bedroom). The balcony was large. We had an "ocean view" room and you could see the ocean if you stuck your head over the balcony. Otherwise, you faced the balcony across the way. The bed was comfortable and the room well equipped. The FOOD>>>very important. The variety at the buffet was good and had something to satisfy everyone. Any complaints in this area should be ignored. The specialty restaurants are another story. You need to book 3 days in advance and all the ones advertised may not be open. One was closed 3 days when we were there. We did manage to get to the steakhouse (8:00 PM only available time). I had the surf & turf which was excellent. I also had a Caesar salad which was terrible. The lettuce was limp and was drowned in dressing. My wife had the lobster which was huge. It was undercooked, part of it was raw. They do serve better quality drinks but not being a drinker, hard to judge all drinks served. The beach extends the length of the three hotels (which is not long). The beach area is fairly well maintained. Biggest complaint is the lack of shade due to a lack of palm trees with foliage. It appears they were trimmed. One negative is the noise from all the planes that pass closely overhead. It became annoying the third day. At the end of every vacation, I ask "would I want to come here again". Sadly, I admit we would not want to come back to this hotel. For the price, there are better locations.

  Feb 02, 2026
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  The Service is Terrible in 2 Key Areas, keeping this resort from being Great!

  The front desk staff is unfriendly. Check in was not welcoming at all. Every call to the front desk during our stay has felt like we are a burden to them. It wouldn’t hurt them to smile and at least pretend they like their job. Housekeeping - I’m not sure why a housekeeper would clean a room and not leave towels or wash clothes. We came back to a clean room with nothing to bathe with. Waited over an hour after using the RIU app, calling house keeping and the front desk. No one has a sense of urgency to help the guest. Dinner reservations - make them as soon as you arrive and be prepared for everything to be booked. You won’t have an opportunity to try them all of your not staying longer than 6 days. Common complaint. This is the first RIU I have really been disappointed in. Hoping the trip turns around for the better. Half way through and really regretting selecting this Location. I have been to the Ocho and Negril Location and had a wonderful time.

  Jan 29, 2026
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  Not a peaceful relaxing holiday

  The Hotel - dated but clean an well maintained Staff - almost all good friendly and helpful. Bit iffy in the restaurant with a couple of the young ladies on the staff who definitely gave the impression that they did not want to be there. But on the whole the hotel team were very good in all departments . Bar staff and waiter service around the pools on the lobby were very good. Entertainment staff - very energetic and good at what they were doing but there wasn’t much entertainment Entertainment - very very disappointing. Lots of loud music round the pool areas and activities suitable to Club Med and 18-30 holidays all during the day. Very limited entertainment on an evening from outside artists, the entertainment team did bingo and karaoke. Hotel say there are activities on the RIU stage but there isn’t one, this refers to the areas around the pools where all there is to sit on are the sun beds that have been in use all day. The lobby bar was usually taken over by Americans watching American Football and was noisy Beach & Sunbeds - no issues with either beach was kept clean and beds were always available. They were putting addition caburnas out at the end of our trip. Airplanes - you are right under the flight path for the airport which is 10 min away. Clients - for a change it wasn’t the Brit’s who were the rowdy drunken ones but the Americans. We have been to quite a few RUI hotels and enjoyed the experience, this one didn’t meet the standard we expected and we won’t be back

  Jan 28, 2026
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  IT IS NOT SAFE TO STAY HERE - SCAM

  Check-in was smooth, and the exterior of the resort is well maintained. Restaurant and bar staff were generally pleasant. Unfortunately, that is where the positives end. The guest rooms are extremely outdated with poorly executed, cheap finishes that do not reflect a resort experience. More concerning, however, was the conduct of the front desk and management, which turned our stay into a stressful and alarming experience. During housekeeping, minor makeup residue was noted on towels and sheets—normal wear and tear for a beach resort. Nothing excessive or damaged. Despite this, housekeeping never replaced our towels or changed our sheets during our entire stay. A day before checkout, we received an email claiming we owed $520 for towel and sheet “damages.” We were not connected to WiFi often and did not see the email immediately. That same evening, around 7/8 PM, security and housekeeping repeatedly came to our room—knocking aggressively and calling the hotel phone back-to-back. When we did not answer because we were napping, housekeeping unlocked and entered our room without consent in an attempt to address the charge. They noticed we were asleep and left. This was extremely frightening and a serious violation of privacy and safety. We have never experienced anything like this at a hotel. We are not opposed to replacing towels if necessary, but $520 is an outrageous and unreasonable charge. During checkout, the situation escalated further when we were refused the ability to leave the resort and were told the hotel would call the airport to prevent us from leaving Jamaica if we did not pay. Being threatened over towels is completely unacceptable. After significant back-and-forth, staff claimed to “meet with a manager” and reduced the charge to $200, which we still felt was unreasonable but paid under pressure just to leave. Even then, they attempted to charge us $240, contradicting what was just agreed upon. To make matters worse, we spoke with multiple staff members across the property, none of whom were aware of this supposed policy or could explain why it was never disclosed at check-in. This experience felt predatory, particularly as two young women traveling together. The intimidation, lack of transparency, harassment, and unauthorized room entry completely overshadowed any positives of the stay. We will never stay at a RIU property again and strongly caution others to be aware of these practices before booking.

  Jan 27, 2026