Just returned from a 6-day stay at the Ritz Rose Hall, I read many reviews here and must say most of them were very helpful in giving my husband and me a little glimpse of what is to be expected. This is NOT a five-star resort! The service that the Ritz is renowned for is non-existent here. The staff messed up the order a lot or simply never returns with it, with the exception of few. Key to Paradise (all-inclusive plan) is a must here, breakfast is about $50.00 and lunch about $75.00 (you get the idea, just like any Ritz, except here the food is bad). Honestly the food was mediocre at best, with the exception of the Jerk Center were we had lunch every day, (beware of flies though).There was just not enough variety and the food tasted like it was reheated in the microwave. Breakfast buffet had the same thing every morning. The White Witch had slightly better food and service, but again the menu did not change once. Jasmine had good service and decent food Mangos and room service lacked the most.
The hotel grounds are nice, but again it could be better, the pool is not big enough for a resort of this size, the beach is small but not as rocky as I expected it to be, the spa was very nice and relaxing and was one of the few highlights of the resort.
We did experience some problems with the room, (the room next door to us was being renovated and painted and the smell was very strong) we complained to the management who in response told us that we are the only ones who have a problem with it. Though the situation was resolved, it was a very slow and painful resolution by the rude and incompetent assistant manager who made us feel like we are trying to weasel something out of her.
Small note on the “Key to Paradise” package, the gratuity part is very confusing, although the letter given by The Ritz stated that all gratuities are included we felt awkward not tipping the staff, after all how do they differentiate between guests who are on the plan and who are not?
Overall, it was not a pleasant experience and the resort is not a five-star by any stretch I would not return to this location.

This was my third trip to Jamaica and first time staying at the Ritz. I traveled with my husband and our 17-month old. My sister and her family also went and they have a 18-month old and 4 year old. After staying at Sandals, Beaches and Sunset resorts I had higher expectations for the Ritz. Here are my pros and cons regarding the resort.

Pros:

-Beautiful grounds
-Nice, clean rooms
-For all meals it says gratuity "not included" but our travel agent says there was gratuity included in the all inclusive package
-Although the hotel check-in was nice they were not thorough in explaining the Key to Paradise (all inclusive package)
-Nice pool (only 1 and none for smaller children)

Cons:

-Housekeeping (or some other hotel employee) stole my sister's ring out of her room.
-The beach was DIRTY, DIRTY, DIRTY! (and extremely rocky)
-As mentioned before, we were traveling with small children and the resort was not good for children under the age of 4 or 5
-Food was good - Although after every meal -even if you are all inclusive - you would receive a bill and must sign for your meal
-Non motorized water sports which consisted of kayaking and sailing
-Absolutely no nightlife. They offered a great aquasize class at the pool (SHOUT OUT TO LAURA) Unlike other resorts there were no activities to get the crowd involved.

You'll see that Jamaica is a wonderful place to vacation anytime throughout the year. However, I will not be revisiting the Ritz.

The hotel was true to its pictures. Not enough restaurant choices. We ate at Mango everyday. The food was good, but the service was great. You'll enjoy the nightly entertainment. The most important note is that the gratuity is not included, which we didn't realize 'til the fourth day. And if you tip with your credit card, your server will owe a percentage of that gratuity to The Ritz. I was saddened and outraged by that. Please ask for "Doctor Juice". We didn't find out about him until our last day. He's the beverage chef. He will fix you up with specialized, heart healthy, fruit and herbal concoctions, that you won't find anywhere else. Don't miss out!

We read the reviews before we went so we had an idea what to expect and it was pretty close. The beach was fine, good for our 4,6,8 year olds. They walk by quickly with fresh fruit but let you get 1 piece before moving on. You don't feel special, they do not go out of the way at all. The hotel was nice and our suite was nice too. We did not do the all inclusive because we couldn't eat and drink that much in a day to make it worth it. The food was not good at the pool or room service. The buffet in the morning was good, $30 for adults and $13 for kids, our 4 year old was free. We hired a driver for 2 days, the first day the ritz put it together and the second day we called him ourselves. It was about $150 for our family of 5. He took us to the falls which the kids loved and to a neat restaurant that over looks the water. The food was good the bathrooms were not. He stopped whenever my husband needed a cold red stripe beer. He talked about Jamaica a lot so we got a lot of information. The second time he took us to Negril for the day and went to a place on the beach that had a little bar and the pina coladas had some fresh fruit in them. Bring some money because we bought fresh coconut, pineapple and other fruit from people selling them on the beach. After that we went to Ricks Cliffs and my husband 38 jumped off the high cliffs just like he did when we went to jamaica in collage! The kids jumped off the smaller cliffs. It was very fun. The best meal we had and the most fun the kids had at a restaurant was Margarites next to Margarittaville. I had a wonderful pasta dish and my husband had the snapper. It also looks over the water so while we finished our dinner the kids fed the fish. My favorite pina coladas were here. They also have a free shuttle to and from the restaurant. We went to 2 Jerk chicken places but you have to be ready to really be in the culture. The pork pit was cheap and good it's a hole in the wall but neat because of the big grill in the center. The other one is a free shuttle from the ritz across the street and its good but eat fast because of the flies. We had a good time because our room was nice and we had a great time when we went outside of the ritz. Oh bring masks and snorkels everywhere and crocs for the falls or you can rent shoes for 5 dollars.