Riu Ocho Rios

My husband and I recently came to the Riu in Ocho Rios June 11-21, 2022. Here are some pros & cons (and tips) from our trip:

Pros

Hotel is beautiful & pretty clean (public bathrooms were hit or miss, but I mostly saw cleaners going into them)
Pool is clean and well-kept
Beach is beautiful
Main lively pool is super fun (but loud)
Variety at the buffet for adults (but none of it good)
Can tip someone a couple bucks for a coconut
Variety of restaurants - Asian, steak house, buffet, Italian
Variety of bars
Balloon guy makes the most amazing balloons I've ever seen
Water slides (for big kids & adults) are awesome
Gift shop has AMAZING boutique-level clothes, bathing suits, bags, etc, but is very expensive
Mini bar is great in room
Snorkeling is free (you give them $25 & you get it back after the hour)
Scuba diving for $119 & the man is very nice
You always get a chair at the infinity pool and the beach, no need to run down early in the morning
Bartenders have been giving us warm milk in my baby’s bottle with no problem
Not a crazy amount of bugs/mosquitos (we have bug repellent stickers)
Though there are few elevators, we never had to wait for one

Cons

The most unfriendly staff I have literally ever come across in my life!!!!!!! (No eye contact - bartenders won't even look at you unless you say "Excuse me" and when you give your order they are very nasty about taking it and most do not say "thank you" when you hand them their tip. Someone in a FB group said that a staff member said that management told them "not to be too close to the guests" but I took that to mean don't try to romance anyone, not to be rude to everyone!
Most of the food is not good (i.e.: sautéed salted fish, little hot dogs in a gravy)
Food not for kids - no chicken fingers, mac n cheese, etc (saw chicken one night at buffet & once in sports bar)
2 outlets in room work (1 by bar; 1 in bathroom)
USB outlet doesn’t work
Toilets flooded in 8 rooms on our floor, I walked through toilet water!
Lack of elevators - and the one closest to our room broke on Day 2 (fixed next day)
Can’t make reservations for restaurants, have to stand in line when they open
Restaurants don't open and begin dinner until 6:15PM - why? It's a children's resort - why not 5:15PM?
Lack of ice cream and snacks - no typical chocolate, vanilla, strawberry
Besides cute kid entertainment with Antonia, Sabrina, Monique, Alexia & Kaloo, nighttime entertainment SUCKS. The white party and the glow party both started a good hour to hour and half after they said they would. The y said there would be a Michael Jackson tribute and it turned out to be karaoke, etc.
Baby pool & water slides are a mile away from the main area! You have to walk very far to get there
No specialty drinks in coconuts or pineapples
Very little alcohol in drinks unless you ask
They ran out of towels for us the first day (didn't happen again)
At first we didn't know if we were going to get a crib for our baby, though we asked about it months prior.
Gift shop has $46 sunglasses that were probably $10 at Target & Sun screen was $22+
Long line to check in & the front staff (like 90% of other staff) is VERY unfriendly
No bottled water at the bars, must bring from room or ask at always-packed front desk
Not enough bathrooms and not enough changing tables
No microwave in room
Can’t buy milk at gift shop
Juices are not good (except pineapple juice)
Floors in hallways get VERY slippery - I almost wiped out several times
Not enough to do indoors during rainstorms
No changing table in kids place
Not really a con but odd: They take your towels and don’t bring you new ones or clean the room for hours after

Tips

Bring a cover-up for the buffet because they won’t let you in in a bathing suit (even a one piece)
Kids area (RiuLand) is 10am-12pm & 3pm-5pm - if you're toddler is 3 or under you have to stay with them
Bring kid snacks because there are NONE
Bring plenty of diapers & wipes because it was $8 for like 10 wipes
Go during dry season (Sept-May). We’re here in June & lots of rain
Bring a few hundred American dollars in 1s, 5s & 10s for tips. (I usually tip way more but the service is not friendly or attentive in any way.)
Bug repellent stickers - they work!
Bring tupperware for cereal if you have a toddler
Get to restaurants at 6pm since they open 6:15pm and a line forms. Otherwise, go at 6:30pm
Little gift shop to the left of our hotel has half price items (got my daughter a hat for $12 vs $30 in hotel gift shop)
Bring baby’s car seat
Book transfer ahead of time (we used Sunshine Tours with Stephen Ellis. I’ve heard great things about Rocky as well)
Request ground floor room, elevators suck and long walk through the hallways