RIU Palace Aquarelle

We chose this hotel based on a lot of reviews and it was my daughter’s dream choice of holiday. Firstly, when booking, TUI use different terminology for rooms. We were told we were getting an upgrade from a standard room to a partial sea view room. If you look on the hotels app they don’t have just a standard room but I was not aware. Anyway, I wanted my daughter to feel how I did when going to the Caribbean for the first time when opening the curtains…this time, the sea was in the background but our view was a rough ground car park and storage containers. Check in was chaotic and other people were pulled out of the queue to check in whilst myself and my daughter just stood at the front like lemons getting ignored. The room was spacious and cleanliness just ok and we did have to request pillow cases. Large shower and drinks in the fridge refreshed every day bar one. Plenty of plug sockets and I did take an extension lead but I did not need it. My dyson hairdryer would not work because of voltage differences but cloud 9 straighteners did. The hairdryer in the bathroom was actually pretty powerful. The corridors can get noisy at night. Just a heads up-checkout is 12 and we were unable to have the room for a later checkout. We were just zipping cases a few minutes before 12 when someone knocked and said checkout means we should have been in reception before 12. She wasn’t happy with us and I guess we were pushing it for time but were just about to leave. I had asked if anything could be done for my daughter’s birthday-I was given details for an external company that decorate the room if required and the staff will sing to you at dinner if you request too. The outdoor areas were well maintained and the gardeners were always working hard to make it look pretty. The main family pool always seemed to be cloudy from sun lotion I imagine. In the mornings you could see pool scum lines and floating fruit from drinks. I’ve not experienced this before and maybe having showers directly by the pool would help. If you wish to swim, go early as the pools some become very very overcrowded. The beach was actually better than I hoped after seeing other reviews. They worked so hard to clear sea weed and difficult as the sea during our stay was never still not clear. If you walk to where the blue tents are the sea is actually much clearer. There were parts with rocks but mostly soft sand. We did go to seven mile beach and here was still, clear water and I loved it. Plenty of loungers but limited parasols. A lady complained to a lifeguard and he said to her well you need to get here earlier. One of the negatives was if I wanted to walk along the beach, security from nearby hotels would ask questions that made me feel uncomfortable. This is not the hotels fault but a heads up if wanting to walk alone. Drinks-a lot are branded and the rose wine wasn’t too bad. They can be strong and I always found the team in the sports bar to be the most friendly and my favourite place to go, The pool bars were sometimes crazy with preference given to anyone holding a $20 tip so I avoided those. The coffee is the coffee bar was the best! I actually miss my daily coffee from here. Each pool bar has a water station with infused water too. Food-so much choice at the buffet. Tables were easy to find and clean and tidy, there was a gluten free section and so much variety of fruit. My favourite was the Italian where I had shrimp pasta and my daughter loved the bread which they hand make in the hotel. We did order room service on the first night but limited choice. Entertainment-the team work so very hard and the shows at night are probably the best I have seen at any hotel. So talented! The hotel is in the middle of nowhere and taxis are pretty expensive so factor this in. I looked at a taxi for seven mile beach but it was €320. I then did the excursion there with TUI that included ricks cafe. The rep said it would be 2 hours each way but actually took 4.25 hours. If a few can share a taxi, it may be an idea if you want to be quicker. Overall, there were aspects we enjoyed but would we go back? Absolutely not. An upgrade to overlook a car park, no pool with room to swim and general pool conditions and the way certain staff treated you was not quite the experience I had hoped which was meant to be a pretty special holiday for my daughter.

Perfect family trip! Our group of 8 had such a wonderful time here. Highlights: easy to find pool chairs, make dinner reservations on the app, find seating at the buffet, and find entertainment throughout the day and night. The food is exceptionally good for an all inclusive. The staff is incredible in every aspect, from check in to bar staff to entertainment crew. It is loud with party music until 1:30am, so that might be a consideration if you have young kids. The waterslides and beach access were huge hits with our kids. 10/10 hotel stay!

Spent 5 days at RIU Aquarelle and met a hostess/Waitress named Julian who was top tier. I have never erased experienced such Greta customer service. She is a gem

This review is specially about my server Julian in the buffet area White Bey. She has set my service standard even higher than my already high expectations. The level of care and extra mile she has shown to my family and I makes me want to stay here forever. The service here overall has been great, however you can feel a difference from her!! Give my girl a raise!!! This exceptional service was prior to any tipping and or exchange of Kudos! Got to go, getting ready to find my girl Julian and pretend im staying until next month!!

We have been back a week now from the Aquarelle. We were there 2 weeks before the hurricane and wanted to go back this year. I have to say Riu have done an amazing job getting the hotel back up and running so quickley. We have absolutely no complaints. This is by far the best Riu we have stayed in. I cannot express how good the staff are, from reception, cleaning staff, restaurants, pool, garden staff and anyone I’ve forgotten. They are polite, very helpful, fun to be around. All the restaurants are brilliant. My personal favourite is the Krystal. Special shoutout to Andre and Antonel in the bars. They were brilliant fun last year and exactly the same this year. The rooms are very clean and the cleaners do a fantastic job. As Diamond members we experienced our first cocktail party with Natasha, Selina and Tianna. They were brilliant and gave us so much joy. We had a wonderful experience with so much laughter and fun. In all the years we have been with Rui it was amazing. It is so much better than just receiving our gift in the room, it was a more personal approach and it worked very well. I hope management roll it out across other hotels. If anyone is thinking of going to Jamaica then do choose this hotel. It’s by far the best we have stayed in.