More about Coyaba Beach Resort & Club
Best resort for relaxing...no big crazy crowds
by shell61 about Coyaba Resort Montego Bay Jamaica
I just returned from Coyaba Resort in Montego Bay Jamaica. I traveled with my Husban,Son(18)my Mother, her friend,my Sister and her family(kids ages 3-20)
We stayed 7 days and had the BEST time. Coyaba staff are FANTASTIC..we had the best services, food,accomadations..the staff were attentitive,friendly.If you are looking for a small resort(50 rooms) relaxing beach,great service,beautiful rooms..fantastic food this is the place. If you want PARTY CENTRAL this is not the place..we went in Aug. and had privacy.. beach is not crowded.My son and neice and nephew are 18,19 and 20 and they had a good time relaxing,boating,snorkling..PERFECT HOLIDAY! Private feeling.. not crowded...FOOD was great.. go all inclusive...staff was A++++
Oh, there are lots of amazing...
by Niablue
Oh, there are lots of amazing places there and it is very hard for me to recommend you only one thing: Ocho Rios - climbing the famous Dunn's river falls, visiting the gorgeous Coyaba gardens, Negril, - see this amazing 7 miles beach where you can enjoy horse riding in the water or skuba diving or go to the very end of the city and try a jump from the rocks in the warm and pleasant water, Montego Bay, - visit one of the good restaurants they had offering you delicious dishes and deserts or take one of the little cute ships they had and see the corals and feed the fishes living underwater or see the frightful house of the white witch - Rosehall. And I can add to this list Rockland feeding station high in the mountains where you can feed humming birds with sugar water, the famous museum of the god of the reggae music Bob Marley, the numerous plantations for sugar cane (don't forget to try the famous jamaican rum), coffee or cocnut trees and don't forget to board a raft and take a trip along one of the rivers in Jamaica. Don't know what to begin with? Well, I told you it is hard to choose............... The most beautiful day in Jamaica I spent in Ocho Rios where I had lots of fun climbing Dunn's river falls and walking in the beautiful Coyaba Gardens up in the mountains above Ocho Rios. You have to climb falls for almost 1/2 hour and I can guarantee that you will have lots of fun, emotions and that all your clothes will be totally wet by the time you will reach the end of the climb. Coyaba river gradens can offer you a gorgeous falls too with amazing trees, palm trees and the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen in my life. Add to this thew fact that I was acompanied by the man I love and you will understand while this vacation was like a dream come true for me.
amazing!
by A TripAdvisor Member
I recently got married at Coyaba (January 29, 2005) and had an amazing time! We had about 45 guests and almost all stayed at Coyaba. The resort is small and intimate -- exactly what I was looking for in a wedding location. The rooms are beautiful, the service is impeccable and the atmosphere is unparalleled. All week, the wedding guests told me what a beautiful resort Coyaba is, how amazing the food was and how much fun they were having. It made me proud that I had chosen such a wonderful resort to celebrate one of the most important events of my life!
There are plenty of activities for the adventurous (off site, but can be arranged through the hotel) -- horseback riding, day trips, canopy tours, etc. However, we just lounged around on the beach everyday and used the non-motorized watersport equipment on site (kayaking, windsurfing, etc).
Despite the beauty of the resort, the one thing that we all left talking about was the friendliness of the staff. Everyday they made sure that we were well taken care of. One evening, we dined at the Half Moon (a neighboring luxury resort). The food and atmosphere were excellent, but the service was so poor that we left with a sour taste in our mouths -- and we wished that we had dined at Coyaba instead (where the food, atmosphere AND service are exceptional).
if you are looking for a spot to vacation (or to marry!) that is more intimate, more personal and more tasteful than most of the larger resorts in Montego Bay, i would definately recommend Coyaba. I trusted the owners and the staff to make my wedding and my guests' vacations memorable and amazing and they delivered. in fact, they made the whole experience better than I ever dreamed of!
Absolutely A Nightmare
by TripAdvisor Member sebree14
While staying at the Coyaba Resort in Montego Bay, for a vacation & to attend my son's wedding on the island, I contracted food poisoning from the hotel's buffet, the night before the wedding !!! Needless to say, I was not able to attend the wedding, after all that travel & expense. I have never been sicker in my life - was not able to get out of bed for 2 days !!!! Evidently, this island doesn't know much about food service & food temperatures ---- I spoke with a woman in their airport & she said it is a big problem throughout the island. You would think that a 5-star hotel, like the Coyaba, would not have those problems !!!
