Royal Decameron - Two biggest complaints: Noisy rooms and Bad Food - Mark Babbe. Date of travel: Jul 2009
When I arrived at Royal Decameron, I tried to love the resort but within a few hours realized that I couldn't. We stayed in 3 hotels during our 10 day trip and this was supposed to be the nicest, but so many things went wrong with the hotel that my wife described it as "a nightmare”. Our $50/night eco-hotel was more enjoyable that this $170/night all inclusive. Noise, noise, noise. If you go to Jamaica only to party, then this is your place. I would say about 50% of the bungalows are too noisy for a couple to enjoy, with only about 5 feet between many of the bungalows and the outside streets. The west side of the resort has constant truck noise on Highway A1, and the east side has garbage trucks (for about 1 hour) at 4am. If you're lucky enough to get a quiet bungalow then it'll be nice. I told the reception that I was here to relax and they stuck me in the loudest room (right behind the main stage), and when I asked for a change they put me next to the garbage. Smelly and noisy. Summary: The Beach - Not a real beach. Looks like they tried to convert a rocky coastline into a beach. Thumbs down. I only used the pool, not the "beach". The Food - Much lower quality than I expected. First night was okay (Jerk Pork) but low quality (very fatty), but second night was terrible. Their Mexican night is worse than Taco Bell. A real pity, since there is so much fresh fish just outside the gates. The Drinks - All you can drink, was the only bright spot. Strong drinks too! The Staff - Okay, but very impersonal. Felt I was just 1 of 400 guests and they didn't care about me. So many rules: Sign up for snorkeling at 9am; Sign up for Sailing at 10am (don’t try signing up at 9am). Missed out on many things I wanted to do (Scuba, sit-down restaurants, Glass Bottom Boat) because their rules made it difficult to do more than one or two things in a day. And they don’t tell you about the rules in advance, only when you missed the deadline. The low point: The main reason I picked this resort was they showed 3 sailboats in their pictures on their website and I used to race sailboats and wanted to impress my wife. When I arrived they only had one that was “operational”, and actually it had a hole in it. We had to be rescued at sea and it turned out they knew about the hole the entire time. If this is your only place in Jamaica, then you are missing out and might as well stay in Florida. Either go to Port Antonio (near San San Beach and Frenchman’s Cove) for the real Jamaica or pay a little more for a better resort. Either that or drink tons of their free drinks and everything will seem better than it actually is.

I loved the Royal Decameron in Montego Bay - Tanya. Date of travel: Mar 2009
My friend stayed in the Royal Decameron and I just came back from a girls trip, and we wish we are still there! We absolutely loved the staff! The entertainment crew were family to us and we learned a few Jamaican dance moves, still can't move like them but they tried...oh they tried! Shaula, and Blue, we love you! The band were so nice and we danced, then went to the disco, sometimes not many people but we still had a blast! Bartenders were great...and there were NO watered down drinks as a matter of fact we sometimes had to tell them a little less alcohol please. I could go on and on rooms clean, beautiful people!! If you go say hi to Davian..the guest service manager, Orlando, Blue,Natasha, and Shaula....shout out to Rudy, Nigel, Kurt, David, Winston, Lady Toya, hope to see you all soon!!!!

WONDERFUL! - Kimberly. Date of travel: Nov 2007
I went to Royal Decameron in Montego Bay from 11/20/2007 through 11/28/2007. I had a great time. The resort is small, not a 4-star or 5-star, but cozy and comfortable nonetheless. I found the food to be pretty good, although I have to say that I am not a picky eater. I always found something that I liked at the buffet. I didn't try the a la carte restaurant (maybe next time). The hotel is located on the Hip Strip, with buses taking guests to and from the resort to the nightclubs. Pier 1 and Margaritaville are musts for the first time visitor. Dunn River Falls and the Dolphin Cove are musts as well. What really made the place fun for me is the staff. Everyone working there was so nice, so gracious and kind to me, I felf as if I were at home amongst family. I have to acknowledge Denton and Mellody at the front desk, the guest services manager, whose name I cannot remember, who were all just wonderful. The bartending staff were so nice, sweet and full of fun and conversation, especially, Kiwan, Nestor, James, Seymour (AKA Mr. Charmer), Bradford and the always smiling Javed. The entertainment staff were just FUN and so full of energy, I could hardly keep up. Big thanks to Winston, Rashida, Oneal, Shane, Josanna and the lovely lady Sadika. Thanks for the "Crazy Games." In short, I had a blast at the Royal Decameron in Montego Beach, Jamaica, and I have already put down a deposit for my next trip!

Jamaica!!!! - Tasha. Date of travel: Nov 2006
Me and my boyfriend have just come back from an amazing holiday to Jamaica! I would recommend anyone to go, young or old. Expect to be asked for tips wherever you go, and especially as soon as you arrive at the airport! They may seem forceful but its just ther way of makin' a dollar!!! Dolphin cove and Dunns River is a must! we stayed in The Royal Decameron, all the staff from the lifeguards to the entertainment crew were fantastic, friendly people.

