North Beach lodging Q

Hello Negrilites!

Am planning 1st time trip to Jamaica to attend wedding in Negril in late February. The happy couple is staying at Sandals Negril with a few guests and the bulk of the group are staying at Beaches. AIs don't interest me & my lady so we are looking to tour the island some and then stay nearby for a few days. Looks like Our Past Time and Sea Wind are both close by Sandals/Beaches and have similar costs to one another, similar reviews on TripAdvisor too - many folks loved each, although the bug probs reported at Past Time were less concerning than the probs with hard beds and bussed-in beachies reported at Sea Wind, FWIW. My lady has allergies to contend with too, perfumes/flowers/pollens.

So looking for any other thoughts on these resorts or others within easy strolling distance. Oh, am aware of the entry fees that Sandals charges & think we will be easily ahead of the $ game.

Looking to stay in the West End for a few days first too, leaning toward Banana's Garden for the private bungalows and proximity to everything while being near to all. Comments here also welcome.

Rest of Jamaice tour is still in progress right now (rent car & just wander with travel guidebooks?), sure to be more q's coming though!

Thanks in advance!

KJ

Word of advice if you have never driven in JA I would hire a driver. They are also very knowledgeable and know where to take you and where not to. IMO

TY mn fan, have seen a fair number of anti-driving posts and some that were pro or neutral. Only the latter seemed to have much detail though, and mostly about driving, not what areas not to stray into.

Your point is taken.

Treehouse is down at that end of the beach too.

problem with Sandals and Beaches is that they are so far from everything..........
but the good news no matter where you stay on the beach......
you only be a $100J(each) taxi ride from your friends at Beaches and Sandals.......
even staying at like SeaWinds it be a bit of a long walk to get to Sandals.......
think SeaWinds and Negril Treehouse are two great suggestions...........
and I would suggest Coco LaPalm as another choice..........
go NegrilOneStop.com and check out the special prices on different places.......

doesn't sound like you need to be wata side on the Cliffs.........
so you have a lot of options on da Cliffs..........
Catcha Gardens and SeaStar are two very reasonably priced places to stay.........
Blue Cave Castle on da wata is really hard to beat and priced right........
Moonlight Villas on da wata is great too and Debbie aims to please.........

so many places, so likkle time.........

Enjoy!

Cool Runnings, Marko

Thanks Marko & poolguywindsor (almost a neighbor there),

I see now that Sea Wind isn't really close to Sandals - google maps is VERY confused about Negril business locations, hoping the negrilinfo.com map is accurate.

Looks like Past Time is only regular hotel that is close at all, plunked right between Sandals & Beaches Sandy Bay. Downside is that it is far from all else, but as you said rides are cheap. Struggling now with desire to be in middle of everything vs close to wedding party and quieter.

Might get wrong impression of Negril, being in quiet place on the cliff too, eh?

Still pondering on adding more days to tour rest of island. Need to quit thinking soon & start doing.

KJ

For the westend check catcha falling star gardens, Negril Escape, both are not far from Banana Shout gardens and Rick,s cafe. If it were me I would pick Treehouse, Seawind or Cocolapalm over Our Past time as there are lots of bars and restaurants walking distance from them as Our Past Time not the case. Where are you coming from? I wouldnt wait too long as feb. can fill up pretty fast in Negril.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KenJ

TY mn fan, have seen a fair number of anti-driving posts and some that were pro or neutral. Only the latter seemed to have much detail though, and mostly about driving, not what areas not to stray into.

Your point is taken.

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I put together my thoughts on driving, along with some videos and photos I took on the roads:

http://www.travelsinjamaica.com/2010...xperience.html

As for "areas not to stray into" I really can't think of any except some in Kingston (west of downtown, mainly) and Montego Bay, parts of May Pen and Spanish Town. But except for MoBay all of those are far to the east.

Driving though MoBay on your way somewhere else you won't go pass through any funky areas but if you plan an extended stay there near, say, Flankers, ask and people can probably tell you what areas to avoid.

I've driven as a solo female throughout the country, east, south, west, some waaaayyyyyy off the beaten track areas, and never feared for my safety. I avoid driving at night, though, and do generally know where I am and where I'm headed.

Hiring a driver is also nice, though, you can sit back and enjoy a few drinks while you travel, take pictures, get to know someone who knows the island well. It can be similar in cost or more, it depends where you want to go.

Hi KenJ

I will send you a private message shortly. I have issues as your wife does and we stay at a place on the beach and a few in the cliffs that will be suitable.

Hey poolguywindsor, I'm in Michigan near Pontiac, plan to fly outa Flint Bishop. Those prices just went up $10 this week.

Nothing nearby is the two-edged sword for Our Past Time - quiet for a reason ,there's nothing nearby but Sandals Negril & Beaches Sandy Bay. But, that's where the wedding is and where most all the other folks will be at. Trying to balance those two "FWIW"s and see what makes sense for us. Nice to be withing walking distance, but what's the cost/benefit of that...

Hey ohliz,

Really appreciate your info! Enjoyed the blog too, skipped to the one on your trip to Ludington which looks a lot like my photo albums, being a Michigander & having a family place "up north".

Put most of my safety concerns to rest - if a solo gal didn't have probs with driving around then a middle-aged couple prolly wont either.

Your rate for that rental is something I cant get close to! Maybe I need to look beyond renting a car right at Sangster.

Ideal for us would prolly be rent in MoBay, head east til we cant go east any more, then head southwest til we cant go west anymore (detouring into the Blue Mountains for a time), then drop the car off in Negril for a week there. See how many interesting spots we find along the way...

Shoulda opened a "driving in Jamaica" thread for our dialogue here, eh?

KJ

Open a new thread, you'll get a lot of responses :)

I agree that there isn't much point in having a car IN Negril. Blue Mountains are doable but that is some challenging driving. If you do go that way, know that the road from Buff Bay down to Kingston via Newcastle has been closed for years and as far as I know still is. Landslide up top. You can cut over on the road that has Stony Hill and the botanical gardens though - aka the Junction Rd. Or you can go around the coast way and check out St. Thomas. I'd like to see more of that parish than I have...Bath hot springs, more mountain hiking and the lighthouse and beaches around Morant Bay are on my bucket list.

I really did go out of my way not to drive at night if I could avoid it. It's much harder to see potholes and all that, of course. But I also found that there are some serious drunk drivers out at night too. Coming back (as a passenger) from Luminous Lagoon to Jamaica Jewel in Duncans one night, we followed a pickup truck that was weaving ALL OVER the main north coast highway. We were too scared to pass it, because it moved so far to the right and left. It finally pulled to the side of the road, hopefully to sleep it off....we passed it as fast as we could. I was REALLY glad not to be driving.

If you do have to drive at night, use extreme caution, lock your doors and close your windows. The latter advice comes from an experience on a remote road in St. Mary we had to travel at night...bag was snatched from back seat. Recovered the bag later, but there it is.

For your rental - have you looked at Island? Chalis? The former has a great fleet and locations all over JA, the latter a bit cheaper and used by a friend or two in the past. The one I used, Sparks base din Negril, was great and had very personal service, and was recommended to me by another n.com boardie, Cindy. I'd recommend that one too.