Riu Negril

Where do we start we have just returned from a 11 night stay at this fabulous resort. We are a family of 5 2 adults 3 teens. This was our second time in Jamaica first time in Negril, we are a well travelled family and can confidently say this was the best all inclusive holiday that we have had. The hotel was clean and modern. We had 2 rooms in block 1 it was a good location, side beach view facing Bobs bar, and very close to all amenities. The room was clean and well stocked, we did leave tips and small sweet treats for housekeeping. We did have a problem with our key card not working and being locked out but the problem was solved very quickly and we were soon back in the room with no complaints. Food and drink was great we had no complaints, ice cream cones available from 12-3pm and slushies for the kids to enjoy throughout the day and night, us adults sampled a few cocktails the wine and of course Red Stripe. We found the food to be hot fresh good quality and plenty to choose from, my teens especially enjoyed the food drinks and atmosphere at the sports bar and they had many late night snacks and enjoyed playing pool. The pool areas were clean there was never a struggle for sunbeds there was plenty going on in the daytime around the pools, my teens enjoyed the daily volleyball games, we didn’t hear I am bored once, we would spend until early afternoon at the pool and would spend the rest of the day down at the beach near bobs bar it was great to chat to the locals they were all so friendly and we enjoyed chatting to the lifeguard named Dolton he was such a lovely guy. Despite the beach being clearer up towards the other Riu hotel we really enjoyed the time we spent on the beach. What really makes this hotel is the staff, the staff at this resort are such wonderful hardworking people and they really made our holiday we had no complaints about any of the service we received. The entertainment team are such hard workers they are outstanding at what they do and they are all such a asset to the hotel they worked so hard to ensure everyone has a great time, the White and Neon party were just brilliant. A special shout out to Cuban, Pumba, Vintage, Whitney, you are superstars Sienna and Annabelle will miss you loads. It felt like we had known you forever. We don’t tend to return to a hotel twice but we have come home and booked again for Christmas 2026. We loved Riu Negril and we love Jamaica. See you soon !!

We had a wonderful stay at this resort and would definitely recommend it! The food was a highlight for us. At Pepe’s Food, Ord works incredibly hard at the grill every day, and his jerk chicken was absolutely phenomenal—one of the best we’ve had. Over at the Sports Bar, Peter Ann was such a kind and welcoming presence. She quickly became our son’s favorite thanks to her delicious strawberry and chocolate milkshakes and her warm personality. The entertainment team, including Shin Shin, Shadow and Vintage, kept the energy high and made our stay even more enjoyable—they were fantastic! We also dined at the Steakhouse, which was excellent, and tried the Italian restaurant as well. While the food there was good, we did find some dishes a bit on the salty side for our taste. The beach was beautiful, and we absolutely loved the water—perfect for relaxing and enjoying the scenery. The resort itself is clean, lush, and very well maintained, which added to the overall experience. We also met some really lovely people during our stay, which made the trip even more memorable. Overall, a great vacation with wonderful staff, good food, and a beautiful setting!

We had a great overall stay and would recommend but there are definitely some slight improvements needed… Food: The restaurants were a bit hit and miss. The Kulinarium was disappointing food-wise, the steak had no flavour at all and we found the menu just a bit strange, although the interior is lovely and would make a perfect romantic restaurant if the menu improved. The Italian restaurant served nice food, but the atmosphere lacked ambience and could definitely be improved. The standout was the steakhouse — great food and a good setting, easily the best of the three. Shout out to Shayna and Odayne in the steakhouse their service was incredible! Breakfast and lunch in general were very good, and the jerk chicken was absolutely amazing next to the pool. Rooms: The rooms were clean, modern, and spacious with good air conditioning. Even without it, the rooms don’t get too hot, which is a bonus. You also get spirits in your room like in a bar with measurements & mixers topped up every 2 days. Beach & Pools: The beach itself has lovely sand, but the water isn’t the best. If you’re looking for crystal-clear blue sea, it’s worth getting a taxi to Seven Mile Beach. There are plenty of pools to choose from, with a good mix of quieter areas and more lively spots. Entertainment & Staff: The entertainment team were fantastic — very friendly, hardworking, and really made an effort. Special shoutout to Shaq, Pumba, Cuban, and Chin Chin for being super friendly & chatty despite us not really wanting to play games round the pool. Drinks: One small note — the coffee in the buffet restaurant at breakfast is very strong. If you prefer a latte, it’s much better from the sports bar. Overall experience: It really is what you make of it. If you stay in the hotel the whole time then it won’t feel like you’re in Jamaica necessarily. But Rius are renowned for high energy entertainment on an evening which we like! Pay £1-2k more and stay elsewhere if you want super romantic / peaceful. I’d strongly recommend getting out and exploring the Jamaican culture. We met a local taxi driver who took us everywhere privately and at a better price, which made a huge difference to our trip. Trips I’d recommend include YS Falls, bamboo rafting on the Great River (better value and more local than Martha Brae), Ricks Cafe and horse riding on the beach. If you visit Seven Mile Beach, don’t miss Miss Lily’s and the Boat Bar. Support the locals, explore beyond the resort, and you’ll have a much better experience.

