Just Married...Wedding Review!

[Juniorbaby01]

Ok, so I'm going to have to break this down into a bunch of postings because I can't write reviews on everything at once, there's so much! Also, feel free to ask any questions or email me at [email protected]

 

RIU NEGRIL CLUB HOTEL

We had about 50 guests coming to Riu. We actually had our wedding at another resort (Negril Escape- review will be posted later), but we all stayed at Riu.

We had been in contact with Riu's managers prior to coming to the resort. We stayed there from Dec 31- Jan 10.

The resort is very nicely laid out. There are 3 main restaurants + buffet:

Steak House, Rodizio (Brazilian), Sir Andrew (Seafood), and there's also the Buffet (which has themed dinners twice a week).

What we did was make reservations before we arrived to Riu (via email) for all guests together for each night that we were there at different restaurants and at the themed buffet dinners (Jamaican and Mexican). This worked out great and all our guests were very happy that we did this because people have to line up the morning of at like 9am to make reservations for that evening. This way all our guests did not have to worry about making reservations and everyone would be able to sit together at dinner. The buffet dinners were very good.

 

Another big thing is that the way the buildings are laid out, Buildings 1 and 2 are closest to everything (bars, restaurants, front desk) and Buildings 3 and 4 are a walk. So we requested Buildings 1 and 2 for all our guests ahead of time. When our first few guests arrived the front desk people tried to put them in Building 3 but we soon caught that and made sure that their room was switched to a closer building. This happened to a few people so we finally ended up speaking to the general manager of the hotel and the night before the majority of the guests arrived we went over the room assignments with them to make sure everyone was in buildings 1 or 2.

 

They have this annoying policy for towels where you cannot get more than 1 towel for the beach a day but a few of our guests managed to exchange for a new towel in one day if their old towel was dirty or something like that.

 

There are a bunch of people trying to sign you up for excursions and jet skis, etc. We were able to get the jet skis for $35 for 30 minutes. We are also certified in scuba diving, but we instead did Scuba with a place called Negril Scuba Center (about 5 min from Riu), their rates were lower than Riu's Scuba and they were fantastic. Riu's water sports is a handled by a different company (separate from Riu), so they can sign you up for motorized sports or other excursions like Rick's Cafe Sunset Cruise. They also handle the free water activities.

 

Also, when you get to Riu, ask for the Riu Member Club Card, with this card you are able to discounts, like 10-15% on almost anything that you buy at Riu. For instance, we were able to get discounts for everyone at the Renova Spa and on the excursions from Riu's water sports people.

 

Riu had shows every night, some were better than others but for the most part everyone enjoyed the shows.

 

Also, when you're walking between buildings 1 and 2, by the beach massage hut, if you say "ksss-kssk-ksss", a bunch of kitties come out of the bushes so we would bring them food every night.

 

A lot of people including us got massages in the outdoor massage hut and it was really nice and relaxing, I would recommend that for everyone.

 

The beach is nice, the only thing we found was that it's very rocky, they really need to add more sand because in the beginning of the beach, it's actually painful to walk in some areas since its all rock.

 

We saw about 2-3 weddings at Riu per day, they were mostly taking place on the beach. Then the party would go to one of the restaurants and have dinner there. After dinner, we would see them at the shows or bars.

 

The only thing I did not like as compared to other resorts that we've been to (last year we went to Couples Negril which we absolutely loved), was that there's no one to bring you drinks on the beach. This sounds pretty stupid, but there's only 1 beach bar which is not that close and the other bars are in the pool and over by the show stage so it's kind of a pain especially since we had to bring a bunch of other drinks back for everyone else. I ended up getting a serving tray from the bar people and bringing back like 10 drinks for guests. I guess it was good exercise though.

 

 

JUTA TOURS

Like I mentioned earlier, since we got married at Negril Escape, we needed transportation for all our guests. We used Juta Tours (they are 5 min from Riu). They are FANTASTIC and so professional. They were always there on time and we never had one issue with them. They gave us really great prices too. We also used them as taxi service for guests that wanted to go to the market or anywhere else on the island.

[Juniorbaby01]

Oh, one big thing I forgot to mention. I remember when I was searching on here before the wedding, people were saying how Riu doesn't allow outside photographers, vendors, etc. in without paying for a $80 day guest pass.

Well, even though we got married at another resort, we had hair/makeup person, photographer, videographer come onto Riu for their services because we found some great people that we wanted to use.

We got in touch with the manager at Riu before hand (again via email and some phone calls), and we told them that they would not be using the facilities and they would only be there doing their job. They then allowed us to bring in those people as long as they didn't use the facilities for free. What we also did was print out the email where they said they would allow them and we brought that to the general manager and gave him a list of the people to expect this way when those vendors came to Riu, there would not be a problem with security not letting them in.

[~*Lisa*~]

great so far, I can't wait to hear more!! It makes me excited for my wedding.

[Juniorbaby01]

where are you having your wedding?

[~*Lisa*~]

I'm in contact with the Riu Negril right now, that's why I'm so happy to read what you have to say!

[Juniorbaby01]

what other resorts have you looked into?

[StarAndJay]

Great review so far!!! Cant wait to hear the rest!

[ashley173]

I really appreciate your review. I am getting married in May and am SO nervous! Would you please be able to post picturs of the actual RIU resort? That would ber very helpful. Thank you SO much!

[Juniorbaby01]

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[Juniorbaby01]

Some Pics of the Resort: