Hi there, I am no means of a complainer but when I attended a "5 Star" I would hope it would be pretty decent.

I have travelled to many places in the Caribbean and in Mexico and this resort is in Jamacia is no way a 5 Star resort.

Three main things I look at when staying at a resort are Accomodations, Beach and Food. My room yes had that musty damp smell. However, pretty clean until some friends decided to join us. Yes, cockaroaches, this absolutely not acceptable at a 5 star or any other resot for that matter. My wife was terrified and would not sleep because of the fear. After conversing on the resort with others it was shocking to hear that many other people had cockaroaches as well. Also, many other were getting eaten alive by bugs in their rooms. Rating 3 Stars

The beach yes was okay, after you got past the 5 feet of sea weed at shore. My impression was that negril had one of the best beaches in the carribbean. I also thought I was on this so called 7 mile beach , which in fact is on the other side. Those of you staying at the RIU Tropical Bay or Negril your beach is called the "Bloody Bay Beach" Rating 3.5 Stars

Food. I cannot explain how poor I found the food. Sir Anthony's was okay. The Steak house was awful and so was the buffet. Apparently the Jamaican Jerk chicken was supposed to be good. Wouldn't know because it seemed the barbecues on the beach were runnning out chicken.

Overall: 3.5 stars.

Beach: 4 stars.

Room: 2 stars.

Food, Drink, and Service: 3.5 stars.

The Good:
The Beach was wonderful! Peaceful and beautiful in the morning. Nicely lined with palm trees and the sand is clean and soft. The water is warm – don’t know the temperature but every time we went in the water it was nice and warm. Plenty of eye candy and topless bathers – the nice thing about the Riu Tropical Bay was that it has a lot of international travelers on holiday.

The staff was a pleasure! The Bartenders were always helpful and friendly. All the staff were warm and wonderful. Overall the place was clean and kept up pretty nicely.

Here are some pics: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/moobearus/slideshow?.dir=/a472re2&.src=ph

The So-So:
The Food selection was OK. Nothing great – nothing terrible – just nothing special. Mind you we went on an Apple Vacation – we didn’t pay Ritz Carlton prices – you get what you pay for.

The Rooms were not great. The beds were not comfortable and not really big enough for 2 people so you each had to sleep on your own bed.

Other Info:
You can walk to the Riu Negril along the beach – it takes about 7 minutes – a nice walk with some trees and branches to negotiate along the way. The Riu Negril seems to be more family friendly – many more activities – much bigger and better pools. But the quality of the Riu Negril Beach was much lower than the Riu Tropical Bay.

The Jetski guys keep going back and forth outside the buoys - can’t really hear them and they aren’t a nuisance – they might actually add a little excitement to the feel of the beach.

Ganja – Pot – Marijuana is readily available right off the grounds. Occasionally the aroma will sweep across the beach – no problem – after all it is Jamaica.

We stayed at the Riu Negril in April 16-23. We wanted to see if the cost of going to Jamaica was worth it. We have been to Punta Cana, Dominican; Varadero Cuba; and the Mayan Riviera. We had a great time at Riu Negril, but I would say that we have had cheaper vacations in the other 3 countries mentioned that were just as good and even better in some cases, in terms of hotel and beach.

Here is what was great at Riu Tropical in Negril Jamaica.

We got an ocean front room even though we arrived at noon. I don't know why we were lucky this way, but that was a huge bonus. The weather was great everyday. The beach is lovely, especially because it is so shallow - great for kids and it stays warm. The water is very clear too. We did not have to panic in the mornings and run to the beach to reserve chairs, and I think this is because we traveled at a time that was not as busy as say, March or February. The guests were so friendly; we met so many nice people. The staff was fantastic and a lot of them seemed to know the guests, as there were a lot of return guests. They are a happy bunch and they all work well together. Example, there was one day when a band came down to the beach to play some Reggae music. Some guests who had great voices got a chance to sing as well, as did some staff - like a gardener and a lifeguard. It was so refreshing to be at a resort this relaxed in having all staff take part in the fun stuff. Because the resort is on the west coast, you get a sunset every night. We went in mid April and so we were able to stay on the beach until 7:00 pm and it was still warm to swim.

The beach is rather secluded from 7-mile beach, which can be good and bad - it depends on what you like. We thought it was fine, but we do like Punta Cana as well because you can walk so far on the beach. The food was fine; we are very flexible in our food likes and dislikes. The Pizza was pretty good and let me tell you, we live in little Italy in Toronto and the pizza is great, so we know good pizza.

My boyfriend and I stayed at this hotel Dec 5 - 12, 2005. We are both in our mid 40's and we reside in Ontario, Canada. We had a great time. Overall I would rate it as a 41/2 star

Beach - we had the best stretch of the beach of all the hotels including the Riu Negril. It's kind of small compared to Veradero and Punta Cana but it was very clear and the sand was really nice - not a lot of pebbles and stuff. We fed the fish every morning and that was a lot of fun.

