Holiday Inn Resort Montego Bay

Overall I had a great vacation @ the Holiday Inn. However the Holiday Inn is very old, with little updating done. Especially the guest rooms.
Our first day of checking in was not good. We waited hours to get a room. The staff appeared short staffed and really didn't seem to care about the delay. They seemed disorganized for incoming guests.
The food was good but the deserts were substandard.
The drinks in the hotel were watered down. I couldn't taste the alcohol. The bars by the adult pool were great and the bartender working was amazing.
The food depots set up outside were great.
Our rooms were cleaned @ the beginning of the week but towards the end we would have no one cleaning lady and had to beg to get fresh towels. The staff seemed overworked and were possibly a staff shortage. The beds are very comfortable and there was plenty of hot water. I think the hotel should provide fresh water bottles daily for your rooms. They provided the basic.
The employees were very friendly.
The rooms are a little stressed and need some renovations. The bathroom doors don't close and our patio door would not close properly thus, leaving it unlocked.
My biggest concern are the cats at the resort. I felt so bad for them . NO fresh water or food by the employees. Guests including myself started saving left over food to feed these beautiful animals. One individual was yelled at by a grounds keeper for leaving cat food on the ground. The cats are clean, very friendly and loved our company but they are starving.
There were kittens on the resort and one of the workers was hollered at for not disposing of them immediately. He stated he was to remove them at 2 weeks old and place them on the other side of the road. Which was cruel as the kittens would not survive and run over by vehicles.
Bring some Cat food with you!
If they invested in spay and neuter it would solve the issues.
Most people enjoyed their company.
The Wifi was terrible. The Holiday Inn needs to update their connections.
The shops were very reasonably priced and had a nice variety.
The prices for activities were a little high considering a tip would need to be included.
The grounds around the resort are well maintained.
Entertainment was not as great as I expected. I would have loved to see traditional dancers and more cultural integrated.
The private restaurants were very nice and the staff went out of their way to fulfill your needs.
The tour guide booked through our AC representative Nicolette for excursions Assani was wonderful and knowledgeable.
Nicolette our AC representative for orientation and excursions was great. [Details]

We as my daughter son in law and myself were amazed at how wonderful our stay was at this resort. Food perfect
Location perfect
People perfect
Entertainment perfect.
Cleanliness perfect.
I would recommend this hotel resort to anyone.
Totally enjoyed our stay. Would definitely go back. [Details]

Love this hotel! It is smaller than a lot which I love as you get better service (in my opinion), get to know the staff as well as the guests. The beach is amazing and not a lot of seagrass. This was my second time at this resort and they provided me with a special dinner for returning guests which I thoughts was very thoughtful. The hotel itself is a little outdated but it did not affect the overall experience. Food, drinks and entertainment were great! We booked a la carte 5 of our 7 days and never had an issue getting a reservation. [Details]

we got to our room quick and all the staff were friendly and very happy to help you if you stood idol very long they asked you if you were ok felt very welcome and wanted we had the best service you could ask for the weather was cool but still one of the best weeks ever. [Details]

Your Staff are absolutely wonderful, a shout out to Debbie Ann at check in desk, your efforts were certainly appreciated and our stay was great. Your cleaners, maintenance and service staff were so pleasant. [Details]

Holiday inn resort is an older resort but don't let that stop you. It's very well maintained and clean the staff are amazing. And the food is excellent would recommend it to anyone and hope to go back again soon. Good value for your money! [Details]

Hotel food is okay , not the best variety. Beach is beautiful the fact that there is a separated island is wonderful. The cleanliness of the hotel is well done. There are only 1 outdoor bar near the pool ( not inside ) 1 bar inside the hotel . The room are basic , tv doesn't work , cockroach in bed and the cleaning ladies does not come until 3-4pm in the afternoon. [Details]

