Club Ambiance Hotel

I have just returned from the best holiday I have ever been on! My partner and myself married in the resort of the 4th Feb 2005 and couldn’t have asked for a better day. The wedding co-ordinator, Jasmin, was fantastic as were all the entertainment crew, Carlene, Euwayne, Damien, Oneill and the rest were hilarious. The meals were out of this world and the restaurant staff, Delroy, Mama and Sharon etc were friendly and helpful. Although the beach is not massive it’s kept clean, raked every evening as is the hammock area. The rooms although basic and possibly in need of a lick of paint were large, not in the sun which kept them cool and kept clean and tidy by our maid, Jennifer. All in all it’s a brilliant and laid back resort where nothing is too much trouble, YEAH MON!

Okay!! Here goes…. We’ve just returned from CA on the 14th June 2004. We went for 7 nights. I booked the holiday in May and since then I’ve read every review possible on the net about CA. Lots of them were good reviews and some were quite dreadful. But I had booked the holiday by then so there was nothing I could do. I was the lead of a party of five and the whole holiday had been organised by me. I was taking my in laws out of Europe for the first time and on their first ever All Inclusive break so obviously I was nervous. I had prepared for the worst and when we arrived in MBJ airport the singing ladies greeted us! The transfer from the airport to the hotel was an experience!! Nice bumpy roads but hey that’s NO PROBLEM MON! We arrived at CA and when I saw the outside I cringed! It was not like I’d expected. It looked quite cheesy and looked like it could’ve done with a lick of paint! Anyway, we went to check in and were greeted by very happy smiley Jamaican faces and a welcome cold drink! We checked in our rooms and I was not really impressed. Our room wasn’t too bad. Clean and quite spacious. The AC wasn’t working very well though. I went to my mother in laws room and their patio had come off the hinges!! I was thinking, that’s all we need!! Anyway, we went to eat (food was nice) and after a 9.5-hour flight we all went to sleep about 8pm. Only to be awoken by the music from the strip joint across the road… POUNDING drum n bass. I had to call reception and get them to go across the road and turn it down. At that point I was thinking, “What have I done?” But the next day was a different story.
I awoke at 5am to the sound of heavy rain! I thought it was going to be a disaster. Then the sun came out and that’s when we cheered up! The beach was great, the food was excellent and the rum cocktails were IRIE mon!
After the initial shock we saw the real CA and I tell you what it was brilliant. Yes it could do with a facelift but let me tell you… it was the most friendliest laid back hotel I have ever stayed in and I’ve stayed in a few!
On our 2nd day there, we asked to be upgraded to the Villa Ambiance, as there were 5 of us. The receptionist happily did this and what a brilliant time we had there. The Villa is part of the hotel but has its own private pool and gardens and beach area. The fridge was stocked daily with bottles of Red Stripe and fruit Juices. The AC worked brilliantly and the Villa Maid Angela was brilliant. It was paradise. The weather was great except for the one time it chucked it down with rain but No problem Mon, we just swam in the pool! We did book 3 excursions. The first to Dunns River Falls, which is a must. The 2nd was to Port Antonio to see and swim in the Blue Lagoon and go rafting in the Rio Grande. This is also a must. The rafting was out of this world! We did get stuck in a road blockage protest for 3.5 hours. The local people set fire to a whole line of Tyres to try and make their point. The army, police and fire brigade all turned up…. They said that we would see the real Jamaica and believe me, we did! We just sat on their beach with our cooler full of beer and watched! Our last trip was the sunset booze cruises in Ocho Rios on board the Cool Runnings boat. This was brilliant!!
We even watched all the opening Euro 2004 games but lets not talk about England V France!! Basically, if you go expecting a 5 star resort you will be disappointed. Just go expecting a wonderful time in a laid back resort where you don’t have to wake up at 3am to save your sun loungers!! It’s mainly the Americans and British who you’ll meet there so expect lots of fun! The hammocks were great to just relax in and the pedlos were fun! No one ever asked us for a tip but at the end of the holiday we wanted to tip all of the staff! We had to pick and choose!! Just before we left, one of the staff members cut us fresh coconuts from the trees and let us drink the coconut water. This is good for your kidneys and detoxes them. Believe me, after the alcohol we had this was good! But then when we’d finished the coconut water we filled the coconut with rum and coke!! Haha,
All in the entire trip was excellent. The food and drink was brilliant and the entertainment was…. entertaining! We had a wonderful time and would definitely go back!! Thanks to JD, O’Neil, Uwaine, 9ft and the entire CA staff for making it such an unbelievable trip!
If anyone has any questions please feel free to email me!