Hilton Rose Hall Resort & Spa

I am writing this review as I sit at the Moonstone restaurant where we had a 6:00 reservation and we are waiting for our food at 7:50. But let me first start with the pros of this hotel. The beds are very comfortable, the buffet breakfast is great, the staff are very kind and friendly, and it is very close to the airport. Oh and Santa showing up on a boat Camaro was amazing. Everything else is pretty terrible actually. We were here about 10 years ago and it was pretty run down then. We heard it had been remodeled since then, but if true, we couldn’t tell. Everything takes forever here. And not in an “island time” kinda way. The elevators take forever and there are not enough of them. We opt for the stairs most of the time but my elderly mother cannot. There are many restaurant options but “no reservations during Xmas week”. So we wait 2 hours to have a meal anywhere other than the buffet. Then someone comes up with reservations. So of course I ask how do you make a reservation. “Oh you have to buy a bottle of wine and then you can make a reservation”. This is a) ridiculous but also b) would have been helpful info before we’d had 3 dinners at the buffet. Tonight is Christmas. We had to surrender our pool lounges so that they could set up for the Christmas celebration that was an additional $150 per person. At an all inclusive resort. Where we also had to purchase wine to make a reservation so we could eat before 9 p.m. Yet here I am, waiting for 2 hours for my meal with my reservation. At least I have a bottle of wine! In no particular order, here are the other problems: everything is leaking. My mother is afraid of slipping everywhere. The air conditioning in my kids’ room has 2 settings: freezer and off. Half of the lights didn’t work in my room. The maintenance guys couldn’t fix either. Christmas music playing the entire time. Only problem: the Xmas music mix had only 5 songs playing over and over on repeat. Also not included at the all-inclusive resort: pickle ball and tennis racquets. Not lesson, racquets. We had to pay to use them. The place is also a little messy. There are not enough trash cans and/or not enough people to help. There is also a lot of gross debris around. Flossing sticks and weird stuff floating up on the shore. Lots of trash everywhere. The schedule is not always right. We show up for activities and they are not happening. One of the 2 hot tubs (the bigger one) never worked and someone who works here said it has t been working for weeks. Did I mention I am still waiting for dinner? Read less