When we arrived we asked for a complementary room upgrade (we emailed prior to leaving and they said to check when we arrived as it would be on a first come first serve basis.) The gal said we had a perfectly nice room. When we checked in there was a musky smell to the room. The air conditioner ran on and off non stop and was really clunky. It seemed the musky smell was when it ran. We finally just turned it on fan. One bed was comfortable, the other was not. In the bathroom, there was no fan to remove moisture/ humidity, the tub/shower would only turn to a certain temperature (it wasn't even a normal knob it had a black plastic stick you turned on. Cool showers were not fun, we went to the front counter and told them, she sent us to customer relations, to which they said they would send maintenance (they never arrived). We found the pools to be lacking. The adult pool was cold and the “hot tub” was barely warm. Never made it into the main pools hot tub as it was always “being treated” someone we talked to said it was cold too. The main pool was ok-ish. We found the food to be good, desserts were not. The hamburger, tacos, hot dogs, ice cream and jerk chicken offered through the grounds to be very good. The drinks were good, but the lineups were sometimes long. The one bartend at barefoot bar was amazing, high energy & very kind. Also, the main girl that greeted you most days at the restaurant was AMAZING. She greeted you with a smile and genuinely was happy to see you. Most workers were good, but not exceptional like the 2 I mentioned. We quite liked the entertainment, but found some of it too loud. You could not chat in the restaurant while entertaining was happening. Overall our trip to Jamaica and Holiday Inn Resort was good. Whether we would come back to the same resort is in question. It definitely needs soon room maintenance and cleaner air conditioners, along with fans that run to be able to get bathroom moisture out. You could see black spots of mold on the ceiling and I wonder if you took the air condition apart that you would find the same. Having a musky smell indicates mold and you do not want customers to come and end up sick. If that and the pools/hotubs were fixed we would consider coming back. Thank you for your hospitality. [Details]

The hotel was well kept and staff for the most part were friendly. [Details]

It was excellent, all the staff was really friendly. [Details]

Check in good. Bell man Wayne excellent. Rooms ok. Cleaning of rooms too late 4.00 to 5.00 PM. I wanted a rest before dinner. Making al la carte reservations awkward. come back too many times. [Details]

Overall we really enjoyed ourselves. The heat was a bit much but we knew to expect that. Experience was Wirth repeating and referring family to the resort is a definite yes [Details]

The beach and the pools were the highlights of the hotel. Pay for a superior room if you can - food is not for adventurous eaters. It's a good location for families with small kids. [Details]

Need more umbrella around the Pool for [Details]

overall great experience, kept well maintained and clean. your rep. agents will be there in the morning to help out with the day trip bookings. [Details]

Check in at hotel took forever as check-in was not until 3pm and so everyone came back at the same time which caused long and slow lines at front reception desk. It seemed very unorganized and after a long day of travel just wanting to get to our room.

We walked to our assigned room (no one offered to direct us there or take our lugggage) and the room was the farthest building away from lobby. When booking I requested a room on a higher level with a balcony and we got a room on the main floor facing a drunken adult-only pool with no privacy, holes and stains on the curtains, stains on furniture, just a run-down looking room. I called to complain and they switched our room to one on the 3rd floor. It was a little better but had a broken TV remote and some other minor issues. The rooms at this hotel were very small, closet shutter doors versus real door for bathrooms, smelly towels/linens with stains. The shower drain was clogged and would pool. The Hotel also had empty fridges with no complimentary bottle of Rum, beers, water bottles, or pops. When I called to say they had forgotten to stalk our fridge they informed me that would cost an additonal $50/day!!! The room walls/windows were poor and you could hear everything...traffic, birds, people talking. There were several days during our week stay that no housekeeping came to clean our room. Before check-in we had even told the hotel it was oir honeymoon and thought that maybe our bed would be decorated with rose petals or something, but nothing. The towel hut often had no beach towels available. The beach looked nice but couldn't really swim in it as it was too shallow, more suitable for children. The bar drinks sucked...no selection...didnt even have pina coladas for days....hot wine...staff didn't know how to make a tequila sunrise or common drinks that most resorts would have. Not very many bar staff and had to wait in lines to get drinks. The hotel had no speciality coffees (spanish or Irsh Cream coffees) and directed us to a basic pre brewed coffee thermos, was hoping try the blue mountain coffee but was disappointed.The resort had only 1 buffet and it was small and not much selection for food...low quality tasting food...not very hot. The resort was supposed to have a casino and a games room but they didn't and stated it closed due to covid. This is def not a fancy 4-4.5 star hotel at all...which it claimed it was. People did not dress up for the al la cart restaurants...lower class kind of resort forsure.The resort not taken care of...mini putt course was not cleaned/maintained. The nightly entertainment wasn't great, there was one night it was okay where they had a sqxaphome player. The stage was just a podium by the pool with no seating just pool loungers to sit on. Everything that comes free at most resorts seems to cost extra at this one. Even 2 of the 4 al a cart restaurants cost extra to dine at. Couldn't get seafood at the seafood restaurant unless you pay an extra $40 US/person. For what we paid I had expected better. [Details]

