We have just returned on 6/17/08 from a 5 night stay at the Riu Negril.
I had a LOT of anxiety booking our trip because when booking through a website you just never really know what you are going to to get. I am VERY HAPPY to say that Generally overall we had a great experience.

We stayed in building 3, in an ocean side room that had a fantastic view. I was a little nervous to stay in the 3rd building as the establishment was REALLY BIG and the walk seemed far, but really it wasn't that bad. Actually quite pretty of a walk and romantic in the moonlight. Don't let other reviews scare youabout the walk.

The pool is lovely, (actually both were lovely)not as big as I would have expected but still very nice. Not cloudy like other reviews said (although we talked to others from the Tropical and they said their water was cloudy) The swim up bar was great (Gareth was an awesome bartender!!!) but they focus a lot more of the attention on the beach but HEY it's Jamaica, so who could blame them! TRY THE JERK CHICKEN ON THE BEACH!!! It is GREAT!!!

Next door was the Riu Tropical and I (again) had anxiety in whether to book there or at the RIU Negril. My husband and I walked over to the tropical and I am glad to say that we picked the right one for us. The Tropical seemed a lot more run down and not as nice. Granted we were only over there for a few moments to look it over but based on what we saw the Negril seemed much nicer!

The Spa experience left a little to be desired and my pedicure has already chipped (mind you all I wore were open toed shoes the entire time and they still chipped)... but the staff was very friendly!

Restaurants were nice and again the staff was VERY friendly but the reservation system was not good. You had to stand in line every morning and HOPE you could get a reservation for a restaurant. All info we read to be in line at 10 am but actually people were lined up at 9:00am and they started taking reservations at 9:45.
We didn't even get to eat at one of the restaurants because it booked up every day before we even got a change to get up there and this was before 10am...

Lastly, I would recommend brining a candle for those days the room smells musty....
AND BRING BUG SPRAY....WITH DEET!!! The bugs are aweful especially at dinner WE were the ones being eaten alive!
Oh and if you get motion sickness and plan on going on ANY excursions BRING DRAMAMINE!!! many people got sick on trips!!!!

Again generally over all we liked it... it isn't sandles, but it was a good experience for the price.
Regular bug spray didn't seem to do any good.

We have stayed at many Riu hotels and this one is very similar to the others, it is very clean plenty of food choice, lots of sunbeds so never a problem whatever time you got up. We were in a party of 13 made up of 4 familys all wanting something different from the holiday and no one came away dissapointed. Dunns River is approx 3 hour drive and Thomson charge $119 pp but you can get a taxi for $250 and it takes upto 9 people some even take 15. and that way not only was it cheaper but you also had a personal guide! We got the receptionist to ring Margaritaville and they came and picked us up in their bus ( what an experiance) but we just went for a couple of hours in the day. Kool Runnings water park is only 5 mins down the road, We also went horse riding and we rode into the ocean it was a really nice trip but we bartered between the tour operators in reception and we got this for $50 pp from orginal $70.
The only down side was the long queues to book a restaurant but we spoke to reception and told them we had not paid to stand in a queue and they said no problem and let us pre book the restaurants for the 2 weeks. The best restaurant is Sir Andrews which is waiter service and even though the choice is only approx 4/5 dishes they are lovely and we ate in there 3 times but if you dont get it pre booked it is hard to get in as all the wedding parties use it.
If you have any questions dont hesitate to ask.

Overall had a very good vacation. I went with my girlfriend and this is the third resort I have been to. The layout is nice and big for being a smaller resort and decor was pleasant. To start, check-in was easy and only waited 20 minutes or so. Room was ready when we arrived at about 5:30pm. We were in the second building so not too far from everything. The room was very nice clean, nice minibar and fridge with drinks. Air conditioning always worked well.

Food: Out of the 3 resorts I have been to this place was the worst as far as food. This does not mean the food was terrible just that it was my least favorite. (The best was sunscape the beach in D.R. ) I think one reason why I think the food was not so great was because we always went to the buffet except for two nights. The reservation system is terrible and there is no way I was going to wait in a 40 minute line to, maybe, get reservations for the restaurant we wanted. The Steak house was ok. Italian...was not italian, we were serve meat with Mexican style sauces...where's my pasta? I was not able to get reservations for the gourmet place. Main problem with food is that all of the restaurants have the same buffet style appetizers and they are all the same. I understand that resort food is not NYC food....I live in New Jersey and have done some fine dining.....but I have had better food at similarly rated resorts. The food gave us some stomach problems but thats normal at these resorts, and we are not big drinkers so it was not a liquor thing. They cook EVERYTHING in oil so it does tend to get a little heavy. No biggie.

