Round Hill Hotel & Villas — User Comments Rating: 4.5 Pearls

Montego Bay, Jamaica

Bugs

By Sherry McCarthy on Nov 18, 2011

I've been to Round Hill for the last 7 years and have never encountered any bug problems.

love Round Hill

By Melanie Korndorffer from New Orleans on Apr 7, 2011

This is the resort of movies and magic!! If you go, you learn that "roundill" is how you say it, and pure relaxation is what it is about. The best staff, wonderful food, and, my husband's fav-the beachside bar. Understated, and thankfully, as mentioned in Oyster, no public lovemaking or drunk displays of foolishness. we have been twice and are headed back again!!! recommend staying in one of the villas on the hill, maybe even go for your own cook and butler. New Year Eve is spectacular, here. But plan to book months ahead and plan to stay at least a week or two, they don't do short stays over the holidays. The New Year's Eve ball is the best, toast with champagne and then dance a waltz! the stuff of dreams!

We stayed here on our honeymoon two years ago. We were also greeted by Kingsley, the concierge who the hotel has done an excellent job marketing; he is a star that everyone knows and respects. He is just like a character in a movie, with a kind face and a wonderfully genuine ability to service the customer, something that I find rare these days.

I agree with all of the positive things mentioned in this review. I didn't see mention of the free bottle of Appleton Rum, compliments of management that we thought was a nice touch. Not that the house drinks needed anymore rum! And they have in-room safes and a refrigerator which is nice. However, there were several important things I feel people need to really know about.

• Service Center computers do not allow you to download movies and music to your iPod or photos from your camera. Because there is no TV or radio we depended on our iPod. However a nice night manager allowed me to use his computer to download, I could even leave it there and he brought it to me later when it was done.
• As mentioned the food is terribly overpriced. There are many confusing fees and we just about always had a mistake on our bill. We were not aware tips were included throughout our stay and spent a fortune tipping. We probably would have at the end anyway, but it would have been nice to know.
• Due to the limitations in dining options, you have to venture out. To get anywhere, they have you use their car service. We tried to call a cab several times but somehow you end up with the car service. Although the driver was very nice and we got the personal service, it would cost us $45 every time we wanted to go 2 miles up the road to the grocery store. The grocery store is great because you can stock up on local produce and drinks to avoid having to order on property.
• We decided to do one of their FREE shuttles to a Montego Bay Market. They take you and drop you off. However, they did not give us any advice or tips on where to go and most importantly where NOT to go. Between the duty-free place they drop you off and the outdoor market they tell you to go to (can't remember the market's name), you have to walk through an area where there are literally groups of people waiting to try and scam you into something. One guy told is he was our waiter. They apparently know which vans are from which hotels, therefore they say "hey I was your waiter at Round Hill. Can you lend me $20? My car broke down." We figured out the scam but I think they should warn you. There are also the other guys who will pressure (scare) you into hiring them as a guide. Long story short, knowing now what I didn't know then, I would have been better prepared.
• They have a great plantation-style cottage with a big screen TV where you can watch TV and read and play games. They will rent movies for you and everyone sits and watches movies. This is actually a pro, I just wanted to mention it.
• Another pro is that the grounds are haunted as we caught this awesome ghost on camera. I told the manager who didn't want to hear it. He said if Dupee don't know me, Dupee won't bother me" Lol.
• We had a problem at the end when we checked our bill, as I mentioned before lots of issues with room service and food bills. There were lots of billing issues and fees we weren't told about. When I first complained we got nowhere and I was ready to leave a couple of days early I was so annoyed. I sent a letter to the manager when we got home and to my suprise he credited us for 2 nights for the inconvenience.

SO even though we had trouble I felt that gesture showed that a few bad people can't ruin our experience and we would go back again. Maybe a little wiser this time!

Forget it if looking for quiet, especially over holidays. Children seem to rule Roundhill and especially the swimming pool. Don't get a room directly overlooking the pool, as it sounds like a daycare centre.

Good staff and spa.