Riu Club Hotel in Negril, Jamaica: Never Go During Hurricane Season; I Did

I recently got back from the Riu in Negril, Jamaica. Negril is very pretty and the beach is nice. The water is not super clear like some Caribbean islands, but it is a blu- green, and when the sun shines, you can see fish swimming around you. The Riu's lobby was open-air, which was nice, but when you wanted a few minutes away from the heat and humidity, the only escape was your room. There were plenty of eating options, which was great, since there wasn't much to see or do outside the hotel. And Jamaica isn't the safest place in the world. At night, you could make reservations for a few restaurant options, but you had to line up at 10 a.m. to make these reservations. The other choice is the giant buffet, which they have morning and night. The spread has a lot of variety and the food isn't bad. You can find some nice options, from fish to meat to pasta to salads. Lunch was basic. They served lunch in the area near the beach. It was again a buffet with choices from salads to fish and meat. The only problem: the floor was always dirty. The great advantage of an all-inclusive: the drinks were free.

The sounds of Bob Marley and other reggae music pumped on the beach every morning and you could join in the fun by taking dance lessons on the beach or even do water aerobics in the ocean. The only downer is if you are looking for a more secluded kind of beach, Negril is not secluded. The beach is packed with people and some even topless, mainly the South American types. For them, topless is normal. Lots of Germans, Italians and South Americans frequented the beach. Hardly any Americans. You can rent jet skis, kayaks, sailboats, etc. And, the diving is quite nice. They have a dive center right there at the hotel on the beach where you can sign up for a variety of dives, from easy to more experienced.

The rooms were comfortable, but basic. Make sure your sheets are clean. That was one of my main complaints, until our bathroom ceiling caved in and we had to move rooms. The new room had clean sheets and was quite nice.

We all know Jamaica is one very laid-back society. As Hurricane Dean slowly approached the small Caribbean country, the hotel staff was hardly perturbed. It was difficult to get any information about the storm. The storm hit Jamaica on Sunday, August 19. They only started posting information for their guests on late Friday afternoon, which leaves hardly any time to get a flight out the next day. Thankfully, I had my original flight booked on that Saturday, but knew many who had to line up in the hotel lobby to use the only phone to call the airlines. Your room phone would not dial out to the airlines. After lining up for ages, who knew if you could even get through to the airlines at all. Then if you did, you would get laughed at for trying to get on a flight home to safety. It was too late to get on any flight. They were all full. You should have seen the chaos at the airport that Saturday. I think every American in Jamaica was at that airport trying to leave. I was there for a full seven hours, patiently waiting in long lines of people trying to escape the storm to come.

Never go to Jamaica or any other third-world country during hurricane season. You may get trapped. And the hotel really didn't seem to have a great plan set out for the ones left behind who had to experience a Category 4 storm. This is what they told me: "Stay in your room, and we'll have juice and fruit stations." What about the big glass sliding door in the room? Would that hold up to a storm of that magnitude? If you needed medical assistance, the one nurse may or may not get to you. So, how would she get to all the buildings of the hotel in a storm? You had to be outside to walk to the different buildings. I am glad I got out of there!