I've gone to Portugal for many years, in my travels, and never once got sick ---------- so, the islands are definitely not my style !!!
unbelievably perfect
by A TripAdvisor Member
We visited the Coyaba in September of 2003. We were pleasantly surprised by the room that we were given--cathedral ceilings, beautiful caribbean decore, and the ocean view was simply breathtaking. They were very helpful with ensuring that we got to all of the destinations we wanted to visit on the island, and check-in was a breeze. The restaurants are fairly pricey, so if you plan on eating at the resort be prepared to spend between $30 to $80 US dollars. The staff was friendly, everything was extremely clean, and we were never bothered by noise. We highly recommend this resort as a quiet get-away worth every penny.
FABULOUS!
by TripAdvisor Member LORRI
My Husband and I stayed at the COYABA in Montego Bay in July 2004. Our room was very clean and the staff were excellent. The food was delicious. Can't wait to go next year!!!
Classy romantic getaway
by A TripAdvisor Member
Just got back from a quick, four-day hop to Jamaica with my girl, stayed at the Coyaba, and it was great.
Short version: cozy, comfortable, friendly, excellent food, relaxing. Questions about tipping. A great thing about the Coyaba is that when we were there it was not overrun by 20-something party-going beach bums out to score but instead offered up a classy, relaxing, romantic trip. It has an old-school, elegant feel.
Much longer version below:
My girl picked Coyaba because it's smaller than Sandals or the Half Moon, both of which we were considering.
The facility itself is quite small but you'll be surprised by how much they get done with the place. Importantly, it feels bigger than it is. We were put in a wonderful room (a junior suite?) which had a nice alcove with a couch surrounded by large windows. The main room included a comfy four-poster king sized bed. Our room had an ocean-view balcony, can't even begin to say how nice that was. Great place to chill out after a day in the sun.
The facility has three buildings for guests, a tennis court, swimming pool, hot tub, three dining facilities, a small dock and a small lawn. The pool, as you would guess, is ringed by sun chairs. The hot tub is pretty darn hot, with a button to activate the jacuzzi for a 20 minute cycle. There's also a spa on campus -- though you'll have to pay for their services separately. I strongly recommend getting a massage from Sophia -- she'll cure what ails you.
The beach has a wonderful view but is not really ideal for swimming. Reason for that is the water is very very shallow. There is a spit of land some 100 yards -- maybe more -- directly out in front of the Coyaba, so the effect is create a kind of a pool or jetty or inlet between the main body of water and the Coyaba. It's actually quite nice, but not exactly the spot if you intend to do long distance swimming. Wonderful for a splash though. Additionally, the Coyaba has those cushions you can float along on, and paddle boats and the like, all of which are nice. I should add that there is occasionally some boat traffic (i.e. merchants paddling along on their kayaks hawking their wares, fishermen, nothing major) in this inlet, so the hotel doesn't recommend deeper water swimming unless it's past that spit of land I mentioned. The sand is quite fine, not rocky at all. If you're looking to relax on the beach, you'll have it made at the Coyaba. If you're looking to go for a serious swim, I don't think this will have what you need. Because the hotel only has a few dozen rooms (50?) it seems unlikely you'll have to compete for a choice spot on the beach. We never had to.
The food is excellent. I particularly recommend the Escovitche Fish at Dock's. As I mentioned, there are three places to eat: The Vineyard, Dock's Caribbean, and the Polo Grounds. Dress code boils down to a pretty straightforward "don't wear swim trunks for breakfast or dinner." In other words, it's not really a place for beach-bum culture.
The grill at Dock's I think is overall the best place to eat. Great view, simple food, low key. Outdoors. Nice view, breeze.
The Vineyard has the fanciest food and feel and is most likely to have some charming entertainment -- a local band playing acoustic or the marvelous Roland Reynolds (apologies if I have the name wrong) who seems to sing for hours and hours without tiring. If you like Lord Kitchener you're in for a special treat.
The Polo Grounds is an old-school room with green walls, polo decorations, etc. Feels very classy and comfy. Piano could use with a tuning, though perhaps the caribbean climate would make trying to keep a piano in tune an exercise in futility. We only stopped in at the Polo Grounds once, though I could see making more use of it on a lengthier trip.
We went on an all-inclusive plan, which I recommend. The prices for the dishes are not beyond all reason (lunch is $8-12 an entree, approx, dinners hover around $20-26 if memory serves...). Drinks are around $6 or $8 or so... . Again, not crazy pricing. But get the all-inclusive plan anyway, because the food is so good you'll want to eat this and that. Forget the diet.
