OK, think we have narrowed to Banana Shout. Wasted WAY too much time trying to determine hotels! Please advise if you have pros or cons about the place or Dolphin Cottage - you can PM me if you prefer.
THANKS - need to make a good choice.
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OK, think we have narrowed to Banana Shout. Wasted WAY too much time trying to determine hotels! Please advise if you have pros or cons about the place or Dolphin Cottage - you can PM me if you prefer.
THANKS - need to make a good choice.
Although I have never stayed there, it has always intruigued me. It's one of the very very first resorts to spring up in Negril and seems to have kept all it's original character. In it's infancy was simply a vietnam "draft dodger's" house. When he started running out of money he'd rent out rooms to the trickle of tourists that were starting to arrive. Eventually other buildings were completed and it became what it is today. You can't get a more "Jamaican" experience than Banana Shout. If you stay there, please report back with your experiences and photos.
BTW - The book "Banana Shout" is a great read.
When are you going? We're at the Dolphin last two weeks in April. If you read Clarity's report, they stayed there last April. Gave it an excellent 'rustic' thumbs up, with poor water pressure as the only real grouch.
Be aware of the tunes coming from Rick's, not a bad thing unless you don't like the reggae beat. Rick's is closed by bed time but you won't need to bring you iPod for background music.
I'm with Craig, check out the book.
Going at Christmas/New Years. We are fine with Rustic, as long as it is clean. Does Rick's blast their music all day? Only been there one time on our first trip to Negril back in the day....Not really a Rick's gal (too touristy). But if we will be drowned out all day with cranking loud tunes, this is NOT for us!
Where do I get the book??? Amazon?
Sorry I don't remember. Definitely on-line at either Amazon or Chapters.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wisconsin gal
We could hear the tunes from Ricks at Catcha. The band started just around sunset, not sure what time they quit, we were usually at Ivan's by then...
LOVE Banana Shout - have stayed there twice and both times had a wonderful time. VERY secure which is important to me. Onsite helper if you need anything. Milo and Marianne are perfect hosts. I love Dolphin next to Catcha - you cannot beat the sea view (hear me now) it is epic. You are right on the sea. Although basic I would not say rustic - clean comfortable and reasonable for on the sea for sure. I would HIGHLY recommend this place. Here are a few photos from my stay.
Thanks - sunset till 10 pm hearing music is fine. Thought the band was there all day...
And I found the book on Amazon - ORDERED! Now if I could just figure out the damn hotel issue!
Amazon's got it in paperback.
http://www.amazon.com/Banana-Shout-M...t+mark+conklin
Music never bothered me but I was on the other side - very good location too - store just a quick walk from there. and Seastar lane also.
Please tell them Sweetness send her love if you stay there!
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Stayed there last year in May... Great location and sea access, good people, super chill vibe, overall we had a great vacation there.. It's sort of like renting a cabin at a state park but if your nice Pug will make sure there is coffee made in the mornings. Good spot for those who are not against helping themselveves... Milo will whip up some good Italian food if you ask :)
You will love it if you have realistic expectations. If we go back with another couple the Red Rooster is on my short list!!
