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A week off during Spring Break saw us sifting through the ‘same old’ to pounce on the deal of a lifetime. One week sun-worshipping in the beautiful Montego Bay. One missed flight later, we were there. Our first glimpse of the Caribbean in all of its glory. Read on for how we did it, and what we got up to whilst we were there.

Set on the legendary Rose Hall estate in Jamaica’s Montego Bay, Hilton’s epic resort & spa stretches right across the waterfront encompassing everything from a lazy river to its very own golf course. After rocking up there for Spring Break, we couldn’t quite believe our luck when we caught sight of the view from the reception. Heaven.

How We Did It

Holidays to the Caribbean can be super expensive if you don’t play your cards right. But, if you keep your eyes peeled for the best deals, you can snap up a top stay for a fraction of a cost of what your fellow guests are paying.

We knew we wanted a week away, somewhere sunnier than the freak ice storms we were currently experiencing and we were not afraid to do the leg work for it. With 6 of us travelling, we each kept our eyes peeled on our chosen comparison sites until a good offer raised its head.

As always, Skyscanner was our friend. Once we saw a price for a hotel that wowed us, we headed online to work out if the flights were feasible from where we were based at the time (North Carolina). Success came a-knocking. Calling at Orlando before carrying on to Jamaica, our £80 flight was just the ticket, literally. With just taxi fares to worry about, we were off to Jamaica on our Caribbean adventure.

The Resort

With its very own lazy river and more, we managed to explore every corner of the resort, with plenty of space to spend time either together as one big group, or as separate smaller groups. If you don’t like constantly treading on the toes of those you are travelling with, this place is ideal. As travellers on a budget we were keen not to come across any unexpected costs but the completely all-inclusive basis of the resort had everything we needed included.

Being such a large resort for its population, it never felt like we were trapped, there was plenty of space to wander along the beachfront whilst the golf course, and its captivating historic ruins were beautiful. A short (included) mini bus ride away took us to the Rose Hall shops if we needed a bit of an escape, with everything from trinket shops to rum-sellers, it was a lovely quaint place to explore if we fancied a quick outing not far from the resort.

Let’s Talk Food

With everything from a swim-up bar to the authentically beautiful Italian Luna di Mare, us food-lovers were in our element. Putting on a mammoth show, the main restaurant covered all of our buffet needs for the main meals, with even one of two themed nights to shake it up a bit. If we were spending the day beach/pool-side, the pool bar offered up some tasty grub whilst the swim-up pool bar ensured we never ran out of something to sip on.

One of our favourite spots to dine a la carte was the lovely Italian restaurant, the food was amazing and the atmosphere perfectly suited it. There was also a courtyard restaurant sat just outside of the main resort which also offered amazing food with the feeling of getting out for the night in lovely surroundings.

Fast Thoughts

• This place is a literal heaven for foodies with a ton of great places to eat and a ton of variety.
• If you are travelling as a group and don’t mind sharing, the rooms offer up two double beds letting you cut down the cost of your stay.
• The resort operates mainly for Americans, so bear in mind that during Spring Break and other similar holidays, the amount of teenagers will increase. We had a problem with a lot of under 21’s suddenly being able to drink under over-18 Jamaican law and this did cause a few scenes. There were also one-or-two within their group who hadn’t quite hit the age mark yet so were attempting to get guests to ‘lend’ them the adults wristbands.

Heading back to the states post-trip, our heads were filled with beautiful beaches having consumed enough food to last us a month. Having explored every corner of the lovely resort, as well as a quick stop-off night elsewhere in Montego Bay, Jamaica will definitely be on our hit list for a return trip to the Caribbean.

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