BWI-MBJ-BWI on WN and the Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall, Jamaica
Jan 1, 2015, 2:08 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 73
BWI-MBJ-BWI on WN and the Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall, Jamaica
Happy New Year, and welcome to my trip report on my family's trip to Jamaica.
Summary:
We flew from BWI - Montego Bay, Jamaica and back on Southwest Airlines. We stayed at the brand new Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall from 12/19/14-12/26/14 in a "Ziva One Bedroom Ocean View Butler Swim-up Suite."
Cast of Characters (with a short bio):
trev555555 (me): your intrepid trip reporter. I am a dentist and a small business owner. My family lives in Maryland.
Wife: the Mrs. An Occupational Therapist. All around wonderful person.
Our Son: He turned two about a week before the trip. He is quite the world traveler. He has already been to Israel, Germany, Mexico, Jamaica, Florida, New York City, and more that I'm probably forgetting about.
My Bro: My older brother. He does something with computers. I don't really understand it. My Bro's family lives in DC.
My Sis-in-law: A Virtuoso travel consultant. She loves traveling just about as much as I do.
My Nephew A: 3 years old, and also quite the traveler
My Nephew I: 1.5 years old, and also quite the traveler
My immediate family (my wife, son, and I) left for Jamaica two days before my Bro's family. They stayed two days after we came back.
This is not my first trip report. About a year ago I wrote a report about my family's trip to Israel which you can find here. Both trip reports will be interesting to those with young kids.
Background:
When my wife and I got married, we decided we'd go on one cultural trip (Europe, Museums, etc) a year, and one relaxing trip a year (the beach, a cruise, the Caribbean etc.). This was to be our relaxing trip.
About 6 months ago, the traveler blogs reported that Hyatt was taking over the Ritz Carlton Rose Hall, and turning it into a family friendly all-inclusive called the Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall, and an adult-oriented resort called the Hyatt Zilara Rose Hall. That's nice, but the icing on the cake was that the resorts would be half price when they first opened. The resorts were supposed to open November 1st.
If you are reading this, you are probably like me, in that you read 600 reviews, trip reports, and blogs before you so much as think about booking even one night at a hotel. I knew going into this trip that there was no way I could read anything about the resort before we booked it. But, I figured, we are going at the end of December, and it opens at the beginning of November. They'll be plenty of time for them to work out the kinks and for other travelers to post a ton of reviews and trip reports.
Well, that was the plan. But as Burns wrote (and Steinbeck borrowed), "The best laid schemes of mice and men / Often go awry." The resort did not open November 1st. They pushed the opening back to November 23rd. Then, on November 21st, Hyatt posted on the Ziva and Zilara's facebook site that, oops, they wouldn't be opening until December 10th. There were alot of pissed off people that had their trips ruined with no advance notice from Hyatt.
I was getting nervous that the resort wouldn't open in time. I actually was looking at booking a cruise or something else, but it was right next to impossible to find an alternative for x-mas week, just before we left. I figured I'd gamble and we'd go on our trip and see what happens.
Finally, on December 10th, the Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall opened. The Hyatt Zilara Rose Hall did not open. It's opening got pushed back to December 20th. Finally, I could see some reviews and photos of the property, in this flyertalk thread.
To say the reviews were "mixed" is generous. Hyatt promised a 5 star experience in their marketing. The reviews made it seem far from a 5 star. Still, we persevered and decided we would go on our trip.
We had flights booked on Southwest. There are two daily non-stop Southwest flights from BWI (about 15 minutes from our house) to Montego Bay. Yeah, I've flown LH and BA First class, and we have a trip in Singapore Suites in a few months, but there ain't nothing wrong with slummin' it on Southwest. Honestly, a middle seat on WN between my wife and my son is about as spacious as the BA First class seat (minus a tad-bit of legroom). The flights were at perfect times for us, and traveling with the little guy meant checking lots of bags, which are free with Southwest. Also, changing flights on Southwest is easy, so if we had to cancel at the last second it wouldn't have been a big deal.
Next: WN BWI-MBJ
Summary:
We flew from BWI - Montego Bay, Jamaica and back on Southwest Airlines. We stayed at the brand new Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall from 12/19/14-12/26/14 in a "Ziva One Bedroom Ocean View Butler Swim-up Suite."
Cast of Characters (with a short bio):
trev555555 (me): your intrepid trip reporter. I am a dentist and a small business owner. My family lives in Maryland.
Wife: the Mrs. An Occupational Therapist. All around wonderful person.
Our Son: He turned two about a week before the trip. He is quite the world traveler. He has already been to Israel, Germany, Mexico, Jamaica, Florida, New York City, and more that I'm probably forgetting about.
My Bro: My older brother. He does something with computers. I don't really understand it. My Bro's family lives in DC.
My Sis-in-law: A Virtuoso travel consultant. She loves traveling just about as much as I do.
My Nephew A: 3 years old, and also quite the traveler
My Nephew I: 1.5 years old, and also quite the traveler
My immediate family (my wife, son, and I) left for Jamaica two days before my Bro's family. They stayed two days after we came back.
This is not my first trip report. About a year ago I wrote a report about my family's trip to Israel which you can find here. Both trip reports will be interesting to those with young kids.
Background:
When my wife and I got married, we decided we'd go on one cultural trip (Europe, Museums, etc) a year, and one relaxing trip a year (the beach, a cruise, the Caribbean etc.). This was to be our relaxing trip.
About 6 months ago, the traveler blogs reported that Hyatt was taking over the Ritz Carlton Rose Hall, and turning it into a family friendly all-inclusive called the Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall, and an adult-oriented resort called the Hyatt Zilara Rose Hall. That's nice, but the icing on the cake was that the resorts would be half price when they first opened. The resorts were supposed to open November 1st.
If you are reading this, you are probably like me, in that you read 600 reviews, trip reports, and blogs before you so much as think about booking even one night at a hotel. I knew going into this trip that there was no way I could read anything about the resort before we booked it. But, I figured, we are going at the end of December, and it opens at the beginning of November. They'll be plenty of time for them to work out the kinks and for other travelers to post a ton of reviews and trip reports.
Well, that was the plan. But as Burns wrote (and Steinbeck borrowed), "The best laid schemes of mice and men / Often go awry." The resort did not open November 1st. They pushed the opening back to November 23rd. Then, on November 21st, Hyatt posted on the Ziva and Zilara's facebook site that, oops, they wouldn't be opening until December 10th. There were alot of pissed off people that had their trips ruined with no advance notice from Hyatt.
I was getting nervous that the resort wouldn't open in time. I actually was looking at booking a cruise or something else, but it was right next to impossible to find an alternative for x-mas week, just before we left. I figured I'd gamble and we'd go on our trip and see what happens.
Finally, on December 10th, the Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall opened. The Hyatt Zilara Rose Hall did not open. It's opening got pushed back to December 20th. Finally, I could see some reviews and photos of the property, in this flyertalk thread.
To say the reviews were "mixed" is generous. Hyatt promised a 5 star experience in their marketing. The reviews made it seem far from a 5 star. Still, we persevered and decided we would go on our trip.
We had flights booked on Southwest. There are two daily non-stop Southwest flights from BWI (about 15 minutes from our house) to Montego Bay. Yeah, I've flown LH and BA First class, and we have a trip in Singapore Suites in a few months, but there ain't nothing wrong with slummin' it on Southwest. Honestly, a middle seat on WN between my wife and my son is about as spacious as the BA First class seat (minus a tad-bit of legroom). The flights were at perfect times for us, and traveling with the little guy meant checking lots of bags, which are free with Southwest. Also, changing flights on Southwest is easy, so if we had to cancel at the last second it wouldn't have been a big deal.
