Ok for a basic "low cost" AI getaway in Jamaica
Check in: Had to take the bags to the room ourselves after very hesitantly offered help from the check-in staff.
Room: clean, no issues and lots of hangers in the closet. We used the app to request blankets and a firm pillow, said it was resolved, but had to ask again as it didn't get actually get resolved the first time. We were in the rooms above the restaurants, and the fire alarm went off 3 times during the week we were there! Twice this was at around 12.45am! It did get silenced relatively quickly. One of the back staircases reeked of sewage most of the time, but thankfully it stayed out of the room.
Food: buffet is large and divided into themed sections at each meal time. Some gluten Free bread products available, and cakes at lunch/dinner. A dedicated gluten free toaster would be nice to have (at all meal services), as sometimes the bread was dry. Labeling of allergens in each item is good, but some are
questionable, like gluten in the baked beans... They need to make more options gluten free by default (don't need to use flour to thicken sauces), don't have to use regular soy sauce in every Asian dish etc.
They need to be faster at refilling the food that has run out at all of the buffet style serving areas. Fruit options were limited, likely due to the hurricane, and they need to ensure its fully ripe before putting it out!
Another thing that needs to change is the timing- the main buffet has a very hard stop at 10.30am for the full breakfast to shut down. They do move a few dishes over to the restaurant opposite (until 11.30am), but there's limited selection, and they don't label the dishes, which is an issue when you have dietary needs. Since it's so large, they could easily keep one of the stations open for ‘all-day breakfast'.
Love the app for booking the a la cartes- had no issues getting times that we wanted, and you can look at the menu ahead of time, toggling for all allergens. However, they can adapt as needed, such as putting the sauce on the side. They do encourage scanning the QR code in the restaurant to access the
menu, rather than giving out hard copies.
The Pepe's grill should be open longer in the afternoon (until 5pm), and offerings like fries, burgers, hot dogs, etc along with the jerk chicken would be great for when you just want a quick bite to eat for lunch, without going to the buffet, which has limited afternoon hours.
Bars: too much ice was put in the drinks- often we'd ask for less ice so it's not so diluted. They should have water bottles available at all the bars so you can grab when you need them, or it needs restocking daily in the rooms. (Or use the 5 gallon water jugs in the rooms, much more environmentally friendly!)
Pools: very cold- they need to be heated! The foam party would have been a much more fun time had the water been warmer! We were always able to get beds by the pool, no matter what time. Liked the roll away cabana tops too.
Beach: plenty of sun loungers available, and a small bar on the beach. The main issue here was the seaweed that washed up quite badly after we had a storm, and it wasn't cleaned up at all whilst we were there. The washed up garbage is significant and unacceptable though. Significant effort needs to be put in to clean up the whole stretch of the beach, including around the rocky side
near the water sports.
Spa: it's crazy overpriced to the point of it being comical. The prices should be less than half of what they are, and then people might actually use it, and save the spa staff literally standing around all day doing nothing.
Wet weather: although some board games were brought out, there wasn't a change in the usual routine on the day it rained for the majority of the time. Some scheduled activities could have been eaisily moved to the main Exodus area.
Night club: the music is far too loud, deafeningly unhealthy levels It would be more enjoyable turned down from "maximum". There's also a really weird lull between the Exodus show ending, and the night club opening- it would be better if it opened at 10 or 10.30pm for more of a continuous flow.
It is pretty close to the airport, which is great for a quick transfer. However, it means the planes fly DIRECTLY overhead at quite low altitude...so the plane noise can be notable in the afternoon.
Suggestion: the beach area near the water sports, between the two resorts could be either topless optional, or clothing optional. It's very under-used, and this would seclude it from the main area.