**HONEST REVIEW** Jamaica and, more importantly, the Hilton Rose Hall - the good, the bad, and the ugly!! It might just be me, and maybe my expectations were too high. But after speaking with several people in the resort, I can safely say I am not alone. I would have raised many of these issues with the reception staff upon checkout, but I wasn’t even asked how my stay was. Clearly, there has been a management change a few years ago, and having spoken to some of the staff, you can tell they see the cost-cutting and deteriorating situation. **Pros:** - The hairdryer in the room is good. Not one of those awful ones wired to the wall with one setting. - There are British plug sockets in the room. That doesn’t mean you can use 240v; it just means you can utilise a British plug. The plugs by the bed also have USB ports. - The massage by Maureen by Mangoes in the pool area spa was amazing! - The white wine and Prosecco are drinkable. - The Three Palms Steak House is good, but it's a $40 additional charge. A visit once a week should be included in your stay of 7 days; 2 or 3 visits in a 2-week stay. We are not all American coming for a 5-day trip, so in a 2-week stay, only having 3 a la carte restaurants and a buffet becomes extremely frustrating and tedious. - The staff are hit and miss, but a few are lovely. There seems to be a lot of moody people working, this is apparently due to strikes across the island regarding pay. Most of the staff looked unhappy and there were very few smiles. - The coffee shop is okay, but the staff are quite grumpy and there are bad leaks. However, I saw guys fixing the roof, so these might be repaired. The coffee shop issued a 2 drinks and 2 cakes per person limit whilst I was there. - The TV in the room is big and has HBO movies, which is good and helpful. - The check-in process was quick, and my room was ready. However, I have read and heard onsite that this is not normal and you can expect massive delays in getting your room. - The grounds are kept well in general, but it is like a facade. When you scratch the surface, it becomes apparent all is not as it seems. - Finally, the Hilton is pretty close to the airport, so no long transfers. And that is about where it ends for **Pros**. **Cons:** This is a long, long list, and it is genuinely just my honest opinion. For the loyalists out there, I understand you find this fine, but when you fly 10 hours to come to a dream destination, this is NOT where it should be for a Hilton. It needs a serious rethink on some of the layout and options. For anyone traveling from the UK or Europe, make sure you have small dollar bills upon arrival at the airport. The tipping culture is nearly out of hand. Everyone wants a tip, and I felt fleeced at the airport as the smallest I had were $10 notes. - Mobay VIP Rep: $10 tip (don’t mind this as she was lovely) - Mind your suitcase at VIP arrival Mobay for 2 minutes at the airport (which I really didn’t need done): $10 - Person hailing the taxi you have already pre-booked to resort: $10 (actually insisted I tip him) - Taxi driver: $10 - Bell boy: $10 Everyone just has their hands out for tips... Cocktails are awful and, most of the time, they can’t make what you would like. There is no Baileys, no ability to make a melon ball. You are pretty much limited to rum and more rum. Believe me, you will get tired of rum and want to switch it up a little. They are not freshly made for the most part, as they have two slush puppy machines with strawberry daiquiri mix and pina colada mix. The alcohol is most definitely watered down. Top shelf is Absolut vodka and Tanqueray gin; I think I saw a bottle of Bombay Sapphire. The bars are really, really limited and quite disappointing in choice. The bar King Frog is shockingly depressing and outdated. It lacks any type of soul. Ugly depressing lights, no decoration or comfort. Just hard metal seats. It is downright ugly and uncomfortable. I genuinely cannot believe that was the only bar at night (yes, there is the Cricket Bar which is inside with a pool table and 9 TV screens), but who wants to be inside when the weather is 27°C outside? The hotel should look to open Mangoes as a bar in the evening where people could sit in nice surroundings and have a few after-dinner drinks without the loud “entertainment” which is outside the Fresh buffet and below the lobby bar (no bar at the buffet, waiter service only). Kids are running around playing football on the fake grass beside the buffet seating and knocking people's drinks over. The staff are fuming and also don’t want to let you sit down outside if you are not getting food from the buffet. Who honestly thought this out? None of it works as an idea. The Fresh buffet is also shockingly depressing outside; it is like someone shoved some tables under an underground car park. Inside is like a refrigerator and the aircon is on overdrive. The public areas are generally freezing, and there is condensation on the windows because YES, it is that cold inside versus the 25-29°C outside. The food is bland and repetitive, particularly breakfast, and the inside of the Fresh buffet restaurant is equally dark and depressing. The fresh omelette is good, but again, nobody can eat that every day for 14 days. Once in a while, you’d like to go to a sit-down restaurant and order breakfast off a menu. The app for booking the 3 restaurants works okay; however, that is it. 3 a la carte restaurants: Moonstone, the Seaside Grill, and the Rum Factory. Moonstone was either booked out or not open for the first week. For the most part, one of the 3 restaurants is always closed, leaving you with only 2 a la carte options. As I was leaving, they were changing the app booking to a first-come-first-served basis, where you would receive a pager if your table wasn’t available at the time you turn up. This might be an improvement, to be honest. Breakfast's only option is the buffet. Seaside Grill apparently used to open for lunch and breakfast, but not anymore. Lunch's only option is buffet, or the pizza hatch at Moonstone, Mangoes, and the Jerk Hut. The beach, well, oh my god!! While they do their best to keep it clean of seaweed, it isn’t pleasant. It is tiny and consistently in the shade. The water is just churned-up sand. No appealing aquamarine blue. At the end of the Main Pool, when you look over the railing, there are just heaps of plastic. The weather hasn’t been fantastic, but that cannot be blamed on anyone. The wind has been full-on 30mph at times; this died down the second week. So if you wanted a sheltered spot by the lazy river, you’d need to get your towels down by around 6:30 am. Otherwise, they are all gone. If you want a proper Caribbean beach, then you need to go to a hotel by Montego Bay where Doctors Cave is (S Hotel or somewhere close to that), as then you get the calm Caribbean Sea with gorgeous sand, no wind, and the beautiful azure of the ocean. **SMOKERS (and vapers) !!** Beware, the whole of Jamaica is no-smoking unless in designated areas, which are put at such awkward far ends of the resort that it is just painful and particularly annoying. Allegedly, you are not allowed to even smoke on your balcony. For this reason alone, I will never return to Jamaica. The Moonstone pizza place hatch during the day will do 4 types of pizza: cheese, pepperoni, and 2 sorts of specials which inevitably aren’t appealing, for example, shrimp. Every time you go, the cheese and pepperoni are gone, and you’ll need to wait another 20 minutes, by which time when you return, they will be gone again. The drink dispensers are covered in bees/wasps. Advice to the hotel: read the room or your audience—just do the cheese and pepperoni and keep them going so you have plenty. Why would you only put the next pizza in the oven when you’ve run out? The Jerk Hut is nice, but again, long queues and what you will get is just a small plate of meat. The main pool is clean, but the lazy river and slide areas are filthy. The swim-up bar doesn’t open all the shutters, just the one, so you have to queue again to get a drink. No social ability to sit on the stool, order some drinks, and talk to fellow guests. The question is, would you want to as some architect decided to put the swim-up bar right opposite the exit for the slides—really not clever!! However, the tone of some of the activities in front of kids is really unacceptable with twerking and grinding adults—just not great. **Room Service** $10 delivery - pizza is awful and tiny. I had the club sandwich also, which was okay. I would strongly recommend a rethink on this. As I would tip $5 for the person delivering, so $15 on a tiny 6” pizza is not value for money at all. No idea why the delivery charge was brought in. See photos outside one room, as this was left there for 3 days like this?? One of the lifts was broken for 5 days. There was a dirty washcloth in my shower upon arrival. The room is basic and somewhat dated - no kettle for tea lovers, just a percolator which doesn’t heat the water hot enough. On my last day, the fire alarm went off just before 5am, asking everyone to leave, which turned out to be a false alarm. And finally, if you want to get a late check-out, it’s $50 per hour… Would I come back? No. There are too many things wrong when you scratch the surface. It is not like there is a significant issue where you can complain to get it rectified; it is several issues that just make the overall experience unpleasant and not what you might have expected. What is wrong will take a huge amount of rethinking and work to put right by management !! Read less

The Hilton Rosehall staff make the difference! Front desk (manager) Junior was attentive and courteous. He recognized my Hilton loyalty which my family really appreciated. We observed him skillfully handle another guest’s concerns and complaints with phenomenal negotiation skills and customer service. All of the staff were very welcoming and engaging. Special Kudos to Junior-Front Desk, Jahdeba-Front Desk and Raquel-Server-in-training, her trainer, and Restaurant mgr (?Crystal?). Just a note about the property… The property was beautiful. The room was comfortable, clean and spacious. The food was flavorful and delicious. As expected, during a brief rain shower, the entrances had some puddles of water which was quickly addressed. We felt safe. And will DEFINITELY be repeat guests. Read less