i have never stayed at banana shout, but have been on the property many times,,, the place is really,really nice... the groundskeeper/maintenance man is Plug, i have known this gentleman for over 25 years.. what a great guy, he worked at drummville cove for many, many years & was very disrespected by old man drummond until he sold drummville, then Plug was offered a job at banana shout & loves it.. i'll be down in a couple of weeks & he is one of the first friends i visit upon arrival.. i stayed on the beach for years then stayed on cliffs at drummville for years & now i stay on the beach again. i would not think twice about staying at banana shout,, maybe next reach.. enjoy
I was able to walk up and grab a cabin last Nov. It was perfect for what i wanted to do which was lay in a hammock and watch the Caribbean do whatever it does. Milo and Marianne were Top Notch Hosts and i was sitting on the porch with a big smile and a Spitfire stout in no time. Evenin time rolled round and Marianne popped over and invited me to eat dinner with them. Turns out a head chef from a local top hotel was visiting and cooking for fun. Some of the best shrimp ive ever had. Attachment 21787Attachment 21788Attachment 21789
the next day was uneventful until i was on a bike ride and some guy on a motorcycle pulls up next to me and shows me my wallet. so i stop and he says hey mon you dropped this can i have a reward? i look through the wallet and its been cleaned out cept my library card. i told him that i had no more money and thanked him for the wallet. twas just my walkin round wallet and i figured someone just got a free 40 bucks and i chalked it up to stupidity and let it go. so i roll back to banana shout and i cant find the real wallet with the cards and the id s. i walk to the office to borrow a phone and Marianne is Great. very concerned and borrowing phones from the staff to call visa to cancel cards. proved to be impossible but damn we tried. Milo walks in and he takes control. I tell him the last place i saw the damn thing was at Kuyaba and they said they didnt see it. Milo rises up and proclaimed that we were going to the hotel and searching for ourselves! so we all piled into the suv and cruised down to Kuyaba and sure enough i had left the cursed wallet in the damn room safe. there was much rejoicing! I was so impressed that the owners of a famous hotel would take time to focus on my problems and actually drive me around Negril to SAVE MY VACATION!
Big Ups to M&M. Love them folks. will be back asap
We stayed at Banana Shout last April and we absolutely loved it. There is nothing better than waking up to the sound of the waves against the cliffs in the morning, smelling the flowers and feeling the warm ocean breeze. I was in heaven. Marianne was so friendly and offered to cook us a meal that night. The groundskeeper will bring you anything you need. He got us cold red stripes for the corner store to stock our fridge. There is a communal kitchen with coffee available for all. It's a very intimate resort with a funky rustic hippie vibe. I loved the vibrant colors and the décor. We felt like we had the place to ourselves and the snorkeling in that cove is great too.
You don't have to worry about noise. You can hear some of the music drifting over from Ricks during sunset but at night it was very quiet and peaceful at Dolphin view cottage.
The only downside was that the water pressure in the shower was a little low at the time. This isn't the norm though so you shouldn't have a problem. I'm kind of glad because it gave us the opportunity to use the cave shower...which was actually a lot of fun and very romantic with the setting sun.
I definitely recommend it. It's an experience not to be missed. You can read a little bit about our stay in our Trip Report here. http://negril.com/forum/showthread.p...-Report/page55
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Hope that helps! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions
-Daisy
Dolphin BAY or Dolphin VIEW?!?! Booking tomorrow!!!!!
we stayed in the two story house just behind the cottages wiht our two sons. Milo and his girlfreind at the time (fomer miss jamaica i beleive) were very polite and accomodating. breakfast was quite light and the house was in the jungle so to speak so it was dark and there were of course critters running within the house. if we went again we would stay in the cottages which are quaint but fine for two people and very close to water. great place to swim and snorkle in morning and you are close to many places to eat/drink so good location in my opinion. wonder if "blood" still works there. and speaking of Oshkosh wi, we live quite close to you in Clayton. How many trips have you made to JA? Enjoy.
Jim and I stayed in the Tree House. The view was nice Going downstairs to the bathroom was a little scary. We would go back. When we were there the owner was ont on sight much, but the workers were nice.
The last picture was of the cottage. REALLY SWEET~
Loved the grounds but the cottages by the street are noisy at night (road noise, dogs barking)....But I would def stay in the cliffside cottages for sure!!
Two thumbs up for Banana Shout ! We have stayed there a couple of times, and plan to again. The vibe is very special.
Milo, Maryanne and the staff are unbeatable. We have always stayed in Dolphin View and loved it. The only problem we
ever had was the water pressure last may (never thought about using the shower on the cliffs).
We also left a copy of Banana Shout there last spring.....it should still be there. Its easy entertaining reading, and gives
some delightful background on the resort and Negril.
If you wanted to be treated like old friends, and are not loking for a lot of extras.....This is the place.
Penn & Laura Kelley
We booked Dolphin Bay. Thank you all...Should be another wonderful Christmas/New Years in Negril!!!
We'll update you on that one after our April trip. :D
Always try to stay but seems to be booked when I wanna go.