A New Jewel
by HotSpotJ about Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton
I spent a nice chunk of time at this resort on a business getaway and loved it. It was fairly new at the time (May 2009) so there were still some training quirks with the largly local staff, but all in all a great resort. It was in Lucea between Negril and Ocho Rios and made for a very relaxxing time. I recommend the villa to the West end for the better sunsets.... The convienant location was great, and the five on-site restaurants were nice as well.
Amazing views, Amazing staff!
by TripAdvisor Member schnuckems
My husband and I went to The Lady Hamilton from Sept 27th to Oct 4th, 2008. We have previously been to Dominican Republic, Mexico and Cuba. This trip by far was our favourite out of them all!
Staff
We found that it was the people that made this trip the most memorable. We were always greeted with smiles, starting from the reception desk to the servers, to the maintenance workers. They would always take the time to talk to you, ask your name, where you’re from, they seemed to genuinely care that you were having a good time. The service in the restaurants were always great. Plates were taken away promptly, servers came right away asking for drink orders. They did not have any self-service available for drinks though, such as, if you just wanted a pop, I would rather be able to get my own, to not bother them and to not have to wait at all. This might be something they will want to consider when the resort gets busier, as I think this will be an issue at that time. My only issue about the staff, which was a big issue for me, is that they got too involved in the Disco Tech. Their only involvement should be to get people dancing if there is not anyone on the dance floor. But we found that most of the people in the disco were employees and they were dancing pretty sexually with the guests. At one point I even saw one of the lady employees leave with a guest. I can only assume what took place, so I don’t know for sure. But I just found it very inappropriate for this to be taking place. It’s just weird to see the waitress I see everyday as a professional, dry humping guests at night. Maybe it’s just me. The other issues was that many maintenance workers were lounging around when they were supposed to be working. I know it’s Jamaica and every thing works on Jamaican time, but I think out of all the workers there, I thought these were the ones who should have been working harder as they was a lot of work that needed to be done since it is a new resort. Sometimes they would stand beside our balconies for long periods of time just talking to each other with the occasional stroke of a rake every so often. We were at the end of the building so I think they may have been using it as a hide out. There were many staff that we got to know over the week, that were so pleasant to talk to and deal with. Richard in Ms Lou’s bar was awesome and will show you a few card tricks while you’re there. He was a complete gentleman when my husband left me alone for awhile. For Reeal Richard, lol. I never had any problems with any of the male staff.
Entertainment
I had hoped that the disco tech would play some “americanized” music, but didn’t find this to be the case when we were there.
We did not take part in the activities offered at the main pool, but where there almost everyday to watch them. The employees did the best they could to get such little amounts of people involved in the activities. My only complaint with the activities at the pool is that the played the same music every day, over and over again. Like the daily dance lessons, they used the same song in which they stop and replay it over and over again, which is bad enough to listen for one day, but got pretty annoying to hear that same song the day after and all week. So they really need to switch it up. I also think they play the music too loud as you can’t really escape it anywhere in that area, even if you’re on the other side of the resort, you still have to listen to the activities. Sometimes it would be nice to be able to read around the pool with some quiet. We did find that the spa was great for this, and you can always go to the adult pool if you don’t mind the topless ladies. At night they had their entertainment in the theatre like every other resort, we just saw these as passing by. They also had movies a few nights in this area as well, with 2 screens to view them.
Pools
The main pool was amazing, very impressive to look at, with many in pool lounges and the swim up bar of course. Sometimes the jets were on in the Jacuzzi areas, sometimes they were not. The main issue with the main pool as well as the others is that the tiles were falling off everywhere, and during our stay we did not see anyone fixing them at all. My husband as well as some other guests, cut their feet on the tiles. The spa pools were great to use during the hot mid day sun hours as it has one pool that is covered and another one that is partially covered. The one that is fully covered is much cleaner than the one that is not. There are worm-like salamanders insects in the pool, I think due to the greenery around it. They are quite gross and mostly stay on the sides of the pool, but we found a few at the bottom as well. The adult pool is topless but is quiet and has it’s own bar. The ocean is only a few feet away from the main pool. It is an amazing view to be in the pool and look out over the pool, into the ocean.
