How many hotels b4 you settled...

I'm a loyal person when it comes to something I like not open to new things...but since my reach to Negril I have stayed at Riu 3 times Rooms on the beach and CCCLP and now I'm considering Treehouse... So far I like Rooms but LOVE it's location and I REALLY love CCLP but just LIKE it's location so thinking about trying one more new spot and then make my mark from there for my next reach. Or do I just stay where I love and know. Decisions Decisions!!!;)

How many hotels did it take for you before settling?

The Beach.......we loved NBCC 1st time so we did it for over 30 yrs.......
The Cliff's......we loved Heartbeat Cottages (Pillar Room) 1st time...so anytime we stayed on the cliffs it was there........( Now gone-just memories)

We are not very adventurous. We stayed 10 times at Couples Negril. Finally had enough of the all-inclusive and expense and have now stayed at Coco La Palm 4 times. This is all since 2006. I never quite got why someone would vacation in the same place time after time. I get it now!

LoL, lets see.

Cliffs
Negril Escape for the Tarrus Riley concert because if you stayed there the concert came with the room and breakfast

Beache
Sandals Negril 2 times
Swept Away Negril
Beach Club Condos
Jah' Bs
CoCoLa Palm
Country Country
Fun Holiday
Sea Splash 2 times
Tree House in November

We have stayed from one end of the beach to the other end and everyplace was different and all were wonderful in their own way.

We spent the first 5 years going to Ocho Rios and once in Montego Bay and the only thing we settled on was that Negril is home.

Hedo twice in '94
Point Village '95 & '96
SamSara & Legends have been "home" since '97 with at least 20 (give or take) visits (have lost count) between the 2 properties...

Caribbean Sunset Resort (Chuckles)
Rooms on the Beach
White Sands
Blue Cave Castle
Treehouse


Still Trying Others.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Patricia

Hedo twice in '94

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Oh wow! I forgot about Hedo stayed there back in '06...how can I forget Hedo! lol

So I see most have tried many before making 1 place there favorite... after Treehouse I will pick my home away from home!

Hedo..2x's
Seasplash
Rockhouse
Xtabi
Croton Grove 3x's
Samsara
For Real 6x's
NBCC 2x's
Travellar's 2x's
Seastar 5 x's
Blue Cave Castle 2x's
and will be searching in Nov. for Feb.-March stay.......It's all Good!

Hedo about 10 times for the party,Fun Holiday for a great time with the older kids,Home Sweet Home for a quiet(for us)week together,CocoLaPalm for a day before a Hedo trip and Catcha Falling Star for a short test run.Back to Hedo this year for 5 days and then Catcha for 5,our favorite places right now but we also loved Coco.

we are booked for ROOMS,again for the 5th straight year, soon come

Oops I forgot we spent 3 nights at Home Sweet Home last November. We learned that we are beach people and probably won't ever stay on the cliffs again.

First 13 trips were at Negril Gardens which is now Grand Pineapple but it wasn't AI at the time. We used to buy beer at the Shamrock across the street and discovered they had rooms behind the store that in my opinion were bigger and nicer than Negril Gardens. We have stayed there the last 39 trips. We love that part of the beach and John, David and Miss Pearl are like family now.

billndonna & mo - comments about Home Sweet Home?

I've stayed at Country Country 2x and loved it. Would stay there every time if I could afford it...but alas, 2nd trip this year coming up and I just can't justify spending about $40 more/night, seeing as I got Coco for roughly $73 tax in. Coco has all the room amenities and great beach, but IMO lacking in the beach cottage feel and lovely gardens at CC. CC's included breakfast is awesome. Really like the smaller, more intimate properties (yes Coco is big for me!). Love being able to see and hear the sea from my room. So...have been looking at splitting my trip, with the first 3 nights, maybe seaside on the cliffs. Found Home Sweet Home on Expedia for $73/night plus tax. The new owners appear to be freshening it up. Not bad foliage wise? Also looking at le Mirage, rooms look nice and fully equipped and a nice pool. Good location for local restaurants (better than HSH) $80/night plus tax. Just looks like too much concrete and not enough trees/gardens to me. Both appear to have very nice sea views. Decisions, decisions! Comments on these 2 properties would be appreciated!

Hi Melody,we stayed at HSH a few years ago and we enjoyed the stay there.Nice balcony with awesome view of the ocean,really friendly staff and it's close enough to other great places you can walk to such as Xtabi or go the other way to Canoe.It did need updating for sure but have heard that is being done and probably has different staff now then it had back then.Terry was a great kitchen and bar manager and took great care of us so i hope she is still there.Nice clean pool to relax in and cold Red Stripes.

Not settled yet after 23 years! We still look for the best price/deal for our reach, as long as it is on da beach!

