Hilton Rose Hall Review

Eager to escape the depths of January’s arctic blast, I took my family of four to sunny and warm Jamaica. I chose the Hilton Rose Hall mainly out of convenience. An early nonstop flight and a 15 minute drive to the hotel meant we would arrive by lunchtime ready to hit the pool. In my Hilton Rose Hall review I will go over the booking cost, hotel amenities, room, food and everything else in between.

Location / Transportation To Hilton Rose Hall

I researched many tour operators and found the best deal at Jamaica Transfers Online. We paid $60 round trip for all four of us. It was easy to find them after leaving the airport terminal, the shuttle bus was clean, and the driver was friendly. I would recommend using them if you ever find yourself in Jamaica.

Typical Booking Cost

Hilton's dynamic award pricing puts the Hilton Rose Hall all over the place for standard room rewards. I have seen it in the following ranges:

• As low as 64,000 Hilton Honors points per night for 2 people for a standard room
• As high as 100,000 Hilton Honors points per night for 2 people for a standard room

For our dates, the standard room reward price was 80,000 points for up to two people. Each additional person bumped the cost up 10,000 points, so I paid 100,000 points per night for my family of four. I booked the first five nights using points, and two Hilton Free Night Reward certificates for the last two. Including Hilton’s fifth night free benefit on award stays, my total points cost was 400,000 + two certificates. It's worth noting that the free night certificates covered the standard room cost for all four of us.

Check In

The week before we arrived, I received an email from the concierge and informed her we would arrive in the morning and requested an early check in. We were lucky enough that they were able to accommodate us and had a room available when we got there. Staff at the Hilton Rose Hall welcomed the adults with a rum punch and the kids with juices. No upgrades were available due to the Hilton Rose Hall receiving guests from the recently closed Jewel Paradise Cove, which sold out the property. We prearranged for butler service as well, and our butler walked us to the room and gave us an overview of the hotel.

Butler Service

For $100 per day, you can book your own butler to help streamline your experience. You’ll communicate with your butler via text on Whatsapp. For the $100 per day they can make you dinner reservations, coordinate when you would like your room cleaned, and handle any requests or complaints. We had our butler for four days and opted not to utilize the service the last two days as we really didn’t need her all that much. She still kept in touch with us through the end of our stay, making sure all was well. 

Hilton Rose Hall Review: The Room

Standard room rewards at the Hilton Rose Hall are “Resort View” rooms. It could have even been considered a partial ocean view, so it was not bad. The room came with a mini fridge stocked with a couple little beers, sodas, and waters. The room also had a coffee maker with Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. We were also welcomed with an amenity of a little bottle of rum cream and a rum cake.

I didn’t love the beds (too firm for me) and the room was definitely in need of renovation. After three nights of enduring an air conditioner that could have been mistaken for a jackhammer, we asked to be moved. Our butler helped us move into an ocean view room, which was a nice improvement. All rooms feature a balcony or walk out patio, and also offer both US and UK power outlets. 

Property / Amenity Review

Now for the make or break section of this Hilton Rose Hall review, the all important property & amenities section. This really is the make or break section of an all inclusive resort.

The Beaches

There are two beaches at the Hilton Rose Hall – one in front of the waterpark area and another a little further to the east. Plenty of chairs and cabanas are available, and beaches were never overcrowded. The soft sand and warm water are nice for the kids to play in, but these beaches tend to get a lot of seaweed and plastic garbage washing up. Resort staff are pretty good about raking, and they keep the beach as clean as they can. On the east beach, you can take a ride on a small catamaran, wind surf board, kayak, or stand-up paddleboard. The wind and waves were too much for anyone to take them out the week we were there. And if you’re looking to do some snorkeling, you’re better off going to Doctor’s Cave Beach, as it’s no good at the Hilton.

Pools

The main pool in front of the resort has a more relaxed vibe. Nothing fancy, just a big pool with plenty of chairs available and cabanas for rent. Kids are welcome at this pool, but you’ll find mostly adults here. 

The Sugar Mills Waterpark is by far the best part of the Hilton Rose Hall. The big pool area starts with a zero-entry slope that’s perfect for the little ones and gets gradually deeper into the splash-down area for the waterslides. The pool also includes a swim up bar and an area where the entertainment staff play music and engage guests of all ages with games, trivia, and general shenanigans where anyone can win a prize from local craft vendors.

The big waterslide requires a tube and for riders to be at least six years old and four feet tall to ride. It’s very fun! The other three waterslides are shorter, and even the youngest kids can ride them with an adult. Lastly, the lazy river ambles around under waterfalls and fountains that will drench you if you can’t steer out of the way. There are also two hot tubs if you want to warm up after getting soaked. Get here early (I’m talking 6am) and toss down your beach towels or personal items to claim your lounge chairs or someone else will. One of the perks of having a butler was that they reserved prime chairs for us and left a little cooler filled with Red Stripe beers, waters, and juices.

