Something rotten
My sister and I just returned from our trip to Montego Bay, staying at the Royal Decameron. Before I plunge into the point of this review (which unfortunately will lean toward the negative) I would like to share some positive points about The Decameron. First off, the resort itself is very beautiful and well kept. The entertainment, janitorial, bartending, and housekeeping staff are superb at what they do, and very friendly and warm. The food is outstanding, and the location of the hotel is very close to the airport and hip strip.
Now into the negative, which will contain a few warnings to anyone who considers staying here. As mentioned in many reviews previous, the front desk staff are nightmarish here and pretty much poisoned our trip, as well as the trips of many other guests at the Decameron. Red flags should have been raised when upon our check in we witnessed a woman close to breakdown screaming at the front desk clerks, insisting that she was booked at their hotel for only five nights when she had pre-paid for seven. At the time we thought "Whoah, what's wrong with her?" But quickly we came to learn exactly what she was going through. In a nutshell, the front desk staff (behaving in a manner they seem trained by managerial staff to do) treat you in a very cold, dismissive, unhelpful manner, and often tell bold-face lies to guests.
Let me first say that I am not a vacation princess by any means. I do not expect people to cater to my every whim. However, I do expect hotel staff that receive my money to treat me in a professional and congenial manner. when I have simple questions or requests The front desk staff here are abominable, and it defies logic that anyone returns to this resort with the way they treat guests. You are treated like the staff are doing you a favor by letting you stay at the resort that you paid for. In our experience alone, we were repeatedly lied to about our room and reservations, as well as many other things. We had to wait three hours for a room, which the front desk swore would have a balcony as we requested months ago, only to be placed in a bay window room at the end of the resort. At least we had two queen beds and AC. However, shortly after, we were told to move because of Hurricane Dean warnings. We called three times for baggage assistance but no one came, even though we were assured each time by the desk that someone was coming. At the front desk, we were first told that we'd have to share a suite with an unknown family (!) until I pitched a small fit and were placed in a single queen bed room for my sister and I. The AC didn't work, the shower sprayed water everywhere, and the front desk gave us a safe key that didn't work. A worker offered to help us with the safe key, and permanently jammed it inside. He muttered something about calling staff to fix it, but this never happened. When we asked for a refund on our safe deposit, we were treated horribly and it took at least ten minutes and much hemming and hawing from the staff and management.
The worst thing about the front desk staff is misinformation. They constantly tell lies to their guests, and rudely I might add. If you call and ask a question, they give you a monosyllabic answer (which is usually inaccurate) and then hang up. We were lied to constantly about times for shuttles and tours. The front desk would assure us certain attractions were open, and then we'd find out they had been closed all day. (Essentially proving that they never called to ask and just gave us an answer they thought we'd like to hear). We quickly learned to fend for ourselves ON EVERYTHING and only asked questions of friendly resort staff people, which is how we got all of our accurate information.
Aside from being rude, cold, and ignoring peoples questions and wants, the hotel also operates scams, and we discovered this for a fact. Before going to the hotel, I checked out previous reviews where people wrote in saying to beware of notices slipped under people's doors asking if they'd like to be transferred to the Decameron sister resort in Runaway Bay. The reviews warned that this place was a horrible, decomposing pit, and not to take this offer at any cost. It warned that the hotel would make up lies saying that people's rooms had been flooded, when really they had overbooked and needed to transfer people out. Well, on our fourth night there, my sister and I met this lovely British family who had been a victim of this scam, but to a much worse degree. They explained to me that they had received such a note under their door, but the note said that if they agreed, they would be "Upgraded" to a specific five-star resort in Negril. He showed me the actual piece of paper they received. When they packed up and loaded the bus to this Negril resort, they soon realized they were being driven the wrong direction, away from Negril. Sure enough, they were being driving to Runaway Bay!
When they got there, the front desk staff told them that they didn't have reservations anywhere except Runaway Bay, and would have to stay there. The exasperated family (of which the father is a lawyer) had to pitch a fit to get their room at The Decameron back, and still ended up having to stay at Runaway Bay for two nights before they threatened to sue and were allowed to go back to the Decameron. I felt so bad hearing their story, especially since I knew before we had met them about this Runaway Bay scam. However, I didn't know how in depth it went, that the hotel did promise in writing an entirely different hotel and then pulled a bait and switch. The father, who is a lawyer, has said he will sue, especially since he has the written notice promising him the Negril hotel which was obviously a ploy.
Overall, something is very rotten at The Royal Decameron. It's a shame, because if it weren't for the abhorrent front desk staff (who I feel are being puppeted by a corrupt management) it's a lovely place to stay. During my stay there, I personally witnessed about three families have near hysterical confrontations with the front desk staff. They will milk you for every penny you have and dismiss your needs as if they meant nothing. If you think you can handle this, then give The Decameron a try. However, I was disgusted and frustrated having to depend on people in a new country whom I knew would do nothing to help me, even when my needs were urgent (like overheating due to lack of AC, or missing shuttles for paid trips due to incorrect time information given out). It's a shame for the rest of the great employees and grounds, but I will NEVER stay there again, nor recommend it to anyone else.