Pools - kind of small but that was OK. There could have been steps to step into the pool. That would have been nice. They definitely need more than four umbrellas for the entire pool area - that's not enough!!!

Food: overall I found the food quite good. There was a lot of selection. The a la carte restaurants were all good. The only thing I would warn anyone about is not to order the shrimp bisque at the Sir Anthony's a la carte restaurant. It was just absolutely horrible!!! it tasted like the smell of tires at Costco!! Yuk!!! Other than that everything else was really good. Although you had to line up to book the a la cartes at 11:00 a.m. every morning I didn't really mind.

Room: Standard room - but don't be taken in by the King size bed routine. It's actually two beds pushed together and they aren't even double beds. My boyfriend was constantly sleeping in the crack. The mattress was hard and the plastic covering wasn't very romantic but at least the sheets were clean and changed each day.

Some people have complained of the musty smell but I didn't notice anything in our room. We brought some candles and they also helped make the room smell good.

It's true that they turned off the air conditioner at around 2:00 a.m. but with the fan going it wasn't really all that bad.

For all you women, the amp service was 110 but the plugs were recessed so far into the wall that some of our chargers (for camera and radios) could not plug in. I had to use our converters just to accomodate the plugs.

Entertainment Staff: pretty standard. The shows were OK. Nothing spectacular but then again, this isn't Las Vegas.

Disco: Pretty lame. The DJ kept playing rap and whenever he played anything remotely decent, he would change the music at least every two minutes. I don't think he ever played one song to completion.

Staff: all the staff were really nice. Everyone was very pleasant and no one was rude. We got served promptly and always with a smile.

One word of caution. If any of you book through Apple our Apple Vacation representative, *******, was extremely unprofesional. When we went to our orientation we asked about a Booze Cruise Catamaran package. She highly recommended it. She said that we would be on a catamaran and sail to the Light House and then to Rick's Cafe to watch the Sunset. She said that it would be all the booze we could drink and pizza. All for the bargain basement price of $35.00 per person (as they had a special for Wednesday - it's usually $50.00 per person). So my boyfriend and I signed up.

Well the Booze Cruise consisted of being bussed to this God awful bar and wading out to the Catamaran in water up to your waist. We were given a drink and while we waited to take off the crew brought on about three trays of pizza that had definitely seen better days. As we took off we were all given one slice of pizza that was cold and rubbery. You definitely didn't want another piece. After that we went to the ligthhouse alright... we drove by it. Then we "docked" at Rick's Cafe.

If you wanted to go to Rick's Cafe you had to swim there and the waves were horrible. It took at least 15 minutes to swim there and you had to swim back too. As a result, you couldn't really do anything at Rick's. I mean after all you're in your bathing suit. You have no money and unless you had a waterproof camera you couldn't take any pictures of the divers either. You can't enter the restaurant because you weren't appropriately dressed. They let you have an hour to hang around Rick's Cafe. This would include your half hour swim back and forth to the Cafe so you really only had half an hour. Considering you couldn't even do anything once you go there it wasn't worth swimming to. Once back on board the boat they take you back to the crappy bar that you were picked up. Only to be greeted by natives asking you if you wanted Ganja, Ecstacy or illegal cigarettes. You had to wade back (in the dark!!!) to shore. What a ripoff.

When I complained to ******* the next day and advised her that we would never have gone if we knew that we had to swim to Rick's she insisted that she had told us. She basically swept aside all my complaints and called me a liar. She said that she had booked 25 people on that tour and not one of them complained and that they were all at the same orientation meeting I was at and they all knew about swimming. Well isn't it funny that there were only six people at my orientation meeting. In fact, we ran into another one of the couples a couple of days later and I asked them if she had mentioned swimming and all that other stuff and they agreed that she hadn't mentioned anything!!! What a load of crap. She definitely shouldn't be working in the Service Industry because it was obvious that she wasn't interested in listening to me or making amends. Even when my boyfriend approached her about it two days later she still had the same attitude. He told her he was going to complain to Apple Vacations and she basically told him to go ahead because she was going to write a report too!!! What a winner!!! In fact, she was always late every day. She said her hours were from 9:30 to 12:00 and she never arrived before 10:00 so I would spend half an hour loitering around the foyer waiting for her.

Other than our experience with her and the ripoff excursions, the hotel itself was great. We had no complaints.

Overall I would rate the Riu Tropical Bay Resort a nice place to stay.

Beach - Excellent, very clean and very well maintained. There were always plenty of chairs.

Pools - Very small and they didn't have an entrance with stairs.

