Have a look at the REVIEWS to get you started

Pippy

Hi Juby look at the Riu Negril, great hotel, quite a few families there, it is on a great beach and there is a kid's club , entertainment good for kids also ( they tend to do Grease etc which is not my thing, but I must admit it went down well with all the children) .
The Jamaicans were very friendly people and I would not hesitate to go back.

Starfish Trelawny offers a lot for kids aswell

isnt most jamaican hols in resorts, and not safe to go out of the resort!
so really you dont get to the "real country" and people, only the staff in the complex or resort,

i have had a few friends go to sandals and various, and said lovely, but its like a tropical centre parcs????? with coconuts.
you cant go off and explore like you can in thailand, or cyprus, egypt, turkey or greece, as not safe?

my other half would love to go, but we havent for this reason!!! lot of money for a holiday camp

FCO advice for those travelling to Jamaica can be found HERE.

Pippy

The price for starfish trelawney is fantastic !!! just had another look, for the three of us its coming out at £2442 ! somebody tell me thats gotta be booked ! thats going 17th may for 2 weeks all inclusive.
might nip down to thomas cook tomorrow and see if they can chuck in some extra's !
please feel free to tell me of a better deal !

We are going to the Starfish Trelawny this year after recommendations from friends and family that went last year and after finding that it was cheaper than Med holidays.

We have just returned from 2 weeks at ROYAL DECAMERON CLUB CARRIBEAN, awesome. Great entertainment for children and adults alike.

Take a look at it in the brochures.

We went to Starfish Trelawny about 5 years ago and it was the best holiday we have had. There was plenty to do and it had a children's club. Would recommend this hotel to anyone.

me and my family returned from the riu ocho rios about 4 weeks ago and it was fantastic

the hotel was brill, plenty for the children and big enough to just stay within the hotel

we would definetly recommend this hotel

For those that havent long been back;
What was the weather like?

sorry this reply is a little delayed but we went end of may beginning of june which was hurricane season and it was red hot, it did rain at about tea time nearly everyday but by that time we had had enough of the sun because it was red hot
a fantastic time and we would go back

Hi, my husband and myself went to jamaica last year, Royal decameron in montego bay. Fab resort, small but totally family orientated. Safe, as they have their own beach and no one from outside the complex is allowed in. Most of the other hotels have public beaches and you are pestered continuously by the locals, but thats only because they are very poor and you do tend to feel guilty and give them some money, afterall thats what hols are about, spending. Its true what they say, you cant wander outside your own complex as there are people just waiting to latch onto you. We did plenty of tours though with first choice, all in all had a brill time

Worth taking a look at the Beaches resorts, which are part of the Sandals group. They are very family friendly, particularly for pre-teenage children, and have their own water parks with slides, X-Box rooms, kids clubs with themed activities, plus Sesame Street characters roaming the grounds.

They have two in Negril (you can stay at one and use the facilities of the other) and one just outside of Ocho Rios (Boscobel). Virgin have some good deals at the moment.

Jamaica is definitely more "edgey" than the Eastern Caribbean and you do get more hassle outside of the hotel, but the people are generally friendly and compared with other islands it has loads to see and do.

I am going to starfish trewlany next week for a week all inclusive - it comes highly recommended on several travel forums

I booked with Thomsons, 3 adults, 1 child and got it for £2390 - not bad me thinks - it was more expensive going to egypt, gran canaria, cyprus etc so off to jamaica i go!!

i looked at prices for next year already however and the same package is £1000 more...darned!!!! looks like cheap deals are coming to an end for now.

mrselliot, you got a great deal ! as I've said, we were thinking of going to starfish, so I went and booked it the other week, 24th may, just after the kids break up, me , hubby and 7yr old daughter for 2 weeks, £2470, bargain !!!!
can't wait to read your review when you get back, have a cracking time !!
juby

Jamaica is a safe place for all. Most people with no experience of the island tend to like all inclusive resorts which are expensive but do have good facilities for kids. Every resort will tell you not to venture beyond their walls, or do so at your own peril. The reason being, so that the inexperienced will pay huge amounts to go on the hotel's organised trips. Well, it is very safe to walk around outside your resort in places like Ocho Rios, Montego Bay strip and Negril. I often read on these forums of people telling you Jamaica is unsafe (not from first hand experience but because, surprise, surprise the hotel staff have told them). You will never hear of crimes like mugging and bag snatching from tourists, it is just not tollorated. You will get hassle from locals trying to sell you weed and anything else they can sell you to earn a dollar, but just politey say no.

Don't pay top dollar for taxis and trips from the hotel. Charter an official taxi, the ones with red licence plates and barter for a low fare. You will make a massive saving and pay only a 1/3 of what the hotels want to charge you and if you want to use the route taxis as the locals do, (they pick up and drop off like buses) you will make a further big saving. You can go into the fruit and veg markets anywhere and meet the people and have fun. You can eat and drink in local restaurants and bars, again for a 1/3 of the cost of places like Margarettaville, which suprise, surprise again is where the big hotels will take you.

We have been stopping at Almond Tree Villa in Ocho Rios for the last 5 years and would never stay in a big hotel again. We have a beautiful villa to ourselves, go out and mix with the real Jamaican people everyday and travel everywhere we want to go with no problems whatsoever. Just be sensible and you have nothing to fear. Take a taxi home at night and you will have a great time in a very beautiful country. I'm a white English man with a Jamaican born wife and we have never had a problem in twenty years of holidaying in Jamaica. Strangly, I have spoken to many black people here in England who are apprehensive of travelling to Jamaica, which is always a sorce of great amusement to me.

Hi One Love

Was interested to read your report of Jamaica, I am off to Jamaica next year in April for two weeks and it cannot come soon enough. I am staying in a big hotel as first time, and lots of people have tried to pooh pooh the idea of going to Jamaica, however those people have not been themselves but they do have a wealth of knowledge (or not) on how unsafe you will be if you travel.

Ona separate thread dont you just hate it one of the things that come up again and again is people telling you about why they would never go to the place you are about to. Thanks for the information - and if there is anything else you can tell me then that would be great, i.e. visits i should go to appart from the stardard tourist traps.

Many thanks

Hi guys, as the original poster to this thread, we returned from jamaica last monday and had a truly brilliant time !! we did get out and about and used the private drivers as opposed to the TO tours which saved us a bucketload, also, the driver will stop anywhere you want if you've agreed a price before the journey, he's yours for the day. we did dunns river, fab, river tubing on the white river, awesome, luminous lagoon, fantastic, montego bay, erm, had a bit of a do with a big toothless rastaman, but, no problem ! falmouth for the benddown market was an experience, never went to negril as our daughter doesn't travel great a long way, we kind of ran out of time to do any other trips, but would love to return and do them.
as another poster has said, jamaica is safe as anything, we had our 8yr old with us and sampled some real jamaican bars off the beaten track and never felt one bit threatened ! you really can't go all that way and lounge round the pool/beach for all holiday, there is so much to see !

Thanks for your update Juby!

I found it helpfull!!

David