Full of fun and excitement [Details]

Once again we had a fantastic experience at the Holiday Inn. The staff were friendly and inviting as usual, the food was superb and the grounds were kept perfectly clean and groomed. We were able to secure the room we wanted , which is important to us. It is a foamily friendly and safe environment for our three children and they enjoyed themselves thoroughly. The jerk hut is amazing authentic food. Looking forward t heading back there again. [Details]

Cons:

ROOM was very poor. The A/C was extremely loud and kept our whole family up. We are a white noise family, this was not just a little loud, it was very disruptive. It rattled the patio doors making it even more louder. The shower water leaked all over the outside hall way. The bathroom door were closet doors which made little barrier for privacy. They were also missing the door handles. There was a cock roach climbing up the wall. We were in building 2, fourth floor. Do not recommend.

FRIENDLINESS: I was surprised at the unfriendliness of the staff. We are big on manners and never asked for anything special or extra (didn't even complain about our room when we should have). I don't want to label them all unfriendly as there were some that were kind. The majority make you feel like you are a bother when you ask for a drink. The nicest staff were the people at the food bars. Very few staff smile. They are slower than what people may be use to but we were on vacation so that bothered us the least.

SHADED SEATING: People are so bad for holding the canopy/shaded beach/pool chairs with their towels and not using them for hours. NOT COOL! We rarely got a shaded spot as people are inconsiderate. This isn't the resorts fault, this is just lack of common courtesy with the guests. I would recommend the resort post signs with some kind guideline around this.

Pros:

QUAINT: I love the size of this resort. Everything was close by and the kids could roam and they were never that far away. It's a smaller resort and I recommend if you have kids you get in buildings 1-3. We felt totally safe to let them do their own thing (ages 10 ) and the kids made friends. They loved the ice cream/nacho bar.

FOOD: Buffet was always full and lots of variety. Lots of kid options (chicken nuggets, pasta, fries, pizza, etc..) The chicken is really good. The omelet station goes quick and those girls work their butts off. She was one of the friendlier ones. The burgers, grilled cheese, nachos and hot dogs they serve through out the day are good. Their veggie burger is good too. JERK HUT is a must try!! I really can't say anything negative about their food. I was thankful for not having to cook for a week. I appreciated the treat.

WATER/BEACH/POOL: Wonderful for kids! It's not too deep and very calm so you can assure your kids can swim safely. Bring snorkeling goggles!! You can see all kinds of cool FISH and water creatures near the island rocks. Pool was a good size. It's not quiet, always music playing but we liked that

Overall, I do recommend this place for kids. There are no waterslides or anything like that but if your kids like to swim, snorkel and roam around and eat ice cream all day then this is a small quaint spot to take them. I would not spend very much money to come back, it would have to be a super deal. I liked the DR 3 star resort better. [Details]

Hotel is very aged needs upgrading some staff are amazing life guards are great restraunt staff great front desk and guest services not friendly or helpful at all food I mid to average [Details]

Hiliday Inn Resort [Details]

This is a good resort. Not 5 star which it doesn't claim to be but it has every thing we needed and the price was right too. We throughly enjoyed the use of the property and didn't even leave as there's enough water access and fun to be had. I've had similar rated resorts in Mexico that offered horrible food but this was actually tasty and I actually finished my plates!! We loved the private island too. Great WiFi!! Much appreciated [Details]

A couple of small hiccups, but we had a nice and relaxing holiday. We decided to save some money on the hotel and direct it to fly in business class(NO REGRET!) I say you get value for your money at this resort. You get what you pay for. (no disrespect) Been traveling for 40 years and yes we would go back here. [Details]

Overall a good resort. A little outdated and can use some updates but still good. Food was decent with a pretty good variety and drinks were great. Staff were all friendly and very helpful. [Details]

