Moon Palace Jamaica

We stayed at Moon Palace and enjoyed are stay. Dining at the Buccaneers reef we had the best waiter named Jerome W. He made sure are drinks were refilled , gave us a great conversation and made dining pleasant. Then at MoMo we met Austin W. he was an extremely nice waiter whom bought us a very good meal and the best Lychee martini. The snack bar waitress told us about the Jerk Hut please try it the food was delicious. The Bob Marley drinks are the best at all the bars. If you visit Moon Palace please go see my boy Jerome at Buccaneers Reef for a superb dining experience . Also visit the Craft Market they have wonderful souvenirs we took at Taxi. Please don’t forget to get a beef pattie or two. Just be patient with Montego Bay Airport it is very busy coming arriving and departing. Read less

Just returned from a 7-night extraordinary vacation at Moon Palace with my wife and two girls (12 and 14). Let me preface this review, by saying that there’s no PERFECT hotel…and I’m sure management would agree there is always room for improvement; that said, I struggle thinking that any other Jamaican hotel could’ve provided for us the complete and total decompression we enjoyed at MP. Like many reviewers, I’ve laid out my reviews in Pros and Opportunities (‘cons’ is too disrespectful to a staff so warm and welcoming). Pros/Recommendations/General info: • Without question, the best resource of this hotel is its people. I wish I could name every staff member who made our trip so memorable….but it behooves me to mention, in no particular order of service excellence, Tamara, Monique, Kevin, Tyrone, Jaden, Ralph, Andrew and Horace. Each one of these individuals took it upon themselves not only to ensure that our every need was met, but learned our first names, engaged us in friendly dialogue…and even Tyrone and Andrew taught me how to speak in the local dialect. Again these are just to name a few…the staff at every restaurant, every bar, at every pool, at the beach made it their mission to ensure their customers were always taken care of at the highest level. One example in particular worth mentioning: One employee (Ralph) proactively brought aloe to my daughter when he noticed her sunburn was distracting her from having fun. Oh, WEAR SUNBLOCK. • We booked a Superior Deluxe Ocean View (and we specifically given room#20914). Our view from our balcony was spectacular, and we had a nice balcony to enjoy said view over a morning cup of coffee, or a late night beverage…or in the case of my daughters, a cool place to record a tiktok video. This room category was on the smaller side; but when couched against how long one SHOULD plan on spending a Jamaican holiday in their room, it was ample. A mini-bar is provided, which gets restocked daily; and room service can randomly knock on your door and deliver a welcome afternoon treat – or leave one behind for you waiting in your room. I recommend asking for a room that’s at least Floor 7 or higher to enjoy the view. I’ve seen other reviews from people whose views were less than satisfactory due to their lower-level vantage points. • The hotel has 4 pools that are kept meticulously cleaned. Each early morning, the staff scrubs the sides and adjusts the chemistry well in advance of the first guest to arrive poolside. One pool has a standing volleyball net for pick-up games; one has a waterfall; and the most popular pool has a swim up bar with plenty of seats. Try a “beer-shot”, you’ll thank me. • There are two beaches, combed and prepped every day. One main one called “South Beach” and another that’s mostly for non-motorized sports (kayaks, paddleboards, etc). In both you’ll find white sands, turquoise waters, and plenty of chairs with-and-without umbrellas no matter what time of day. • Most of the restaurants are inside; but there are three eateries outside that are open most of the day. Gotta hit the “Jerk Hut” for some really good Jerk chicken, fish, or pork. There is one called the “SunDeck” that serves casual Italian/pizza during the day (fancier fare at night right on the water, hence the name); and one other located near the volleyball pool, where at any time you can get a burger, chicken nuggets, etc. The latter always came in handy in a pinch for my girls – especially one daughter who’s a French fries junky. • The inside common areas in the main building are essentially located on 2 floors. On the MAIN floor, you’ll find a brasserie which serves up delicious coffee and pastries; a Sushi bar; a pizza restaurant and a store…all of which are either open early or (in the case of the sushi and pizza places), open by 11 and stay open late. There is also a Japanese restaurant called “MOMO” (not to be confused with the sushi bar) and a night-club called “NOIR”. Noir is a lot of fun for the adults to hit after the kids are sun-drained. **Note, if you want to attend a hibachi dinner at MOMOs you need to call between 9AM-1PM to book a reservation and it books up fast. At the time I wrote this review this was the ONLY restaurant where a reservation was required. • On the BEACH/POOL walk-out floor, you will find the remaining restaurants: Gondola, Buccaneers Reef, and Pier8: o Of the three, Gondola has the nicest ambience. Scratch a-la-carte kitchen serving up a diverse selection of Italian foods. This is also the only restaurant with a dress code – men must wear collared shirts and long pants. o Pier8 is where one can really sample local Jamaican fare, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner. This is an opportunity to really enjoy local, authentic, meals that one otherwise doesn’t get an opportunity to eat at home. I recommend the “Jam’rock fried octopus” and the “seafood fondue”. o Buccaneers Reef is MP’s buffet restaurant. Be it any meal, there’s lots of options and there’s no shortage of portions. Most of the time, we ate here for breakfast and we were never disappointed in the variety – every morning we tried to indulge in something different. • Other amenities include a Gym (lots of equipment), a SPA, and a “Dolphin Cove” where at any time you can watch the dolphins swim around. Should you choose to swim with them, I think its an incremental $130pp. We opted against it – we were fine with simple fun in the sun all week. There are also daily games and contests hosted by the employees (beach volleyball, hula hoop competitions) and every night there’s a show. Highly recommend the “Michael Jackson” performance. Finally, there is a lobby bar that occasionally has a live calypso band; a “Loud Bar” that is synonymous with “sports bar” and an arcade called “Wired” where kids can partake in fusball and pacman on a rainy afternoon. Opportunities/Watchouts/Recommendations/Full Transparency • On Mondays and Tuesday’s the cruise ships are docked. Be advised that they can block the esthetic view of the open waters of the Caribbean. By Tuesday night they’re gone for the week. • When you arrive, the front-desk will direct you to meet with one of their on-site representatives. This individual will provide you with a map of the property, a price list for any incidentals (see above “Dolphin Cove”) and will indicate that its part of their policy to give you a tour of the property accompanied by breakfast. This is a 90 minute process which will involve discussion options about ‘timeshare’ opportunities, even though they don’t call it that. You will be compensated for your time in the form of resort credits. We did not attend as we were well aware of the intensions of this meeting from other reviews, anecdotal discussions with other guests. • The ride from Montego Bay to Ocho Rios is about 100KM (one road). For $200 RT, call NEXT LEVEL TOURS and go private transfer (see separate TA review). They will pick you up and deliver you from A-to-B-to-A timely and professionally. We chose this option due to other reviews that suggested the hotel’s own transport takes quite a bit longer than the ~90 minutes it took “Winston” to drive us from the airport to the hotel. There will be waters, juices and Red Stripe waiting for you in the cooler…and Robert Nesta Marley’s greatest hits playing away for you on the radio. • Ok, finally….and this opinion was well shared by 3/4 members of our tribe. While the food is everywhere, and there is lots of variety, other than the jerk hut and maybe 1-2 meals, the food is a bit bland which struck as surprising. Great presentation, wonderful service by the wait staff, the food was simply not as extraordinary as everything else this hotel offers. **None of the above comments would ever preclude us from full recommending this hotel** All-in-all, can’t say enough about this resort. Recommended without pause. If you’re looking for a truly relaxing and fun vacation surrounded by genuinely hospitable staff, look no further. Read less

