I am still in shock that a supposed five star hotel treats people with such scant regard! My weekend was hell from the moment we arrived at the hotel! We booked a group travel with reservations from June, hence when we arrived in November, it would be no secret that a group was on its way, right? Well, we arrived over two hours before check in and 3 hours after check in, we were all loitering in the lobby, awaiting our rooms or awaiting transportation via the 'jimny' to our rooms which really weren't THAT far away by foot so if only we knew, after travelling for over five hours! We were in disorganized queues for over an hour as other guests from at least one other large group plus other guests simply boarded the scantily available rides as soon as they came with no method to the madness whatsoever, despite the fact that seemingly a supervisor was to be there overseeing the smooth transition. After FINALLY getting to our room, it smelt like a cesspool truck had exploded in there! So we had to turn the a/c off and open the doors to let in fresh air! That was a general complaint by others traveling in the group. My two year old picked up a blue 'candy' off the floor and bless the Lord he took it to show mommy, only for me to discover that it was an ALEVE from the 'freshly cleaned room'! The mini-bar simply had two red stripe beers, two bottles of water, two small sodas and a regular 16 oz diet coke/sprite and the bath robes were non-existent in our Junior Suite. Then I took my two year old to the kids section to go on the slides and unfortunately he took off his slippers as was expected...little did I see or know that the grass below was water-logged with what seemed like stagnant water! They had to use caution tape to bar off the area the following day, which remained there even when we were departing, so he didn't get to enjoy the slides afterall. The lines to the buffet were ridiculous despite there being two buffets beside each other (one of which was closed and seemingly being renovated or at least having the WINDOWS cleaned). I ordered juice one particular day and was finished eating before the drink finally arrived (I ate very slowly). On the second day of our stay, my baby fell ill and my husband took him back to our room only to be greeted by drilling and hammering in the room directly above ours as though we were on a construction site! After some two hours, hoping it would stop, we called front desk and were put through to someone who promised to get back to us...they never did...the drilling and hammering ended about another hour and a half after the call. It was so loud that people on the other blocks could hear and we were near to the gazebo where weddings were taking place! Needless to say, we also got headaches as a result of the noise. The beach was filled with sharp rocks both on the shore and in the water well before reaching knee depth.

On the good side: the pool is lovely (overcompensation for the beach or lack thereof maybe); the food was more or less good but lacked seafood on some days; the variety of fruits and pastries was good; the entertainment is broadway quality! The sports bar is really good (minus the broken tiles on the floor begging to be tripped over) and had to compensate for Black and White which is the club where the teens should hang out, but nothing is there to hold their attention. Back to the good things: oh, sorry, that's it.

I rarely do this- most of my reviews are positive and show the side of Jamaica that I truly love and enjoy going back to.
The resort itself is very nice, lots of bars and restaurants. 5 beaches, the largest pool in Jamaica and plenty to do. The rooms were well appointed but the pillows were flat and very hard- never got a good night’s sleep and if I was to do it over I would take a pillow from home as some suggested. I read a lot about theft and we did experience this with a few small items missing, nothing big but still unsettling. One day I returned to my room to find a security guard at the door with the maid’s trolley and no maid, I knew our maid as she had cleaned our room each day and we had talked a bit in passing. The guard went into our bathroom while I was getting some stuff for the beach and when we returned later that day we noticed some cigarettes and food items missing.
Having spent many vacation in Jamaica at resorts ranging from 2 to 5 star I understand there is a "Jamaica" speed of service- I am normally good with this as the staff are usually pleasant and try to service everyone as quickly as possible. This resort was probably the worst service I have experienced to date starting with breakfast right though dinner service. The morning coffee would arrive at the table 20mins after you ordered, in most cases just in time for you to leave- there was always lots of staff on however it just seemed that they didn’t know what they were to do. You could wait 10 minutes at the Infinity bar at night for anyone to acknowledge you and then wait another 15 mins for your drink. There seemed to be no incentive to provide good service. That being said I found the bar service at the smaller pool bars to be pretty good but these were usually less busy and the bartenders had time to have a laugh or two with you- it was the larger nighttime locations that really lacked in the service you expect from what is considered a 5 star resort. It seemed to be the same for all guest as while waiting it was the common discussion between most of us.
As I have mentioned I am a regular visitor to Jamaica, actually born there but I would have difficulty suggesting this resort over others I have stayed at. With improved service this would have been a great vacation as the resort was great- hopefully with enough feedback the management can work with the staff to improve the guest experience.