Long before we purchased our flights, I was making plans for where we were going to stay. I really had two criteria, Sunshine needed AC and I needed at least a queen size bed. Of course, it also needed to be awesome, but there seems to be a lot of that in Negril.
I am a big believer that moving around a little bit during a vacation makes the whole things seem much longer. If you change the view every couple of days, home seems longer and further away each time. I had originally though a straight cliff/beach split would be the plan, but I was having a hard time narrowing to just one of each. I have no idea how many times I said to myself, 'That is it, this is the final plan,' but it seemed I was changing my mind every week. With each positive trip report, the possibilities got more endless.
As last winter's trip reports unfolded, it was hard not to notice that there was a lot of love on this board for Catcha Falling Star. I was trying to stretch my dollars to 10 days though, so most of the rooms at Catcha were just a bit out of reach. Pisces looked great (it is my sign) and I loved the patio, but I just couldn't talk myself into the double bed. Little Capricorn didn't have a patio and I wanted our own outside space. Gatehouse had the bigger bed, but I was worried about being near the road.
Lucky for me at the end of April Sweetness was staying in the Gatehouse and she was reporting live. She answered a number of questions for me and urged me to get on booking. Though we didn't actually have the vacation approved and hadn't settled for sure on the length of our stay, before the boardie bash was done, we had booked 3 nights in the Gatehouse. It will be stop #2 on this year's adventure.
So where to start things off? Right where we found our groove last time, at Blue Cave Castle. Sunshine was excited enough about returning that he actually sat down with me and we went through all the air conditioned rooms on the BCC website to pick the one we wanted. Our first choice wasn't available, but there was a close second. Before I pushed the button, I thought I would show him the Penthouse. It took him about 12 seconds to decide that AC was actually not that important to him. It was available, so we will be playing King of the Castle in the penthouse for our first 3 nights in Negril.
Our last 4 nights, we are headed down to the beach. I had narrowed our choices down to Nirvana on the Beach and Idle Awhile. It was a really tough choice. Having had fun picking the penthouse, Sunshine was keen to weigh in on this choice, so we looked at pictures and videos from all over the place. Ultimately, Idle Awhile was the winner. Of course, after all that, they didn't have any room at the inn.
I think it was fate though, as Idle Awhile was stretching the budget. For some reason I hadn't thought to check on what was on sale at Negril One Stop. They had their winter sale for CocoLaPalm, which had always been a real contender. It was going to cost of half of what Idle Awhile would have and it is right next door to Idle Awhile. I have certainly viewed their webcams enough time. I would have liked a junior suite, but they didn't have any available for our dates. I am sure the superior room will do the trick nicely. Besides, I am going to be on the beach most of the time anyway.
Originally Posted by mamade11
