Hilton Rose Hall Resort & Spa

Love this resort! This was a last minute, first-time teaching experience that I will never forget! It was perfect all week and I would love coming back to this beautiful place! Group Ex teaching schedule: 7 or 7:30 am Power Walk 9:00 am Pilates/Yoga 3:00 pm Cardio Class On Saturday, you only teach morning classes. There is an awesome resident instructor, Junior, who also does classes. If you sign up for aqua, you will likely do 10 am instead of the 9 am class. They do not change the schedule to reflect the type of classes you will teach so be prepared to go with your participant’s needs/wants. The posted schedule alternates yoga/Pilates in the morning and bootcamp/kickboxing/cardio in the afternoon. There are 7 Spinner bikes, but they are not used so do not plan a cycling class. Power Walk: Intense, challenging, with beautiful views! Meet in the lobby, have participants sign in. Encourage but stress the intensity of the walk. Bring shoes with good grip. It can be slippery. Junior leads the walk with a very fast pace. He expects you to keep up with him. If your companion joins you on the walk, Junior may expect that you lead the group at a fast pace (15 minutes/mile) and your companion stays with those at a slower pace. If you are doing the 9:00 am class, you’ll need to keep pace with Junior to make sure you have enough time to prepare for your class. Check the activity schedule by the lobby each night as they can change the time last minute. The last day I went at 7 am to meet and tell participants the walk was changed to 7:30 am. 9:00 am Pilates/Yoga: Meet in the gym, class is in the gazebo by the ocean. Make sure to ask for extra mats as others usually join after you’ve started. I used downloaded music and my own Bluetooth speakers. I did a 40-45 minute class of Pilates/yoga mix (aka PiYo). I had 2-6 people depending on the day. Tuesday/Saturday were the busiest. 3:00 pm Cardio class: Meet in the gym, class is in the gym. I had no one attend any day. Stay for 15 minutes if no one shows. Be prepared to use a smaller space if you do have participants. There is a stereo system in the gym but no aux connection that I saw. The music they played would work for a HIIT or bootcamp class. Resort: Wonderful, clean, accommodating, and beautiful! I am used to adults-only, larger resorts. This is a very kid-friendly, smaller resort. They were at full capacity but never seemed busy. The resort is separated by restaurants and pools that keep the busy/loud areas separated from other parts of the resort so you can always find a quiet spot. Staff: Wow. I cannot say enough about how wonderful all the staff were. Many of them knew our names and preferences. They go above and beyond whatever they are doing! Beach: lots of chairs, shade, and warm water. They work really hard to keep the beach clean. If you like to relax on a lounger all day, this is the beach for you! I have never seen so much available seating at a resort before! There are two swimming areas and nonmotorized sports. Definitely do the sailing! Pools: I’m not a pool person but used the pools almost every evening at sunset. The larger one is almost empty in the morning and evening. There is a lazy river and two slides that are a must! We had so much fun – around 4:00 they are not very busy so you can take your time! Restaurants: Lots of options and there is always a place open for food. Salads are great here at any restaurant! Jamaica is very relaxed, but the food options were great that you could always get something quickly! Favorites include the Moonstone and Seaside. Rooms: clean, housekeeping every day. We had a room facing the water park and it was amazing! We don’t spend much time in the room but it was never loud in the morning or evening. We were on the second floor which is where most things are – highly recommend!

Great 1st experience to Jamaica

This was my fourth time teaching, by far the best. Sherelle (Entertainment Manager) emailed me a month before - she came to the desk to meet me and show me around when I checked in. Everything was very organized, I was even introduced to the management on Monday morning and entire entertainment staff!

Great resort and wonderful staff! Third teaching vacation with Fit Bodies and tenth teaching vacation with various organizations. Never met Mustafa and met Andre once on Monday. Most of my interactions were with Kamar and Latoya who were awesome. My family and I went to a different resort for a second week and Kamar came to visit. Power walk was well attended, great workout and beautiful views. Did have issues on two days with people of varying fitness levels. It is a loop without markings and had to return back on the loop to help people make their way back into the resort. One lady who was having trouble breathing I sent back on a golf cart that I flagged down. Two days the power walk actually lasted from 7-8:45 since I had to double back to make sure everyone was back safely. I brought two teens and they had a better time than my 11 year old girl. My two teen boys played volleyball, windsurfed, kayaked and did scuba many days. Food was good and varied, water park was fun, ocean was beautiful. It was VERY difficult to find seats so make sure you get towels the night before and save your seats BEFORE your 7 am power walk if you want a chair. The Activities staff was awesome, but the front desk staff seemed very put out every time that I had to get the fitness closet key. I tried to kill them with kindness but it did not seem to help. Perhaps they were just overworked. Make sure you bring CD's for Aqua. The standard ipod cords that I brought did not work with their system. I ended up using my portable beat pill that I always bring just in case. This is my fourth time back to Jamaica and the first taking an adventure to Negril. Definitely best day adventure by far we have taken in Jamaica. Get a card from your airport taxi driver and he can take you for $140 for the whole day. We went to the seven mile beach, cliff jumping, cave snorkeling and to Rick's Cafe for the sunset. Overall great vacation, would do again in a heartbeat!

This was my third teaching vacation at the Hilton Rose Hall. Amazing staff, great program and a lovely resort. I find the people so friendly and helpful that it makes for a great experience. The morning power walk is the best part of the week with amazing scenery and a challening uphill climb. The waterpark is lots of fun for the kids.

Overall, a great resort for a teaching vacation. I brought along my 16-year old daughter and one of her friends. The resort is great for kids under 13,with the slides and activities; but there really is not so much for older teens to do. However, I felt they were totally safe to go anywhere on the resort. I did not meet Mustafa, but he was very prompt at exchanging e-mails prior to arrival. Andre was super easy to work with and insisted I take my day off on Thursday!! The powerwalk on the golf course has phenominal views and is very well attended. I had to do a bit of encouraging to get the aqua aerobics attendance up throughout the week. The Spin bikes are in good condition overall, and the fitness room is very nice. If you have young kids, I say definitely book this resort! Staff is attentive, helpful, and friendly. Lots of water activities (wind surfing, ocean kayaking, Hobe cat sailing, etc.), but beach front is limited. I'll be back and take my son and one of his buddies next year!