Next: WN BWI-MBJ
Jan 1, 2015, 7:11 pm
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 73
Southwest BWI-MBJ
My father-in-law dropped us off at BWI about 2 hours before our flight. I was worried that the airport would be slammed, being that it was the middle of the day on the Friday before xmas. I had no need to worry. It was no more crowded than any other day.
At BWI, Southwest has a separate check-in area for international flights. There were only about 3 other people in front of us in line, and we were promptly checked in, and given our boarding passes.
My wife and I have global entry, and I put our numbers in when we booked the tickets, but we did not get pre-check. Maybe it was because we were flying internationally, or maybe because we had our son with us on the booking, or maybe some other reason, but the pre-check angels were not smiling on us.
No matter, though, because the line at security was short, and we were through in about 10 minutes.
It was time for a bathroom break. Next to the B TSA security area there is a restroom that has a separate family restroom. We changed the little-guys diaper (so hopefully we wouldn't have to on the flight), and were ready to go.
BTW, this is a good time as any to review a couple "Traveling with Toddler Tips."
1. Check most your bags. It is tough to wrangle and excited 2-year-old, so the last thing you want to do is worry about 3 bags and a backpack. (Since you are checking bags, it's always good to try and get non-stop flights... less chance of bags getting lost).
2. Bring a bag with the following:
A. A change of clothes for each of you (you never know what kinds of fluids your child will get on you).
B. Plenty of diapers/wipes/diaper cream etc. They do not stock these things on the flight for you to borrow.
C. Entertainment. I loaded my iPad with a bunch of disney movies, sesame street apps, and other assorted entertainments. I brought these kid headphones. We also had a bag with a coloring book, crayons, and little dollar-store toys.
D. Snacks. Don't count on the pretzels and peanuts tiding you over. We brought trail-mix, and lots of GoGo Applesauce Squeeze packs. The applesauce is great for your kid to suck on when the plane is taking off and descending, to avoid ear problems.
E. Cares Harness. This is the first time I used the Cares Harness, and I have to say, I LOVED IT! It was so easy to use. It weighs next to nothing. It takes up almost no space. You do not need to lug a car-seat around. I felt like our son was safe with it on. I can't recommend the Cares Harness enough, especially for a trip where you won't need to use the car seat after the flight.
Alright, enough blathering on, let's get to some photos:
Our son was doing some plane spotting. All he saw was Southwest 737s, or as he put it, "Blue Airplane! Another Blue Airplane! Another Blue Airplane!" (and repeat for 15 minutes)
.
I did Early Bird Check-in. It was $15 a person each way. It gave me peace of mind so I wouldn't have to worry about us not sitting together or not having space for our carry-on bag. We got A16,17,18. We pretty much had our choice of seats, and sat in the third row.
I got the Cares Harness set up right away. I reached over the seat, and opened up the tray table, wrapped the Cares Harness around the seat, and closed the tray table back up (that way, the person behind the seat can use the tray table like normal).
.
The Plane took off. We brought Chipotle salads for my wife and I, and a cheese quesadilla for the little guy. We ate lunch. Then, thankfully, the little guy fell asleep. We had about an hour of relaxation time while he slept. I always try and book flights during nap time, because I'm hoping this will happen.
The flight was an uneventful 3 hours, and we descended into MBJ. Upon disembarking the plane, we were met by our Club Mobay escort. MBJ has a service you can book through Club Mobay where they meet you at the airplane, escort you past the line at immigration, get your bags, escort you through customs, and let you relax in their lounge, where they have food and drinks. It is $50 for each adult, and $25 for kids. It was worth that many times over.
The line at immigration was massive. I'd have to guess that it was at least 2 hours long. We were escorted right past the line and through immigration in seconds. We collected our bags, and were escorted right past the 15 minute line at customs. I got so many dirty looks.
I've been to Jamaica before, and the line at immigration was never that long. But, if you are there with kids, or you are there at a busy time, or if money is no object, then absolutely book Club Mobay.
They brought us to the Club Mobay lounge, where we were offered cold towels, and had water, rum punch, and excellent yam chips.
Here are some of the food options. I didn't eat anything other than the chips:
After about 15 minutes in the lounge, they escorted us 20 feet away to the Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall Lounge.
We were only in the Hyatt Lounge for about 2 minutes. They took our names, gave us another cold towel and another bottle of water, and then it was time to get to the resort.
A porter took our bags, and we were escorted with about 6 other people to a comfortable mini-bus, and soon enough we were on our way.
The bus ride to the Hyatt was comfortable. It is on a main road, and was only about 5 miles... it took maybe 10 minutes. There is no need to bring a car-seat for the short ride. I don't think there were seatbelts on the bus, anyway.
After a couple rounds of "The wheels on the bus go round and round... round and round... round and round..." we arrived at the Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall.
My father-in-law dropped us off at BWI about 2 hours before our flight. I was worried that the airport would be slammed, being that it was the middle of the day on the Friday before xmas. I had no need to worry. It was no more crowded than any other day.
At BWI, Southwest has a separate check-in area for international flights. There were only about 3 other people in front of us in line, and we were promptly checked in, and given our boarding passes.
My wife and I have global entry, and I put our numbers in when we booked the tickets, but we did not get pre-check. Maybe it was because we were flying internationally, or maybe because we had our son with us on the booking, or maybe some other reason, but the pre-check angels were not smiling on us.
No matter, though, because the line at security was short, and we were through in about 10 minutes.
It was time for a bathroom break. Next to the B TSA security area there is a restroom that has a separate family restroom. We changed the little-guys diaper (so hopefully we wouldn't have to on the flight), and were ready to go.
BTW, this is a good time as any to review a couple "Traveling with Toddler Tips."
1. Check most your bags. It is tough to wrangle and excited 2-year-old, so the last thing you want to do is worry about 3 bags and a backpack. (Since you are checking bags, it's always good to try and get non-stop flights... less chance of bags getting lost).
2. Bring a bag with the following:
A. A change of clothes for each of you (you never know what kinds of fluids your child will get on you).
B. Plenty of diapers/wipes/diaper cream etc. They do not stock these things on the flight for you to borrow.
C. Entertainment. I loaded my iPad with a bunch of disney movies, sesame street apps, and other assorted entertainments. I brought these kid headphones. We also had a bag with a coloring book, crayons, and little dollar-store toys.
D. Snacks. Don't count on the pretzels and peanuts tiding you over. We brought trail-mix, and lots of GoGo Applesauce Squeeze packs. The applesauce is great for your kid to suck on when the plane is taking off and descending, to avoid ear problems.
E. Cares Harness. This is the first time I used the Cares Harness, and I have to say, I LOVED IT! It was so easy to use. It weighs next to nothing. It takes up almost no space. You do not need to lug a car-seat around. I felt like our son was safe with it on. I can't recommend the Cares Harness enough, especially for a trip where you won't need to use the car seat after the flight.
Alright, enough blathering on, let's get to some photos:
Our son was doing some plane spotting. All he saw was Southwest 737s, or as he put it, "Blue Airplane! Another Blue Airplane! Another Blue Airplane!" (and repeat for 15 minutes)
.
I did Early Bird Check-in. It was $15 a person each way. It gave me peace of mind so I wouldn't have to worry about us not sitting together or not having space for our carry-on bag. We got A16,17,18. We pretty much had our choice of seats, and sat in the third row.
