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Wyndham Rose Hall - Montego Bay 11/15/01
Reviewers Rating:  Good
As a regular visitor to the site, I thought I owed a review ;-) Here goes: We just returned yesterday from 4 days at the WRH. The bottom line, my wife and I had a decent time, the kids (boys-6 & 9)had a great time. On the plus side: the property is very attractive and very well-maintained; the rooms are nice (it wasn't crowded with 4 of us in a standard room); golf course is beautiful (just looked, didn't play); and most of all it had great pool areas. The main pool itself was pretty nice, with the swim-up bar, ocean view, etc., but the water park was excellent. It's not large compared to a big U.S. water park, but it is much prettier than any I've seen in the states, and was large enough to keep my kids amused the whole time we were there. Just floating around the 'lazy river' on a tube with a cold margarita in my hand and the kids hanging off the side trying to steer me into the waterfalls by itself was worth the price of admission! The water park pool tapers off on one end like a beach (minus the sand), so even the little kids can hang in the water while mom & dad grab a seat at the swim-up bar which is right there. Pretty cool. OK, on the down-side: First, prepare to wait. This place runs slow, even by island standards. The check-in line crawled. When we got to the counter at 2:00, we were told "you're room isn't ready, we don't know how long it will take, check back after 4:00" Nice. Waiting for drinks and meals was also often an excruciating waiting process. The food was good, but nothing special. Excellent ambience at the outdoor spots, but only 2 out of 5 stars on food quality. If you intend to try Ambrosia or Luna di Mare (the 2 nice restaurants), try calling ahead for reservations. We tried as soon as we got there, and all we could get is one night at Ambrosia after 9:30pm. Drinks are fine if you stay with the exotic island ones (I recommend asking for added rum and no syrup - their drinks were extremely sweet). I think they used Bacardi as house rum, but as for tequila, vodka or anything else, it was all off-brand stuff unless you were willing to pay $6+ for each drink. The biggest annoyance of the trip was an odd system of requiring everyone to use their room key card to charge every purchase. They scanned your card, then brought you a printed slip - you had to add a tip (optional), total it, sign it, then write in your name and room number. I've never seen this on an all-inclusive plan! Why go through this silliness? A>I don't want to see a dollar total on every food & drink purchase when I've paid for an AI plan. B>All that paper handling triples the time in line to get a sandwich or a drink. C>It stinks having to escort my 5 year old every time he wants a bottle of water or a soda because he's not up for the challenge of signing off on room charges. And D>Does it really make sense to hand me a printed receipt when I'm seated at a swim-up bar with nothing but a bathing suit and the amount listed is covered under the AI plan anyways? So there you have it. Nice atmosphere, nice property, great water fun for the kids - all that made for a great time with my family. Average food quality, slow service, cumbersome charge system - all that ensured that we'll try a different place next time. Happy travels! (Review originally submitted on April 16, 2001)
Steve S. from Chicago
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