Food - We would rate the food ok. There seemed to be the same selection each day at the buffet. The pizza was good. The only problem was that if you wanted to eat in one of the restaurants you had to get on a line that was very long at 11:00 am. When the restaurants filled up (and they each have 2 seatings 6:30 and 9:00) you were out of luck. I was not too happy spending my vacation standing on line for an hour to be told try again the next day. We only had dinner once in the Sir Anthony Steak House and it was really not any better than the buffet.

Rooms - Clean, housekeeping did a great job. There is always a hint of bug spray though. We were on the third floor so our rooms did not have the musty smell that everyone talked out being on the first floor.

Entertainment - Average. Nothing great.

Staff - The staff was friendly if you made it a point to be friendly to them. Of course a tip was very much appreciated.

Spa - The spa was small, but the services were excellent. I had the best massage I have ever had by Carrie Ann. The facials were also very good.

Really found your web page to be very helpful in choosing our resort for vacation this year. The RIU Tropical Bay met all of our expectations and more. It is absolutely a beautiful resort and very well maintained. Below is a listing of our personal ratings of all the amenities at RIU Tropical Bay:

SUMMARY OF THE RIU Tropical Bay:
This is a quick summary of my trip to the Riu Tropical Bay when I visited from May 14th to May21st. It’s great value for Jamaica given the food and standards. I’ve been to Palladium in the Mayan Riveria (great food and great facilities and huge pool), Iberostar Dom Haceinda (in La Romana – DR (good quality food, good fac), Casa Del Mar in La Romana DR (poor food and service, nice beach), Coral Hamaca DR (avg food, ok fac), Brias Guadalavaca, Cuba (very bad food – it’s Cuba and ok fac). Compared to others I’ve been to, the Riu ranks up with Palladium and Iberostar interms of food, but falls behind on the Pool but is better with respect to the beach. One thing I did notice was that the workers in Jamaica are not as automatically friendly as those in Mexico/DR/Cuba. There you always get instant smiles and constant hellos by everyone in other countries.

ROOMS & GROUNDS:
The grounds at the Riu are nice but the resort is very shallow and the road/highway is very close so some rooms will hear the road and noisy cars and motorcycles (esp Building 2). The rooms are nicely appointed and the mini bar is a plus but the biggest problem of my whole trip is the air conditioner and comfort level when sleeping. Many reviews have complained of a musty smell in the room. This is normal in the tropics and I accept that esp if the A/C is off. The reason why its always musty is that the resort has the A/C on a timer and it shuts off some time in the day and worst of all in the middle of the night from 2am to 7:30am. They assume everyone is sound asleep and you won’t notice and they can save on the electricity bill. This was a nightmare for me and my wife as we would wake up every night at 2:30am sweaty and feeling a damp mattress and sheets as it was only a fan operating. It was awful and I could not sleep for the rest of the night. This is unacceptable especially given the humid environment. People deserve a good night sleep!! The damp room was worse than a sauna; you couldn’t open the door either, as there is no breeze and it was even more humid. The worst thing was when I complained, everyone played dumb even the head Spanish manager of the resort. The maintenance guy was the only honest one and directly told me they turned off the A/C and others had complained but nothing was ever done. They figure you will be gone in 7 days! I talked to other guests at the resort and some felt it and others didn’t . The problem with the ones who didn’t notice it before was that they started noticing it after I told them and they sarcastically thanked me to telling them!! Other than the A/C (which was to me a big deal), everything else was great esp the food.

FOOD:
The buffets were great (just as good as a la cartes if not better some days). Always freshly made food and it's very grand/elegant looking decor and best of all air conditioned (but only till 9pm (surprise surprise!). Anywhere that serves lobster, smoke salmon, procuitto, shrimps, red snapper, duck, and great fries is good in my books!!! The jerk chicken was good but definitely toned down (not too spicy) from the tourist. Eat the dark meat as the white could get dry. Try the oxtail and ackee and salt fish during Jamaica night (Wed). The Friday buffet at night was excellent as well as the Thursday night Mexican night with great chicken burrito and bbq ribs. Desserts were good esp crème de carmel, tarimisu, pecan tart. No mangos or bananas (strange!) but lots of papaya, pineapple and melons. The tastes are more European and refined so don’t expect extra sweet chocolate cake for all you North Americans! Red stripe beer is not available at the pool bar or in your room or in some a l carte restaurants (other brands are gross). There is a new a la carte, Japanese (actually Chinese/Japanese) which just opened. Not teppanyaki grill as other resorts but still good. They definitely try despite tasting a little diff from the real thing. I give them A for effort. They do give you sushi/sashimi (little strange) at the beginning and Tempura is good. Note: there is Sake but you must ask for it. The Yakitori is ok for entree. They don’t advertise it as they push the yukky wine. Sir Anthony is good. Presentation is the key here and the fact of being served. The lobster bique is so good and rich. Raw swordfish is fresh but tasteless. They had blackened snapper/filet steak/chicken breast rolls for entrees. The wine is better – a Chilean one. The Steakhouse is also good but brutually hot as its outside. Go for the beef steak filet not the rib eye. Ribs are ok too. Note: a la carte reservations are now at 8am and not 9am (had no problems even after 8am). Be prepared for a 2 hr dinner and fairly slow service at the a la cartes (but who cares as you are on vacation). The pizzeria was good. The Reggae pizza is hotsauce, cheese, green pepper and jerk checken. Very good but you can't take it out!!! As for the facilities: The