I got the Cares Harness set up right away. I reached over the seat, and opened up the tray table, wrapped the Cares Harness around the seat, and closed the tray table back up (that way, the person behind the seat can use the tray table like normal).
.
The Plane took off. We brought Chipotle salads for my wife and I, and a cheese quesadilla for the little guy. We ate lunch. Then, thankfully, the little guy fell asleep. We had about an hour of relaxation time while he slept. I always try and book flights during nap time, because I'm hoping this will happen.
The flight was an uneventful 3 hours, and we descended into MBJ. Upon disembarking the plane, we were met by our Club Mobay escort. MBJ has a service you can book through Club Mobay where they meet you at the airplane, escort you past the line at immigration, get your bags, escort you through customs, and let you relax in their lounge, where they have food and drinks. It is $50 for each adult, and $25 for kids. It was worth that many times over.
The line at immigration was massive. I'd have to guess that it was at least 2 hours long. We were escorted right past the line and through immigration in seconds. We collected our bags, and were escorted right past the 15 minute line at customs. I got so many dirty looks.
I've been to Jamaica before, and the line at immigration was never that long. But, if you are there with kids, or you are there at a busy time, or if money is no object, then absolutely book Club Mobay.
They brought us to the Club Mobay lounge, where we were offered cold towels, and had water, rum punch, and excellent yam chips.
Here are some of the food options. I didn't eat anything other than the chips:
After about 15 minutes in the lounge, they escorted us 20 feet away to the Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall Lounge.
We were only in the Hyatt Lounge for about 2 minutes. They took our names, gave us another cold towel and another bottle of water, and then it was time to get to the resort.
A porter took our bags, and we were escorted with about 6 other people to a comfortable mini-bus, and soon enough we were on our way.
The bus ride to the Hyatt was comfortable. It is on a main road, and was only about 5 miles... it took maybe 10 minutes. There is no need to bring a car-seat for the short ride. I don't think there were seatbelts on the bus, anyway.
After a couple rounds of "The wheels on the bus go round and round... round and round... round and round..." we arrived at the Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall.
Jan 1, 2015, 8:49 pm
#3
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: WAS (DCA, BWI, IAD)
Programs: AAdvantage EXP, Hyatt Diamond, SPG Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 114
Great report so far, subscribing as I am booked for Hyatt Ziva in May. Did Southwest BWI-MBJ-BWI over thanksgiving weekend also and the line at immigration was ridiculously long on thanksgiving morning. It seems to be a recent trend at MBJ, but they have new automated kiosk that moves a lot quicker (5 minutes when we used it) than waiting on a person.
Jan 9, 2015, 6:51 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 73
The wife is out with her mother, and the little guy is asleep. I'm sitting here on a Friday night, with a Red Stripe, getting in a Jamaican mood. Let me go get Bob Marley's Legend on. Alright... it's trip report time!
Sorry it took me so long to get to this part of the trip report. I wrote a big long email (which I'll post later on in this report) to a person at Hyatt Sales telling them that I was writing this trip report, and was going to detail both positive and negative aspects of the resort. I wanted to give them a chance to respond before I posted the report. The only response I got (after a week) was a statement saying they would give me a certificate to return for 3 nights free. I haven't actually gotten the certificate yet, and I don't know anything other than that about how the certificate works.
Ok, back to the report.
One of the most common questions we got from the Jamaicans we talked to was, "is this your first time in Jamaica?" It was not. It was our third time in Jamaica. Both times we went to Jamaica previously, we stayed at Couples Swept Away, in Negril. We went to Couples for our honeymoon, and returned a few years later for our babymoon.
I give Couples Swept Away a huge endorsement. It is a fabulous place. It is not high-end, but they do everything right. The service is fantastic. It is romantic. The beach is perfect. It is unique. They have a room where pictures of "repeaters" are posted. There are dozens of couples that have been to Couples dozens of times. The only negative, is Couples is only for couples. Since they didn't build a "Trios," we'd go to the family friendly Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall this time.
We love Jamaica and I love lists. Let me list why we love Jamaica:
1. The people are incredibly kind, warm, and welcoming.
2. The weather is fantastic.
3. It is easy to get to from BWI.
4. They have a fantastic music culture (I've got No Woman, No Cry playing right now, but I've been known to break down to some Dancehall).
5. They've got a great food culture (jerk, pattys, snapper, etc).
6. They've got great beaches (the beach at the Hyatt is nowhere near as good as 7 mile beach in Negril, but it wasn't bad. It puts Ocean City, MD to shame. And it takes about the same amount of time to fly to Jamaica as it does to drive to OC from my house. And there is no snow on the ground in Jamaica, so there's that).
Jamaica is not a wealthy country. I would not travel outside the resort unaccompanied, but I never once felt unsafe or threatened while I was in Jamaica.
Not only was this our third time in Jamaica, but this was our fourth time at an all-inclusive. Couples is an all-inclusive, and about a year ago we went to the all-inclusive Azul Beach Hotel near Cancun. I really appreciate the relaxing aspect of an all-inclusive. It is significantly more expensive than a non-all inclusive, but you just don't need to worry about money while you are there. You can put your wallet in the safe, and just enjoy.
I've also been on four cruises (twice on Carnival, once on Norwegian, and once on the Costa Concordia... a couple years before it sank). My favorite part of every cruise was when they would go to the "private island." For those that enjoy cruises, think of an all-inclusive as an entire trip at the "private island." Oh, and you don't get a $400 bill for alcohol at the end of the trip.
Sorry it took me so long to get to this part of the trip report. I wrote a big long email (which I'll post later on in this report) to a person at Hyatt Sales telling them that I was writing this trip report, and was going to detail both positive and negative aspects of the resort. I wanted to give them a chance to respond before I posted the report. The only response I got (after a week) was a statement saying they would give me a certificate to return for 3 nights free. I haven't actually gotten the certificate yet, and I don't know anything other than that about how the certificate works.
Ok, back to the report.
One of the most common questions we got from the Jamaicans we talked to was, "is this your first time in Jamaica?" It was not. It was our third time in Jamaica. Both times we went to Jamaica previously, we stayed at Couples Swept Away, in Negril. We went to Couples for our honeymoon, and returned a few years later for our babymoon.
I give Couples Swept Away a huge endorsement. It is a fabulous place. It is not high-end, but they do everything right. The service is fantastic. It is romantic. The beach is perfect. It is unique. They have a room where pictures of "repeaters" are posted. There are dozens of couples that have been to Couples dozens of times. The only negative, is Couples is only for couples. Since they didn't build a "Trios," we'd go to the family friendly Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall this time.
We love Jamaica and I love lists. Let me list why we love Jamaica:
1. The people are incredibly kind, warm, and welcoming.
2. The weather is fantastic.
3. It is easy to get to from BWI.
4. They have a fantastic music culture (I've got No Woman, No Cry playing right now, but I've been known to break down to some Dancehall).
5. They've got a great food culture (jerk, pattys, snapper, etc).
6. They've got great beaches (the beach at the Hyatt is nowhere near as good as 7 mile beach in Negril, but it wasn't bad. It puts Ocean City, MD to shame. And it takes about the same amount of time to fly to Jamaica as it does to drive to OC from my house. And there is no snow on the ground in Jamaica, so there's that).
Jamaica is not a wealthy country. I would not travel outside the resort unaccompanied, but I never once felt unsafe or threatened while I was in Jamaica.