Brill Holiday - Lou Ged Abbey Conner. Date of travel: Aug 2006
We have just come back from our fourth visit to Decameron in Jamaica. Its our second home; we are actually emigrating there next year and cant wait. People are lovely, food is scrummy, weather brill and my husband Ged takes his fishing rod to fish off the swing bar with our favourite barman George. He’s our buddy the best barman ever! We would also like to advise you of our favourite taxi driver outside Decam, his name is Delboy. Just say Ged and Lou spoke of you, he will remember us just say bamboo to him. The kids would like to say hi to del from kids club, she’s great with the kids they really miss her and also Rory, Sharky Dangerous - they are all just fantastic people and my favourite waiter Maurice he’s lovely and Hopeton the lifeguard. We love it and I hope this has made up your mind to go have a great holiday lots of love Lou and Ged.

Runaway Bay - Chris. Date of travel: Apr 2006
I read reviews before I picked out the Royal Decameron and did see that some people didn't get the rooms that they paid for and were given substitutions but I thought maybe they were isolated incidents and it wouldn't happen to me but I was WRONG. I can put up with a lot but this was just wrong and really ruined my whole trip. This happened to many people when I was there, including a couple on their honeymoon who ended in a room down the street. It was a busy time to go but this was inexcusable. We booked a garden cottage for 4 nights about 3 months in advance..After along trip and trouble with rude immigration people we finally got to the resort and found they had made a room change... They took us across a parking lot to a building outside of the front entrance, across a gravel parking lot, and past smelly dumpsters to a second floor room..The dumpsters were close to the stairs going up and we had to smell garbage every time we walked to our room.. The view out of the window was of stacks of empty milk crates, a mess of electrical wires and garbage. The room was clean and cool but there was no refrigerator, no coffee maker, no clock, and the tv was all static.. There was a bottle of warm water on the old, cigarette-burned dresser.. This was truly awful and not what I paid for..The management would not do one thng to try and make up for things... They would not refund our money so we couldn't go somewhere else, and said a cottage wouldn't be available that day or the next.. they finally said we could have one for our 4th nite there but it hardly seemed worth it to me after we had spent three nites in a dummpy room..We accepted their offer even though I told the man at the desk I thought he was lying to me..sure enough, the next day they said there was no room change for us.. While I realize some people had a good time and not all of Jamiaca is like this, it tainted my whole trip and I will never go back..the world is a big place.. No need to visit here again.. Dominica is much nicer, the people friendly, and they treat you as if you are a treasured guest.I didn't expect 5 star but I did expect to get what i paid for. I could have rented a dumpy room if that is what I wanted. The beach here is not nice, is very small and doesn't have the white sand and blue water you would expect. Overall, I had a terrible time..the food was bad, some people were very rude and the entertainment was the same nite after nite.. I couldn't wait to go home. The excursions were the only things that saved the trip.. Horseback riding was fun. Inner tubing fun but a little tame.. very beautiful though.. snorkling fun but not much to see.. If you go to the Decameron at all make sure you book with a travel agency like Apple so you at least have some clout behind you.. There was nothing we could do and no one to back us up.. I have pics of what we should have gotten and where we ended up if anyone wants to see.... Tour Operator: hotels.com

There are better places to visit - Chris. Date of travel: Apr 2006
Accommodation Name: Royal Decameron We reserved a cottage 3 mnths in advance. When we got to the hotel we were told there was no cottage for us and were given a room on the second floor of a building that was across a gravel parking lot and behind a dumpster and the service entrance. Our window view was one of empty milk crates on one side, and the top of buildings and wires on the other. A warm bottle of water sat on the cigarette burned dresser, no fridge, clock or radio. The tv was all static. I complained daily in the lobby and they did absolutely NOTHING to make up for our trouble. We were told on our last nite there that we could have a cottage, but then they backed out of it and said there was no room us that day either. They would not give us any money back, so we were forced to stay there.. It ruined the entire trip and I doubt that I will ever go back to Jamiaca..Daily we walked by and smelled the nasty dumpters and looked at trash. This was not an isolated incident as I kept meeting more and more people in the lobby who didn't get the rooms they reserved. The food is poor.. It is hard to find something good to eat. Unique Qualities: Not a nice beach. The sand is not the white that you would expect to see and the beach is small and rocky.. The cottages might have been nice but I never saw the inside of one of them.. I could have rented a dumpy hotel room anywhere.. this was not what I came 2000 miles for. They were trying to send guests to the Sunspree. I did not care for the undignified, unfriendly service at customs in the airport either... I felt like I was a in a womans prison was I got patted down and was asked to turn around so they could feel my back pockets..this was while i was forced to put my hands over my head..lol....their requests were orders.. I was so glad to get back to the States were people were friendly and actually smiled.. Unique Qualities: The unique characteristic of this resort is that they are not willing to do ANYTHING to make up for their overbooking mistakes... even coffee bought up in the morning would have let us feel they even gave damn that were were stuck in a nasty room.. There were snorkling excursions once a day at 1pm but you couldn't book them in adavnce. You have to be there at 8am to try and be one of the 14 people who got to go..14 people out of how many??? Several hundred at least. Glass bottom boat rides at 1 but with a passenger limit and there is only one ride per day... The bartenders were nice and our room maid was great.. the lobby people were tired of getting yelled at by guests and one of them flaty lied to us about gettting a different room and then refused to discuss it.. I hate the Royal Decameron. Tour Operator: hotels.com

Royal Decameron - Ged and Lou. Date of travel: Dec 2005
Last year we whent to the Royal Decameron. It was the wet season but we were still looked after very well. Thank you to the staff who are grossly under paid and will do their very best to see you enjoy your stay at the Royal Decameron. Don't go in November as that's the USA main holiday season. Loved the place xxxx. Tour Operator: Virgin Atlantic