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

Marko,

Ya forgot Hippolyte!!!! LOL

On the name thing I will try to clarify my point, I went about it clumsily. I'm not talking about multiple names for your children or wife or friends. I'm not talking about a name as a label of the intrinsic value of a thing. I'm talking about a name as a standard bearing representation of a service you are considering for provision of your security. I'll grant that it may be possible there are legitimate reasons for one person to offer the exact same services under different aliases. I can guarantee from experience there are illegitimate reasons. My recommendation, and that's all it is, would be to avoid those arrangements.

Guirigay, the next day, when your experience from the night before was brought up, I must say that your attitude of "it happened, it sucked, live and learn, we're still having a great time" greatly impressed me. You two were also lucky to have made some excellent friends along the way to help you out, which is awesome! I think the advise you have given is wise. Thanks for sharing :)

Thank you Katho, I am SO happy to be able to include you in that excellent circle. And lucky, yes, in many ways very lucky.

I respect your wish not to bad mouth a property but don't you think future guest may want to know about security issue's at a guest house they are thinkg about ?

If my house burns down and my wife leaves me, and my daughter brings home her punk/goth boyfriend and love child , I want only you by my side Guirigay!!! Your coolness IS cool. You will live a long life holding those sentiments. Respect!

Nice one, dash!
And you are dead on.....he really IS that cool!
I wish more people could be that way (myself included) ;)

Guirigay..you're a kool laid back kind of dude..loved meeting you and sweetie pie at canoe your joie d'vie. chalk this up to your heading...STUFF HAPPENS.. once bitten twice shy..take the precautions to deter this from happening again and keep on pressing on. the more you travel, the more you will explore and/ or better yet happen upon that soul that you can put some trust in to give you an assist. Don't forget that Rob can be a great resource. This past winter i stayed at 2 different cliff properties that I didn't even know where they were located. I asked a "friend" (a driver i met the yr b4 to check them out for me and give me his opinion.. he thought i would like 1 place but not the other because security could have been an issue. I took both and loved both and my landlord was unknown to this driver but not to the community.
I am a female traveling by myself so we learn from our past experiences..get yourseles some personal alams as well as room alarms and trip insurance and keep it moving. you'll be more cautious next time.

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Originally Posted by Biggs of the week

I respect your wish not to bad mouth a property but don't you think future guest may want to know about security issue's at a guest house they are thinkg about ?

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Believe me, Biggs, I've thought about that a lot. I wouldn't be naming "a property", I'd be naming names. I'm not going to put that out there. I can put this out and this is THE place to do it.

Dash - Thanks man, that's a hell of a compliment! :o Have to say a few years ago it wouldn't have rolled like this. All it took was my ex leaving me to live with my kids friend, my son informing me he would soon be my daughter and my daughter informing me she'd rather wait tables and date dishwashers than attend University. Still got my house, though, and it's a beauty... :)

Dang, Marley, I'm going to have to come up with something special for the next hangout... :)

Biggs he offered to answer offline for anyone w/questions on properties up lanes to see if they might be the same as where he stayed. He definately has others in his heart always so would want to help them if he can be safe.

As I said - even when all things are right -stuff can happen.....in life we prepare best we can, keep our wits about us but still may become a victim of someone desparate.

Sorry this happened to you, Guirigay & Sweetie Pie.
We get asked quite regularly about areas around town, actual street/lane locations and are always happy to share what we know...Rob of course being better informed than I am.
It is good advice to find people that you feel you can trust here...but that takes time as it's a learning process and can't be done in a few visits or even years of visits. We have given our opinions about certain rougher locations (just the same as we would with family/friends we care about) & some will still choose to stay. They've either decided to take a chance or trusted someone else's opinion that everything was cool there...some turned out just fine, others not so much.
But as I said above...it's a learning process & you really don't know the motivation behind someone's comments/opinions until you get to know them. Same as with anyone you've grown to trust it can take years of daily interaction.
The outcome could be just fine anywhere...but if you don't have the connections yet...I would always want to go with the odds & stay at places that are well known, registered with the JTB and have legitimate security. There is a reason the JTB requires proper security on all their licensed properties!

