What I Ate at RIU Aquarelle + Honest Hotel Review
- Vanessa Gonzalez
- Feb 6
- 3 min read
My birthday was an all-inclusive getaway moment Popcaan voice at RIU Aquarelle in Trelawny, and man —let’s talk food, vibes, disappointments and everything in between!
What I Ate – The Good, The Great & The Meh
One thing about me? I will eat my way through a vacation, I don’t know if it’s because I'm getting older or more health conscious but, in the past, I’d drink my way through as well. RIU Aquarelle has a mix of buffet-style dining, à la carte restaurants, and cute little snack spots. Here’s the tea:
🍽 White Bay Buffet: Literally everything! Jamaican faves like Stew Chicken, Stew Peas, Ackee & Saltfish (this was actually bussin!), plus seafood mixes, pasta, and fresh fruit. A solid 7/10 and was definitely a saving grace from the fine dining portions and a haven for breakfast.
🍷 Kyoto: an intimate Asian restaurant with fancy finger food. I had the Korean Fry Chicken, fried soup dumplings and Pad Thai which was all really nice but just a likkle taste up yuh mouth before you head to the buffet 7/10.
🥩 Steakhouse: I had the Surf and Turf with Mac and cheese. The Mac and Cheese was so creamy and delicious, the steak and shrimp of course needed more seasoning but was good enough. For starters we had a Caesar salad and meh it was basic af nothing to write home about, but it was a lovely ambiance 6.5/10
🔥 Jerk Hut (Poolside): on my last day I had jerk chicken and jerk pork with corn and wedges with a side of crappy service. You could tell the chef/ server didn’t care and to top that off it was the worst jerk I’ve ever had. I know that hotels dull down the powerhouse flavors that make jerk because most tourists can’t handle the spice but good God a better them never bother. If you’re a local go with low expectations (the corn was really good) and if you’re a tourist who wants to delve into Jamaican cuisine please go off site for good jerk. A disappointing 2/10
🏈 Sports Bar was a good 7/10 I had the basic Buffalo wings and fries, and it was average but good.
🍹 Drinks: Pina Coladas, Bob Marleys, Aperol Sprits, Cosmopolitans they can make it all and with quality liquor the drink were flowing and the bars never let me down! 9/10
Hotel Vibes – Worth It or Nah?
I love all-inclusive resorts because they can cater to all your needs whether you wanna relax or you wanna have a good time. While I can say this RIU did disappoint when it came to entertainment because based on my knowledge of RIU it’s known to be a party resort tied with possibly the time of year and the crowd of people that were there and dates I went (Thursday to Saturday) I was expecting a higher energy but didn’t get that. In any event I enjoyed my stay let’s get into the highlights:
✨ The Good:
✅ Modern, clean rooms with ocean views - I got a complimentary room upgrade because of my birthday and the room was ready at noon !
✅ Fun pools + beach with plenty of loungers and a vibrant pool bar.
✅ The entertainment team? A whole vibe even when the crowd wasn’t connecting with them they were having a blast and tried their best.
⚠️ The Not-So-Great:
❌ Hard to get dinner reservations - you have to book using the app but you have to book 24 hours in advance how does that work for the night you get there ? That was dumb but we did have luck squeezing in on a no show reservation.
❌ The service was subpar in some areas because staff favor “foreigners” to locals but that’s a whole think piece I could delve more into
❌ There wasn’t much to do in my opinion, the pool table required payment and apparently the key for the lock that closed it was lost. Green spaces were not interactive I’m not sure if they had water sport activities as the seas were rough and it was rainy so I didn’t see anything set up.
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Final Thoughts – Would I Go Back?
Not really I’ve experienced better resorts, such as Ocean Coral Spring , Royalton and Iberostar. The food was solid, the beach was beautiful, and the energy was just good vibes all around. A few disappointments, but nothing major.
⭐ 3/5 stars! Just go prepared and ready to eat, sip, and repeat.
Have you been? Thinking about going? Let’s chat in the comments! And don’t forget to follow me on Instagram (@thescaredepicurean) and TikTok (@the.scaredepicurean) for more foodie adventures!
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