Beach/Pool: The Beach was gorgeous....lots of chairs....lots of beautiful people....people playing volleyball, soccer, or just relaxing....water was clear and warm....almost no seaweed.....was not bothered by bugs....lots of shade if youre as pale as me....there are some boats provided by hotel.....can't say anything bad about beach. There are guys on jet skis trying to get you to ride but all you have to say is no thanks and they leave you alone....the hotel has security there so they can not harrass you and/or ask you more than once or twice. If you want to take a walk along the beach you just have to be assertive and say no thanks to the people selling regular items and/or drugs.....its no big deal and youre not hurting there feelings. People over exaggerate how bothersome these people are. The pools were a bit on the small side but they never seemed to be too crowded either. We only used them around 4-5:00.

Entertainment: Superman, Spiderman, Spondgeboob, Batman, Lucia......very entertaining staff always willing to bring some life and energy to whatever is going on. Some of the most interactive entertainment I have seen. The nightly entertainment was good becaues we had live music most nights. Some of the shows were corny but that is expected. Some were very good. One very annoying thing about this resort was that there were at least four weddings there when we went so a few nights the disco was closed for the wedding. This really pissed me off because I would think that if you schedule so many weddings at this resort they should have a separate room for such occasions. The casino was a waste unless you like slots. The gym seemed like you could get a decent workout. It rained a few days so they brought out a few games for us to play. Overall best entertainment I have seen at a resort.

Drinks: Sometimes drinks were strong sometimes weak. I do not like to tip bartenders b/c I always end up going to someone different and find it annoying to go to the same person everytime. They had liquor bottles in the room so I would fill up a water bottle with vodka and add liquor to my drinks if neccesary. I know this seems strange but it was easier than tipping and finding the same person everytime I wanted a drink.

Other Info: I did however tip our cleaning woman a few dollars everyday. There are two stores located within the resort but obviously the "general goods" are much more expensive. We walked through the sister hotel and it did not seem like anything great except for the fact it had an extra restaurant. Our travel agent has been to both places and told us that the other one is not worth the extra money. It seemed as though she was right.

Overall I had a very good time but will probably not go back just because of the restaurant reservation system. I would go back to jamaica because the beach was incredible and would like to travel to ochos rios or montego bay. If you have any questions feel free to leave me a message

We went to the Riu Negril as a group for a wedding. The resort was fairly new, but it was amazing! The staff were a little clingy hoping for tips...but it is a third world country so you can really blame them. The buffett was very good. Most of the travel party really enjoyed the jerk chicken shack on the beach...The ala carte restaurants were very good and quite elegant. The activities and entertainment were great as well. The room was absolutely beautiful as was our view. We would come back to our room several times a day and find new themes and flowers made up on the bed. There is a fully stocked mini fridge and alcohol decanters on the wall which were filled every other day. The sunset booze cruise was quite cheap at $15US for about 4 hours of boating, swimming, cliff diving and most of all the stunning sunset. There are many daily activities such as water aerobics and other silly little games. The beach is beautifully maintained and you are allowed to visit near by resorts. The only complaints we did have besides the one day of rain...is you are constantly bombarded by people trying to sell you everything from braids, jet ski rides, we were even offered hash at one point. The resort is nicely blocked off and security is everywhere. They encourage not to go beyond the resort fence but the people yell at you from the other side. We did leave the resort several times. Once for a tour sponsored shopping trip and once on our own to visit the Margaritaville Restaurant...which I totally reccomend as long as you have a very attentive taxi man like we did. The resort has a taxi service available for a charge and it's quite worth it. He escorted us to the ATM and set a time to return for our pick up. Their tips for service are very hard worked for and very well deserved. The wedding on the other hand was not done well at all. My then fiance and I were planning on our wedding for the same trip as well, but after having such a hard time getting together with the wedding planner at the resort we changed our minds. A couple went with carried on with their wedding plans, and it was not really worth the extra $500US. They messed up the music, the minister never pronounced their names correctly and the pictures were a waste all but a few were out of focus and over exposed. The setting and decor was beautiful though and they do have a nice selection of guest favors you can choose from. We are planning a trip for August 2008, it's hard not to want to immediately return to Riu Negril. We are looking forward to visiting the Riu Palace in Los Cabos Mexico. I have no doubt that it will be just as amazing.