POOL:
Pool is small for a resort this size (esp when compared to Mexico/DR but sufficient except during late afternoon when everyone hangs by the pool bar. The jacuzzis are broken (for a while) and it gets sort dirty in the pool near the jaccuzzi/bar. There are not enough umbrellas by the pool and they are taken up first thing in the morning.

BEACH:
Hint: go to the beach in the morning as this is when you see the turquoise beauty of the ocean. Direct sunlight washes the colours as the day progresses. The beach is amazing with gin clear water and light brown sand (unlike the white sand of Cancun) but still nice and lots of coconut trees unlike Couple/Grand Lido and Club Negril. Very shallow bathlike (29degrees) water for quite a far distance. No snorkeling as no coral but there are a few fish there (gar/needle fish), and another silver type fish. If you are lucky you will see a sting ray on the bottom (near the bouys). Bring bread if you want to feed the fish.

ENTERTAINMENT:
This resort is definitely not catered to kids. No programs. No mini club dancing (only when they feel like it). There are a lot of Reggae bands (one during th night beach party, one during the day beach party and an excellent one during the nightly entertainment. The Micheal Jackson show was lame as was the Magic show if you’ve been to other all inclusives.

DIVING:
Did 2 dives but not with the Scuba Caribe at the resort (too expensive + too pushy + they wanted you to take a refresher if you haven’t dove within a yr). Went with Sundivers (they pick you up at the hotel free) Cost $60 US for 2 tanks +$10 for BCD +$10 for snorkel/fin/mask. The "Throne" site was boring but the "Arch" reef was amazing (not Cozumel but good). Saw lobsters, ray, moray eel, schools of grunts/yellowtail, shrimp, lots of caverns and even a sunken small plane.

SHOPPING:
If you want to venture off to town take a cab on the road. Bargain for $5US (vs $14 for the ones at the lobby). They can take you to the craft market which is also near Sunshine village mall. Not too busy. Jamaica is not like other 3rd world countries. It's more dangerous as drugs and other ills have gotten into the culture. So be careful not to venture off too much. As for buying t shirts go to sunshine village. All shops have the same things and prices as it's seems like every shopkeeper is Indian and look very related to each other. There is a supermarket there called HI LO where you will get the cheapest prices on Blue mountain coffee ($7US a pound). Also jerk sauce or liquor is cheap there)often 1/2 price of souvenier shop/airport and 1/3 of resort prices.

We just came back from RIU TROPICAL BAY IN Jamaica.We were there the 26 of march for one week. We travel one or two times a year since 1985 and we have chosen five star hotel to avoid any problems and insure an enjoyable vacation.When we decided to choose this hotel it was for the name RIU. We have been there three times before and each time was fantastic,therefore we were expecting the same from this Riu hotel.

The hotel was clean and the food was good but we had a hard time getting reservations for the two restaurants A LA CARTE. We could not make our reservations at the front desk a couple of days in advance, we had to wait in line at around 8;00-830 to make our reservations at 900 am for the same night only. Which by the way the restaurant was never full for reasons that could be because it cost them too much. There was only five tables occuped the evenings we were at the sir anthony and at the bloody bay steakhouse they got to side serve people and only one side was opened the night we were there.

When we first arrived in our hotel room it was around 700pm we were already hot and sweating so we were very anxious to get to our room to feel the cold air but that was not the case so i immediately checked to thermostat it was already at the maximum so we left for dinner and came back at 1100pm to find that the temperature had not change . We were very tired after a long day of traveling so we went to bed but were awaken at 200am by the heat .Therefore i checked my watch which indicated that it was 85f with high humidity in the room.At that time my wife needed to use her pump so i went to the front desk twice before they gave us another room.I have to say they gave us a room with an ocean view which was very nice thanks to Yessi who gave us that room,but the air conditionning in that room only gave us a room temperature of 75f which was little better than the first room we had. I spoke with people who didnt have air conditionning all week.It seems air conditionning on the resort was a big problem because we heard a lot of stories on that subject.That situation was very disapointing for a five star hotel.

For lunch they served jerk chicken on the beach.I went two times around 100pm and no chicken was left .On another day it was the same with hamburger buns, then it was ketchup that missing so i decided to go at the front desk to make a complaint i spoke to the manager who s name was Steve and he said he would send us a bottle of champagne and we never received it.

