I've been to a couple of amazing all-inclusive resorts with the Macaroni KID publisher community over the past few years, so it was only a matter of time before my family insisted on staying at an all-inclusive resort as well. We'd never done it before and I wondered, could the adventure seeking, off the beaten path exploring, tour avoiding, Flanagans, enjoy a simple beach vacation, at an all-inclusive resort, without getting bored.
Spoiler alert - the answer is yes. Yes, they sure can!
We chose to go to the Royalton Negril in Negril, Jamaica.
Why Jamaica?
- First off, there are direct flights from Chicago on a number of airlines.
- The flight is only 3.5 hours to Montego Bay, and they can be quite reasonably priced.
- Jamaica is also in the central time zone, so no jet lag to worry about.
These are all very important factors when travelling with kids especially.
Why Negril?
We decided to stay in Negril based off a friend's recommendation. Negril is about a 1.5 hour drive from the Montego Bay airport. Since Jamaicans drive on the left side of the road, we decided not to rent a car and reserved private transportation via Viator. I did a lot of searching for the best price on this, and found Lewis Taxi and Tours to be the cheapest.
Our driver Sean waited at the airport while we cleared customs (which took about 1.5 hours btw), and then greeted us with a sign, a couple of cold bottles of Red Stripe, and a cooler with additional bottles and juices for the kids.
The drive to Negril is a beautiful ride along the coastline. The tiny towns along the way, and even Negril itself, (aside from the large beach resorts), are pretty undeveloped, or perhaps more accurately, under-redeveloped as several hurricanes and the pandemic significantly hurt Jamaica's number one industry - tourism. For those who can relate, Negril is reminiscent of the islands of Thailand in the 1990s, unspoiled and arcadian.
The beaches of Negril are gorgeous, and despite the tourism revival, still seem untouched. The sand is soft all the way through to the sea. I literally never even felt a pebble or twig under my foot the entire week going barefoot. The water is warmer than the air, with gentle waves perfect for young children, and the color...well, you know how Inuit people apparently have 50+ different words for ice? I think Jamaicans could have that many words for the different shades of blue of the sea.
Why the Royalton Negril?
We chose this all-inclusive resort simply because it belongs to the Marriott family, and that is where we had points to cover our stay.
The Royalton Negril is situated on the Bloody Bay portion of the world-renowned, Seven Mile Beach. Seven Mile Beach is divided into two parts by a small peninsula. Imagine a capital "B", where the straight side is the sea's horizon. The top two miles of the beach are a part of Bloody Bay, and the second five miles are known as Long Bay. Bloody Bay and the North end of Long Bay are mostly occupied by All-Inclusive resorts, while the majority of Long Bay is home to smaller, independent, lodging, restaurants, and bars. You can't walk between the two bays, at least not easily. Since you would have to cross through the interior of two adult-only resorts, that sit on the peninsula, it certainly can't be done with kids.
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It wasn't until after we booked the Royalton Negril, that I came across some rather negative reviews. All of which I feel the need to dispel. Things I read were that the rooms did not have hot water during the day, their were not enough beach/pool chairs, food not great, and the property not well-maintained. I could not disagree with these complaints more!
We had a wonderful stay. We always had hot water for midday showers and all the food was amazing. Granted, I would go out at sunrise to claim fully-shaded beach/pool chairs or cabanas for the day, but there were always plenty available, (especially for the sun worshipers), throughout the day. Though it was spring break, none of the resort areas, including the main pool were overcrowded. And, because I was walking the property at sunrise each day, I always saw the staff thoroughly cleaning the buildings, grounds, and pool area, as well as grooming the beach before the majority of guests emerged from their rooms. The upkeep continued throughout the days.
There are two Infinity Pools at the resort and a kids splash pad. One pool is the main pool and the other is reserved for Diamond Club guests. Both pools are beautifully positioned right behind the beach, with stunning views, swim-up bars and Bali beds in the water. We were Diamond Club, so we had access to the Diamond Club pool, which was slightly quieter than the main pool.
