Stuff Happens - Things to consider about staying up a lane

Sweetie Pie and I were looking for an inexpensive place to sleep this past trip. We had an offer made to us to stay up a lane at a Jamaican guest house sort of situation. Since we were interested in long term stay lodging options we decided to give it a try. It was a one bedroom ground floor apartment in a 3 unit building in a yard with other residences on it. Nice property, we thought. It was clean, well maintained, and in a great location for getting around Negril. Inexpensive at $250 a week. It ended up not working out very well. We had an incident of property loss and there was no recourse. I’m not going to go into the details here. If you are thinking about a stay up a lane I’ll be happy to talk to you and see if you’re dealing with any of the people I dealt with in this situation. Here are some recommendations I would make to anyone considering a stay up a lane –

-Don’t think about it until you’ve been down at least a couple of times.

-Don’t think about it until you have developed a network of locals with which you have some trust.

-You can have some level of trust with operators who put their livelihood on their good name, guys like Percy from Percy’s Garden Retreat, or Chicken from Chickens Magic Bus, or Edie from Edies Debar or Sexy Rexy. They depend on good word of mouth in the tourist industry.

-Don’t trust anybody who goes by two names. Bad, bad sign. You might hear someone’s given name in certain circumstances but someone going by multiple street names? Problem, most likely…

-Only look at places your Jamaican network recommends. They should be able to say “I’d be comfortable coming to pick you up here.” And more importantly, “I wouldn’t be uncomfortable dropping you off here.”

-Visit the guest house before staying there. Get a feel for the property, the surrounding neighborhood, the overall security. Gated yard? Window access?

Best of luck, and remember to keep your eyes, ears and heart open…

Good advice I keep telling everyone on a budget to just stay at the cottages on the beach I stay at when high cost becomes a problem, he is trusted guy his place has been there years, nothing goes missing and its cheaper than the price you quoted

Great information Mr. Sometimes though even when all seems right things can go wrong. I too have had things happen but like you did not let it ruin my trip or my love of Jamaica. Can happen anywhere where tourist gather for sure.

Only advice I am not sure is always an issue is having two names.......everyone in Jamaica has two, three, four names they go by. Their birth name and a few nicknames. But respect and reputation is key.....in your situation there was a great reputation all around but still there was an incident so sometimes no rhyme or reason. So sorry for your loss but I admire your attitude and fortitude!!!!! LOVE

Good advice but I do agree with Sweetness, many Jamaicans have their Christian name as well as a "nickname". However, I must add that "stuff" can happen at well known resorts also. I have been fortunate that nothing has happened to us except a missing pair of sandals which is no biggie. They probably needed them more than me anyway. Yet, I have known friends that had items missing at well known resorts...

Here at home, we have been broken into once...and we live in a nice neighborhood...in a rural state....so, things do happen. Quite frankly, I feel much more comfortable on the cliffs or along the west end than the beach area.

Again, your advice is appreciated and I know that it hasn't effected your love of Negril!! LOL Overall, with many trips to many places, Jamaica has been a joy...but, common sense and checking out the area first is something we all should do. Thanks for keeping all of us on our toes with your post. Respect mi friend! :)









With that said, your advice is still good!

I tried to make the point about the given name. You generally won't find out what it is though until you get to know someone. Without too much detail, I'm just gonna say if someone hands you a card with several AKA's on it, all nicknames, you might want to be a little cautious.

And stuff can happen anywhere, even with all sensible precautions taken. It's a risk in any tourist area. There are packs of pickpockets that operate in every major destination city in the world, First World or Third World. Desperately poor destinations just increase the chances of something happening.

Tru dat!

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Originally Posted by Guirigay

Desperately poor destinations just increase the chances of something happening.

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That is why I do not book back street unknown places

don't think we know the whole story and actually where you were staying........
but I lived on two different lanes on the Cliffs and never had a problem and me been going a long time...........

$250 a week is $1000 a month which is living very large as there are rooms/apartments for $400+ a month......
you can stay at like the Mariner on the beach which is the high rent district and that is $900 a month all in..........
so if anything the $250 week was a bit of tiefing in itself if it was away from the beach.......

Cool Runnings, Marko

My daughter has her birth name, her adopted name (mine), her married name and her "pet" name "mommy"

My son has his birth name, his adopted name (mine again), and at least two "call" names that I know of ..."doozer" and "feather"

The Bard said "what's in a name?"

oh.......mi have four names in Jamaica.........guess mi a real bad ass..........lol

Cool Runnings, Marko