Our stay was from the 17th of Jamuary to the 20th, this seems to be off peak time so the place was not that crowded.
The staff was really really friendly and down to earth. The nanny came and took out son and i just lounged about, my wife made full use of jacuzzi, and the pool to get a tan, also you can go on the beach next door @ Breezes resort.
This is the ideal place for a family with kids vacation but i did meet a few people from chicargo without kids who were enjoying themself and I met a lot families who had been there more than 3 times, one couple told me it was thier 7th time back. The funniest thing to me was hearing the mother conspiring everyday at the bar how they could possibly steal the nannies and take them back to America with them.
The nannies are perfect and my son was very resistant to leaving with a staranger at first but after a hour with "Jewel" he didnt even want to have lunch with us because he was having so much fun especially hanging with the other kids. He made a lot of friends and looked foreword to hanging out with them everyday.
Breakfast is usually a wide selection of good to great food but lunch and dinner was usually ok to good but still a wide selection. If u really want great lunch sneak over to the workers eating area and get a plate.
The tennis lessons were great and they had a really cool gym instructor, I never went out on the glass bottom boat but I heard that was great also, I tried to get a fishing rod but they kept sending me in a circle and I ended up with stick with fishing line and a hook on it but I did go fishing on the beach with it and caught a few 1/4 fish that I threw them back. It was fun regardless.
The bar staff were extremly friendly and they would make any drink you want. If I wasnt fishing or playing tennis I slept most of the day with my balcony door open to recieve the cool sea breeze. At night after dinner I was usually by the bar hanging with some lovely people I met.
i have been to better resorts when I Iwas single but the joy that my wife and son displayed at this place was priceless. I told her we will try some other place next year and she said she is coming right back to FDR. afterall why fix it if it aint broke so I guess we will be one of those family telling people "this is our 7th time here" and they will look at us like ' You havent tried anywhere else?"

Our 10 and 12 year old sons were a little apprehensive about having a vacation nanny and they were among the older children there. There were some teens but they seemed to have younger siblings. Antioinette, our nanny, was awsome and had won them over by the time we left. Although we didn't neccessarilyu need the boys to be watched all the time it was like having our private concierge. She kept track of each days activities and helped to guide the boys to the right things. Once she knew that they liked snorkeling she would make sure that they were included in snorkeling outings. She kept our room picked up allthe time. Room is really the wrong word. It was more like a villa. We relly chose FDR for the suite. Our reservation for a one bedroom suite was upgraded to a two bedroom suite with 2 1/2 baths. (poor water pressure was about my only complaint all week) Transfers were easy and friendly. Excursions were convenient. Green Grotto caves were great. Dunn's River falls were too crowded. If you go i suggest you do this on a day without cruise ships in Ocho Rios. Still a fun day climbing up the falls and The Nanny who accompanied us guided us past all the "hawkers." If you want white sand beach You have to walk a couple of hundred yards but its an easy walk through a gate with FDR security and no nudes to walk past contrary to some of the reviews I've seen. the best part of FDR is the staff. In addition to the Nannies, there are great people working there. The lifeguards do double duty with snorkeling, fishing, kayaking, sailing lessons and more. Guided bike rides and power walks were just the start of the fitness programs. They were made special by the enthusiasm of Donavan and Quya our guides. Quya did a great job with activities all day long. I got a great Tennis lesson. I took the resort scuba course with my sons and had a great dive. I just wish we had taken it on our first day to take advantage of the opportunity to get certified. The food was excellent. Take advantage of the Adults only restaurants at least one night to provide a little more variety. There is competition for poolside lounges but there were plenty of places to enjoy the sun throughout the resort. I did not meet anyone all week that wasn't happy and most of the guests are repeats so that tells you something. "Go to this Resort!!! you'll love it!!"

This was our second time having Coretta as our son's Vacation Nanny! Why? She's awesome! She's our family away from home...Tyrese wanted to go back to the resort the next week after coming back home just to be with her! Coretta is very professional, yet friendly and always gives 'service with a smile!' She's a definite asset to the resort as she goes above and beyond her call of duty, making sure that you are always satisfied, providing what we call here in Canada - "world class service!". Tyrese always wanted to be with her and would not dare allow her to take her lunch breaks! We took advantage of the baby sitting at nights, which enabled my fiance and I to go out to dinner alone every night, which was such a wonderful treat we don't often get back home.

