Port Maria hotels from RM304

"My wife, 6yo daughter and I had a wonderful time during our 10-night stay at the Riu, which looked far cleaner and modern compared to the dreary exterior of the nearby Sandals. Here are my top tips for staying at the Riu: 1. Bring sanitizer. There was only one working sanitizer station in the entire hotel, just outside the buffet entrance. None of the cook staff wears gloves and few of the guests use sanitizer, so you're sharing serving spoons and tongs with about half the hotel staff & guests. 2. Bring lots of dollar bills. Very few of the guests tipped, but we made it a practice of tipping a few dollars at every meal and $1 for every drink. The staff appreciated it and gave us better service over the course of our stay. 3. Be sure to tip for service that is out of the ordinary. You want extra beer in your minifridge? Tip the man that restocks the drinks. 4. Bring slippers for the room. Our maid was excellent, but a beach resort can't escape sand. No matter how clean the room appeared, there was always an invisible accumulation of sand that had to be brushed off the bottom of our feet before getting into bed. 5. Stick with the buffet food. Not all of it is good, but after trial and error you'll find what you like and it will be better than the restaurant food (however, we didn't try the Mandalay, which always had a wait list and seemed very popular). 6. Riu Land (for kids) is only open for two 2-hour periods each day (and closed on Tuesdays). Plan accordingly."