Not only was this our third time in Jamaica, but this was our fourth time at an all-inclusive. Couples is an all-inclusive, and about a year ago we went to the all-inclusive Azul Beach Hotel near Cancun. I really appreciate the relaxing aspect of an all-inclusive. It is significantly more expensive than a non-all inclusive, but you just don't need to worry about money while you are there. You can put your wallet in the safe, and just enjoy.
I've also been on four cruises (twice on Carnival, once on Norwegian, and once on the Costa Concordia... a couple years before it sank). My favorite part of every cruise was when they would go to the "private island." For those that enjoy cruises, think of an all-inclusive as an entire trip at the "private island." Oh, and you don't get a $400 bill for alcohol at the end of the trip.
Jan 9, 2015, 7:00 pm
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 73
This is as good time as any to post the email I sent to the sales team at Hyatt. It sums up both the pros and cons of the Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall pretty well. I'll go into more detail on many aspects of the resorts and post a bunch of pictures. If you have any questions about anything I've written, feel free to ask, and I'll post to the best of my ability. I'm editing the email a little to take out some names.
Dear [Hyatt sales staff],
I wanted to write to you to give you some details on our recent trip to the new Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall. We stayed in a "Ziva One Bedroom Ocean View Butler Swim-up Suite." I am writing a trip report which I am posting on Flyertalk, here. I thought it would be fair to let you know I will be writing about many positive experiences we had on the trip, but also some major negatives that need to be improved upon if the Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall is to be considered an exemplary resort.
I'll make a list for you:
Positives:
1. Good service: the butlers were kind and professional. All of the waiters and service in the restaurants went above and beyond to make us feel comfortable and to help us have a good time. The bartenders worked extremely hard and were very personable.
2. Nice room: we were in room 2121. It was a two room suite. The furniture in the room was nice (good bed). The bathrooms were nice. The room did not have a modern style, but it was good for our needs.
3. Good internet: I had an excellent wi-fi connection on most of the resort, and the internet speeds were very good.
4. Friendly staff: without fail, every employee we interacted with had an excellent positive attitude, no matter the time of day, or how busy the hotel was.
5. Excellent food. We have stayed in many all-inclusives and gone on many cruises, and I can confidently say that the food at the Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall was amongst, if not the best (with the exception of room service).
6. Pool and beach: the pools are designed very well. The beach (at least the part near the Ziva) was nice, and they constructed a nice lagoon for swimming. It is not a 5 star beach, but it is acceptable.
Needs Improvement
1. Check in process: It took about 2 hours to check in. Before we left, we were promised that we would receive a private check-in with our butler in our room. This did not happen. Instead, I had to wait in line for about 30 minutes, and then it took the poorly-trained check-in agent another 30 minutes to get her system to work. She informed us that our room was not yet ready, and it wouldn't be ready for at least another hour. I'm not sure why the lounge at the airport didn't call the hotel to inform them we were coming so our butler could be ready to meet us and bring us to the room when we arrived.
2. Doors in the room: The room is a 2 room suite. The doors between the 2 rooms in the suite were not hung correctly, and could not be closed. We informed our butler of this multiple times, but it was never fixed. The sliding door between our bedroom and the pool area could not be closed all the way, and thus could not be locked. We informed our butler of this, as well, and it was never fixed. I had to put many of our possessions in the safe, because anyone could have walked in our room at any time.
3. Broken Shower: the shower-head was not installed correctly and fell apart. Additionally, on the website it states that the room has "Rainfall shower heads and whirlpool tub." The shower was a regular shower and the room had a regular old-fashioned bathtub.
4. Kids Club: the kids club was not open while we were there. They were still working on constructing it. No one we asked had any information on when it would open.
5. Pool Backwash: My wife and son were swimming in our swim-up pool, when suddenly a mass of brown muck started coming up out of the pool filters. I yelled at them to get out of the pool, which they did. It took a good couple hours for the staff to clean the pool, but we were worried about going back in the pool in case the brown muck was sewage. We didn't want to risk getting sick.
6. Unfulfilled promises: Many times I would tell a butler to request something be fixed in our room, and they promised it would be fixed, but it would never happen. Or we'd request our room be cleaned, or turn down service, and it would never happen. We requested room service, and after an hour, the food did not come, we had to call again, and only a few of the food items came about 30 minutes later. The room service food was the only bad food we tried at the resort. It tasted terrible, with wilted lettuce in the salad, and a seafood soup that tasted rotten. We only had 2 or 3 bites of the room service food. The amenities in room were not what was promised on the website (There was no rainfall shower, whirlpool tub, designer toiletries, ceiling fan, iPod docking station, private check-in and check-out in an exclusive area, VIP in-suite refreshment center, Premium-brand liquors, and my wife got a massage, and did not receive a 10% discount). We asked multiple people if [my brother's] family could have a room near ours, and we were told they would do everything they could to have that happen, but instead [my brother's] family was put on the opposite side of the resort in a lesser room than they booked. It felt to me like different departments in the resort were not communicating well.
7. Online advertising dishonesty: I'm sure you are aware that the resort did not open when it was supposed to, and did not inform guests they were not opening until a couple days before they were supposed to open. This made us very nervous, prior to our trip. We received an email from the butler service with details on what the butler was supposed to do for us. A majority of the things we were promised (private check-in, help packing and unpacking, etc) did not happen. As I mentioned previously, the room's ameneties did not come close to matching the description on the website. Many of the resort amenities, like the kids club, gym, and hot tub were not functioning.
8. Electrical outlet: We brought our (very expensive) baby-monitor, so while our son was napping we could enjoy the swim-up pool without worrying about him. We plugged the monitor into the electrical outlet, and there was a spark, and it broke the baby monitor. I tried, but cannot fix the baby monitor.
9. Stuck in elevator: On 12/21, the power went out in half of the resort for about 2 hours. The power did not go out in the resort on the side that [my brother's] family was staying in. My brother, his 1 year old son, and I got on the elevator to go up to their room, the doors closed to the elevator, and the power went out. We were stuck. Fortunately, we weren't stuck long, as the power came back on, but it was quite scary for a little while.
10. Gym unacceptable: The gym in the resort is very poorly designed. There are only a few old, and out of date machines (2 treadmills, 2 ellipticals, 2 bikes). Every time I went to the gym at least 1 or 2 of the machines were broken. There were lines in the gym to use the machines, and people were getting very peeved waiting.
11. Air conditioning: The air conditioning in 1/2 of our suite never worked, despite repeated promises that it would be fixed. 1/2 of our suite was perfect temp, and 1/2 would constantly be 80 degrees or more.
12. Dinner reservations: at first, the butlers would make dinner reservations for us, but after a few days, it seemed like the resort descended into anarchy, and the butlers told us they could no longer make reservations for us. If we all wanted to sit together, we had to get to the restaurants at 5:45pm, and wait in a line with stressed, frustrated people. Once we actually got into the restaurants, it was an excellent experience, but it was not relaxing to have to fight for a table.
13. No daily schedule: there may have been daily activities, kids activities, pool activities, and shows, but we never knew when because there was no daily schedule in our room or posted anywhere in the resort
All things considered, we had an good time at the resort. I think we had a great time because the weather was perfect, the food was excellent, the staff was kind, and because we got to spend time with [my brother's] family. I would not consider it a 5 star resort, though, due to all the negatives I wrote about. Considering how much it cost to stay, I do not feel like we got our money's worth. Additionally, I am very disappointed that our baby-monitor was broken.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read my email.
