Hotels near Irie River - Paradise in Jamaica, Ocho Rios

This is the 3rd time that I am here (2013, 2019, maby even 2016...) and I must say, that after the first experience I come to stay in Ocho Rios because of the hotel! It is not brandnew, but this a part of its charm. Same way as we persons are also not completely perfect ;-). You will hardly find a hotel with this style out of the past and flair. A big part of the well being is because the very kind and helpfull staff. Also when you are traveling alone you have here always some to help you out with some friendly words. Last but not least it is the few cats in the yard which really makes me feel at home. A wonderful place, very well recommended!

PROS: The Food and Music are more authentic than any resort I’ve been to. Moon Palace's food was well seasoned and the music was mostly Dancehall and Reggae...which is what I expect coming to a Jamaican resort. The lobby is beautiful. The tile work is immaculate. Just a random observation. The property is very walkable. Unlike other all-inclusives I've been to, there was no need to wait on a cart or shuttle. You can get to everything pretty quickly on foot. The beach is beautiful. They regularly had people removing algae and cleaning. We're more of a pool family but we ended up spending far more time at the beach because it was so clean. The sand was soft as well. CONS: The customer service was awful. I try hard not to be entitled, especially on all inclusive vacations. I've seen so many rude vacationers treat staff poorly. However, I do expect to receive basic customer service. So many times I felt like simple requests were being met with an attitude. Almost like I was bothering employees by asking them to do their job. The amount of eye rolling and teeth sucking was unacceptable. So many random things ”out of stock.” I had to go to 3 different bathrooms to find toilet paper. I asked a poolside server for some wings. 2 hours later, she says they're out. My daughter and I wanted to use the water trikes. The guy says ”they're not working” even though there were 4 sitting right there. We wanted to go kayaking one day but we were told it was too windy. The water was calm and people at the nearby resort were doing all kinds of water sports. Everything had a line and a wait. It took us HOURS to get checked in despite our flight being delayed. We spent the entire time in the lobby waiting and when we did finally get our room, it was the wrong one. We had to move to another building at 11 pm with 2 children. They ended up offering us resort credits which are basically worthless. The buffet lines were long as well. The overall morale among guests was low. It's one thing to experience something negative on vacation. It's another thing when every time you're the elevator, the other guests are complaining and venting as well. We found out quickly that we weren't the only ones having a bad experience. The only time people weren't this way was if they were members. If I have to become a member to be treated with basic respect and receive quality customer service, I'd rather just go elsewhere...like back to Sandals. Even the sales people know the resort is lacking. Like many other resorts, they try to sell you on becoming a member or buying future vacations. We get it. Our salesperson was very nice but even in her presentation, she was telling us ”Don't worry about this property. It's our worse one.” I'm sorry but I'm not giving you upwards of 20k for future vacations when you can't get the one I'm on right. Furthermore, the amount of resort credits we were offered to attend the presentation mysteriously lowered once we declined. They really nickel an

Small room, perfectly clean, with a small private patio. The reception staff were helpful. Two or three minutes walk from the beach. Great location, with many lovely bars and restaurants nearby. Had a really good stay. I absolutely recommend this hotel.

Stayed here with my partner for 2 weeks over Christmas and new year it suited us as we were meeting up with family who live over there there’s no bar restraint or entertainment etc but is centrally located so everything is nearby our unit 14 was on the ground floor with terrace to the front with garden view close to the pool and balcony to the back with sea view can see the cruise ships coming in the apartment itself was comfy enough but could. Do with some updating as it was very dated and tired the cleaning service (extra charge) was very good all staff were very helpful and friendly overall we had a good stay and would stay here again