One morning my wife went to the booths to change our beach towels.She stand in the line up for the opening at 800 am.The man arrived slowly took his time to sweep the floor and do other things before deciding to serve the clients.My wife had to wait for 20 minutes.

In the mornig if we decided to eat on the terrace sometimes we had to clean our own table . I know that Jamaican people are not very stressed but when we paid for a five star hotel we expected that the service to be included.

Just before we left ,i spoke to Steve again about all these problems and thanked him for the bottle of champagne i never received i felt like he didnt even care about what i said.

My husband & I just returned from RIU Tropical Bay, first time there, but have previously stayed at Sandals Mo Bay, Sandals Dunn's River, and Grand Lido Negril. I've only ever stayed at all-inclusives in Jamaica; when I go there, I just want to lay like a blob & basically never leave the resort - more active types may not find this review entirely helpful - just to give you some idea where we're coming from!

Check-In
Smooth as silk - tropical drinks in hand within a minute of getting off the bus, in our room within 10 minutes, bags arrived the second we walked in the room! Staff was friendly & extremely helpful - a phone call to the front desk to ask for a safe key resulted in a knock on the door 5 minutes later - no problem mon!

Room
We had booked a garden view room, and were given #2301 - a great room. We had an oversized balcony with cupola with a garden & partial ocean view. Room was kept clean daily, and there was plenty of hot water. The bathtub had seen slightly better days, and the toilet was a little temperamental, but nothing major. We were quite happy with the room. Note: I left some hard candies in one of the dresser drawers and within a day, the drawer was swarming with ants - ICK! My own fault though, what do you expect in a tropical climate?

Food
Plentiful. Breakfast buffet was great - the highlights, in my opinion, were the made to order omelettes and the freshly made donuts you could dip in sugar yourself. My husband also loved the smoothie bar!

Lunches were a choice of the pizzeria (nothing special, in our opinion - only ate there once), the Bloody Bay buffet, which had a nice selection which changed daily, and the Jerk Shack, which served BBQ chicken & sausages & grilled corn. The food ranged from mediocre to very good, depending on what you selected. We weren't blown away, but we weren't disappointed either!

Dinner buffet was like the lunches - the food could be GREAT, or middling, depending on your selection. The nice thing about the all-inclusive is that you don't have to waste valuable stomach space on the stuff that's not very good...just go back & get something you like!
Sir Anthony's was better - loved the fettucine appetizerand the cajun snapper! We ate there twice, and never found reservations to be a problem, even tho the resort was full.
The Grill Restaurant was pretty good, but my tip is: order your steaks a little rarer than you normally would - if you order like you do at home, they will arrive overcooked!
Desserts were a disappointment all the way around - fairly tasteless.

Drinks
What can I say? The bar opens at 10am and the drinks were all terrific! They have great beer (don't forget your cooler mugs!) and a fun selection of tropical drinks - all available with or without alcohol. They're quite happy to make anything you want, and they also have self-serve soda fountains that along with the usual Pepsi, ginger ale, and the rest, have TING! That alone made my vacation - can't get enough Ting! Oh - there's only one red & one white "house" wine available - it comes in kegs (they fill bottles for the restaurants from the kegs) - and it's gruesome. If you're a wine drinker, you'll be disappointed. The red's a little better than the white, but not much!

Beach
I was anxious to see the beach, because when we stayed at Grand Lido Negril several years ago, it was the only hotel on the beach and it wasn't that great. However, RTB's beach is the best on the bay! Nice & deep, and very long (the hotel takes up a lot of property), with plenty of palm trees and loungers - we never had a problem, even tho the resort was full. Water is crystal clear and calm, and it's very shallow - great for splashing or floating! They sell blow up floats at the beach shack, but bring your own from home & just leave it for the next person!

This was our third time at a Riu resort (Puerto Vallarata, Mexico and Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic previously). We have also been to Cancun, Acapulco, Play del Carmen, Dominican Republic and Jamaica previously. When I read some of the reviews, I was sceptical about the accuracy of some reports, as I think some people complain about the smallest of things.

Until this vacation, we had never had any problems with rooms in any of our resorts. However, this trip was different! Travelling as with our two teenage kids (18 & 14), we had requested two rooms adjacent to each other. When we arrived, we were given 1104 and 1105–on the main floor facing a parking lot and construction on the north edge of the property.
Went to the front desk and asked to be moved. They were very good about it and relocated us to 2105 and 2106. We could not believe the smell in our kids room–like raw sewage! Thought it may need airing out, so we opened the patio door and broke out the room freshener. This wasn’t just a musty smell, it was bad. The next morning the smell was just as bad (so bad in fact that you could smell it outside the room), so we once again asked for another room for them, and they were moved up to the second floor–no smell. Maintenance and cleaning staff worked all week to get rid of the odour but I’m not sure they were successful.