Old, run-down hotel. Nothing works regularly. Could not get hot water most of the time, food was adequate at best.
The entire place is brutally noisy. They seem to think making everything loud will keep people entertained.
Could not use main pool area, constant pounding music and screaming kids. [Details]

crappie rooms, no ventilation. [Details]

Dated room is small like a 3-star motel, and doesn't feel like a resort that I stayed in other places, noise air condition also doesn't work properly as you set.
Room service always forgets something, you have to call and send it in.
Only one buffet for lunch and three restaurants for dining, bar fas food is not good.
The environment outside is good on the beach and small island, onside snorkelling can see many fishes but a lot of seaweed.
But some room close to the highway noise should be avoided.
The location is convenience close to the airport and easy to travel to the east or west coast. [Details]

My husband and I stayed at this resort in 2014, and at the time actually got engaged. We had a fantastic stay and our only complaint at that time was there was no disco. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the resort had renovated and put in a new club, which was one of the reasons we decided to return. There were resorts for a comparable price that we had not stayed at before, but we thought this was our best bet because of our previous positive experience. We spent a few days alone, and halfway through our stay, my husband's family joined us. We arrived on October 31st at 2:00 p.m. Upon check-in I notified Tevin that we were returning guests from 2014 and that we had actually gotten engaged at this resort. Although we had booked a standard room, I asked if we could get a room with two double beds as my stepson would be joining us later in the week, and I also requested a refrigerator. At that time we were told that our request was not a problem and that we would also be getting an ocean view room. We were told we would have to wait about an hour for our room which was no problem, so we decided to go and eat. Before we got a chance to go to the buffet, we were told that our room was ready. We were pleasantly surprised that it had gotten cleaned so quickly. We offered to carry our bags to our rooms as the bell man was busy assisting other guests. After the walk over to building one carrying four heavy suitcases, I realized that the room we were given had only one bed. It also did not have a fridge. I promptly called down to the front desk to address the issue. Tevin advised me he would call me back in 5 minutes when he had everything sorted. We waited 30 minutes, exhausted and hungry after traveling all day, and called back down to the desk. I was told that he had to wait until his supervisor came in to change the room, and that we would have to wait a little longer. 20 minutes later we are still standing in the room, not able to use it because we are getting moved, and still waiting for a room. I called down again and by this time lunch was over. Finally we were given another room on the second floor, and this room did have two beds, however it did not have a refrigerator and it was not ocean view. At that point I was just tired of waiting so I gave up on the room hunt. The room was basic and simple, nothing extra, and I was told I would have to put my name on a list for a refrigerator which would be given based on availability, after 7 days I never did receive a refrigerator. Two out of 7 days we had to call down and ask for towels because Housekeeping did not show up. On the days that they did show up, the room was fantastic and the housekeeper was very friendly.
For the most part, the room was sufficient, but it was a bit disappointing to know that we were returning guests and didn't get an upgrade of any kind. Also, during our stay there was a manager's dinner where return guests were invited to a special dinner with management, and prizes were given out, we were never told about the dinner by any staff or given an invitation, and only found out after the fact from guests who had attended.

The food was pretty good, especially the Jamaican a la carte. We also ate at the Italian restaurant a couple of times and that was pretty good as well. The buffet had enough selection for our taste and we always found something to eat. My only complaint about the buffet is that during our stay one morning the power went out, and we were a little late getting down for breakfast. When we arrived around 10:20 there were lots of other people also trying to get breakfast, and the kitchen staff were taking all of the food away, and we were only able to get pancakes and watermelon. No eggs, no bacon, no other breakfast food other than dry cereal and toast. Very disappointing to have people lined up waiting for food and staff taking away pans of food with people still waiting to eat.
Due to a lack of CO2 in the country, there was no fountain soda or beer on tap.  This wasn't a major issue, other than the fact that we found the beer was never cold and a lot of people were complaining about the same thing.

We did find a few fantastic staff who really went out of their way to make us feel welcome and helped us make the best of our stay. Mark at the snack bar was absolutely fantastic, Ewan at the barefoot bar always had a smile, and Mr Powell at the adults swim up bar was sweet and friendly! My husband had great chats with some of the lifeguards and they were super helpful when he had to go into town and go to the bank. Nightly entertainment was pretty good, but we were disappointed that the disco was usually pretty dead and it didn't seem to be promoted much at the resort. There was a heavy focus on promoting Margaritaville, which we were not interested in after spending $3,000 to stay at an all inclusive with a club. The first night that we did go up there, we were served one drink and then the bartender put his head down doing paperwork and didn't look up again. We tried to get his attention a couple of times for another drink, but we just ended up leaving because there was no one around anyway.

