First of all, excuse me if I rant on, I can talk.
Stayed in the Clubhotel Riu Ocho rios for 2 weeks from 3rd June and had a great time. Unless you are extremely picky, you can't really fault this hotel. It really puts Sandals next door to shame, making it look shabby and old. Rius are top notch for everything and i'll more than likely stay in one for my next holiday.

After a horrible 10 hour Thomson flight and 2 hour coach ride, it was great to arrive at the hotel, check in and be in our room within 5 minutes! We took our own luggage to our room, but we didn't care, we're not lazy.

Our room was in building 2, 3rd floor and had great views of half of the pool and the sea. The rooms in this area are good as they are close to the beach, pools, restaurants and lobby instead of a half hour trek like the other buildings.
The rooms are really clean, like the rest of the hotel, have his 'n' hers sinks and drinks dispensers that are refilled.

A word of advice, get up early. When we first arrived, it was raining. For the first four days, it was clear sky until around 2pm then we got rain and a few storms. We then had a few days of all day sunshine, and then it went back to rain in the afternoons. After a few days though, you'll notice its nice to have the rain as it is so hot and it isn't good for you being in the sun all day. We both still came home with great tans.

The food is really good, there is a lot to choose from. Like any other hotel it gets a little repetitive but then it's going to after 2 weeks...

St. Annes- We tried all of the restaurants apart from the Japanese, but I was still happy to eat here most nights. Breakkie was great-omelette station, all the usual bits and bobs for fried breakfasts, fruit, salad, cheeses, hams, juices bread and pastries. i always left breakfast really full up. Dinner- Loads of salad, pasta station,lots of meat & fish, breads, soups, Jamaican station and a variety of bits and bobs depending on the theme that night. Every so often they did some show cooking outside, the seafood linguine was really good. Desserts weren't great though, but the caramelised fruit was gorgeous! Stay well away from the white wine, it's horrific!

Steakhouse-ok. Mains are ordered, starters & desserts are buffet. My tenderloin was good, the veg and potato was alright.

Mandalay Bay-Asian buffet. This is tasty, but the starters and dessert tended to be better than main. You'll definately leave full.

Sir Richard/Gormet. Food is really good but service is crap. A couple came in half hour later than they booked and left half hour earlier than we did. It's luck of the draw if you food will be served to you within an hour. Our luck was obv. bad.

Picco Italiano- Open pretty much all the time. Ideal if you starving because you missed a meal, but it all tastes a bit like canteen food.

Jerk hut-Really good. Don't make the same mistake i did. Try the Jerk sauce before u smother your food in it. It's quite spicy!

The Nights. The entertainment crew are brilliant! The pre-show entertainment is good, they get the audience to participate and it's usually quite funny. The shows are awesome, they're great dancers. One or two got a bit boring, the Tropical show and the Around the world show. The Michael Jackson show,Greece,The Reaggae night and The Steel Drums are all really good.

Bars- If you wanna be laughing all night, head to the Bob Marley Bar. these guys are truly mad. Like all the other bars, they encourage to drink lots of alcohol, making up random cocktails when they feel like it. Pina Coladas & Strawberry Daiquiris are yummy (lots of rum), as well as Amaretto Sours. If you don't wanna drink, try a banana mama. Pacha disco is alright, but you get a bit bored after a while.

We didn't do many trips, which is very unlike me, Ilike to get out and about, but the hotel is just too relaxing. We climbed Dunn's river falls which is really enjoyable, not at all scary. We took a taxi there and went at 9am- best thing to do. You don't neccessarily need a guide unless your camera isn't waterproof but the guides are great. The water is really refreshing and after we finished we saw the big day trip arrive. They had to hold hands climbing up and we were really glad we didn't do it that way.

Also took a taxi into Ocho Rios. Went to Island Village and the Taj Mahal area, didn't have enough time to check out the flea market. Got some cool bits and bobs to put in my room, not much else. Unfortunately a cruise was in that day so the prices had been put up. It's worth checking when they are in for both this and Dunn's River and avoid going there on those days.

This is pretty long, so i'll bring it to an end. The people are great, so funny and anyone who says they are not, are just obviously miserable people themselves.
Few more tips...
-If it rains early, keep your pool towells, its likely to pass over and when you want to go back out, they wont have any clean towells.
-If you want a seat for the show, eat early as it gets packed.
-Mozzie spray! Not just for the mozzies,but the sandflies! I was bitten, it got infected and I had to have an injection to calm the reaction. Expensive and didn't realise I had to pay excess on insurance.
-Try out Thomson for taxis rather than the taxi stand, was cheaper for us.

My husband and I visited the RIU Ocho Rios for a one year anniversary gift. It was absolutely wonderful!! We loved the beach, the pool, and the room. The entire resort is so well maintained and it shows. The only thing you need to remember is that men need to bring pants. If you do not have pants, you can not eat at any of the restaurants needed for reservations. Our favorite restaurant was the Steakhouse and we loved the breakfast buffets. Also, go to the Jerk Hut for lunch each day (it opens at 12ish). They had the best chicken! I would recommend this resort to anyone and we will be visiting other RIU resorts in the future.

This was our second trip to the Riu Ocho Rios and will likely be our last. We stayed at the same resort last year for a wedding July 2007 and had a great time so we decided to go back, just myself and my husband for our 7th anniversary. We were really disappointed with our stay this time around, June 17-24, 2008.