-[trev555555]
Dear [Hyatt sales staff],
I wanted to write to you to give you some details on our recent trip to the new Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall. We stayed in a "Ziva One Bedroom Ocean View Butler Swim-up Suite." I am writing a trip report which I am posting on Flyertalk, here. I thought it would be fair to let you know I will be writing about many positive experiences we had on the trip, but also some major negatives that need to be improved upon if the Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall is to be considered an exemplary resort.
I'll make a list for you:
Positives:
1. Good service: the butlers were kind and professional. All of the waiters and service in the restaurants went above and beyond to make us feel comfortable and to help us have a good time. The bartenders worked extremely hard and were very personable.
2. Nice room: we were in room 2121. It was a two room suite. The furniture in the room was nice (good bed). The bathrooms were nice. The room did not have a modern style, but it was good for our needs.
3. Good internet: I had an excellent wi-fi connection on most of the resort, and the internet speeds were very good.
4. Friendly staff: without fail, every employee we interacted with had an excellent positive attitude, no matter the time of day, or how busy the hotel was.
5. Excellent food. We have stayed in many all-inclusives and gone on many cruises, and I can confidently say that the food at the Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall was amongst, if not the best (with the exception of room service).
6. Pool and beach: the pools are designed very well. The beach (at least the part near the Ziva) was nice, and they constructed a nice lagoon for swimming. It is not a 5 star beach, but it is acceptable.
Needs Improvement
1. Check in process: It took about 2 hours to check in. Before we left, we were promised that we would receive a private check-in with our butler in our room. This did not happen. Instead, I had to wait in line for about 30 minutes, and then it took the poorly-trained check-in agent another 30 minutes to get her system to work. She informed us that our room was not yet ready, and it wouldn't be ready for at least another hour. I'm not sure why the lounge at the airport didn't call the hotel to inform them we were coming so our butler could be ready to meet us and bring us to the room when we arrived.
2. Doors in the room: The room is a 2 room suite. The doors between the 2 rooms in the suite were not hung correctly, and could not be closed. We informed our butler of this multiple times, but it was never fixed. The sliding door between our bedroom and the pool area could not be closed all the way, and thus could not be locked. We informed our butler of this, as well, and it was never fixed. I had to put many of our possessions in the safe, because anyone could have walked in our room at any time.
3. Broken Shower: the shower-head was not installed correctly and fell apart. Additionally, on the website it states that the room has "Rainfall shower heads and whirlpool tub." The shower was a regular shower and the room had a regular old-fashioned bathtub.
4. Kids Club: the kids club was not open while we were there. They were still working on constructing it. No one we asked had any information on when it would open.
5. Pool Backwash: My wife and son were swimming in our swim-up pool, when suddenly a mass of brown muck started coming up out of the pool filters. I yelled at them to get out of the pool, which they did. It took a good couple hours for the staff to clean the pool, but we were worried about going back in the pool in case the brown muck was sewage. We didn't want to risk getting sick.
6. Unfulfilled promises: Many times I would tell a butler to request something be fixed in our room, and they promised it would be fixed, but it would never happen. Or we'd request our room be cleaned, or turn down service, and it would never happen. We requested room service, and after an hour, the food did not come, we had to call again, and only a few of the food items came about 30 minutes later. The room service food was the only bad food we tried at the resort. It tasted terrible, with wilted lettuce in the salad, and a seafood soup that tasted rotten. We only had 2 or 3 bites of the room service food. The amenities in room were not what was promised on the website (There was no rainfall shower, whirlpool tub, designer toiletries, ceiling fan, iPod docking station, private check-in and check-out in an exclusive area, VIP in-suite refreshment center, Premium-brand liquors, and my wife got a massage, and did not receive a 10% discount). We asked multiple people if [my brother's] family could have a room near ours, and we were told they would do everything they could to have that happen, but instead [my brother's] family was put on the opposite side of the resort in a lesser room than they booked. It felt to me like different departments in the resort were not communicating well.
7. Online advertising dishonesty: I'm sure you are aware that the resort did not open when it was supposed to, and did not inform guests they were not opening until a couple days before they were supposed to open. This made us very nervous, prior to our trip. We received an email from the butler service with details on what the butler was supposed to do for us. A majority of the things we were promised (private check-in, help packing and unpacking, etc) did not happen. As I mentioned previously, the room's ameneties did not come close to matching the description on the website. Many of the resort amenities, like the kids club, gym, and hot tub were not functioning.
8. Electrical outlet: We brought our (very expensive) baby-monitor, so while our son was napping we could enjoy the swim-up pool without worrying about him. We plugged the monitor into the electrical outlet, and there was a spark, and it broke the baby monitor. I tried, but cannot fix the baby monitor.
9. Stuck in elevator: On 12/21, the power went out in half of the resort for about 2 hours. The power did not go out in the resort on the side that [my brother's] family was staying in. My brother, his 1 year old son, and I got on the elevator to go up to their room, the doors closed to the elevator, and the power went out. We were stuck. Fortunately, we weren't stuck long, as the power came back on, but it was quite scary for a little while.
10. Gym unacceptable: The gym in the resort is very poorly designed. There are only a few old, and out of date machines (2 treadmills, 2 ellipticals, 2 bikes). Every time I went to the gym at least 1 or 2 of the machines were broken. There were lines in the gym to use the machines, and people were getting very peeved waiting.
11. Air conditioning: The air conditioning in 1/2 of our suite never worked, despite repeated promises that it would be fixed. 1/2 of our suite was perfect temp, and 1/2 would constantly be 80 degrees or more.
12. Dinner reservations: at first, the butlers would make dinner reservations for us, but after a few days, it seemed like the resort descended into anarchy, and the butlers told us they could no longer make reservations for us. If we all wanted to sit together, we had to get to the restaurants at 5:45pm, and wait in a line with stressed, frustrated people. Once we actually got into the restaurants, it was an excellent experience, but it was not relaxing to have to fight for a table.
13. No daily schedule: there may have been daily activities, kids activities, pool activities, and shows, but we never knew when because there was no daily schedule in our room or posted anywhere in the resort
All things considered, we had an good time at the resort. I think we had a great time because the weather was perfect, the food was excellent, the staff was kind, and because we got to spend time with [my brother's] family. I would not consider it a 5 star resort, though, due to all the negatives I wrote about. Considering how much it cost to stay, I do not feel like we got our money's worth. Additionally, I am very disappointed that our baby-monitor was broken.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read my email.
-[trev555555]
Jan 9, 2015, 7:27 pm
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 73
Alright, now that we got that nasty bit of business out of the way, I'm gonna post a bunch of pictures and captions.
I'm gonna start it off with what I consider the picture of the trip. It's my son and my nephews standing on a little table they have in the main pool. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get 3 kids that age to all look at the camera and smile?
pretty
You can see the shallower area, one of several chairs that are in the pool, and one of several fountains that spray into the pool.
The pools are great for the little guys. There is no kiddy pool or splash area, but all the pools have many shallower areas where the water is only a foot or two deep.
Here is a photo of our swim-up pool. A few things about the swim-up pool:
1. Due to the time of year and the position of the building, the sun did not hit our swim-up pool at all. As a result, the water was freezing cold. We could barely use the swim-up pool because it was so cold.
