Yellowbird stay…truth and facts about our stay

I rarely post here but frequently read about the travels of others. A large group of us have been staying at the Yellowbird for 28 years, this being our last. We never stay there because of the accommodations or price, we stayed there because of the staff that always treated every guest like family.

Here are some of the reasons you might want to rethink your stay, at least for the next several years. Cottages have been upgraded with walls which increases privacy BUT removes most natural light and breeze. If you need cooking and eating utensils (forks, spoons, plates, pans, etc) you are really on your own. Coffee, toast and breakfast no longer offered. Rasta Mike and Pogo, Ms. Marcia, Andrea and Althea, all removed and not allowed to step into the yard. Most of the staff let go, which is understandable because of covid. However, the new owner “summons” the remaining staff by clapping his hands, never using first names. The new owner is there and walking the yard, sitting at the bar but NEVER once talked to the 16 of us while we there. Not that we expected to get chummy but at least a “hello, how is your stay going?”. There are many other reasons to reconsider giving your money to this fellow…but I will stop there.

The new owner is going to build a restaurant where Rasta Mikes shack is, bring in his own people for water sports, put at least 2 more hotel buildings on ground. So construction will be ongoing for awhile. He also owns the part of Merrills next to Risky Business, as that is where the property line is. So, many changes coming for this end of the beach.

We love Jamaica and the people and are actively looking for a new home for next January…any recommendations from others would help our search. Thanks for reading this post…

Hi Jer-i,
We too have been enjoying the island of Jamaica for many years since 1981, and Negril was always our “home away from Home” so much so that we married there in 1987. The way things have changed over the years left us feeling a yearning for the quieter times we used to know and so have moved on to the south coast area of TreasureBeach. The vibe is a little more like a negril used to be, a quieter pace, and many lovely properties that speak to the days of yore. Maybe look around the island for a more authentic feel? Truth be told we still try and spend a few days on Negril each trip as we have lifelong friends and no beach has yet to compare, and while I love the cliff life and miss the old days of staying with Momma Hylton and Poppa Willie at the White Bird, the Rocky Dell restaurant and the ice truck rumbling up the road, the beach was always my secret love. The early mornings when the Jamaican people would come down from town with their wares to sell, the smells of the sea mixed with the smells of cook fires and the water lapping up quietly on the shoreline…..

hey_mon, glad to read you are well!! We just survived a blizzard over the weekend so the dreams of Negril Beach are happy ones!! The days of skylarking up and down the beach by T-Water and Miss Gloria's are distant memories!! The smells and sounds that once were despite the passage of time are still vivid to me. Although I never stayed at Yellowbird it was but a short walk up the beach and I did know people who stayed there and I did spend some time there many moons ago. The changes in ownership of properties doesn't surprise me as I'm sure many have uprooted to other better places to be. Treasure Beach is where I would go if a beach scene is where I want to be. Otherwise The Blue Mountains on the North Coast side of the range is where I would be. I cannot even begin to imagine what life is like in JA with Covid????

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After Gilbert we were anxious to get back to Negril to check our friends and spend some US$. From T-Water we walked up the beach until we came upon Mark's Hurricane Bar, which immediately became our spot. A circular thatch bar on a concrete pad just off the corner of Yellow Bird which had been walled off with a tall chain link fence. We were told the owners were Canadian and had not been seen since the storm. This arrangement lasted for three years and then we showed up and the bar was gone. Turns out the owners of Yellow Bird finally showed up and kicked Mark off his spot. Not to worry. Fella named Andrew, whose family owns Half Moon, offered Mark a spot on their waterfront at Green Island and he took the bar apart and moved it there stick by stick. Some years later Mark died and his widow simply couldn't make a go of it. I Ran into Andrew at LTU on our last trip. We talked about those days and raised a glass to Mark and the Hurricane Bar whose motto was "total relaxation."