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Diamond Club also gave us access to a concierge that made reservations for us at the onsite restaurants. Standard operating procedure is that the restaurants don't take reservations, except for Zen (the Japanese hibachi restaurant), but thanks to our concierge we were able to eat in all five of the diverse main restaurants, plus breakfast at the Gourmet Marche buffet, room service from Score Sports Bar and Lounge, lunch poolside at the Jerk Hut, and dessert at Scoops Gelato and Caffe Lounge. Nothing disappointed us. It was all excellent!
Diamond Club also had the benefit of having its own breakfast buffet at Grazie Italian Trattoria, which was very convenient from our room.
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Included in the all-inclusive experience is access to all the non-motorized water craft at the beach. There are Hobie Cats (four person catamarans), paddle boats, stand-up paddle boards, and kayaks. We used all of these each day.
There is also a beach volleyball net, basketball hoops, a ping pong table, tennis court, and organized activities at the pools such as balloon toss tournaments, soccer games, water polo, aqua aerobics, trivia, and more. There is never a dull moment.
Each pool had a foam party during the week, with dancing led by the resort's very own Vibe Team. One day an inflatable water slide even appeared at the main pool. Watching people go down it was almost as fun as going down it ourselves.
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The evenings are equally filled with entertainment, from a Bob Marley cover band to a moonlit beach party, a Silent Disco, a circus show, and more.
We had so much fun at the resort that we only ventured off the property for a walk along the beach, and one excursion to Rick's Cafe.
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Rick's Cafe is a bar/restaurant built on cliffs. It has a menu full of local fare and specialty cocktails, but Rick's Cafe is most famous for the cliff jumpers you can watch and/or join at your own risk. There are several different heights for jumping into the crystal clear waters below. The first is less than 3ft. The next is 10ft, followed by ~12ft, and then 25 and 35 feet jumps. You may even see a staff member take a swan dive off what we approximated to be a 65ft pedestal. If the cliff jumping isn't your thing, there is also a swimming pool behind the 25ft. and 35ft. platforms. Tourists also flock to Rick's for the awe-inspiring sunsets.
Many tour companies offer excursions to Rick's that include other attractions and can be pretty costly. You can also arrange a taxi through your hotel which can also be very expensive ($20/pp for a 15 minute drive.) We contacted Sean from Lewis Taxi and Tours and got a much more reasonable rate round-trip.
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Lessons Learned, Tips, and Tricks
- Customs lines, at arrival and departure, at Sangster International Airport can be pretty horrendous (~1.5-2hrs. or more.) We were travelling at a popular time, so this may not always be the case, but the fact that companies such as Club Mobay exist to expedite the process, leads me to believe it is not uncommon.
- Club Mobay must be booked at least two days in advance
- Club Mobay, and others, can be booked via various sites like Expedia or Viator.
- This VIP service can cost between $25-$35/pp (at the time of writing.)
- If you stay at the Royalton Negril, (and perhaps others), bring your own snorkel equipment. There is some good snorkeling to be done right off the resort, however they do not lend out equipment.
- If you arrive during the day, go to the pool deck and grab some towels. These towels can be used to reserve your chairs the next morning. If you wait til the end of the day or sunrise, there will be no towels to be had, and you will need to use your own belongings. You may even want to keep a set of towels for this specific purpose throughout your trip.
- On Sundays, the Royalton Negril hosts a White Party in which you are supposed to wear all white. So if you will be there on a Sunday night be sure to pack accordingly.
- It can be difficult to get a reservation at Zen, (the Japanese hibachi restaurant with a Jamaican twist.) However, we saw that many people did not show up for their reservation, so you might want to try walking in.
- Couples Resort is right next door to Royalton Negril and has a nude beach. The few patrons we noticed were either in the water or far back on the beach, so you can walk past without intrusion.
- If you stay at the Royalton Negril, note there is a kids and teen club. We often saw these kids having a great time together. They even held their own talent show one night. This is something we did not utilize.
- We also did not use the spa.
Overall, I'm going to give this resort and vacation a big thumbs up. When I saw my bashful, self-conscious, 13 year old son dancing at all the parties, I knew it was a success. Pretty safe to say this won't be the last vacation of its kind for us.
