RIU Celebrates Hotel Reopening and Commitment to Jamaican Employees

L-R: Frank Sondern, regional director of operations for RIU Hotels Jamaica; Niurka Garcia Linton, director of sales at RIU Resorts Jamaica; Luis Suarez, general manager RIU Negril

RIU Hotels Jamaica continues to support Jamaica’s tourism product through investment in the country’s tourism infrastructure and human resources.

RIU Negril recently reopened it’s doors after undergoing a four month renovation and facelift.

Among the new facilities are ‘swim-up’ rooms and two-bedroom family suites accommodating up to six guests.

The food and beverage offerings at the hotel now include a ‘make your own taco’ concept they are calling Tiki Taco, an American comfort food restaurant available 24/7 plus indoor and outdoor steakhouses.

RIU Negril employs approximately 500 people. Regional director of operations for RIU Hotels Jamaica, Frank Sondern, says 98 per cent of RIU’s staff in Jamaica are locals.

Sondern is also moving to dismiss the notion that there are only low paying jobs in the tourist industry.

He says among the local staff at the hotel are four executive chefs who oversee hundreds of people.

Frank Sondern, regional director of operations for RIU Hotels Jamaica.

The renovations at RIU Negril were completed in November last year and the hotel reopened its doors on December 7, 2025.

RIU started in Jamaica in 2000 and has since grown to seven locations across Jamaica’s tourist hotspots.

Listen to more of Nationwide’s Rodney Campbell’s conversation: