Jewel Grande Montego Bay Resort & Spa

Booked via VRBO and stayed in 1 bdrm condo with 2 baths. We have always done an all inclusive and thought we would try something a little different. We had all the access to the Jewel Grande. We just paid for our food and drinks. Stayed in bldg B second floor. Review is based on resort not condo. Staff were excellent. Check in very seamless and loved that it was not far from the airport. Stopped at a grocery store to stock up. Accessibility warning! This resort has a ton of stairs. Be prepared! This is our sixth time to Jamaica and we have always found that we could snorkel right off the beach. This resort has a very limited beach area and the water is extremely shallow. We had no issues finding beach chairs under some shade on the beach every day. We didn’t show up until after 10 each day and there were always your classic beach chair savers but somehow we got lucky. I think we also picked a somewhat quiet week. There is a ton of shade because of the large buildings. Unless you are a 5 year old do not even plan on packing your snorkel gear unless you go off the resort on an excursion. Contrary to some reviews staff were raking up the sea grass washing up on shore. Sadly they also had to deal with the garbage washing up all long the beach. We spent zero time at the pool. Service along the beach was good. Tip these girls they work hard. Take the complimentary Hobie out each day. Tip the guys who take you out. They work hard. It’s a beautiful way to see the resort. The resort is quite spread out. Again many many stairs. We golfed at Cinnamon Hill one day which was great. Restaurants were all pretty good. Staff excellent. Food good. Definitely not cheap if you aren’t on the AI plan. The resort was a mix of everything. Families, girl trips, couples and wedding groups. There was entertainment every night if you wanted to partake. Very loud especially if you are in B or C building but it was done by 9:30 ish. There did seem to be ongoing maintenance all over the resort. The grounds were beautiful. I would say it does seem a little tired. Bldg B only one elevator was operating all week. We would not go back because of the beach and shallow water.

Marketed as a 5 star resort and, while it does have amenities that fulfil the label, it falls short of any 5 star resort I have experienced. Poor quality bedding, worn interiors, ineffective air-conditioning, no hot water! I don't plan on staying here again. CHECK-IN: Completely chaotic and disjointed. My party had 2 rooms booked - 3 BR Beachside Villa with Butler, 2 BR Suite with Butler. One of the rooms was not ready when we arrived despite the fact that we ran late and showed up at 5pm for a 4 pm check in time. When I complained I was told that 4pm is the time they choose to "start the check-in process" but that does not guarantee the room will be ready - in all my years of travel to all 5 contents I have never heard THAT one before. Check-in time is universally accepted as time a guest should expect their room to be available! It wasn't until we had waited till 6pm and I was by then VERY annoyed and insisted on speaking to a manager that I was offered an apology and compensation - a $50/hr past check-in credit - keep this in mind if you find yourself in the same situation. This was credited to the room at checkout - so you will have to spend something beyond the all-inclusive to take advantage of it. ROOMS: Generally dated - lots of chips on kitchen cupboards and doors that make it feel very 3 star, US$3700/night villa with double beds in the bedrooms seems really poor choice, and the mattresses and bedding were not great quality. For both our rooms the air con in common areas was great, the bedrooms were inadequate nights were quite uncomfortable - when maintenance checked, they agreed it was blowing warm air and recommended we turn on the fan. Kitchen was a large kitchen with a full fridge with not even one plate or set of cutlery - we had to request drinking glasses and they never came - some wine glasses did eventually. And then there was the hot water. There was none. In BOTH our rooms which were in different buildings in the resort, we all took cold/Luke warm showers for the whole of our stay. Housekeeping were generally good but they chose to leave fresh towels on the dining room table not refresh them in the en suites - 5 star treatment?? BUTLER SERVICE: Not really sure what this was meant to be but other than making dinner reservations for us, they didn't seem to do very much. I was told it was about VIP service. They called us VIPs a lot, but when it came to actually fulfillig requests - "not available" was the perpetual response. I don't think this is worth the extra money you pay, so I'd recommend skipping it. You are paying to be CALLED a VIP, not be treated like one. Speaking of reservations: Dinner reservations and Beach cabanas book out well before our stay - we had to have dinner at 8-9pm each night (with 2 kids in our party) because all the other times were booked - or you can go to the buffet which does not require bookings but you still have to wait for a table (even for breakfast), and the hostess