I was also sceptical of hearing of roaches, as this has never been a problem for us before. However, both of our rooms had a roach or two which we noticed towards the end of our stay. We were very careful not to have food in the room, but the roaches came anyway. Not that the room was infested, but like I say, we did notice a few (didn’t care to go looking too hard for more).

In addition, the resort is right next to a very busy road (main highway to Montego Bay), so the road traffic was noisy at night and early in the morning. They honk their horns to say “hello” and “get out of my way” so this didn’t help.

On a more positive note, the check-in was excellent (quick and rooms ready); staff is very friendly and helpful; beach was superb; food was good (if you want “haute cuisine” stay home and go to a true 5 star restaurant); jerk chicken shack was excellent; lots of loungers and towels; drinks from bar were good (but small beer glasses).

Return to Negril – The Sequel!!

We had just got back from the Riu Tropical Bay in August. Everyone asked us – “how did you like it…were you scared in Jamaica…were you offered drugs…”? And…”where to next”? Most people were shocked when I answered….”RIGHT BACK TO JAMAICA’!!!

So…that’s how we found ourselves crammed back into a Sunquest Skyservice Airbus…surrounded by two rowdy wedding parties on January 16th, 2005. We were leaving behind cold and snowy Toronto for another week in paradise. Would this vacation be better than the last? Or, would our expectations be so high that this return trip to the same country, the same city, even the same property not measure up? Would we be disappointed?

The answer to this burning question….see below!

Our flight left Saturday, January 16th right on time…3:10pm..even after a quick de-icing required because of the light snow that had started to fall. Flight was uneventful…we made great time because of a stiff tailwind, and landed ahead of schedule in Montego Bay. Customs was quick…even for Jamaica…we collected our luggage and headed to parking lot and the Riu bus. And here’s where I start a bit of a personal rant.

Wedding parties….for some reason this particular group of 20 headed to the Riu Negril thought they had the right to delay the rest of us while they went to buy beer, buy cigarettes, buy pot, and God knows what else. One particular individual thought she had the right to head straight to Margaritaville before she even went though customs and delay the rest of us for over an hour while she pounded back the booze…no one could find her, and the bus wouldn’t leave without her. When she finally deigned to board the bus, not a word of apology, just an idiotic giggle as she collapsed in her seat. As soon as the bus pulled out, people started lighting up cigarettes, joints…even though the Sunquest rep asked them repeatedly to stop. And of course nothing would do but another beer stop just before we left Montego Bay. And the requisite pee and puke break about 40 minutes after that.

Don’t get me wrong here….I drink, and I have smoked weed on the odd occasion, but there were small children on that bus as well as non-smokers…if I had been one of the parents, I would have raised holy hell with Sunquest. A group of Grade 11 students on a class trip would have been better behaved than this low class bunch of 30-something wannabe party animals. I guess the reception hall at some trailer park was all booked that week.

Finally, we reached Negril. After dumping off “The-Wedding-From-Hell 2005”, we headed down the road to the Riu TB. I had requested an upgrade to a ground floor oceanfront room with my Riu Club card points, but for the 1st night, there was none available, but Yessy, front desk manager, promised me a room change the next day at 1:00…and was true to her word, by 1:30 we were moved quickly and efficiently by the ever affable David to room 3113..building one, ground floor, oceanfront, and a short walk to the pool and bar.

Even though everything’s relative (we were of course, missing a week of the miserable Canadian winter), the weather this trip was not quite what we hoped for. The December winds Jamaica usually experiences carried over into January…and the first three days of our vacation Bloody Bay was unusually rough and basically unswimable and there was no watersports. Even the pools were a bit cold, compared to what we experienced last August. On the bright side, the sun was hot(when it was out), the breeze was nice by times, and humidity low. Marg got her usual third degree burn the first day, but an aloe vera massage from Bloom at the Office of Nature fixed her right up…we’ve been back over a week now, and she still hasn’t peeled, and the burn has deepened into a dark tan.

A couple of things I noticed different about Riu’ service this time compared to the summer. Towels and face clothes seemed to be in short supply. You really had to chase the bartenders to make you a strong drink. Very little fresh seafood on the buffet…no shrimp or lobster…and a lot of foods served for lunch ended up in another form for dinner, or vice versa next day. The ala cartes(Sir Anthony’s & the Steakhouse)were about the same as last time…in fact, the menu was exactly the same…not sure I could stand the food for two weeks without at least two dinners at an outside restaurant. On the positive – the entertainment was much better, with more live reggae music at the beach parties and less of those annoying audience participation shows. God…those are tedious….unless of course you know the people and are hammered.