I spent time on the cliffs, and on the beach as well....deciding if I was a cliffs person, or a beach person. The beach won but I still like a couple days on the cliffs now and then! Some of my trips were spent outside of Negril but when I was in Negril, I tryed a different hotel each time. So I think I have tryed about a dozen....Ive found my home away from home now have stayed there 4 times, 5th trip coming at Christmas.

I don't think it hurts to try new places....you are still in Negril and thats the main point!!

I have a long list of places I have stayed, really liked some, but still have more to try!
Sunbeam Cottage
Rhodes Hall
Hedo
RIU
Seashore Bay
Beaches Sandy Bay
Point Village
Treehouse
Seasplash
Coco
Wild Parrot
Crystal Waters
Grand Pineapple
Fun Holiday
Bourbon Beach
Negril Escape
Moonlight Villa
Catcha
Seastar
Xtabi

Those are the ones I can remember?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Melody

billndonna & mo - comments about Home Sweet Home?

I've stayed at Country Country 2x and loved it. Would stay there every time if I could afford it...but alas, 2nd trip this year coming up and I just can't justify spending about $40 more/night, seeing as I got Coco for roughly $73 tax in. Coco has all the room amenities and great beach, but IMO lacking in the beach cottage feel and lovely gardens at CC. CC's included breakfast is awesome. Really like the smaller, more intimate properties (yes Coco is big for me!). Love being able to see and hear the sea from my room. So...have been looking at splitting my trip, with the first 3 nights, maybe seaside on the cliffs. Found Home Sweet Home on Expedia for $73/night plus tax. The new owners appear to be freshening it up. Not bad foliage wise? Also looking at le Mirage, rooms look nice and fully equipped and a nice pool. Good location for local restaurants (better than HSH) $80/night plus tax. Just looks like too much concrete and not enough trees/gardens to me. Both appear to have very nice sea views. Decisions, decisions! Comments on these 2 properties would be appreciated!

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Hey Melody - the wife and I stayed at HSH twice under the old management (look for one of my old trip reports). We loved it, although parts of the property needed updating, for sure. We stopped back to take a look this past June and the new owners have made some great improvements, including 2 new suites. The cheaper rooms are basic, but clean and comfortable with fresh updates. Every room has an amazing ocean view and a private balcony, so no worries there. Terry in the restaurant is excellent and one of the most underrated cooks in Negril. Great cliff setup, too.

In June we also did a walk-through of Mirage and were thoroughly impressed. It is kind of a hidden gem, in that it doesn't get much mention on the internet. The rooms are very,very nice and also have a great ocean view. Very nice pool and cliffs, but no restaurant or bar. Not having a restaurant is fine with me, since there are some great spots directly across the street (Shark's, Ras Rody's, Little Sandwich Hut, Ahh Bee's and others). Also, Ivan's, Rick's and Negril Escape are all within walking distance if you want a cliffside bar with a social atmosphere (the Wednesday night karaoke at Negril Escape is a BLAST and draws a good crowd of locals and tourists).

We are actually in the same boat as you - we are trying to decide between HSH and Mirage for our next reach. We love the people and the comfort of HSH, but we also like what Mirage has to offer and that neighborhood is starting to become my favorite area on the West End. Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions.

Melody- our stay was during the time it was changing owners. It was not a good experience because there were no owners on property. No security at night and one of the employees asking us for money and following us around. We had the "best room in the house" which had an awesome view and great bed. The bathroom and kitchen sink were "icky". Keep in mind this is before the improvements started. I also did a review on TA. New owners did respond and told me if I wanted to give it another chance to contact them directly and they would make it up to us. As I mentioned we are definitely beach people but if we were to stay on the cliffs I might give it a chance. It was just way too quiet for us. I can't swim and the water was to rough to get in. The pool was not in good shape and the jacuzzi did not work at all. We spent the whole time either sitting on our balcony or walking back and forth from the lighthouse to Canoe.

We've stayed at:
Country Country x2
Sunset at the Palms
Point Village x2
Couples Negril
Breezes x2 ... now Grand Lido, once
Treehouse
Rooms Negril x4

The only one that I wouldnt stay at again was Sunset at the Palms, because of the location of their beach, across the road.
For AI, Couples is awesome but very expensive. We've gotten great last minute deals at Breezes/Grand Lido, and its beautiful. We love CC, but pricey and I'm afraid that they will ruin it by making it bigger. Treehouse is very nice also, with an amazing breakfast. Our fall back is Rooms Negril. They have very nice clean rooms, and a great spot on the beach. The area has lots of great bars and restaurants.
So, I agree. Our decision is mostly based on price. Each place has its own charm. We have our favorites, but also willing to try something else if the price is right.