The pools and beaches were fantastic, always clean with plenty of sun beds. The nightly grill, nacho bar and jerk hut were great, but the guy working at the jerk hut never said hello or smiled and always looked like he was in a bad mood. It was uncomfortable actually just asking him for food. We ran into this a few times actually, where we felt like more of a burden than a guest, and like we were begging or something. We are regular tippers, but even that didn't seem to make a difference.

We booked a room for my husband's family and were pleasantly surprised that they had a beautiful room on the 4th floor of our same building. It was partial ocean view, had a refrigerator, a sofa and beautiful high ceilings. They were also given a welcome drink when they came in, something that we never got. While we were super thankful that our family had this great experience, we wondered why we weren't given the same. As a matter of fact, when we were checking out, my husband asked for a bottle of water to take on the bus for our 6-year-old son, and we were told that we would have to buy it at the gift shop because they only provide water to people who are checking into the hotel, and since we were checking out I guess we weren't a priority anymore. Even though we had just spent $3,000 to be there for a week, it was too much to ask for a bottle of water when we were leaving. Come on.

Another disappointing factor was the Japanese a la carte, which was included in our last stay, but for some reason this time they are charging $29 USD per person. Not exactly "all inclusive".

***
My husband also had a ridiculous run in with the head of security. He asked the front desk if he could remove his bracelet in order to leave the resort to avoid being hassled by vendors. He was told that this was no problem at all, and that a lot of guests do the same thing. Upon returning, the security chief approached him and asked why he wasn't wearing a bracelet. He explained the situation to which the security responded "what sense does that make" and even after my husband showed that he had the bracelet in his pocket, he took the bracelet from my husband and stated that he would need to follow him to the front desk to make sure his story was accurate. He also stated that he spent 30 years in the constabulary force in Jamaica and that he "knows a trickster when he sees one". My husband who is originally Jamaican, told the security that he didn't feel that he needed to be followed like a criminal, to which the security Chief replied that indeed he would need to follow him like a criminal to make sure that he was a guest on the premises.
Warm welcome right?

Prior to writing this review, I had said that maybe I would return again, but when I'm sitting here thinking about everything that actually happened, I would be very hesitant to do so. It wasn't a terrible experience, there were a lot of great things about this trip, but it's the little things that make a difference on a vacation, and a lot of those little things were lacking at this hotel. We met a lot of return travelers, gold banders, who had nothing but great things to say about this hotel, but for us it seemed like if you weren't a first time visitor or a 20th time visitor, you were overlooked and ignored. Except for the few staff that we did mention who were absolutely fantastic! We wanted to give an honest review, with the good and the bad included. I think we have done just that. [Details]

Our family had A fantastic time at Holiday Inn Montego Bay. The resort was very clean and the staff was very friendly and the island across from the beach was incredible!! [Details]

We travelled with my 5 year old twin girls to stay at the Holiday Inn Montego Bay. It was a beautiful resort that was clean with staff that cared. We stayed in building 1A, located off the main lobby. It was quiet on our side facing the tennis courts. The sun always rose on our side of the hotel and morning coffee on the balcony was always how we started our day.

The room was clean and well kept. House keeping came every 2nd day and often was not completed until late in the afternoon.

The staff and especially the lifeguards around the pool were amazing. They kept a watchful eye without being intrusive. The resort felt extremely safe for the kids. More than once when our group was separated we were asked where the other child was, it was nice they noticed and were aware of who belonged together and if someone might be missing. The entire staff went out of their way to accommodate the kids and that made it so special to them. They also have a kids club where kids can go and play in a supervised area and parents can take their own break.

The area of sea between the small island and the main beach is incredible. Warm, clean, clear and relatively shallow made it easy to get back and forth comfortably as well it being relaxing, picture lazy lounge time just floating in the water.

The food was good, buffet breakfast was good, we loved the a la carte restaurant (Italian and jerk) and the quick eats at the day time bars were great too.

Loved it and would definitely go back for a family vacation. [Details]