You both deserve big credit for how you've dealt with this crappy situation!! We both find it amazing!!

Thanks Babelew, it was very nice meeting you as well, you are a joyful lady. I have traveled quite a bit, particularly in the Caribbean. I was in the military for 10 years. I've been to 17 different islands, sailed between many of them with my ex and kids. You don't drop anchor in a secluded Caribbean bay without taking security into account. We spent thought, time and effort on good security this past trip. As Sweetness said, there was great reputation involved in the process but still things went awry. This is life. My recommendations here are things I've thought about in retrospect, I think they would have reduced the chance of an incident, not removed the chance. I believe, if you're a traveler, you understand there are risks to reap the rewards. Experience, learn, adapt... I think that's just what you said! :)

I respect you not naming names and having travelled alot of places don't let one bad thing ruin the whole trip.I like how you still enjoyed your vacation.I've been stabbed and I have been robbed not in Ja. but have travelled back to them destinations many times! I like your attitude ? Was it a break-in or fishing through thre window that happened to you?

Bad things can happen to good people! Even with best planning and precautions, something untoward can happen. Criminality is present in every country in the world. Most of us want to be trusting souls, but there are those that will take advantage of this quality. When our trust is betrayed, it is very difficult to accept.
Your words and attitude show you to be a top notch guy in my book.

Sweetness - <3

Lisa - Thank you, Thank Rob. I agree with everything you said.

Biggs - worse, no sign of forced entry...

That sucks inside job.Hope the owner likes your stuff as much as you did.

............and your car Mike, that's cool as well!!! :cool:

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Originally Posted by spottycatz

............and your car Mike, that's cool as well!!! :cool:

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Let me guess. Gremlin?

I'm so sorry to read that you were both robbed in a place that you trusted with your belongings. I hope you didn't pay that landlord ahead of time for the whole week's stay.
Just remember that you can always replace the money and things, but you cannot replace your one life. So thankful that neither of you were harmed, and that it all took place while you were gone. Big ups to Marley & Sweetness for helping you out of a difficult situation. True friends for sure. Love your positive attitude despite the unfortunate happenings. :-)

Cool heads prevailed in this one. Much respect Guirgay....... At the moment you might not have felt that you came out ahead, but considering you are hear to talk about it, you are ahead. I HATE thieves and wish I could have helped you out on this buddy.

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Originally Posted by booger

Let me guess. Gremlin?

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Close, dude! I LOVE my Pacer!!

here are a few of my nicknames in negril....lanetop...howard...chicken bumbo....woopwop...
here are a couple from the finer gender...donkeyman.....bambooman....cheap charlie...lol

also a tip or two....beware when heavy rain and storms...very excellent opportunity for a break-in
any big show in area... also beware

Post edited for name calling and libelous content..... "This is Gospel, I know, I own the place. Why would we steal from a guest?? really??"

To be clear - The vast majority of Queenie's post has been removed. The quote above is all that will remain.

LOL

Real quick....I just wanna wish my friend a very HAPPY BIRFDAY!!! ;)

Cheers to beers and hugs not drugs :confused:

that is all

Where is our ref???......ROOOOOOOBBBBBBB, stop the madness!!!!!

This thread is closed.

What started out as some excellent advice to visitors to Jamaica turned into a name calling pointlessly mean discussion. This will not be tolerated on Negril.com.

I am sorry for not stopping the madness earlier, but a boardie wedding had me occupied... more on that later! (grin)

Back to the matter at hand... the comments made by the owner of the property that was never named here by the original poster were completely unwarranted. In addition to the fact that the topic had not been discussed actively since June, the original poster has shown intelligent restraint in not naming the property in question. The original advice given was an excellent reminder of a rather common sense concept.

We want everyone to feel free to post their advice to help others to enjoy their vacation. We also want all business owners in Negril to know that Negril.com is here to help them promote their business and help in other various ways. But, unprofessional name calling postings are neither in our visitors or Negril business owners' best interest and not helpful to anyone involved. And again, this will not be tolerated on Negril.com.