We just spent a week at Hotel Riu - husband and myself along with our three teenagers. Check in was easy, courteous and professional staff. We were welcomed with ice cold drinks. We were early and they gave us our wrist bands and said we could eat, drink and use the pools until we received an email saying the room was ready. We were able to get into our room about an hour early. Rooms were clean and spacious. We ate at the main buffet and pool bar mostly and could always find something each of us enjoyed. We absolutely loved the jerk chicken and pork at the pool. It was tender and delicious. Our son went to the sports bar and got a hamburger and fries each day. Beach and pools were well maintained and plenty of chairs even though the resort was very busy. Plenty of shade at the beach under the palm trees. The entertainment staff was great and learned our names and would come find our kids to play volleyball. We enjoyed the pool entertainment during the day and the evening entertainment as well. We couldn’t believe how much energy the entertainment staff had. They went all over the beach and pools inviting everyone then danced sang played beach sports - you name it they did it. They were a joy to be around. We also got massages on the beach by resort staff and they were awesome. Towels were provided so that was nice. Suggestions - bring bug spray and sunscreen also there is no lotion in the bathrooms so bring your own. We will definitely return. It was our first stay in Jamaica Riu but it won’t be our last.

This is our second time staying at this hotel, because it's lovely in so many ways. It's a great set up. All areas lovely and clean. Bars, drinks, restaurants and food fantastic. Entertainment team fantastic. The best thing about this hotel would be the staff. They all seem so happy and keen to do a good job. We just had a couple of minor negatives, which hopefully can be rectified. The Neon and White nights are brilliant, but we found the music to get very 'heavy' as the evening went on. So much so that we didn't know any tunes for the last hour! Please Mr DJ just play mainstream tunes which we all know. Toilet paper! I don't know who decided to save money by buying a load of weak toilet paper! Each wipe required many sheets and it would often leave bits 'around the back'. If the hotel bought decent toilet paper then we wouldn't use as much! Our last little gripe was with one of the sellers on the beach ( name we think was 'Awan'). He seemed most upset that we had put our sunbeds near 'his tree'. Then another day he walked away from the waters edge and up the beach to chat to a black lady near us. He talked to her for about an hour and during the discussion mentioned how white women were not nice. My wife overheard all this (she is white). Most sellers on the beach are pleasant people and it's nice to chat for a short while, but this guy we considered to overstep his welcome! Would we return? Yes certainly.

Great holiday at the Riu Negril. Transfers from the hotel are a little lengthy but worth the trip. Rooms - we had a standard room in Block 1. Large room with en-suite bathroom and balcony. Spotlessly clean with bedding and towels changed daily. Cleaning staff are fabulous. Mini bar in room, with optics and a coffee percolator with really good coffee provided. Also bottles of water. This was all replenished every two days but if you run out you can request more on the app and the staff see to it right away. Dining - Breakfast - buffet style with a HUGE selection of foods, fruits and bakery. Lunch - buffet in the restaurant with another big selection including sushi most days. There is also a TACO bar and burger bar - the jerk chicken is amazing. Evening meal - buffet style in the restaurant. There are also four other restaurants, three are bookable. Mandalay (Asian), Luigi (Italian) Steakhouse (Steaks and fish) and Kullinam (Local cusine) We booked these on the RIU app. Heard people complaining they could not get booked not sure why as we booked in most nights with no problems. However, the Mandalay was my personal favourite and this one was a first come first served restaurant. Great food, lots of choice and lovely attentive staff at all the restaurants. The sports bar is open 24 hrs and you can order food here also. It also serves really good coffee. We didn't eat here but reports were that its very good, particularly the mac cheese apparently. Drinks - large selection of drinks alcoholic and soft. Cocktails were lovely - try the dirty banana's they are fabulous. Pools - four pools all spotlessly clean. Never struggled to get a sunbed despite the hotel being full. Pool towels can be collected every day from the towel store so you don't need your own. Beach - lovely location on Bloody Bay, sand can be a little silty but walk a little along the front and you are on 7 mile beach - sublime! Entertainment - I cannot celebrate the entertainment team enough, they are fabulous! We are in our late 60s and they managed to get my husband up and dancing and having fun every day! They are kind, helpful and enthusiastic and its catching! Activities - kayaks and pedalos are available free on the beach from Scuba Caribe. You can also book payable activities with Scuba Caribe and I recommended the catamaran trip to Ricks Cafe and if you like snorkeling they do other trips too that we really enjoyed. All the staff at Scuba Caribe were fabulous and really ensured your safety and enjoyment. Perhaps the only very slight grumble at the hotel was the cost of the photographs they take if you want to purchase them. At $20 each that felt a little steep. Also the hotel shop was really expensive, much cheaper to go to the blue tents along the beach or to purchase items in the airport shops. The wonderful staff really make this place special and we will definitely return in the future. I did not come across anything but excellent service always greeted with a smile and an offer of help when needed. We went to Mass on the weekend and the hotel helped arrange the Taxi and ensured we knew times etc, nothing was too much trouble. The Jamaicans really quite wonderful and we can't to come back.