Hilton Rose Hall Review: Restaurants

The Hilton Rose Hall is a huge all-inclusive resort, so you really have to manage expectations here. We found some food we liked, some we didn't, and some we loved. As of December 2024, the only way to make dinner reservations is to have a butler do it for you. For a short period of time, you could pre-pay for a bottle of wine to guarantee a reservation, but it seems that was dead by the time we stayed there. If you don’t have reservations, you will have to get in the queue and hope you make it in. Line up by 5:45 or earlier if you want to get in at the 6pm seating.

• Coffee Shop
  • This is next to the lobby. In addition to coffees, there are some good grab and go items like sandwiches, bagels, muffins, and fruit cups. If you just want regular drip coffee, you can skip the line and help yourself at the self serve station. Closer to lunch, you can grab some ice cream!
• Buffet
  • Serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Solid options for every meal, but don’t expect too much.
• Rum Runners
  • Inside the hotel on the ground floor. Nice food and cocktail menus, and good service.
• Mangoes
  • Located at the waterpark, Mangoes had burgers, sandwiches and other basic poolside food. Not great but not bad either. I really liked the Jamaican patties. You can eat on the deck that looks over the beach or your lounge chair by the pool. 
• Seaside Grill
  • Next to the main pool with views of the sea. Also very busy, so reservations are a good idea. Nice views and good service. I paid an extra $40 for the lamb and shrimp, which was pretty good but not great.
• Moonstone
  • By the waterpark and east beach. Pizza by the slice available all afternoon. At dinner, it’s an Asian restaurant and has great sea views. The pizza tasted like cardboard to me, but my kids happily scarfed it down for lunch every day. For dinner, our kids got bento boxes and the adults both got Thai curry dishes, all of which were very good. Great service here too as it was not nearly as crowded as the others. 
• The Jerk Hut
  • Located at the east beach and was really good, serving up jerk chicken with a variety of sauces from mild to more authentic Jamaican spicy. 
• Three Palms Steakhouse
  • A short shuttle ride away, attached to the golf course. The hotel charges $40 additional per person, but Hilton Diamond members get 50% off. Our kids still ate free, which was great. Fantastic service, great ambiance outside, and finally a delicious meal. We both got the ribeye and it was by far the best thing we ate all week. We saved this one for our last night, but I wish we had booked this one earlier so we could go back at least one more night. Well worth the upcharge for an excellent meal and great service.
• Room Service
  • It is available 24 hours a day – limited menu and a $10 delivery fee.

Nightlife

Entertainment was available every night, and we caught some musical performances when we had dinner at the buffet. Not much happening after 10pm.

Kids Club

The kids club is a drop-off program for kids aged four and up. They offer group activities, crafts, and experiences for kids. All our kids wanted to do was play in the pool, so we didn’t do much here. Behind the kids club, you’ll find a swing set, playground equipment, basketball, and tennis courts. 

Spa

The Hilton Rose Hall spa has two locations – one on the first floor near the buffet, and the other on the beach. I got a one-hour massage by the beach, and it was great to relax and hear the waves crashing. 

Check Out / Payment

While we booked our stay at Hilton Rose Hall on points, we did charge a few things to the room. The desk was able to split payment how I asked:

• $200 on my Hilton Honors Aspire card to trigger the bi-annual credit
• $50 on my Amex Business Platinum
• $50 on my Hilton Honors Surpass card to trigger their quarterly credits.

Finally, I covered the rest of the bill with a Hilton gift card I previously purchased at the Grand Wailea. Notably, Hilton gift cards I purchased online did not work (more on Hilton gift card issues here). 

What’s Next for Hilton Rose Hall?

The Hilton Rose Hall is owned and operated by Playa Hotels & Resorts. Hyatt recently announced plans to acquire Playa in late 2025. The waterpark is in good shape but could use some updating in certain areas. According to recent online reviews, several public areas of the hotel are prone to roof leaks during very rainy weather. Our last day there, a mild rain seemed to cause the hotel to suffer a power outage for three hours in the morning. According to one guest, they saw sparks shooting out of an outdoor circuit breaker near the temporary stage. I don’t know for sure what caused the outage, but many outlets outside are certainly not rated for outdoor use. My guess is that once the Hyatt acquisition is completed, they will close it down to address structural issues. Then they will reopen and renovate the guest rooms in stages. 

Hilton Rose Hall Review: ToP Thoughts

Despite the condition of parts of the hotel, we still enjoyed the Hilton Rose Hall very much. We wanted to relax without having to cook, clean, and keep the kids entertained, and we accomplished that mission. The waterpark was fun, and the service was pretty good overall. If you are looking for more of a couples or luxury experience, you can certainly do better with your points and certificates.

Let me know what you think about this property after reading my Hilton Rose Hall review, or if you have ever stayed here, over in the ToP Facebook Group.