Overview of the Property

Aesthetically, the Hyatt Zilara and Ziva Rose Hall is a moderately impressive resort. It’s nice overall but there aren’t any specific features that will make your jaw drop.

The lobby of the Zilara that you enter as you arrive at the property is open-air, with a view through to the pool area and the Caribbean off in the distance. The lobby of the Ziva is a nice, but not unusual, indoor lobby.

The Zilara lobby is a nice, open-air setup with the pool and the Caribbean Sea visible in the distance.

The resort is situated on a stretch of beach that runs east/west with the Zilara grounds west of the Ziva grounds. The hotel structures are within feet of the beach so it’s a simple short walk from the rooms to the sand. With one side of the resort flanked by beach, the other side is flanked by verdant, tree-covered mountains. Jamaica is aptly known as the land of wood and water.

This photo of the property shows the Ziva on the left and the Zilara on the right, with tree-covered mountains in the background. The green and yellow sails of two of the courtesy catamarans can be seen toward the middle of the photo.

Though many all-inclusive resorts require you to wear a (sometimes annoying) bracelet, that is not the case at the Hyatt Zilara Ziva Rose Hall. Access to the restaurants is controlled by room number. That allows the staff to minimize the instances of Ziva guests using Zilara-only restaurants.

The signature architectural feature of the resort is the gazebo that sits upon a rock pier a short distance offshore. It is used for candlelit dinners (for an extra fee) but in general is open to all guests for sea watching.

A pier extends from the beach to a scenic gazebo which can be used by guests for relaxing. It is also used for private, candlelight dinners which are available for an additional fee.

Because of the resort’s location, it doesn’t offer storybook sunset or sunrise views. We were able to catch some mild sunset effects during our stay though.

The Zilara and Ziva grounds are set on a stretch of coast that runs east/west so the sun set behind trees and structures.

The primary spa – Zen Spa – is located in the Ziva property. It is very impressive! It is expansive, luxurious and well-designed. It is not cheap though. Salon services are offered and the spa has a bridal suite, adding to the resort’s allure as a wedding site.

The Zen Spa is expansive and it offers a great variety of pampering services. Be prepared with your wallet though as it isn’t cheap.

Checking In

Check-in for our stay was the low point of our visit. Knowing that hotel occupancy would be low, before we arrived we requested an upgrade to a room in building four. When we met with the check-in agent at the lounge in the MBJ airport I was told that as a Platinum Gold Passport member we would be upgraded to a junior suite but that there were no junior suites available and for that reason we would not be upgraded.

As we waited in the lounge for the shuttle bus to arrive I used the WiFi in the lounge to check availability of junior suites for our stay dates. There was availability for the entirety of our stay. I could have booked that type of room right then and there through the Hyatt website. I returned to the desk and shared that info with the agent. She fell back on a “my manager told me there’s no availability” line and did nothing to address the situation.

Upon arrival at the hotel I explained the situation to the agent there. I got more of the same – I was told that there was no availability despite the fact that the Hyatt website showed availability. Eventually the agent said that there was a large group arriving in two days, implying that they’d be occupying the junior suites. The agent informed us our room wasn’t ready yet so we could check out the property while we waited.

We grabbed some lunch (and then witnessed sea turtles hatch…more on that later!) and then returned to the front desk to get our room keys. I indicated we would be happy if we were put in a junior suite for the first two days even if we had to move rooms when the large group arrived. Again I was rebuffed with a “there are no upgrades available” line despite there being such rooms available for booking through the Hyatt website. I finally conceded and we headed to our room.

Our Room

We were assigned a room on the fifth floor of Building 1. Certain elements of the building are definitely outdated. The elevators seem to have not been updated for a decade or two. The hallways are a bit dated as well.

The room was functional but not exciting in any way. It was a decent size room – we didn’t have any issues with space for luggage. In the main area of the room, you’ll find the bed, TV, a small table with chairs and another upholstered chair.

Our room on the fifth floor of building one was average in most ways. It was functional and fulfilled our needs but nothing about it was exciting or dramatic.