We also had the opportunity of having Carmelina for the first 2 days of our vacation. She was also an excellent choice and was very pleasant, helpful, and knowledgeable! We loved her too, and she was a big help to us when we needed her most, getting prepared and ready for our Engagement Party!

If you are ever looking for a great resort to take the family, FDR is the place to go - the staff will treat you right!!

Corine, Everton, & Tyrese

This is our second stay at FDR in 4 years (3 if you count FDR Pebbles) and we had a "fine" time. We travel extensively with our 3 young children: 1, 3, 5 year old and this is our 3rd trip to Caribbean this year. Overall, our vacation nanny was great, the room was spacious and comfortable, staffs were always friendly, welcoming, available and helpful. The combination of the above 3 made other negative parts of resort seem not as bad.

1.Airport transfer: JTS is located right outside of the luggage pick up. 90 min transfer from the airport included in the price. (We purchased flight and hotel separately) Driver was friendly and responsive.

2.Check-in: Nice staff. Very courteous.

3.Room: Large and spacious. Full kitchen is great. Compare to Pebbles, this one bedroom suite is at least 30% larger in size. The bedroom is a full room, not simply divided with a division as in Pebbles. Descend size living room. One great thing is that they have updated the room furnishing from last time we stayed. The bathroom is renovated and quite modern.

4.Nanny: We were initially assigned nanny who was non-responsive, lack of initiative and definitely not energetic. Make a long story short, I went to the front desk and requested a nanny change. They found someone right away! The whole process took less than one hour and we are glad we did.

6.Nanny Instruction: Do give your nanny a few guidelines in terms of what you want your kids to do and what not to do. Dietary needs if any. Ours was great. She had initiatives. Just with a few simple guidelines, she managed the boys fantastically! Some other nannies need the parents constantly tell them what to do with kids, follow up with them….this would have driven me nuts.

7.Kids club: Many upgrades needed but they do keep the place tidy and clean by end of the day. Another mother expressed strong concerns because there was no division for kids by age group. But great friendly staff. Always helpful.

8.Kids play ground: Many Little tikes and Step 2 plastic structures plus other more permanent ones, large and small to keep small kids entertained. However, few potential injury locations: steep 2’ drop from the play ground to the basketball court and some broken rocks around the playground. Require nannies constant supervision. However the general manager mentioned she is looking into cleaning up the playground and make it more kid safe. She seem quite sincere so I look forward to some major improvements there.

9.Pools: The main pool’s shallow end is of minimum “3 foot tall”. Both my boys and other family’s kids under 6 year old need to wear life jackets at all time! What they call the kiddy pool with a slide, is a cement slide, which slides into a 30” deep water. It is definitely not for kids less than 3 year old. Fine for my 4 and 6 year old but, life jacket is still required to leave them playing in this small 5’x6’ pool. So where is the wading pool for “young kids???

10.Beach: Small but efficient for the little kids to play. For adults, go next door. Do bring your own towels because you cannot sit on their lounge chairs so improvise.

11.Water sports: well equipped with snorkeling, wind surf, kayak, to scuba diving. I do have to recommend the water sport staff being very diligent and observing all the time. Guto! Again. Great for the resort having such wonderful staffs. In 2003, they offered free scuba diving course, but it is no longer the case.

12.Restaurants: Many improvements compared with 2003. I highly recommend, grilled Jerk chicken and pork at the grill. It was the best! Do try their braised ox tail at restaurant, fantastic! It melts in your mouth! Staffs are always helpful and available. However, do not expect 4 star plates but they do have great collection of designer dishes.

13.Staff: A1! No complaint at all.

14.TIPS: Make sure you like and are comfortable with your nanny. They will be looking after your precious ones so do be picky! Change nanny if you have any doubts. Do it gently and discreetly because the front desk ladies are fantastic!

15: Entertainment: There is a typical Caribbean night show once a week and I highly recommend it for families with kids. They have fire eating, limbo, big mama dance that lasts for 60 mins or so starts at 8:30pm.

Overall rating: 3 star resort at most. Love the staff, vacation nanny and the well appointed spacious accommodation. Hated the common facilities especially the pool. They need some major improvements in their common areas to be competitive in the Caribbean. I do have a very mixed rating for this resort because their target clientele are families with young kids but I don't think I would recommend my friends or myself to come here because we felt the value received may not be competitive with the price that we paid. But if all you want is the private nanny services, this is great!