Food
I am an extremely picky eater. Anyone who knows me can tell you. I usually bring several survivor foods, some junk to get me through the week as well as peanut butter and jam for toasts. This wasn’t needed at all, it was all at the restaurants. The variety was amazing, even for the pickiest eater, I always found things I liked. The breakfasts had everything you could ask for. Some other review complained about the breakfast variety, but there is nothing else to offer as it is all offered everyday. There is bacon, french toast, several juices to choose from, scrabbled eggs, several breads, cinnamon buns, hot cakes, pancakes, several cereals and a chef to cook your eggs any way you wanted them. So what else could you want? Lunch and supper were also great varieties. For the a la carts we tried Bubbas-the steakhouse, the Italian and Mexican. The Italian is available for lunch as well. And even though they may not have previously cared what you were wearing, they now do and men must wear long pants. We liked all of the restaurants we went to. If you like onions, the onion loaf at Bubbas was awesome, which I could get some here. You do have to wait awhile in between courses, but not any longer than you would in a restaurant at home. And you’re on vacation, you don’t have anywhere else to be, so what’s the rush? My only complaint about the food at the buffets is that it was not hot enough. Anything kept in the silver warmers with the covers were hot, but anything that was in the trays was cold. It was very disappointing to have the variety and things I liked but found myself often not choosing things because I knew they would be cold. If it was just put out, it was ok, but the heat did not last long at all. I saw employees inspecting the temperature where the trays were and logging it, but they obviously need to taste the food, because whatever temperature they are logging is just not hot enough. I tried to stay with the pasta that was cooked fresh by a chef at night or lunch and then get my eggs done that way as well in the morning. What I did love about this place is that there were no bugs on the food. The buffet was an air conditioned enclosed area, but the open areas also did not have bugs. We found this to be an issue at other places, but was glad to see it was not the case here.
Rooms
We stayed in building 26, which is the closest to the main pool area. We first had a regular room in which you could see the ocean if you looked at the end of the balcony, but we I checked out the room number of a room I wanted and went to reception to see when it was available, and it was empty so we upgraded to that room, which was 2618, 2nd floor, suite, ocean view, king bed. It was amazing. We paid $150.00 for the upgrade for the last 5 days we were there, but it was well worth it. It had two balconies and the room beside as was being used as show room, so no one was ever staying in it. We were quoted wrong on the price for the upgrade originally, so we got it for the lesser price, otherwise it is $10.00 more each night. We had issues in our first room with always being able to hear the TV in the room next door. Not sure why, may just be the hole where the wires where being run. But it was a little annoying in the morning or night if you were asleep before them. The only difference between a regular room and a suite is that the living room is separated by the bathroom in the suite and you get two balconies and two tv’s and more bathroom amenities and often better views. You get the same large jacuzzi tub in every room. It’s actually so large that I had problems getting in and out with my short legs. I loved the décor, nice and up to date, with neutral colours. Pillows were nice, bed was hard, but it’s too be expected. Mini bar was stocked daily, the beer in the mini bar is Real Rock, which is what they serve on tap at the bars. Most of the bars also serve Red Stripe, which my husband preferred. And also note that the bath towels in your rooms as well as the pool/beach towels are very large, which is very nice for full coverage, which is nice for us larger ladies.
All in all, we loved the place. We were on vacation and didn’t let the little things bother us at all, just want to mention things incase you are not like this. The main building is huge with the majority of the restaurants located there. We loved how the ocean was in view almost everywhere you went from the spa, to the buffet. At previous places we always had to make a point to walk to the ocean to make sure we saw it, since we are mostly pool people, but it was amazing to have such a view all the time. Make sure you check out sunset cove for the great sunset views. It’s a nice enclosed area. We did find that the mosquito’s start coming out there at night after sunset though. My husband did get a few bites on him during our stay, which I think may have been from sunset cove, but overall it didn’t seem to be an issue. We also never had issues with the marble floors and found that the staff was good a keeping them pretty dry, even while cleaning them.
I always say I’ll never go to the same place twice, but this might just be a place I will return to. Hope you all enjoy!
Great Vacation
by TripAdvisor Member ANU_Traveler
We booked our 7 day vacation last time and didn't now what to expect from this newly opend resort but we were pleasantly surprised. Right from the time we go there to the time we left, the staff was very friendly and were very attentive to our needs especially since we were travelling with an toddler. The resort is beautiful but large, as a result they offer shuttle services to the different areas of the resort including rides back to the room. For an all inclusive resort, I thought that the food was was quite good. The food variety at the Buffets was execellent even for the pickiest eaters As for the speciality restaurants, our favourite was Lotus House Restaurant (this restaurant also serves sushi). Our only disappointment with respect to the speciality was with the Xamayca Restaurant (Carribean), as we were expecting traditional caribbean food but got modern carribean cooking that didn't taste very good.