For us this was easy. Tensing Pen!!

This is how I explain Jamaica, Negril and Tensing Pen to friends that have never been to Jamaica or any other country.

The first time we wen to Jamaica/Negril was in the early 90's. When we arrived at the airport and walked out to the taxi area the feeling came over you "WE HAVE SPENT HOW MUCH TO GO WHERE"!!!

Once you find your drive and load up through the craziness and start the trip to Negril driving through Mobay you keep thing oh my god. Then you get in the area areounf Tryall and start feeling much better. As the drive continues along the coast especially the old road and you go through Lucea, Hopewell, Green Island that feeling of OH **** comes back. Then you come to the All Inclusive area or negril and you start to feel better again. Opps the bad feeling come back once you get to the round about in Negril and head out on the potholed west end road ( much better today). Drivind down westend that 'WE SPENT HOW MUCH TO GO WHERE" feeling returns.

Then you pull into the gate at Tensing Pen, look through the dinning area out onto the cliffs, walk the property the first time and realize you have arrived in Paradise!!

Each day of your trip the Westend becomes more familiar and you soon realize all the little places you though we just shacks along the road have some of the friendliest people and the best food on the planet. soon you realize "YES WE SPENT THIS MUCH MONEY" and "YES TENSING PEN AND NEGRIL ARE WORTH EVERY PENNY".

After our first afternoon, first dinner (the old Serious Chicken), first night under the stars, first morning waking to the sticky sweet smell of a Jamaica morning and first breakfast overlooking the cliffs at Tensing Pen we knew there would never be another place or country for us. We had found or home away from home.

I wont say Negril or Tp are without faults, you can find faults anywhere or within anyone. If there were one thing I could change about Jamaica as a whole would be the begging on the road and beaches. I don't even mind someone hustling you that is selling a service or product I can easily say no thanks, I just hate the ones that just straight out ask for a hand out!

There are many other nice properties to stay at but for us Tensing Pen is truly Home, we would not even consider a night at another place. The Jamaica saying "ONCE YOU GO YO KNOW" so very true.

Hedo 5 times (in the 90's) Sandals Mo bay/Breezes Ocho/Couples Ocho/Couples Negril/Swept Away(tooooo expensive now) Lido twice(only during early Dec sales)Rio Trop 5 times(overpriced now)Seastar/Rockhouse/Xtabi/Catcha (1 each) and now back to CCLP for the third time.......CoCo is now my home base always.It has everything,price,location,pools etc.....

this thread is so helpful and interesting.
for us:
Grand Lido
Hedo
Point Village
Samsara
Charela
Idle Awhile
Cocolapalm -which is our default home away from home.
its fun to try new places and appreciate the feedback.

I've been like Goldilocks looking for the one that is just right...........!!!

Villa Sur Mer-main villa-my very 1st trip!
Hidden Paradise
Catcha a number of times
LTU villas/Catcha Gardens a number of times
Citronella
Tensing Pen
Bar B Barn
Negril Escape
Banana Shout
Country Country
Coco LaPalm
Blue Horizon
Blue Cave Castle
Le Mirage


Enjoyed all of them for various reason. & I would stay at any of them again.

Some great, affordable & diverse properties all over Negril...my stays included...

Rockhouse
Idle Awhile
Xtabi
Country Country
Seastar
Ltu Villa
Catcha Falling Star

...then literally decided to settle here...:)

Bar B Barn room 118 --- been staying there since my son was 3 -- he's 17 now lol

Rondel 3x
Catcha Falling Star 2x
Grand Pineapple
Kuyaba
Seastar
Blue Cave Castle
LTU Villas
Moondance Cliffs
Beaches

Will be adding Treehouse and Idle Awhile to that list next reach. Love staying in different places and meeting new people.

Kind of like a rolling stone myself. Tend to settle in for a while and then get to know another resort. One nice thing about trying new resorts is that you get to know new people and a new area of the beach or cliffs. After many visits...ya feel like home just about anywhere. LOL

1st visit Sandals Ocho x1
Sandals Negril x3
Country County
Villa Sur Mer (also main villa...long before the refurb, when there were only 4 villas)
Xtabi x6
Mirage x3
BCC
Coco La Palm
Native Son Villas (Now Eco Villa??something)
Dragon Cove (private rental on cliffs)
Seastar x5
Catcha Gardens x2
As you will note, the cliffs have become home. As with West End Girl....I enjoyed every one of them and have no regrets, only new adventures. Hopefully, many new ones to come. :)

Opps left 2 out... Port Antonio..Dragon Bay Resort where Cocktail was filmed. Now, I think Butch Stewart (Sandals fame) owns this property which is going to be developed into a "high" end resort.
Jamaican Jewel in Duncans Bay.
Truly enjoyed both of these resorts and so nice to visit the low key areas of Jamaica. Again, no regrets only good memories!