2. The swim-up pool does not connect to the other pools.
3. The other people staying at the resort were, (how do I put this nicely?), jackasses about chairs. By 6:30am every single chair was reserved with a book or sandal or something. Our butler reserved a cabana for us at 5:30 in the morning, and folded a towel animal as a reservation symbol, and before we had arrived (at 7:30am) another guest threw the towel animal on the ground and claimed the cabana for herself (and, just for good measure, she also claimed four chairs near the pool). Apparently, the guest became belligerent towards our butler when the butler explained that the cabana was reserved, and one of the managers had to come and defuse the situation. We never wanted to reserve a cabana after that, because we didn't want to put our butler through that nonsense. Oh, and other guests stole the chairs out of our swim-up pool. Yep. USA! USA! You can see in the photo that the staff replaced a couple of the stolen chairs with lesser quality chairs from the beach. Sigh.
At one point, we were sitting on our balcony when the swim-up pool suddenly started filling up with an excess amount of water. It was inches from flowing over the edge of the pool, when a staff member came walking by. I explained that the pool didn't look right, and he got really excited, and ran off, and I assume he fixed it, because the pool never overflowed.
Another photo of the swim-up pool. You can see that our swim-up pool was always in the shade, but the swim-up pool across the path from us was in the sun most of the day, and guests were using it alot more.
Here's a shot from my brother's family's room. You can see one of the main pools in the center of the photo and the other main pool on the left. The swim-up bar is in the middle of the photo. You can also see the cabanas.
Here's the cabana and our cute towel friend
The little guy chelaxin'
My wife walked over the Zilara side (fyi, no one stopped her to make sure she was staying at Zilara), and took this photo of the Zilara pool. It looks to me like there is almost no water in the pool... I'm thinking that's not normal.
Here's a photo of the landscaping (or lack-thereof) and the building of the Zilara side.
I'm gonna start it off with what I consider the picture of the trip. It's my son and my nephews standing on a little table they have in the main pool. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get 3 kids that age to all look at the camera and smile?
pretty
You can see the shallower area, one of several chairs that are in the pool, and one of several fountains that spray into the pool.
The pools are great for the little guys. There is no kiddy pool or splash area, but all the pools have many shallower areas where the water is only a foot or two deep.
Here is a photo of our swim-up pool. A few things about the swim-up pool:
1. Due to the time of year and the position of the building, the sun did not hit our swim-up pool at all. As a result, the water was freezing cold. We could barely use the swim-up pool because it was so cold.
2. The swim-up pool does not connect to the other pools.
3. The other people staying at the resort were, (how do I put this nicely?), jackasses about chairs. By 6:30am every single chair was reserved with a book or sandal or something. Our butler reserved a cabana for us at 5:30 in the morning, and folded a towel animal as a reservation symbol, and before we had arrived (at 7:30am) another guest threw the towel animal on the ground and claimed the cabana for herself (and, just for good measure, she also claimed four chairs near the pool). Apparently, the guest became belligerent towards our butler when the butler explained that the cabana was reserved, and one of the managers had to come and defuse the situation. We never wanted to reserve a cabana after that, because we didn't want to put our butler through that nonsense. Oh, and other guests stole the chairs out of our swim-up pool. Yep. USA! USA! You can see in the photo that the staff replaced a couple of the stolen chairs with lesser quality chairs from the beach. Sigh.
At one point, we were sitting on our balcony when the swim-up pool suddenly started filling up with an excess amount of water. It was inches from flowing over the edge of the pool, when a staff member came walking by. I explained that the pool didn't look right, and he got really excited, and ran off, and I assume he fixed it, because the pool never overflowed.
Another photo of the swim-up pool. You can see that our swim-up pool was always in the shade, but the swim-up pool across the path from us was in the sun most of the day, and guests were using it alot more.
Here's a shot from my brother's family's room. You can see one of the main pools in the center of the photo and the other main pool on the left. The swim-up bar is in the middle of the photo. You can also see the cabanas.
Here's the cabana and our cute towel friend
The little guy chelaxin'
My wife walked over the Zilara side (fyi, no one stopped her to make sure she was staying at Zilara), and took this photo of the Zilara pool. It looks to me like there is almost no water in the pool... I'm thinking that's not normal.
Here's a photo of the landscaping (or lack-thereof) and the building of the Zilara side.
Last edited by trev555555; Jan 9, 2015 at 8:16 pm
Jan 9, 2015, 7:47 pm
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 73
The first couple days we were there we mostly hung by the pool. Then, I thought to myself, "I really wish this pool had a beach entrance." Then my brain responded, "you know what does have a beach entrance? The beach." 10 brownie points for my brain (and I did get 10 brownies on the trip, which I'm sure went straight to my brain, so we are even). We spent most of the rest of the trip hanging by the beach.
The beach was not anywhere in the league of Negril, but it was still nice. There was a bit of seaweed in the water and washing up on shore, but it wasn't excessive. The water was not very clear, but there is nothing the resort can do about that, and it might be due to the time of year. The sand was sandy like sand should be. There were some sharp rocks in the sand and in the water, but not anything major. You don't need water shoes.
On the Ziva side of the resort, large rocks were placed about 50 feet from the beach to create an artificial lagoon. It worked effectively to limit waves and make the water great for splashing about in.
The Ziva beach
From a different angle
The nephews having a good time
My son brainstorming his latest sand creation
My nephew and son working on the creation
Two of the boys work hard while the third does downward facing dog beach yoga
My nephew showing that the water was pretty murky
Yes, there was seaweed in the water, but this is the worst of it
The Mrs., my nephew, my son, and I working on our upper body strength
My brother and my nephew trying to see fish
My sister-in-law and nephew with some J.J. Abrams len's flare (and the jerk chicken shack in the background)
More upper-body workouts
The beach was not anywhere in the league of Negril, but it was still nice. There was a bit of seaweed in the water and washing up on shore, but it wasn't excessive. The water was not very clear, but there is nothing the resort can do about that, and it might be due to the time of year. The sand was sandy like sand should be. There were some sharp rocks in the sand and in the water, but not anything major. You don't need water shoes.
On the Ziva side of the resort, large rocks were placed about 50 feet from the beach to create an artificial lagoon. It worked effectively to limit waves and make the water great for splashing about in.
The Ziva beach
From a different angle
The nephews having a good time
My son brainstorming his latest sand creation
My nephew and son working on the creation
Two of the boys work hard while the third does downward facing dog beach yoga
My nephew showing that the water was pretty murky
Yes, there was seaweed in the water, but this is the worst of it
The Mrs., my nephew, my son, and I working on our upper body strength
My brother and my nephew trying to see fish
My sister-in-law and nephew with some J.J. Abrams len's flare (and the jerk chicken shack in the background)
More upper-body workouts
Jan 9, 2015, 8:12 pm
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 73
Now let's talk about the facilities. We were in room 2121. There are 4 buildings. I'm not sure which building is which, but building 2 (where we were) is the second building from the left, if you are standing in the ocean facing the resort. Our building was one of the old Ritz buildings.
It definitely showed it's age. There was old bright pink carpet in hallways. There was paint chipping and wear everywhere in the halls.
The room was nice, but not at all what was promised on the website. I'm pretty sure nothing in the room was updated from the Ritz days other than maybe the furniture. It was the finest in design from 1994.
Here is a map of the ground floor of our building. Our room has the dot on it. Our room is the size of two other rooms put together.
Here is the living room area of our room. They had a fruit plate and sparkling wine waiting for us in the room. There was a minibar fridge with red stripe, soda, and water. The room had a sofa, a nice chair, and a small table with chairs. The electrical socket in the bottom left of the photo fried my baby-monitor in a nice show of sparks, so if you stay in this room... be careful. You can see the thermostat in the middle of the photo. The bedroom had a separate thermostat. The air conditioning in the living room area did not work at all during our trip (it worked fine in the bedroom area). As a result, the living room was always way too warm. We told anyone that would listen that we would like it fixed, but it never was.
