Riu Palace Tropical Bay

Service was top notch, location is the best, calm warm water. Activities well planned

The beach, food, and drinks were all great.Only issue is we did have money come up missing from our room which should of been locked up. So we file a complaint and it was handled very poorly. They come to our room and spend 30 minutes looking thru all our belongings like we did something wrong. Hear nothing else until we return back home and receive a phone call stating we are suspects in thefts at others rooms who stayed there so now I am very irate. They say they want mouth swabs and hair samples sent to them, We tell them our lawyer will contact them within next 2 days. They then say that they will just close the file as resolved. For them to do a reversal and to just blame us as a solution. We will never go back but loved everything about the resort besides the thief will will just keep stealing while they keep pointing fingers elsewhere. Its too bad I did really like it here besides the one person. Lock everything up and enjoy.

This was my first all inclusive vacation and I loved it! It was flawless. From the roundtrip airport transportation, to the room, the grounds, the food and the service. I would definitely stay here again. The food in the buffet was good, not great, but everything else was outstanding! The Jerk chicken was THE BEST, we ate it every day. All in all this is an amazing place and I hope to return one day.

I just stayed at the Riu Tropical Bay with my 15 year old daughter. We went as a winter escape from a miserable winter in the Northeast USA. We booked a private transfer from the airport which I strongly recommend. Less than $120 difference both ways and you can get to the resort much faster than the shared transfer that stops at other resorts. The ride was one and a half hours and we arrived at the resort by1:30pm. The resort is stunning and is getting a complete remodel this fall so I can imagine it will be even more fabulous afterwards, although I thought the current rooms were nicer in person than in the photos. Following are my pros and cons for Riu Tropical Bay, ie. “The Trop.” Pro: The BEACH--on Jamaica's Blood Bay. Prettiest Beach next to one I was in Maui, Hawaii. No wave though so if you are into WAVES this is not your beach. Water was clear and clean and aqua blue-green like a postcard. The sand is white/yellow and delightful. No water shoes necessary. This is the perfect place for little kids to splash around. Locals do walk up and down the beach selling their "wares" but they are friendly and don't come over to chairs. Musicians played at times and worked for tips. They are not pushy and take "no" well and I even bought a few cute things so it was actually not a bad thing to me. Pro: The lunch and dinner is fabulous in the buffet and lunch is al fresco which is so nice. They had a ton of choices and we didn't even go to any specialty restaurant because we were so happy there. Crefton, our dinner waiter was so lovely, can't say enough nice things about him. Our lunch waiter Kemar and waitress Tamar were also super friendly and knew how to take care of you. All these staff learns your names and has your preferred drink to you moments after you sit down without even asking. It seems to me that they had good choices for pickier kids too like basic things to eat if you have selective eaters. Pro: Water Sports available: all kinds of water items available for you right on the resort and free. Kayaks, paddle boards, paddle boats and little sail boats you can take out in the pristine ocean. Didn't see one shark! Ha-ha. Shout out to Shell who set us up with our excursions. She was just lovely and helpful. Pro: We took the BIG MABLE water tube twice and that was a hoot. ($60 at resort for 2 people about 20 minutes). If you want a REAL thrill ride (more than the usual tow around the ocean, find Captain Nike. This was one of the best and most thrilling parts of our trip. We also took the 2 hour snorkeling out to two reefs not far from shore. We loved it and saw many great coral and colorful fish and for us that was enough time in the open waters. ALSO: There are plenty other excursions and scuba diving, but with travel time we really only had 5 full days on the resort and our purpose was more relaxation and rejuvenation than adventure. TIP: The staff really appreciates tips. Bring loads of $ones$ and $fives$ with you, they just love it and they are hard workers so I enjoyed giving the tips. It is NOT required at all and I am sure they would still be very gracious to guests that don't tip, but I think it is a nice gesture. Pro: The live entertainment at night is very excellent and fun. The Jamaican entertainers are extremely gifted and talented. Pro: The Jamaican people are over the top friendly (compared to other islands I've visited. I can't imagine you can top their friendliness and outgoing social etiquette. They are fun and it is contagious. RESPECT! Con: Not many cons but they are worth mentioning since they may be important to some people. The pools: They are the smallest I've ever seen on a resort and side by side. I wish the pools were a bit bigger for the amount of people that use them. However the beach is so beautiful that I didn't mind that we didn't use the pools. Con: Get up EARLY for chairs on the beach. Everyone gets up and they are all gone by 8:00am. I recommend getting up by 6:30. Even 6:00 for the best chairs that is shaded by the beach's trees and palms. TIP: Our room was in the 1300 room block, Ocean Front Jr. Suite and the view was beautiful. There are trees partially blocking the ocean front as they line the beach and I've read some negative reviews about this but I thought the trees were very nice next to the water. If you wanted to see the sunset over Blood Bay without a tree interfering with your view then just walk down to the beach at sunset. Rooms that have no ocean view to me would not be so great as far as views go, so if you can swing it, I recommend the OCEAN FRONT rooms. If you don't plan on spending much time in the rooms then this shouldn't matter and you could choose any room. Con: The bed was comfortable but had no bedspread, and was just a touch hard, but really I slept like a baby each night. I would have rated room a 5 if not for this. Con: Not enough BARS. Too many people using the one pool bar for drinks and only the lobby bar and one bar on the grounds open during the night. They need to add bars! This is an "all you can drink resort" and I like a drink quick when I want one. I don't like waiting (why I always tip well) so if Riu Trop could add one more "beach bar" and one more night bar that would be a great addition. I would have given the service portion 5 stars in this review if it was not for slower service of drinks. Con: was when I was on the beach a waiter would come around and get guest's drink orders. Three times they never came back to me after I gave them my order, and the other times I used this service it was 30 to 40 minutes for the drinks to come back. Remember I am tipping pretty well ($2 a drink), so this was one of the only bummers for me on the vacation. However don't let this deter you staying there. After discovering the slow drink service, I just walked over and got my own drinks (400 yards from my section of the beach). I got exercise this way and got to chat with the friendly staff doing it. Drinks are very nice with so many varieties. They give you double shots on request. Bartenders themselves are very good and move as fast as they can, it’s just the amount of people they need to serve that slows things down. Jamaican time!! I do recommend this resort other than the couple cons that are not that big of a deal compared to the amazing place that Riu Trop is. It is pricey but considering the beach and food you are getting what you pay for: a classy place with stunning views and overall brilliant service. I've been to three other all-inclusive and this place is tied for first. The other first place was couples only resort in Ochoa Rios Jamaica. I rated the value in this review a 4 only because Riu is on the pricier side, but remember you get what you pay for. I will return for sure someday, especially after the remodel. If they put in one or two more bars and a bigger or another pool for the remodel I would raise my ratings to 5 stars across the board My teenager loved the resort and had plenty to do and she loaded her plate with food everyday and tried all kinds of new foods Great for a selective eater. Once again, thank you to CREFTON, KEMAR and TAMAR. RESPECT!!