Unfortunately, there were some other signs of age in the room. The door in front of the fridge was askew on hinges and the front of the safe gave off a 1980’s vibe. The air conditioning system was intense enough to keep the room cool but unfortunately the vent directed the cold air directly onto the bed, making for an uncomfortable draft while in bed.

The bathroom seemed fresher than the rest of the room as if it was renovated more recently than the rest of the room. There was a nice two-sink setup and a separate shower and tub.

The bathroom in our room in Building 1 was very nice. It appeared to have been renovated recently.

Just inside the door to the room is the drink cabinet with a stocked refrigerator, a selection of liquors and a few snacks. The drinks are included for no additional charge and the supply is restocked daily.

Beer, liquor, soda and snacks are included in the room free of charge. They’re all restocked as needed.

The balcony of our room was decent. Looking out from the room we could see the Zilara pool area but when we were actually on the balcony we were able to see the Caribbean.

It was fun to grab a free Red Stripe (a Jamaican staple) from the room fridge and sip it on the balcony while looking out at the Caribbean.

The WiFi signal strength in the room was great though the speed was mediocre. Unfortunately the WiFi went out for about 8-10 hours one day as there was a major issue in the area. The workers at the golf course clubhouse confirmed the outage was regional but it was a bit annoying nonetheless.

The swim-up suites at this resort open to the north and east so the water may not be very warm and they don’t necessarily get a lot of the day’s sunlight in the winter.

Swim-up suites are available but keep in mind they face north so they don’t get a ton of direct sun.

Activities

The Hyatt Ziva Zilara Rose Hall really shines on the activity front. Each night a printed sheet was delivered to the room with a list of the scheduled activities for the next day.

Each evening “The Daily ZNews” was delivered to our room. It outlined scheduled activities for the following day.Click for high-res version of the image.

In addition to the scheduled activities, many other activities were available on a non-scheduled basis. The activities include water sports (e.g. catamaran rides, stand-up paddleboarding, sea kayaking), boot camp classes, in-water cycling, cornhole, darts, table tennis, bingo and more. We were most excited about the prospect of stand-up paddleboarding (SUP) but the activity desk employees told us each of the four mornings that the water was too rough to SUP. So we settled for sea kayaking, which was fun in its own right.

Free rides on a catamaran are included at the resort. On our 20-30 minute ride we got a nice view of the resort from afar and we saw a sea turtle!

On many mornings a free boot camp class is offered. We tried it out and really enjoyed starting the day with a workout next to the sea.

On top of all of that, free tennis lessons were offered! Booking a lesson was a bit of a mess though. We saw the tennis lessons listed with an 8:00 start time inThe Daily Z News. We awoke early and headed to the activity desk thinking we may have to check in there or pick up rackets. The employee working the desk was shocked to seeTennis Lessonlisted on the paper. He said there is no group lesson at 8:00 but rather you must sign up for a specific slot and that the morning slots were already claimed for that day. We were perplexed and a bit annoyed by the confusing communications from the hotel. We signed up for a morning slot the next day.

Our tennis lesson started off well and ended well but included a hiccup in the middle. Partway through our lesson another couple showed up and effectively just joined in. During a break we explained as politely as possible that we were not allowed to join in on another party’s lesson the previous day and that we had specifically booked this slot. They weren’t too thrilled but they left and then showed up again at the top of the hour for the next slot. The management team needs to do a better job communicating a concrete, consistent approach to booking tennis lessons among the resort staff.

The lesson itself was fun. We both got some advice on how to improve our (novice) games. It was one pro teaching the two of us. For each specific element of the lesson we would alternate and the instructor would chime in with tips throughout the session.

On top of all of those activities, during our visit the management was running a “free round of golf promotion” at a nearby, high-end course.

The golf promo in effect during our stay was for one free greens fee per person at either the Cinnamon Hill course or the White Witch course. After doing some research, we opted for the latter. The White Witch course was very nice. It was the hilliest course we have ever played and the views from most holes were stunning. We don’t exactly yearn for a caddy as we prefer to hack away without someone looking over our shoulders. However, the caddy’s knowledge was definitely helpful and a major factor in our round at White Witch being the fastest 18-hole round we’ve every played. We loved that – playing an incredible course but not eating up the entire day.

The Nightly Shows