Monday and Tuesday were slated as beach days…I had already contacted Sala for another half day tour of Negril and shopping for Wednesday. But no Times Square for us this time…we were going to the Craft Market and haggle ourselves some bargains! A quick stop at the Scotiabank for some Jamaican dollars and we were on our way.

Business has been slow in Negril since Ivan…and it shows…the vendors are much more eager to do business and haggle. I never beat anybody down to the lowest price…it’s really more about what I think something is worth to me. Maybe I paid too much…maybe not…but I got some nice wood carvings, a knitted hat, a shirt, Blue Maho wood earrings for Marg, and a really nice painting in an impressionistic style of a jazz orchestra by a local artist(my most expensive purchase). Since prices were a bit lower, I was also able to spread my purchases around a bit more to more vendors. Sala hovered around in the background, always watching out for us, but unobtrusive. Maybe that’s how the President feels with the Secret Service..lol. A couple of times I noticed the vendor looking at him…a slight nod from him and prices seemed to drop a bit more once the shopkeeper and I seemed to be reaching an impasse in price. When we were leaving, and loading our booty, he leaned close to me and whispered “you’re a good bargainer”…a nice compliment.

Next we headed to the mall where the Hi-Lo supermarket is located. We were pretty much shopped out, and the Indian shopkeepers were much less inclined to haggle. Then it was back in the van for a trip up to the Cliffs via the West End Road and the Lighthouse for some pictures. Here the remains of the damage from Ivan became much more apparent. Rick’s was still closed, and the gates were blocked with huge sheets of metal cladding preventing us from seeing what progress they were making with the reconstruction. Didn’t matter to me much. We were at Rick’s last time…tourist trap, slow service, watered drinks, mediocre food…if it wasn’t for the cliff divers and the view and the sunsets it wouldn’t exist. I much prefer the view at Pirates Cave, and the ambiance. It was destroyed by Ivan as well, but it looked the same to me, and the Red Stripe was just as cold. It was here I got a big surprise. I was just sitting there when I hear someone yell out my name….and it turns out to be a guy who works for the same company I do back in “the world”, except in a different department. He has friends there, and took advantage of a last-minute fare sale by Air Canada for a visit. After a beer, we parted ways, both chuckling “small world”…

Thursday was a beach day, and Friday was supposed to be our trip to Benji’s Paradise, but we changed it to Saturday to accommodate a client of Sala’s who somehow forgot what day it was and missed their day trip. Just as well…we needed some beach time, since the first three days were poor, and the wind had dropped and the weather was now perfect for just lying around and getting some sun.

Our trip to Benji’s started Saturday at 10:00am. Sala picked us up right on the dot, and we headed out of Negril. A quick stop at the cambio in Little London, and then another stop almost right next door at Sala’s “yard” to pick up Sienna for the trip and say hello to the dogs. Belinda(the mother) and Milo(her last year’s puppy) had apparently decided that the “yard” just wasn’t big enough for the two of them, so Milo had gone to live at Uncle Dave’s and guard his “yard”. This time, Sienna had taken in two kittens, and one(Mariah) quickly found a home in Marg’s lap and curled up. Talk about adopting a Jamaican cat ensued, but was quickly dismissed (by me).

We left Little London and headed for Sav-LaMar and the Roaring River, where Benji’s Paradise is located. Fields of sugar cane flew by, and the beautiful Jamaican countryside. The condition of the road left a lot to be desired….the van’s shocks got quite a workout. We then pulled up to a small settlement just outside the Roaring River(which wasn’t roaring much due to the lack of rain). We parked beside one of those large cottonwood trees with roots the size of a city bus and admired the scenery. There was a very large hill as well with stairs leading up to the top to the entrance to a cave. A couple of the locals offered to give us a tour for $10, so we went, and I was pleasantly surprised. This cave was huge inside, with mineral pools, stalactites and stalagmites, and crystal outcroppings out of the wall. The guides pointed out some rock formations which they insisted looked like a lion, a bear, and Jesus in profile. Maybe it’s the weed. We were also told Bob Marley himself used to come there when he was alive to mediate and write music. Also, the cave functions as sort of a hurricane shelter for local residents to ride out the storms.

After some more Red Stripes, we continued our journey to Benji’s. Benji lives “way” back in the country. The word peaceful just doesn’t do it justice. No sounds except the wind, the birds, the frogs, and mineral spring fed brook. Benji wasn’t expecting us as we weren’t going to be staying for his Ital lunch, so Sienna hadn’t called him. The gate was closed, but Sala “ shouted out” and Benji answered back that he was “takin’ a bath mon”!!! We waited outside the gate, and in a few minutes Benji appeared. Good heavens, but he was lean. 1% body fat, and the rest muscle, sinew, and Rasta dreads. Clean livin’, I guess. He welcomed us warmly, and gave us a tour of his garden, showing us all the local plants, and then we headed down to the mineral pools for a soak. The water was cold, but refreshing. Sala took the opportunity to wash his “dreads” and we all chatted away. Benji is very shy, but opens up when he gets to know you a bit. I think he knows a phony when he meets one. Very elemental sort of guy. He noticed Marg’s burn, and offered an aloe vera massage treatment, which she accepted. Sienna, Sala, and I sat there….not saying much…just enjoying the peace and serenity.

