Hilton Rose Hall Resort & Spa

First time staying here and honestly my only complaints are very minor versus what you got for your money. Stayed from the 15-20 of March. Had a two queen room on the 7th floor facing the ocean with a patio. Amazing views. The room was serviced everyday. Bed was comfortable. Bathroom a little small but not a big deal. The pools were both excellent. The issue as all resorts have are the morons that wake up early to go save spots even though they may never use them or don’t show up until after 11am. I wish resorts would start cracking down on this BS. The restaurants were all good including the buffet. Seaside Grill was good. The steak house at the golf course was exceptional. Pay the up charge to try it out. Just bring bug spray. Lots of mosquitos. My minor complaint is order new shuffleboard sticks and bean bags for corn hole. It can’t be that expensive to replace. Small dollars invested have great returns with all the families playing.

We had a great week at Hilton Rose hall. The staff are all so happy and kind. The ladies at the spa were great and did fabulous braids in my daughter and her friend. The bar at the slide pool is the best daytime spot and the lobby bar is best at night. Definitely take the nature walk in the morning. Great for all ages. The beach had a lot of trash which was a bummer. We tried to collect some but need the resort to take better care. The Italian and Asian restaurants were great. Start lining up at 5:30 and you should get a spot. The elevators had some problems but we were only in the 4th floor so we walked off some of the beverages. The coffee bar is a great spot to get some AC out of the sun. My daughter was obsessed with the ice cream and marble cake!

I want to start off with a little about my family. We are world travelers that set our expectations at a modest level. We are easy going and don’t let small things bother us. Next I will speak of some of the negative reviews we saw here. My wife was a bit concerned given some of the comments here coupled with the reasonable pricing. My wife was pleasantly surprised and we have had nothing, but a great time. The beach - yes the first beach can have some seaweed and can have some what of a murky entrance. The waves here are moderate causing some sand churning. This was my daughter’s favorite spot (12 y/o) as she loves the waves, it was like a moderate wave pool on many days. The beach a bit further down has much less seaweed and clearer. The staff does a good job of cleaning up both sides in the morning. Restaurants - yes, no reservations, unless you pay for them. We made it to the two we wanted in easily., but we tend to eat early. At 6PM it was fairly easy to get in to. Yea you will see empty tables, this is largely because they are seating people in a way that makes it comfortable to not back up the kitchen. Food was excellent. We ate at the buffet one night and my wife decided she would prefer to eat there the remaining nights. Food was excellent with great selection. Service and presentation was 4+ stars. Wait staff. I would call it somewhere between US attentiveness and European speed. They do come around, but not on top of you like in the states. Tipping - never once did we have the feeling we were expected to tip. Being that we are accustomed to this and know how much a tip can make a difference to the life of locals we did tip often. Especially when we received remarkable service., we certainly did at the rum factory restaurant. Beach, pool, water park chairs and shade. There is an abundance of all. We were surprised by this. We stayed at higher end resorts that was not as well equipped. No lie they will fill, especially later. Most of this is because patrons seem to refuse to give them up even when they are nowhere around. Normally even later in the day we were able to find some. Advice - bring your own tumbler with a lid. They will put your drinks in these if you have your own. Set your expectations accordingly, you are not really paying a premium, don’t expect over the top service. Minor issues we had. One elevator was down for few hours. This caused quite the backup as there is only 2 per wing. It was promptly resolved. Cappuccino machine broke early, again this was promptly resolved. They permit some off resort vendors setup in certain areas. Most were fine, I did find one a bit pushy. They are easy to avoid if you prefer not to be bothered. Other notes This is an older resort, it is impeccably maintained though. I say this so that you expect some wear, but note things are in good working order, and kept very clean. I did not find any of it off putting. Room was great and the main areas are very nice. Cabana need is personal preference, it was ok. We have a beach cabana tomorrow so I can’t yet speak of it. The waterpark cabana was convenient. Did not feel guilty to keep as we paid extra for it. They do take orders at the cabana, we typically did not use this service. Personally I would recommend especially if you are looking for a great value and not expecting perfection, they come as close to this as possible in this price range.