The bathroom next to the living room. There was a shower in here, a toilet, and one sink.
The bedroom. There was a towel-"Z" and rose petals on the bed. Nice touch. The bed was very comfortable. We slept great.
The master bathroom. There is a bathtub on the right, and a shower next to it. There are two sinks to the left, and a poop-room next to that.
The bathtub and shower. The floor got super-duper slippery, and we had to put a bunch of towels down. Too bad they only gave us 3 towels when we checked in. We had to keep requesting more, because every time they cleaned the room, they just left us 3 large towels, and a few hand towels.
The shower head was not a rain-fall shower, like the website promised. And, it fell apart after a couple days. Despite pleas for it to be fixed, it wasn't. We ended up using the shower in the other bathroom.
I'm no amenity snob, but if you are, I don't think the products are top of the line. The website promised enhanced amenities.
They delivered a crib for us, which we put in the living room area. It is about 2/3rd the size of a standard crib, and our son had no trouble sleeping in there (even though the room was a greenhouse).
We came to the room one day to meet this towel-monkey wearing our son's clothes
My Brother's family was also supposed to have a swim-up room, and we repeatedly requested they would be in a room near us, but instead they were put in a third-floor room on the opposite side of the resort. Oh well. I actually liked the layout of their room better, because they had a hallway that separated the living room (kids room) from the bedroom (parent's room).
Here's their living room.
It definitely showed it's age. There was old bright pink carpet in hallways. There was paint chipping and wear everywhere in the halls.
The room was nice, but not at all what was promised on the website. I'm pretty sure nothing in the room was updated from the Ritz days other than maybe the furniture. It was the finest in design from 1994.
Here is a map of the ground floor of our building. Our room has the dot on it. Our room is the size of two other rooms put together.
Here is the living room area of our room. They had a fruit plate and sparkling wine waiting for us in the room. There was a minibar fridge with red stripe, soda, and water. The room had a sofa, a nice chair, and a small table with chairs. The electrical socket in the bottom left of the photo fried my baby-monitor in a nice show of sparks, so if you stay in this room... be careful. You can see the thermostat in the middle of the photo. The bedroom had a separate thermostat. The air conditioning in the living room area did not work at all during our trip (it worked fine in the bedroom area). As a result, the living room was always way too warm. We told anyone that would listen that we would like it fixed, but it never was.
The bathroom next to the living room. There was a shower in here, a toilet, and one sink.
The bedroom. There was a towel-"Z" and rose petals on the bed. Nice touch. The bed was very comfortable. We slept great.
The master bathroom. There is a bathtub on the right, and a shower next to it. There are two sinks to the left, and a poop-room next to that.
The bathtub and shower. The floor got super-duper slippery, and we had to put a bunch of towels down. Too bad they only gave us 3 towels when we checked in. We had to keep requesting more, because every time they cleaned the room, they just left us 3 large towels, and a few hand towels.
The shower head was not a rain-fall shower, like the website promised. And, it fell apart after a couple days. Despite pleas for it to be fixed, it wasn't. We ended up using the shower in the other bathroom.
I'm no amenity snob, but if you are, I don't think the products are top of the line. The website promised enhanced amenities.
They delivered a crib for us, which we put in the living room area. It is about 2/3rd the size of a standard crib, and our son had no trouble sleeping in there (even though the room was a greenhouse).
We came to the room one day to meet this towel-monkey wearing our son's clothes
My Brother's family was also supposed to have a swim-up room, and we repeatedly requested they would be in a room near us, but instead they were put in a third-floor room on the opposite side of the resort. Oh well. I actually liked the layout of their room better, because they had a hallway that separated the living room (kids room) from the bedroom (parent's room).
Here's their living room.
Last edited by trev555555; Jan 9, 2015 at 8:57 pm
Jan 9, 2015, 8:52 pm
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 73
Possibly the best part of the resort was the quality of the food. It was excellent. We have eaten at some of the best restaurants in the world, and though it is not in that league, the food in the restaurants is the quality I would expect to pay about $30 for a main course. You will not be disappointed by the food.
Here are the food options on the Ziva Side
1. jerk chicken shack that was open most of the day. Maybe the best thing in the resort. We ate this almost every day for lunch.
2. A carribean restaurant next to the pool and beach that was open for lunch and dinner. We ate here one time, but it opened at 12, and nap time was 1, and they were pretty slow, so it didn't quite work out. The food was very good though.
3. A Brazilian place that was open for dinner. We ate at Fogo de Chao a few weeks before we left, and we agreed that this restaurant was at least as good at Fogo, if not better.
4. An adults only french restaurant, open for dinner. We did not eat here.
5. A sports bar, open for dinner. We did not eat here. FYI, I tried to go here at 1pm on Sunday to watch the Ravens game, and it was not open. They really should have the sports bar open for big sporting events (football, soccer, etc).
6. Asian place open for dinner. This had three "concepts" within the restaurant. You could pick one. We ate here 3 times and had each of the concepts.
a. Yakitori - meat on sticks. Excellent
b. Wok - cook food in front of you. Excellent
c. table service - thai style food. Pretty good.
7. Italian place open for dinner. They have pizza, pasta, classic Italian dishes. It was excellent, but the restaurant is extremely loud. It was hard to hear the person next to you talking.
8. All you can eat buffet, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We had breakfast here every day, lunch a couple times, and dinner number 2 and dessert a few times. It was grade-A excellent. It is the first time I've ever been to a buffet that has both excellent quantity and quality. Usually you get one or the other.
9. Room service, all day and night. This was terrible. Only bad food we had. It took over an hour to come, they forgot half the things we ordered, and what we did get was poor. The lettuce was wilted in the salad, and the seafood soup smelled rotten.
10. Lots of bars. The bartenders were grade A fantastic. I don't know where they got all their energy. They did have top shelf stuff behind the bar. All you had to do was ask for it.
The staff in the restaurants was beyond excellent with the kids. They did everything they could to make sure were were comfortable and had everything we needed. I dunno if there were kids menus. We just order things for our kids from the regular menu, and that seemed to work fine.
Here's some food photos:
Jerk (the chicken, not my nephew or my sister-in-law)
Drinking a freshly cut coconut by the Jerk Shack
Yakitori
You can see our son loved it. We couldn't get him to stop eating for the photo.
Italian restaurant. I felt like we were a team of Bond super-villains sitting in these bird-cage seats
We were eating there when the power went out for about 2 hours. Fortunately, our food came out just when the power came out, so we didn't need to wait, but we did have to eat by iphone flashlight. So romantic. BTW, the Tiramasu at the Italian restaurant was my favorite dessert at the resort.
Cheers at the Asian restaurant
Captive audience
It was hard to get photos of uneaten food, because the food was practically begging to be devoured right away.
Oh, here's a photo of uneaten food. It's green curry.
Yum. Grilled meat at the Brazilian restaurant
Cheers at the after eating excessive amounts of meat.
Walking out of the Brazilian restaurant. Too.... Much... Meat... and... Too... Much... Cuteness
Breakfast buffet. Buffets are so easy with kids. The buffet was so good, that if all you ate was buffet for all 3 meals,I honestly think you'd be happy.
I love breakfast because it is the only meal where is acceptable to eat dessert for you main course.