When we arrived to the hotel we were supposed to have an oceanfront room. The room we got was called an ocean front room but it was clearly just an ocean view. It overlooked the sand volleyball court and not the ocean. Then, we asked to be moved to a room with air conditioning, upgraded, or for it to be fixed and they said they could not move us because the hotel was too full but they said they would try to fix the air. Over 3 hours later, the air conditioning was finally working.
Then, when we went to shower, no hot water, no water pressure. We were finally moved 2 days later to a new room, in the same B building, oceanfront with great view. Unfortunately, the room was incredibly musty and had the same water problems. No water pressure, no hot water. The water problems continued for the entire week and they just kept telling us that they were working on it. It was awful taking freezing cold showers every evening or taking semi warm showers with barely a trickle of water pressure.
The food in the buffets, except for breakfast was sub-par for the entire trip and the only decent food we ate was at the the reservation restaurants, The Steakhouse and the Sir John Gourmet restaurant.
In addition, most of the staff was rude and acted like it was an imposition to help us and took forever to try to get anything fixed that was wrong. When I called one time to the reception desk to complain about the water still being cold, the woman sighed and said rudely, "Ok maam, we will try to get it fixed" in a snotty tone and hung up. We also asked for towels and water one night and it took over 3 hours to get either.

Another thing to note is if you are a return guest, everything is the same as the year prior. The entertainment is the same, the buffet selection is the same. You will have the Steel Band on Tuesday, Reggae band on Wednesday, Michael Jackson show on Monday etc. If you want new entertainment, you won't get it.

To top off the week, I got horrible sand flea bites all over my arms and legs from the beach which have to be treated with steroids and anti-itch medicine for the next week.

There were a few bright spots. The bartenders at the Bob Marley bar were very fun and polite and happy to serve, especially "the doctor" and the wait staff in the Steakhouse and Sir John restaurants were excellent. Also, Eddie at the Seagrape bar on the beach was great.

For the money I spent to be there, I expected a lot more from this resort. Last year I wrote a review and recommended this resort to anyone, this year, I would no longer recommend it.
I would take my money to someplace where people care a little more if you have a good vacation and make sure you get your money's worth.

My friend and I stayed at the Ocho Riu the first week of June for 6 days and 5 nights AND IT WAS AMAZING!!!!!! Here's why:

The only thing that sucked was that our flights were delated coming into Montego Bay. CUstoms was a breeze and I was allowed to stay til August compared to my friend who was given til July to fly out of the country lol.

THE BUS RIDE TO THE HOTEL:
Was not bad at all except for some annoying passengers. THe busdriver really tried to provide us with a short history of Jamaica but because of the loud people behind us (one of whom was narrating over the bus driver because she had visited ONCE before) we couldn't really hear it. We didn't stop for snacks...just went straight to the hotels. When we arrived in Jamaica it was raining . apparently the first two weeks in June have really rainy weather.



Check In:
They gave us punch as soon as we walked into the open lobby! Check-in took 5 minutes...getting our bags took an hour because it was one busboy for everyone checking in. We tipped him though because it's hard to satisfy everyone.

THE HOTEL:
our room:
Was AMAZING. BEAUTIFUL, STUNNING!!! We had a very big bed (i'm partial to hard beds so the stiffness was heaven to me) excellent furniture and a view of the pool, mountains and ocean.. There was a slight smell to it but what can you expect if you're near the ocean. We didn't spend all our time there anyway so it didn't matter. I also read here about people going through luggage...well we locked ours and never once was there an attempt to open them. Well one day we came back and my friend couldn't open her lock because the combo was changed....nothing was taken though. She had her luggage out in the open while i kept mine in the closet.

the food:
omg the tomato and feta cheese salad was the best thing ever! THe chefs were always able to make me my fresh egg white omlettes <3. Our last night there, chefs made paella out in the porch like area of one of the restaurants. I saw them make it beforehand. It was pretty :)

things to do:
We went horseback riding and did the dunn's river falls. Horseback riding was ok...minus the fact that my horse was unruly and they wouldn't give me another one. My guy was flirting with me and therefore would act the same way a 14 year old would when trying to show that he likes you: he'd do mean things...like take my horse further out into the ocean. He held on to her though and by the end of the trip I was sad to leave my horse Hershey behind.
We went snorkeling with the hotel. It was just the two of us with our two guides...so yeah let the flirting begin. Another couple joined us later on so the environment got better.
We booked Dunn's RIver through the hotel because it was 6 bucks cheaper than the other tours...and then they canceled it because of the weather. So we called on a local that we met earlier and he took us. I paid $5 ( i passed for jamaican) and my friend paid $15.
Lounge on the beach! ANd go to the spa! and eat eat eat!


General Environment:
If you are a single female traveling with other females be prepared to be asked if ur single and/or a lesbian. These men (even the ones at the resort) will flirt with you til you are gone!!!!!! I was nicknamed and identified as the african princess during my time there...
Other than that...try not to be uptight about this hotel. It really is beautiful.

And bigups to Tyrone who works the frontdesk graveyard shift at the hotel!!!!!! He took such good care of us lol. ANd Captain Jack Sparrow lol


Oh WAIT there was some bad:
---public smoking ( i hate smokers)
--- Margaritaville...overrated and the shuttle drops you off at 11 and picks u up at 1...take your own cab.
---BUY YOUR LIQUOR AT THE AIRPORT...coffee doesn't really matter, it's all expensive.