We read mix reviews on this hotel but decided to go anyways due to the ease of getting to Jamiaca i.e. nonstop flight on AirJamaica from Orlando. Our flight was 3 hours late in getting to Montego Bay. On arrival our welcome at the Ritz Carlton booth in the airport was wonderful. We were late for our dinner reservations at Jasmines. They happily helped us to reschedule the time. Check in at the airport was a breeze. We decided to use the Ritz shuttle due to the convenience. The cost $40 roundtrip per person. On arrival at the hotel the room keys were ready and waiting. Our luggage was taken immediately to our room. We had the best view from our room. We booked an oceanfront suite on the Keys to paradise plan. The view was awesome and our suite was over 1000sq ft with 2 bathrooms/showers and 2 tvs. Our balcony extended from the bedroom to the living room. If you want an ocean view then you should splurge for the oceanfront room. The other reviewers who complained that they could not see the ocean from an oceanview room was because its only a partial view. For a full view you need to book an oceanfront not oceanview. The food was great. We ate as much as we wanted and as many times as we wanted. When we checked out our bill was only for the spa we used. No hidden charges. You have to follow the rules though i.e. only ordering food from the restaurants or jerk shack. Drinks all included as long as they are not premium. Kettle one Vodka is considered house brand.
The mimosas at breakfast, the blue mountain coffee in the lobby, and the smoothie bar (Dr.Juice) was great. Ask the front desk for a letter listing the rules to the keys to paradise package. If you order food from any of the bars it is not included in the package. You may want to book your dinner reservations prior to arriving. The hotel was not crowded when we where here but we read that we should reserve in advance. We emailed the hotel 2 months in advance and they confirmed our reservations 5 days prior to arrival via email. In regards to the beach, I have no idea what other reviewers where complaining about. The beach was great and there was plenty of lounge chairs. We did wear water shoes in the water and had no problems with the rocks. We never had a problem getting a kayak or getting a ride on the catarmaran that was free. We did tip generously as we found out from management that the hotel staff does not get much in tips. If you tip on your credit card that tip you left is divided among the 900 employees. We always signed our bill to our room and left a cash tip. We brought about $200 in cash to tip for 3 days. The staff gets paid very little and work really hard. We never felt obligated to leave a tip. Now on to food, our favorite restaurant was the white witch, great sunsets, Lunch our favorite was the jerk shack. Great live entertainment at night in the cohiba lounge. We definately drank and ate our moneys worth. Overall will definately return.

We stayed at the resort over the 4th of July weekend. The service was great and the resort was clean. Below are some pros and cons along with a few suggestions.

Keys to paradise is a must. The additional cost is dwarfed by the amount of money you would have actually spent on food & drinks.

The beach is man made and rocky when you walk into the water. Water shoes made this problem go away and enhanced the experience.

Day trip to Negril & Rick's Cafe: We took an excusion to Negril to spend a day on the 7 miles of amazing white sand beach. You can book a personal driver for the day (up to 12 hours) for $280 or $400 depending on your preference of cars. The Ritz has an arrangement with Jimmy Buffett's Negril which is located right on the beach. The Ritz also packs a cooler filled with water and provides as many towels as you need. For a reference on what the beach looks like, just do a google search under Negril Beach and click on images.

Rick's cafe: Our driver Virgo mentioned this stop as a popular attraction. It's rated the top 10 bars in the world. Check out the website, it's very cool: www.rickscafejamaica.com
People are just hanging out, drinking and jumping off the 3 cliffs. Yes, that's right - jumping off cliffs. You can jump from the 10 foot, 30 foot or 40 foot cliff. I jumped off all three and it was one of the coolest things I have ever done.

Our driver Virgo is a nice guy with a very big heart. You can ask specfically for him and the Ritz will happily arrange it., He loves doing the tours and is filled with energy. Tell him his friends Carl and Ava sent you.

The White Witch is a great golf course and eating on the terrace is beautiful. We found the food here to be the best of all the restaurants. The chocolate peanut butter dessert was great.

We traveled with 3 other couples to this resort for a week in October and have decided that we are making it an annual tradtion to meet at this property each year. This is the only Ritz Carlton property with an all inclusive package. Make sure to book the "Key to Paradise" package. It is worth the money (relatively inexpensive in comparison to other all inclusives we have taken) since beer will cost you $10/glass and$20 for a pina colada. By the end of the week we were ordering bottles of champagne (even though it says bottles are not included in the package) at no charge.

The rooms were comfortable. We ate at all restaurants besides Jasmine in addition to room service every morning and never had any complaints. The jerk shack is a must and you have to try the jerk lobster.

The pool is adequate and the pool attendants always had all 8 of our chairs ready for us in the morning (tipping well of course). Pool service was prompt and never had any issues. Yes, the beach is small and rocky but none of us are really beach goers anyway so that didn't matter to us. They have a few water sports available on the beach for you to partake.

Each and every employee we met was of typical RC standard and any issue was taken care of promptly.

We will definitely be back!

We stayed at the Ritz June 16th to June 23rd. We checked into the hotel at the airport. This is a nice touch and we were offered water and other refreshments. Our shuttle came quickly and within minutes we were at the hotel.

We got into our rooms within 30 minutes of arriving. The rooms that we received were oceanview as we booked. We were on the second floor a had a direct view of the ocean. We were able to see and hear the ocean from our bed. The room and the balcony were of nice size and very clean. The maid service is terrific and we left a couple of dollars for the morning and evening maids each day. They were very appreciative and always made sure that we had complimentary bottles of water stocked.

Take the Key to Paradise all-inclusive option. Food is very expensive and if you do not you will probably spend between $500 and $600 a day on food and drinks per couple easily. The breakfast buffet was good with plenty of choices. If you do not see what you want, ask and they will get it for you. The only lunch spot besides the Jerk Shack is Mangoes. It was okay. Even for Caribbean speed the service can be very slow. Lunch there was good not great. The Jerk Shack makes outstanding jerk. Dinner at all of the restaurants was very good. We went to the White Witch three times. It was our favorite. With the all-inclusive tips are included despite the reciept saying otherwise. We always added a few bucks in cash anyway. I agree with another writer that said to bring $300 in small bills. It sounds like alot but you will easily go through that.

Go to the lounge at night. It is fun. The music is good. The later it gets the more fun it is.

The beach is small but very usable. It is clean and has ample space and chairs. You cannot walk very far like in Cancun or Grand Cayman but just chill mon and enjoy.

The hotel is very clean and the staff is friendly and helpful. Two managers came up to me in the lobby and asked me about my stay.

Dr. Juice at the pool is great. He makes fantastic fruit drinks with or without alcohol.

Although it seemed to lack a true Ritz feel it was still a great place to stay and relax. I would stay here again if going to the Montego Bay area of Jamaica.

We have travelled for many years and have stayed at such properties as the Grand Wailea Maui, Hyatt Grand Cayman, Hyatt Aruba, Iberostar Paraiso Maya Cancun Riviera, Grand Aqua, Cancun, Fiesta Americana Condessa Cancun, Gran Melia Cancun, Westin Regina Cancun, Atlantis Paradise Island, etc...