Omelet station, and a big ol' mountain of bacon. Drool.
French toast, pancake, waffle station, and a station making Jamaican specialties.
Again, the bartenders were awesome! Even with the kids. My son would be fascinated sitting in a bartender watching them work their craft. One of the bartenders came around and asked if he could take my son behind the bar. I said, "Sure!" He took my son and danced with him behind the bar for a minute or two. My son LOVED it! Huge smile. About 20 people took photos of him, so I'm sure there are photos of a 2 year old all over facebook looking like he is breaking 20 laws making drinks with vodka (The video is better than the picturea, but I'm keeping that for us to embarrass him with at his wedding).
Here are the food options on the Ziva Side
1. jerk chicken shack that was open most of the day. Maybe the best thing in the resort. We ate this almost every day for lunch.
2. A carribean restaurant next to the pool and beach that was open for lunch and dinner. We ate here one time, but it opened at 12, and nap time was 1, and they were pretty slow, so it didn't quite work out. The food was very good though.
3. A Brazilian place that was open for dinner. We ate at Fogo de Chao a few weeks before we left, and we agreed that this restaurant was at least as good at Fogo, if not better.
4. An adults only french restaurant, open for dinner. We did not eat here.
5. A sports bar, open for dinner. We did not eat here. FYI, I tried to go here at 1pm on Sunday to watch the Ravens game, and it was not open. They really should have the sports bar open for big sporting events (football, soccer, etc).
6. Asian place open for dinner. This had three "concepts" within the restaurant. You could pick one. We ate here 3 times and had each of the concepts.
a. Yakitori - meat on sticks. Excellent
b. Wok - cook food in front of you. Excellent
c. table service - thai style food. Pretty good.
7. Italian place open for dinner. They have pizza, pasta, classic Italian dishes. It was excellent, but the restaurant is extremely loud. It was hard to hear the person next to you talking.
8. All you can eat buffet, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We had breakfast here every day, lunch a couple times, and dinner number 2 and dessert a few times. It was grade-A excellent. It is the first time I've ever been to a buffet that has both excellent quantity and quality. Usually you get one or the other.
9. Room service, all day and night. This was terrible. Only bad food we had. It took over an hour to come, they forgot half the things we ordered, and what we did get was poor. The lettuce was wilted in the salad, and the seafood soup smelled rotten.
10. Lots of bars. The bartenders were grade A fantastic. I don't know where they got all their energy. They did have top shelf stuff behind the bar. All you had to do was ask for it.
The staff in the restaurants was beyond excellent with the kids. They did everything they could to make sure were were comfortable and had everything we needed. I dunno if there were kids menus. We just order things for our kids from the regular menu, and that seemed to work fine.
Here's some food photos:
Jerk (the chicken, not my nephew or my sister-in-law)
Drinking a freshly cut coconut by the Jerk Shack
Yakitori
You can see our son loved it. We couldn't get him to stop eating for the photo.
Italian restaurant. I felt like we were a team of Bond super-villains sitting in these bird-cage seats
We were eating there when the power went out for about 2 hours. Fortunately, our food came out just when the power came out, so we didn't need to wait, but we did have to eat by iphone flashlight. So romantic. BTW, the Tiramasu at the Italian restaurant was my favorite dessert at the resort.
Cheers at the Asian restaurant
Captive audience
It was hard to get photos of uneaten food, because the food was practically begging to be devoured right away.
Oh, here's a photo of uneaten food. It's green curry.
Yum. Grilled meat at the Brazilian restaurant
Cheers at the after eating excessive amounts of meat.
Walking out of the Brazilian restaurant. Too.... Much... Meat... and... Too... Much... Cuteness
Breakfast buffet. Buffets are so easy with kids. The buffet was so good, that if all you ate was buffet for all 3 meals,I honestly think you'd be happy.
I love breakfast because it is the only meal where is acceptable to eat dessert for you main course.
Omelet station, and a big ol' mountain of bacon. Drool.
French toast, pancake, waffle station, and a station making Jamaican specialties.
Again, the bartenders were awesome! Even with the kids. My son would be fascinated sitting in a bartender watching them work their craft. One of the bartenders came around and asked if he could take my son behind the bar. I said, "Sure!" He took my son and danced with him behind the bar for a minute or two. My son LOVED it! Huge smile. About 20 people took photos of him, so I'm sure there are photos of a 2 year old all over facebook looking like he is breaking 20 laws making drinks with vodka (The video is better than the picturea, but I'm keeping that for us to embarrass him with at his wedding).
Last edited by trev555555; Jan 9, 2015 at 9:05 pm
Jan 9, 2015, 8:55 pm
#12
Join Date: Apr 2001
Programs: AA (PLATINUM), HHonors (DIAMOND)
Posts: 1,068
BWI-MBJ-BWI on WN and the Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall, Jamaica
Thank you for your extensive report. I booked at the Zilara property In a few months to celebrate a special occasion with my wife. We've stayed at Ziva Los Cabos and Zilara Cancun so this will be our third stay at an Hyatt all-invlusive. We are deeply concerned that their is little to no separation between the Ziva and Zillara side. While we love kids, we are really looking for and adult experience similar to what we enjoyed at Zillara Cancun. Based on other reports its seems like this a big problem. We're concerned enough that were considering going back to Zillara Cancun instead. Why Hyatt doesn't endive this is beyond me.
Jan 9, 2015, 8:56 pm
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 73
They had shows each night at a large stage. But, the shows started well after our kids' bedtimes, so we never saw any of them. But, they did have lights going and music playing around 7pm, so there would always be a clump of kids dancing away on the stage. Good way for them to work out that last bit of energy before bedtime.
We Jammin'
Chillin' on the balcony
Lovin' Jamaican music
I thought it was a Kenny-G recording when I first heard this guy playing. Just fantastic music.
This is my son's relaxed face
Some photos of the grounds
My family says, "thanks for traveling with us in this trip report."
My brother's family says, "hope to see you again soon."
We Jammin'
Chillin' on the balcony
Lovin' Jamaican music
I thought it was a Kenny-G recording when I first heard this guy playing. Just fantastic music.
This is my son's relaxed face
Some photos of the grounds
My family says, "thanks for traveling with us in this trip report."
My brother's family says, "hope to see you again soon."
Last edited by trev555555; Jan 9, 2015 at 9:20 pm
Jan 9, 2015, 9:18 pm
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: IAH
Programs: DL DM, Hyatt Ist-iest, Stariott Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 12,809
Jan 9, 2015, 9:25 pm
#15
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 73
Thank you for your extensive report. I booked at the Zilara property In a few months to celebrate a special occasion with my wife. We've stayed at Ziva Los Cabos and Zilara Cancun so this will be our third stay at an Hyatt all-invlusive. We are deeply concerned that their is little to no separation between the Ziva and Zillara side. While we love kids, we are really looking for and adult experience similar to what we enjoyed at Zillara Cancun. Based on other reports its seems like this a big problem. We're concerned enough that were considering going back to Zillara Cancun instead. Why Hyatt doesn't endive this is beyond me.
The problem is twofold. It is stressful for couples because they want a quiet, romantic trip. It is stressful for parents because they do not want their kids to ruin other people's trips.
It was way more relaxing for me when we were at Couples and Azul Beach. At Couples, it was only couples there. no worry about kids. At Azul Beach, pretty much everyone was there with kids, so no one batted an eye if your kid did something unseemly.
My advice to couples looking to go to Jamaica without worrying about kids, go to Couples Swept Away.