With respect to the resort, the rooms whether staying in a junior suite or a suite, a very nice and comfortable. If travelling with children, might want to consider a suite due to the fact that when our son are sleeping, it gave us the ability to sit in a seperate room and thereby not disturb him while watching television. The junior suites didn't have a television in the seating area as the television could only be viewed when sitting on the bed.
The resort has several beaches but the best one is the one located at sunset cove. The sunset cove beach has course camel colour sand, the water was clear and warm while not worrying about stepping on large coral when swimming. The other big beach near the pool seemed to be man made, it was nice except for the fact that if you wanted to go swimming you need to navigate across a bed of coral near the shore to get to an area that was safe to swim.
What the resort lacks in beach it made up with the pool. The pool is very large and beautiful. It has a swim up bar. There are various activities around the pool that are run by the friendly staff. However, if you just want to relax there are plenty of chairs available for use.
The resort has an kids club for kids 4 years old and above. It has a playground and the staff run various activities to keep the kids happy. The infant club is open from 9am to 11pm. Even though our son isn't 4, we were able to take him and use the kids club facilities as long as we supervised him.
As with the previous reviewer, it was quite expensive to travel from the resort. For example, a trip to Montego Bay would cost around $160US. Hence, we remained at the resort but had enough activities to keep us busy at the resort.
I would have given this resort a 5*, except for it's lack of a jamaican feel...being either a lack of jamaican music or jamaican food.
Claire & Jamie Boro,England - Yeh man no problem
by TripAdvisor Member Benno23
We stayed at the hotel from 28th Aug - 04 Sep 08 for our Honeymoon. It was a toss up between this hotel and another and i went for this because it was new so i thought they would be out to make a good impression.
When we first arrived little did we know that Gustav came with us too. As we were checking in it didn't really look too good with the grey sky and not one person in site. All furniture was put away, doors boarded up and windows taped so to say the least we were a little bit disappointed and scared.
For the first two days while Gustav was still lurking there was not much to do, no restaurants, pools, entertainment, everthing was off. I couldn't believe it thought it was gonna be one of them honeymoons from HELL. We spent most of our time in the sports bar going through the cocktail menu (which was fun) and met some great staff in there - Brian, chilli and the rest absolutely excellent couldn't meet nicer people.
But may i say the Hotel did start to get in my good books (after expecting fruit and wine in our room on arrival which we did not but no blame as Gustav was pretty much taking up the time). Guest Relations phoned and invited us to a honeymooners dinner at Bubba's Steak House which was Fantastic could not fault the food and i am VERY fussy but was so excited i even surprised myself with what i tried throughout the week.
After this day Restaurants were back (no reservation needed) hotel was coming back to life. Electric did go off a few times but nothing to serious. Not eveything was up and running as stated in brochure and Hotel did have a few teething problems but know that when everything is up and running this will take some beating.
Food was the best i've had and i've been to quite a few all inclusive hotels, choice was fantastic i'm usually a chips person but i was thrilled with the choice couldn't fault it. Best Retaurants were Bubba's, Italian and Indians.
Entertainment - they tried hard with this but probably because only a third of hotel was full it wasnt really appreciated but know this will be fantastic. It was great to have a few different places to go as you tend to get sick of sitting at the same bar when your on holiday but this was different you could please yourself in the sports bar, theatre, lobby bar and then move on to the nightclub (dont have too many bob marleys though you will SUFFER the next day as we found out).
During the day entertainment constantly round the pool from water aerobics, polo, dancing, quizs everything. One bit regret is that i never got up to learn the Jamaican dance a must if you go!!!!!
Places to go Dunns River Falls went and enjoyed it, did not go Horse Riding but was told by friends this was brilliant wish we did go. Also don't buy the coffee off the Rep (its rubbish) might aswell have a cup of milk.
I have to say Staff were exceptional i did not meet one miserable person they were really friendly and made our holiday.
After the iffy start to our honeymoon i was really pleased coming home and we said we would book to go back again next year and take friends. (thats if the prices are reasonable)
Forum Posts
Lucea Jamaica Hotel exchange program
by kolika
Hello Sologe
I wanted to know how to join the surprising program that exchang guests from two distant hotels. When you went to Jamaica. I'm traveling on April 2 to the 6th.