My friends and I stayed here from 5/7-5/11. Outside of dinner with friends on the resort my roommate and I ordered room service a few times. On the last night of the trip my roommate and I both started experiencing severe stomach pains and uncontrollable diarrhea. Both of which continued for the entire trip home and for days after. It is now 5/13 and my roommate has been admitted to the hospital for the next 2 nights with bacteria in her gut and I am on bedrest taking antibiotics praying that they work, if not I have been advised by my doctor to go to the ER. I called the resort and was transferred to public relations. I told her what we were experiencing and how we believe it was caused by room service and all she said was “Thank you for letting me know I will tell the food service manager“. No resolution, not even an I’m sorry. I WILL be escalating this issue as now we have both had to take multiple days off of work to recover. Read less

This was our second trip to this hotel. We had a pleasurable experience. The resort is amazing. The beach area and pools tends to be over crowded. All the restaurants are amazing. Loved sushi bar! I would like to recognize exceptional service by the below Moon Palace employees: Daunte, my favorite bar tender Debra Sabrina Daryn in the spa Norman Sasha Gaye Dennis Lawrence We had two dives with Scuba Caribe right at hotel. Odie and Andres were our dive masters and were easy to work with. The boat captain, Mr. Brown was awesome as well and helped with gear and in/out of water, which made this dive exceptional. We enjoyed our stay and continue to look forward to our next vacation at Moon Palace Resorts. Read less

Our first trip to Jamaica was with our travel couple who had visited the property in 2020. We are both Palace members (Premier and Elite) and wanted to try the Palace stay as we are Legendary Members and have not been to Palace in a few years. The staff and property were absolutely great especially after a 2 hour ride from Montego Bay. We spend most of our vacations now on property as the kids are grown and we have slowed down.. a little. We did play golf at Sandals, did the dolphin exhibit (on property) and also the Dunn River Falls excursions. All were great and again the staff from start to finish were excellent. We met many staff and interacted on a dalily basis that went above and beyond.. Raj, Andrea, Omar, Rankine, Stacey Ann, and William and TJ at the Dolphin experience. Read less