Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Wednesday World Travel - Rose Hall Resort, Jamaica

Jamaica 2008

Last week, my husband and two of our friends traveled to Jamaica for some much needed rest and relaxation. We'd been watching the weather a little nervously, but no major storms developed to interrupt the trip. After our short flight, we arrived at Rose Hall Resort in Montego Bay. It's a lovely mid-size resort just a short drive from the airport in Montego Bay. Since this is considered the 'off' season, the resort was only about 1/3 full. That meant no scrambling for beach chairs, easy dinner reservations, and no lines for the water slide.

Jamaica 2008

Our room had a great view of the golf course, the ocean, and some ruins.

Jamaica 2008

The room was well-appointed with tile floors, a granite sink, good bathroom lighting, a flat screen TV, and as a really nice touch, a clock radio that included an Ipod dock. It also had the most comfortable hotel bed EVER.

Jamaica 2008

The pool area includes a lazy river, several waterfalls, a set of 3 mini water slides, and a large water slide. It also has a 'beachy' area for the kids and a swim-up bar. Strangely, the children's area and the bar are right next to each other, though.

Jamaica 2008

The beach is quite nice, wide and sandy. It's situated in a little cove, so the waves are gentle with NO seaweed at all. It's separated into 2 areas, one for swimming and one for non-motorized water sports. The husband took out a kayak one day. They also offer snorkel rental, wind-surfing, and small catamarans with free lessons. My only complaint concerning the beach is that the music was so loud one day that I could not even drown it out with my head phones on. It was fixed the second day and returned to a normal level.

Jamaica 2008

The buffet restaurant was only OK during our stay. Breakfast was great (smoked salmon and fresh pineapple every morning!), but the 2 dinners we ate were pretty disastrous. They didn't offer many choices, in fact 2 cooking stations that were open for breakfast were closed for dinner. What was offered tended to be either over-cooked or cold. However, the 2 other dinner restaurants on site almost made up from the buffet dinners. The dinners we had at the Three Palms and Luna Di Mare were by far the best meals I have ever eaten at an all-inclusive resort.

Jamaica 2008

That about wraps it up. We had three full days at the resort, and none of us thought it was enough time. Another day would have been great just to enjoy the resort more, and another day or two for excursions. If you want exciting nightlife or fine dining the entire time, Rose Hall's probably not the resort for you. I'd recommend the resort for any type of family gathering - during our stay, there were 3 reunions, 5 weddings, and a 50th birthday trip. We had a great time, though, and I would LOVE to go back anytime.

Jamaica 2008

Jamaica 2008

Jamaica 2008

Jamaica 2008

Jamaica 2008

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