As someone who travels 100 nights a year and does not generally write reviews avoid this hotel at all cost. This hotel does not meet the standards of a basic Hilton hotel and is a complete mess it is the equivalent of a very low-end budget all inclusive. We have stayed at other Hilton all-inclusive resorts and this resort was so far below the previous standards we had experienced. I read reviews before I came and thought people were being dramatic, but the reviews are spot on. I would not recommend this hotel to anyone there are so many better options out there at this price point. Our experience was with being a diamond member I can only imagine the basic experience. Everything you try to do onsite at this property is difficult unless you pay an additional fee which does not even guarantee what you paid extra for will happen. In general, the staff is not helpful and even acts like they are being inconvenienced to get a drink at a bar and getting a table for dinner is like an Olympic sport. To find a manager onsite is impossible with exception of Shelly the events manager who was very helpful but was being faced with issues she had no control over. - Dining is impossible unless you lineup at 5:00 pm or enjoy eating the buffet every night all while multiple tables in restaurants just sat empty for long periods of time while people were waiting hours to eat. - Overall, the staff was fine but did not put forth any additional effort and even acted bothered by us ordering the drinks that were on the menu or trying to get a seat at dinner. It just seemed like the moral of employees was very low. - The resort is not well kept. In the morning when we got up there was still trash from the night before scattered throughout the property and the only chairs that were straitened or organized were the ones that Butlers were reserving for an additional fee (we had paid for a cabana so we didn't deal with this daily but on our last day when walking to sunrise we realized at least 50% of the chairs already had towels on them at 6:30 AM) - There are only two pools, and the maintenance was not completed on them until 8 AM so generally at least one of the pools was closed until 10 AM only leaving one pool for the entire resort. - The rooms are dated and definitely not resort standard, but we knew this from the pictures before we arrived but ours was clean. However, there are obvious spots of water damage in the room as well as patches in the hallways that had been started but were not completed in the 5 days we were there. The room had a musty smell to it and those of us who have allergies were all congested by the time we left I am assuming from mold. - To get a towel at the pool it felt like you were committing a crime. They handed out towel cards which we never received. After getting them the second day when turning in your towels they made you wait in a line to count out how many towels you were putting in the bin. Dining Details Disasters: There is a buffet and three other restaurants onsite that are included. However, most nights only two of the restaurants are open plus the buffet. We were there for 5 nights the three nights we actually tried to eat at a restaurant. The first night not knowing we went down at 6:40 to get a table at a restaurant that supposedly closed at 9:30 and were told they were at capacity thinking it was a fluke we just went to the buffet. The next night we went to the other restaurant the Asian. We get there at 6 thankfully we were able to put our name on the list but are told the wait is long and that they cannot give us a time. There are no pagers or options to be notified to come back. Wanting to eat something other than the buffet we waited it out. During the first hour we waited only four tables were sat during that time we went to the bar to get drinks while waiting and there were at 6-8 tables just sitting empty. Finally, two hours later we were seated and thankfully the food was good. The next night we go to the Italian restaurant we were unable to eat at the first night get in line at 5:50 but the time we made it to the front of the line at 6:04 we were told they were at capacity, out of pagers and not taking names. That we could possibly try to come back in two hours, but they couldn't be sure we could put our name on the list at that time or not. Shelly the entertainment manger found out what was happening and attempted to help us. She then herself went to the restaurant to attempt to help them manage the situation and personally clear tables and get people seated. After we finally sat down for dinner at 8:30 she was still there helping them when she should have been managing her own event team. The director of food and beverage walked by and she said oh let me get him so you can tell him about your experience and instead of coming over he blew her off and kept walking all while she was attempting to help his restaurants in which no manager or supervisor could be found. None of this even accounts for the extras we paid for in advance: We paid for a private transfer from the airport to the hotel to ensure a quick transfer as we were only there five days. We confirmed the morning of arrival everything was setup they said yes and gave us the desk to go to. We get there they have no record of anything being booked and no one at the hotel will answer. Finally, after about 30 minutes they get a response and the contact at the hotel Derron and JTL argue as to whose fault it was. We have no idea what to believe eventually the guy at JTL says there is nothing I can do for you, and we are taken to a random waiting area that he said Derron told him to take us and to a random guy and told someone will be coming no name or company information we are just expected to wait and get in a random vehicle. After this time, I never got a response to my email or WhatsApp to Derron to try to confirm what we are being told is correct. Finally, 30 minutes later the guy says your vehicle is here and we just have to trust that it is safe. Thankfully it safely takes us to the hotel instead of an apology or an attempt to make it better the first thing we were asked for was a card to pay for the private transfer so we could check-in. I asked for the manager for the first time at this point and to this day have not heard from one. We had also paid for a birthday decorations and room setup for our daughter's 11th birthday. Thankfully when we arrived in the room it was beautifully decorated. We were hopeful that the first day had just been a bad day however the next day on her actual birthday we had scheduled weeks before our arrival in the birthday package for a cake to be delivered at 5:00 PM. The time comes and nothing is delivered. We wait an hour, and I go down to the concierge to investigate and the cake had never been setup. Once again, the concierge team who it was originally setup with offers no help and says you will have to go to events with no extra assistance to correct the error. Finally, I made it to Ashely in events who looks it up and confirms it was never setup. She apologizes and with someone working at the front desk I am not sure of his title finally makes it happen with a cake being delivered at 9:30 that night. It was not what we originally requested but at least they got us a cake. Knowing this is now the second issue that has occurred we think surely, we will get some follow up from management nothing but crickets. I to this day have never had an email back from Derron or his boss regarding any of these issues. We were connected with Shelly who was over entertainment however all of these things fell outside of her area. She did her best to help and then personally met us on the last day to ensure our transfer home went as expected. She gave me the general managers email and said he really would love to hear from me. I emailed him over 10 days ago and never had a response or even an acknowledgment of my email. Overall, I would say this property is just facing a complete lack of management. The staff is put in a bad situation where they are understaffed, and it appears they have no support for management. Also, it may be that this resort is actually managed by another company other than Hilton. All emails come from Playa Resorts so this may be why it does not meet the standards of Hilton service.

If you are considering Montego Bay, stay away from this Hotel. As a Hilton Honors member, I’m baffled that you must pay extra for everything other than food (“All-inclusive”). The “best part” is the Butler service by the pool. The employees save almost all chairs and try to sell it, releasing them by lunch time. I think this is the second hotel review that I take the time to do it, just because this place is a mess. Few things for you to consider: - don’t pay for Ocean View. I ended up in a corner room facing trees. - Most employees are nice, except for the sales people, probably stressed due to pressure for commission. They are rude, which I don’t care, I talk back because I paid to be here, I’m not a Tik Toker enjoying a free stay. - 10 desks for check-in/out but usually two people working, so be prepared to spend 30-40min. - Had to call for towels, paper towels, water, because room service always forget something. I was not expecting 4+ stars service, this was a last minute booking, but when you think about the Hilton brand, you expect the minimum for a nice stay.