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Jamaica / All-Inclusive

By James Henderson

There is a huge number of all-inclusive resorts in Jamaica. In fact the trend for them, which has now reached many islands around the Caribbean, was started in Jamaica.

The all-inclusive concept is simple. You make your payment before you leave home and then all aspects of your holiday (flight, transfers, accommodation, food, drink, even some excursions) are included in the price, so that you never have to take your wallet out again. It is a convenient formula and it has been very popular with some travellers. Also it is often well priced, so - if your rationale is to get to Jamaica as cheaply as possible then an all-inclusive may be the way to go.

But all-inclusives do have a knock-on effect. Having paid for all their food and drinks, their guests tend not to leave the compound (which these hotels literally are in some cases), and the result is that independent restaurants and other services around the area suffer. Then, with captive guests, there is little incentive to impress in the dining room or with levels of service. The result is often a ‘sameness’ in the style and service. Most importantly, guests who stay in miss out on the best of Jamaica, travelling the island and meeting the Jamaicans.

While there is considerable variety within all-inclusives and some have made an effort to improve their service in recent years, with à la carte dining rooms, more watersports, better entertainment, free watersports instruction, the formula is usually a limiting one. As a general rule the hotels tend to be large (so you need to be happy as part of a large crowd) and all too often they lack character, particularly of Jamaica itself, which after all is such a lively and compelling island.

In fairness large, mid range hotels in other islands may not have much character, and many of the travellers are not actually interested in seeing anything more than a small section of beach, but this does not mean that the experience is any better. In general at Definitive Caribbean we feel that the all-inclusives do not offer the best side of Jamaica. For this reason we have selected only a small number of them to recommend, ones that we feel are the most sympathetic or that manage to sidestep the limitations of the formula.

Please see below for our Jamaica all-inclusive resort recommendations and listings.

Browse All-Inclusive on other islands

Antigua and Barbuda | Barbados | Dominican Republic | Grenada & Carriacou | Jamaica | St Lucia | St Martin/St Maarten | St Vincent and the Grenadines

Or read our other island guides

Anguilla | Antigua | Aruba | Bahamas | Barbados | Bermuda | Bonaire | British Virgin Islands | Cayman Islands | Cuba | Curacao | Dominica | Dominican Republic | Grenada and Carriacou | Guadeloupe | Haiti | Jamaica | Martinique | Montserrat | Nevis | Puerto Rico | Saba | St Barthélemy | St Eustatius | St Kitts | St Lucia | St Martin/St Maarten | St Vincent and the Grenadines | Tobago | Trinidad | Turks & Caicos Islands | US Virgin Islands

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Looking for inspiration?

  1. Sample some fiery jerk chicken or pork at one of the many stands in Boston - the home of jerk 
  2. Take a tour of Appleton Estate, Jamaica's oldest rum producer
  3. Spend the day exploring Dunn's River Falls & Park
  4. Enjoy a round of golf at one of Montego Bay's five, 18-hole courses
  5. Immerse yourself in local culture and pay a visit to the Bob Marley Museum in Kingston

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