I have two critical remarks: one relates to tipping. Despite the management's tremendous (and admirable) attempt to spell out a clear tipping policy, it can be a bit awkward. They make it clear tipping isn't necessary and when you are presented with a bill at the end of a meal it is NOT to solicit a tip. Now I'm from NYC, where tipping 15-20% is customary. So it's the end of a meal (which we've already paid for on the all inclusive plan), and they present you with a bill. The bill includes the total (let's say $70) and all you have to do is sign your name and room number and walk away. But as I say I am accustomed to tipping when presented with a bill. So you wind up tipping $14 on a $70 meal which doesn't REALLY cost you $70 because you already paid for it on the all-inclusive plan!! Net result: in 24 hours, I racked up $65 in tips before realizing I had to chill out or I was gonna add hundreds more to my bill. Bottom line: the system is a bit awkward. I think they'd do better by giving the all-inclusive guests some other system to avoid receiving a bill.
The only other criticism contains some praise as well. When we got to Coyaba they were having some work done on the premises. The management made a reasonable effort to keep the work and noise to a minimum and they sent up a bottle of champagne to make nice. However, we were told the work would be over in a few hours the first day and it basically continued the entire time we were there. I would say that I was more impressed by the staff's response to our complaint then I was bothered by the occasional noise of hammering and the odd power-tool. Not a big deal, but a wrinkle in an otherwise lovely trip.
On balance I heartily recommend the Coyaba. The staff is warm, friendly, flexible, and attentive. They are present and friendly when you want them and invisible when you want to be left alone -- which in my view is perfect.
All in all I'd say it was excellent, and I look forward to returning some day.
loved it
by TripAdvisor Member nina51680
The Coyaba resort was absolutely beautiful. The rooms have an inviting tranquil feel. The resort is just so calming palm trees and greenery everywhere. It felt like an oasis. The private beach was beautiful.
When I went there I took the all inclusive package. I was very happy to find that the all inclusive package included room servioce, most resorts have a surcharge for room service even when you have an all inclusive package. My only dissapointment was that the restaurants all closed at 10pm. After that there was no place to get any late night snacks. The bar closed at 12am. There really wasn't any lively entertainment.
This hotel is definitely family oriented. It is for a more calm, mature crowd. Springbreakers would definitely get bored here. But a couple looking for a romantic hideway will find that it is quite romantic.
Small yet nice
by TripAdvisor Member sunchaser88
We stayed at the Coyaba the week of April 10th 2004.
The hotel has only 50 rooms so we felt the small size would be great for our 1st trip out of the USA. All the employees were very nice. The rooms were large and comfortable. We had an ocean jr suite which had an incredible view of the ocean. We booked the regular ocean view room and they upgraded at our request via e-mail ahead of time at no charge. Had a king size bed.
The AC was out for the 1st 3 nights. We complained every day and they sent someone out every day and it would work for 5 minutes and then no air again. We slept with the windows open those nights so we were up every day at 5:30am when the sun came up. Finally on day 3 we caught up with the hotel owner and told him of our dilemma. He comped our dinner that night and gave us the key to anothee room to sleep in till the problem was solved.
The next morning we had a deep sea fishing charter planned and it was to be fixed when we got back. They were still in our room putting in a new unit when we got back. they finished an hour later and then we could finally sleep with AC. Great fishing caught 3 dolphin 30 to 40 # each and 4 tuna 3 to 8 # each
The food left a little to be desired. We ate in the gourmet restaurant the 1st night. My husband had the swordfish that he fed to the cat hovering around our table as he couldn't stomach it himself. I had the jerkencrusted filet mignon which was good. couldn't eat the rice as it was so spicy that I couldn't eat it and the vegetables were hard. So needless to say we didn't get very full at dinner so I started drinking jamacian delights, which were excellent.
Food was less than desirable the entire week we were there.
The banana coladas were the best tropical drinks we ever had. We drank them everyday.
Entertainment was very limited. We were actually bored the day before we left and wished we booked one less day at this hotel.
The beach was small but private,fenced off at both ends. The only solicitors that could get in were by small paddle boat.
In conclusion, if your over 50 and it doesn't take much to ammuse you then this is the quiet intimate place for you. That is what we thought we wanted but realized that next time we will book a hotel that has a lot more entertainment to offer.
Forum Posts
Montego bay:
by reginald09
Montego Bay: Anyone been to the Coyaba beach resort in Montego Bay??
Im planning on going there
alone in August or July.
Want some information about the sumfest and the hotel .Thanks!!
Re: Montego bay:
by lovelyone
I stayed @ Coyaba Oct 2003, It was wonderful, the hotel was beautiful, the food and the service were exceptional...Private beach which made it great...Just bring extra money for the Taxis...Also ask for Lucas..he is awesome
