IBEROSTAR Selection Rose Hall Suite

Pros -For the most part, the staff is accommodating, I wouldn't say overly friendly. -The beach is clean for the most part, fairly small and full of vendors during the day. There's a nice swing photo op on the beach and beach chairs are typically readily available -The view from our balcony was good. The room fridge was stocked with two red stripes, two modelos, two pear juices, two club sodas, one sprite, and three cokes. Water is provided through a filtered system in the hallway and they provide a refillable canteen to use. There's also a bottle of Jamaican Brandy in your room. -The game room - my son loved the foosball table and pool tables -The Michael Jackson tribute show was good and the silent dance party was excellent. The Jamaican Heritage show was good as well.All activities at Waves. -Red pea soup at the Jamaica restaurant was the best food on the entire resort Cons -The pool needs more than one treatment per day. It was really nasty throughout the day with puddles of grime -Breakfast options- get there early. Staff doesn't care about refilling things that run out -The smell of the resort is bad - mildew mixed with musk and the design is very old and closed in -The grounds---the lack of fountains (or turning them on) and pretty, green lush is telling. -Ordering a burger from room service- the burger always arrived medium rare no matter how I asked for it to be prepared. -The lazy river isn't really a lazy river---you can walk the entire thing. There isn't really a current -My husband is a pescatarian that doesn't eat dairy. Food was very hard for him to find at this resort -Limited dining options post breakfast and pre-dinner (mostly jerk chix, hamburger and hotdogs or caesar salad) -Limited dining options for dinner due to food quality and taste. For example, we walked over to Waves to try something different. We made a reservation for the Hibachi restaurant. The hibachi was absolutely disgusting. All the food tasted like green seasoning. We tried the infamous Jamaican restaurant---lots of people were waiting. My husband was dying to try the escovitch snapper. I wanted to try it to. Unfortunately, the two nights we tried the restaurant, I could not order the fish. They limited the orders per table and ran out of the fish after 3-4 orders. The chef was nice and offered me oxtails, but they were so tough. -The first few days were tough...there were very rowdy crews at the pool bar. They were dressed half naked and smoking at the bar. DIdn't make it family friendly which sucked because we were traveling with my son. The pool area is not well kept throughout the day. No one really comes through to clean up the water, trash, old towels, etc. Someone comes through about once per day at the end of the day. You have to try hard to clean off an area to sit by the pool. -Concierge was nice until we said no to the timeshare meeting. I thought it would be a true concierge that would be a POC and assistant. Nope. They only care about the timeshare booking. -marijuana sellers and smokers aren't well controlled. If that's your thing, fine. Why does my family have to be subjected to it? -The circus act in the theatre at the Suites---you couldn't even sit through it because the theatre was scorching hot. I wish we would've chosen Hyatt Ziva. Read less

Traveled with my 16 and 18 year old boys and the most annoying part of my trip was the constant yelling from a local trying to sell them weed!! They were persistent and would yell “yo” “hey you” and whistle to get peoples attention who were trying to relax on the beach. Besides that negative we really enjoyed the food, shows, gym, and the fruit infused water throughout the resort and on the beach, such a nice touch! We visited the cat sanctuary and brought donations from home of food and treats, they were so appreciative. You can tell the front desk you want to visit and they will call you a golf cart. It is open 10 to 3… closed 12-1 lunch. Read less

Most staff were friendly (except women “bellboy” & Spa women- sorry I don’t like to be given unhelpful “take/it or leave it and “talking down attitudes “ by hotel staff when I am on holiday.) Avoid concierge and spa staff - one of the women there took us on a “welcome tour” which turned into an “upsell/cross sell experience which was annoying (we didn’t take the “timeshare event” or buy the person a coffee mug.). Don’t search for hotel spa price menu on the internet because the public facing web pages do not reflect (IMHO) the ridiculous high prices expected on-site (over $200 for a 1 hour classic massage?). I thought the hotel would respect their public website price ($130) but not the case when I complained to the front desk. My wife was very disappointed. Please note the concierge will enable some free discount vouchers but when I asked to use them at the tour desk “inside” the hotel I was told I cannot use. Nothing on the voucher indicated any restrictions. Personally I would give this hotel 7/10, and good value for money if on a retired person limited funds. Hotel quality was good - housekeeping keeps room and hotel clean. Facilities were good- nice pools, beach looked OK but the sea and seafloor was dodgy (plankton/muddy) . Food options were excellent- we tried the 4 main restaurants and the staff and food quality was good. I last visited Jamaica once before 40 years ago, perhaps I had a better experience then or my old memory has faded over time. Didn’t recall the same irritating staff issues on that visit. Read less

We’re heading home from the Iberostar Selection Rose Hall Suites today and, thanks to some airport delays, I finally have the perfect moment to share my thoughts on our stay. Like most vacations, there were both highlights and a few areas that could be improved. The resort itself is absolutely beautiful and impeccably maintained. Our room was always spotless, and the bar fridge was consistently well stocked—little touches that made our stay even more enjoyable. The main pool area is spacious, beautifully designed, and perfectly located right on the beach. We loved the ocean breeze while lounging by the pool—it made relaxing in the hot weather better. Normally, my family and I are total “beach people,” but one of the biggest drawbacks of this resort for us was the beach and water. Instead of floating sargassum seaweed, there was a lot of long, thick seagrass growing on the ocean floor, and the sand felt more rocky than soft. I did read in reviews that the beach is man-made, so perhaps that explains it. Unfortunately, we didn’t enjoy it, which is why we ended up spending six of our seven days at the pool. The pool and beach areas were lively with activities, and the entertainment team was fantastic—energetic, friendly, and great at getting guests involved. As for dining, the buffet was pretty average with limited day-to-day variety, while the à la carte restaurants were definitely better. Our favourite meal was at Aunt Ruby’s Steak and Seafood House. Beyond the beautiful pool and surrounding area, the highlight of our trip was without a doubt the people. Almost every staff member we met was warm, friendly, and laid-back, which truly made our stay more enjoyable. That’s why I’m giving this resort 4 stars instead of 3. Would we return? Probably not, simply because the beach experience is such an important part of a Caribbean vacation for us. But if you’re more of a pool person, I’d say this resort could be a fantastic choice. Read less