Bit of a mixed review. Firstly, we only booked it a few days before arrival due to the Orange one deciding to pick another fight and changing our plans to visit Cyprus. The hotel is clean and the rooms are modern and set out well. The buffet food is good and plentiful and there’s something for everyone. The à la cartes - steakhouse and the posh one are good, the Asian is an average buffet and the Italian is just strange. A strange location and nothing Italian about it at all. To be honest, and maybe it’s a Riu thing, the hotel caters for those who want to be entertained around the pool or around the stage at night. The design of the hotel pretty much funnels everyone into the same place. To say it’s on a beautiful stretch of beach there is not one single area where you can sit and enjoy the Caribbean on an evening - it’s Butlins style entertainment or an early night. The beach is lovely, the sea is disappointing- murky and lots of seaweed / seagrass. If we’d have had more time to research we would have definitely picked somewhere with a more chilled Caribbean feel and a better location (the Riu Negril is not on the 7 mile beach). All in all, it was as cheap to go here as it was to go to Cyprus so a cheap week away but far from a great Caribbean experience

We stayed here beginning March 9-15th. There were 8 of us. We reserved 2 adjoined seaside rooms. (Figuring on 4 in each room) I also set up transportation through hotel reservations to hotel from airport. Our flight was delayed so I called the Nexus transportation team to change our pick up time & they said they couldn’t find our reservation. After talking to two people, I gave up & decided we would find transportation once we arrived, which we did for $200. When we arrived at the hotel/resort, we were told our rooms were changed due to overbooking. I was NOT happy to say the least as this trip was booked in advance & we wanted ocean views! We were placed at the farthest building away from everything & the view of another building! 😡 I am certain someone arrived before us & asked for a room “upgrade” & got our rooms! I had been reading about this happening many times on the Facebook page in the weeks leading up to our family vacation. We were very disappointed to say the least!! As far as the rooms, they were clean. We had no issues or concerns, we had hot water & decent water pressure. The beds were comfortable as well. No complaints on food-it was just “ok”. We ate at the steakhouse twice-it was not the best as we had read on posts prior to arriving. Steaks were not prepared the way we ordered them & the salmon was cold. We used the adult pool each day. Pool was well maintained & drinks were well prepared! Again no complaints, pool never seemed to have any issues & it was never overcrowded. The ocean was nice! We had seen mixed reviews on it prior to arriving. Some said it was clear and amazing while others said it was covered with seagrass and murky. Well I can attest, it has ALOT of sea grass. I didn’t personally go beyond waist deep because of that but my husband said the sand beyond it was slimy and not a pleasant feeling to put feet your down. So we were a little disappointed with ocean, so we spent the majority of our time in the pool. The staff were all very friendly and amazing. The food was okay (nothing bad or great), the rooms were fine, & the pools were good! Our biggest complaint is the room change & no refund on our paid transportation we never received. I made 2 calls from the airport to rearrange a different pick up time when our flight was delayed & the representative at the hotel said it was MY error for not going to the desk at the airport in Montego Bay when we arrived…although on the phone while still in USA twice, they couldn’t find my reservation to change it. Will we go back? Yes!! We will definitely go back to Jamaica but will probably find a different place to stay. RIU Negril wasn’t willing to accept any accountability for their mistakes on our reservation or the change to our hotel room reservation without our consent.