Cleanliness, great beach, pool (I love the ocean, but hubby prefers the pool), happy, smiling staff, fridge, secure.
Cocolapalm cuts it for us every time. We tried a different hotel on the beach last reach and spent the whole time sad that we weren't at Coco.
Sure hope you convince your friends to give it a try. I couldn't imagine doing Negril at an AI, you would just miss out on so much.