Transfers were not included in our travel package and I didn’t inquire about the transfer to my Trav

We had an incredible trip and wedding at the Iberostar Rose Hall Beach. I loved every second and am so happy I chose this hotel for my special day. I unfortunetly don't have my pro pics yet. The photos in this review are amateur, and really don't do it justice, but you'll get the idea ;)
First off, I have to say I almost tour operators insurance missed my flight to my wedding! We had our first major snowfall of the winter season the weekend before we left. It snowed for two days straight and driving in the rush hour on Monday morning was the most stressful moment of my life. What normally takes about 45 mins took us 2.5 hours. I was freaking out at the cab driver to step on it but he was obviously as nervous as the rest of the drivers on the road and continued to drive at half the speed limit, even though the roads were totally clear by this point. Our entire group was at the airport and my MOH had a pen in her hand ready to grab a stewardess tour operators insurance and pretend she was gonna stab her if they didn't hold the plane for us.
West Jet employees were waiting for us at the door and ran with us through the airport, rushed us through the quickest tour operators insurance check in and security I've ever experienced and got us on the plane just in time. It was like something out of a movie! I think my heart almost exploded out of my chest. It took the entire plane ride to calm me down. So basically, tour operators insurance West Jet was awesome that day.
Upon arrival at the airport everything went smoothly. The airport is definetly not marked tour operators insurance very clearly with signage on where to go. There was a HUGE line up from a flight from Europe and we all thought 'oh god, do we have to get in that?' luckily some guy from our flight ahead of me said, 'West jet passengers can skip that line' otherwise we might have waited there for no reason. But other than that, we moved through the airport, everyone got their luggage and we got on our transfer bus in no time.
Transfers were not included in our travel package and I didn't inquire about the transfer to my Travel agent until a month or so before we left. She then sent the transfer details and cost to my guests but some people did not get the email. Also, some people did not print off their transfer tour operators insurance tickets so we had a bit of confusion getting onto our bus but eventually we all got on (in fact I think a few extra people in our group got on for free) and we made our way to the resort!
I am so very happy we chose the Iberostar Rose Hall Beach Resort. I've spoken to many brides on BDW who were married at the IRH Suites, tour operators insurance but very few chose the 'more economical' Beach resort, and it had me a bit worried. I had NO reason to worry at all. The resort and grounds were beautiful, the service was amazing and the food was incredible. The main difference I know of to staying at the Beach resort is the rooms aren't as nicely decorated, you don't get the 'butler service' and you can't eat at the other hotel's restaurants. None of those things were very important to us and for the price of our stay at the IRHB, we were thoroughly impressed.
We did unfortunately have a few days of rain during our stay. Because so many of the hallways and lobbys are 'open air' they did have to work very hard at keeping the floors dry – but they did! The place was kept immaculately clean and in good order. Due to the heavy rains one day the elevators kept breaking tour operators insurance down, but there was always at least one elevator tour operators insurance running and they were always quickly fixed and were never out-of-order for more than an hour. The resort is only 4 floors so if we did have to use the stairs, it was no biggie – god knew we ate so much we were glad for the excuse of some exercise! I also saw in one of the stairwells they had cut a hole in the ceiling drywall but every time I walked by they were working on it and it was patched up and good to go within a day. I was completely blown away by the maintenance and housekeeping at this resort! Everything is perfect and looks brand new all the time. No one in our group was bothered at all by any of these issues, we were all having a blast!
No one had ANY issues with their rooms. There were no leaks during the rains, everyone's AC worked wonderfully, beds were comfortable and TVs worked great. The TVs are not flat screen tour operators insurance and the décor in the rooms is not as nice other resorts, but they aren't tour operators insurance tacky or anything, so its not a big deal.
My Fiance and I were given a beautiful room (2425) on the top floor with a huge balcony that overlooked tour operators insurance the resort and the ocean. Our AC was stuck at a rather cool 20 degrees Celsius, but we liked sleeping with the balcony door open anyways, it was a nice temperature at night and the ocean breeze was lovely. It was perfect.
Check in was a breeze for most of us. My WC Tameica was waiting for me at the front desk and gave me a big hug upon arrival. We both jumped around in excitement for a minute then she made sure we were checked in quickly into the best room possible (we booked a standard room knowing we'd be upgraded anyways) then she carefully took my wedding gown from me, hollered at a team of Bellhops to gather our bags and carried my gown herself to my room with me.
We did have one issue at check in as one couple who were part of our wedding group but did not book with our group Travel Agent was put into a room booked through our agent and my sister and her husband were left with no room. It took a few hours to figure out what happened, and my poor sister and bro-in-law tour operators insurance went through some hassle (unbeknownst to me as I went for a tour to check out the reception location etc and couldn't be found) but it got resolved.
The food at the IRHB was AMAZING. The buffet was varied everyday so you didn't get tired of it and there was always some new yummy thing to try. The Jamaican table in the buffet was my favourite (its in the back of the buffet near the bread table) Some of my fav buffet dishes were: Jerk chicken (obviously) mashed pumpkin, any of the fish of the day, crab salad, tofu salad, custom order pasta festival (a yummy Jamaican bread). But pretty much everything in there was delish! My Mom is celiac and did not have any issues with the food. I steered clear of any carbs for the first 5 days before the wedding and there was still tons to eat. You can also come to the buffet for late night munchies. Breakfast was the best. I loved the omelet station and the cook who made the omelets was so sweet and funny! Even though his station was always busy he was always smiling tour operators insurance and singing and flirting with the ladies. They did have two omelet stations so the line was never too long. They also had freshly made donuts and a juice bar with about 6 different kinds of freshly squeezed fruit juice/smoothies from local fruits – try 'Soursop' its delish!
I had a lot of regular travelers with us and they said that this was the best All-Inclusive food they've ever had. No one complained of food poisoning at all. Only one of my guests was loving the fresh the coconuts from the trees (ask a maintenance person and he'll climb a tree and get one for you) and discovered coconut water is a natural laxative. Hahaha. She took one of the immodiums I put in everyone's OOT bags, slowed down on the coconuts and was good to go :)
The teppanyaki table was tons of fun. I'm a bit spoiled with an incredible Teppanyaki place close to my house, so it wasn't as good as that place, but still decent. tour operators insurance The sushi is mostly vegetarian or with smoked salmon, but tasted good. Our cook was funny and entertained us, and the food was great. I had the steak and it was tender and yummy.
This restaurant seemed to get the bad reviews on Trip Advisor and I don't know why. It was delish! We had our Rehearsal dinner tour operators insurance here so we had about 23 of us there. Our server was awesome, he joked with us, talked about the dishes with us and provided excellent service. The meal was served quickly and we had no complaints! I had the blackend Grouper (fish) and it was awesome. My MOH had the chicken and she is the pickiest eater ever, she raved about it and ate every bite. My FI and my Dad had the roast beef and said it was incredible.
We used the steakhouse for our reception. The food was great and the service was awesome. tour operators insurance Very timely and courteous. The knives were not the best 'steak' knives I've ever used - I thought maybe the steak was going to be tough because of how long it took to cut it, but once in the mouth it was tender and yummy. You can also go to the steakhouse in-between buffet hours for snacks. They have burgers and salads tour operators insurance and other stuff you can munch on if you missed the lunch/breakfast buffet tour operators insurance or whatever.
I cannot say enough about the service at this resort. I was never a few minutes by the pool, on the beach or in my seat at the buffet without a staff member tour operators insurance offering me a beverage or any assistance. My coffee cup was refilled regularly at the buffet with me hardly ever asking. They remembered how we liked our coffee or if we drank tea and always served us with a big smile on their faces.
My husband and I went to the new Secret St. James for a few days after everyone left and there was a huge difference in the service between these resorts – I don't know if its because Secrets is a quieter resort with a more 'reserved' clientele, but I missed the warmth and friendliness I received from all the staff at the Iberostar, especially considering Secrets was more than double the price. But I'll go into more detail on that in the Secrets review.
I never felt that I needed to tip the staff, but I almost always did. A dollar here or there meant nothing to me considering how wonderful they were at their job. I wanted to give them a tip because they deserved it. And if a dollar meant that I never had to leave my pool chair and the daiquiris just kept coming, well then it was definitely worth it :). But I honestly think that even if I didn't tip, they would've kept coming, and there were days that I didn't have tip money and I was treated just the same.
I do have to make a note about housekeeping tour operators insurance though. I felt the