Too soon, it was time to leave. Benji offered his guest book for us to sign, and I took note of signatures from people the world over. Benji’s paradise has a lot of devotees.

It was getting on about 3:00pm, so we headed back to Sav for some lunch at Sweet & Spicy. I had the conch fritters, Sienna had the curried goat, Marg had the oxtail, and Sala, the chicken. Excellent. I grabbed the tab, and we headed back to the Riu. I was glad we had moved our trip from the Friday to the Saturday. A perfect day in paradise was a “capper” for our vacation. But, we didn’t need to say goodbye to Sienna and Sala just yet.

Sunday, we had to leave. We packed most everything the night before, so we rose early, headed to breakfast, and then to the beach. This time I couldn’t get an extended checkout, so we had to be out of our room at noon. The bus was leaving at 3:45pm. But…we had arranged our own transportation back to the airport…with Sala!!! Rather than take the shoreline route, we were going the inland way…a chance to see some more countryside. And…we would avoid the “Wedding-party-from-hell-2005”…who I was sure would be late, drunk, or puking. So, at 3:45 our bus leaves promptly…and we look at each other and think “I hope he shows”…but no worries, right at the dot of 4 Sala pulls in with Sienna, and off we go. And, it was well worth it. The road was a bit rough in places, but the scenery was great. Sala also took us on a little tour of Montego Bay before dropping us off at the airport. When we arrived, our bus had already been there, and most of the line-up was gone, so we breezed right though with very little standing around.

So…did this vacation live up to our first visit to Negril? The answer…a resounding yes…but in a different way. Will we be going back? First chance we get. There’s still lots left to do, to see, to experience.

i visited the Riu Tropical Bay in August 2004 for a week. As well as visiting the Tropical bay me and my family have also visited the riu hotels bambu, and merengue in the dominican republic!

well what can i say about the tropical bay.. did i live up to the 5* rep of the riu hotels...

DAM RIGHT IT DID!!!

the journey to the hotel was long, but after a 10hr flight what do you expect!! the coach driver was very welcoming, and the hotel had provided us with water as the heat was there!

on arrival to the hotel we were welocomed quickly with drinks and the hotel helped us to our room without lots of waiting about.

The Rooms
The rooms are spacious, well air conditioned and the view from the balcony is beautiful.. one of the best i have seen! the bathroom was BEAUTIFUL, a lovely bath, with a power shower (sounds like such a small thing, but for laydee's with long hair washing out the sand and salt is important!!), the whole bathroom was beautiful, marble etc is was very grand. Fresh towels everyday and soap etc provided if you ran out..(we didnt) There is a mini bar within the room. this is filled evey other day, ours was filled everyday.

The Pool
There is two large pools, clean and one with a swim up bar.. this is fantastic! need i say more! there is a juccizi with a fountian.. this wa lovvely to sit and relax in. around the pool there is games throughout the day.

Food
Everyone always says the foods crap an everyone gets ill, but no, not one of our family did. thre staff with make you anything you want... the mexican night is not to be missed. there is lots to chooose from. enjoyable food.

Entertainment
The staff were so welcoming its untrue. i went on holiday with my 3 children 20, 17 and 13 and my husband. being in our 40's we didnt want to join in all the games, but we were invited. the animation team as they are known as were very welcoming to all my children, especially to my 17year old daughter! but they looked after her. she often went to the disco with her, looked after her and made her hoiday special, she loved to hang out with the girls and the guys. she said it was the best holiday of her life. my sons equally enjoyed it. we were a little worried that having children older meant that they would get bored, but there was lots of people ther age and they ahd a great time. altough i didnt enjoy the entertainment, but prefered to walk along the beautiful beach at night, my children assured me that is was great fun. the beach party is NOT to be missed with incredible singin from the animation team. Ramon and Slick were amazing. if i was a record producer id sign them.. truely entertaining!! the proffesionality of the staff was 1in a million they were fantastic. goin to jamaica was a little worrying that our children would have drugs pushed on them and that staff would be constantly high, but this was not prominent at all.. Dont you HATE rumours!! my daughter enjoyed this holiday so much she cried when she said goodbye, ramon and slik and the rest of the team made it that fun for her! so if anyone's reading this... Thanks!!

The beach
Beautiful. thats all i can say.

My wife and i had a wonderful time at the Rui Tropical Bay resort. This was our first visit to a Rui resort. We have travelled to many islands including Sandals Resorts. Rui Tropical Bay is a 5 star resort and offers very good value.