Livin the dream

"sticky sweet smell of a Jamaica morning"
THAT is the best description I have ever heard........Good Job !

Ditto what Living the Dream said...LOL!

we switch it up on every vacation, regardless of destiny

Riu Club - All inclusive. Is what it is. Out of the way from stuff I like
Yellow Bird - I love this beach, bar and staff more than I like the rooms. Would stay there again
Bourbon Beach 2X - and prob never again. Every time I go there, I find myself ready to move on within an hour. Love the food though.
Wild Parrot - Had a great experience here. Want to stay here again in April/May or whenever I can make it back
Cathca - Great hotel - great rooms - great grounds. Pricey drinks and food. Bored to death after 2 days.
White Sands - Great room for the price. No complaints. Basic.


I would rank them like this.

Room Quality
Catcha
Riu
Wild Parrot
White Sands
Yellow Bird
Bourbon

Bar
Yellow Bird
Bourbon
Wild Parrot
Catcha
White Sands
Riu

Atmosphere
Yellow Bird
Wild Parrot
Bourbon
Catcha
With Sands
Riu

Beach
Yellow Bird
Wild Parrot
Bourbon
White Sands
Riu
Catcha NA

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rambo

Livin the dream

"sticky sweet smell of a Jamaica morning"
THAT is the best description I have ever heard........Good Job !

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i was thinking the same thing

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MoFromMonroe

Melody- our stay was during the time it was changing owners. It was not a good experience because there were no owners on property. No security at night and one of the employees asking us for money and following us around. We had the "best room in the house" which had an awesome view and great bed. The bathroom and kitchen sink were "icky". Keep in mind this is before the improvements started. I also did a review on TA. New owners did respond and told me if I wanted to give it another chance to contact them directly and they would make it up to us. As I mentioned we are definitely beach people but if we were to stay on the cliffs I might give it a chance. It was just way too quiet for us. I can't swim and the water was to rough to get in. The pool was not in good shape and the jacuzzi did not work at all. We spent the whole time either sitting on our balcony or walking back and forth from the lighthouse to Canoe.

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Thanks MoFromMonroe and billndonna! Good to read your feedback. It seems it has improved a lot, but I checked and they no longer have coffee pots or fridges in their cheaper rooms. The fridge is a deal breaker for me. You can rent both, depending on availability, but the rental cost was rather high. I bartered a bit and was told they would include the fridge for me if booking with them directly, rather than Expedia. Still a bit more than Mirage though. I have some concerns about both places being too quiet, perhaps ending up with too much solitude, but really looking for my seaview fix and curious about being located on the cliffs for a short time to walk around and get to know some of the little places better. Sort of an "excursion". I guess I'll never know for myself unless I try it. If I get lonely, I can always go to Seastar or Canoe or other smaller places. I will be in Negril 9 nights, with the first one, arriving late, probably 10 pm, so I figure that would leave me two full days to explore the area and then have 6 nights on the beach at Coco.

Mike_D - thank you! Really great to read about both properties. I really like the look of the rooms much better at Mirage. I emailed asking about any specials and was told they'd include the taxes in the rate. Nadine replied quickly and professionally. And don't mind at all not having a bar or restaurant because of the close proximity of lots of good ones, and I like to self serve my own drinks on property, so I shouldn't have to worry about them having a problem with that! Really, my biggest concern with Mirage is the expanse of concrete and lack of trees/gardens. Do they have any gardens on the side or from the road to the hotel? Did you look to see what their sea access is like? I'm not at all good with heights and wouldn't use ladders of any real length. I know I could always go to Xtabi if I wanted to swim in the sea. Is the stretch of road by Mirage decent for walking? Being a solo woman (especially), I'd need to know of a good taxi driver in the area to go to dinner and back (after dark). Do you have info on someone in particular you'd recommend for that area or did you find out if Mirage has a decent driver? I'd like to check out LTU or Pushcart as I haven't been. As mentioned, I won't arrive until about 10 pm and it'll be a Wednesday, so perhaps karaoke at Escape will be just about over, or just getting good?

Trip #1 - Honeymoon at Royal Plantation, Ocho Rios, October 2002 - AWESOME!

Trip #2 - Club Ambiance, Runaway Bay, October 2004- Hotel was ok, food was good. Staff and guests were great. Still keep in touch with one of the entertainment staff, she has since moved to Florida after going to college in Ohio and we have met up with her in both Ohio & Florida.

Trip #3 - Royal Decameron Montego Bay, October 2006 - OK.

Trip #4 - Grand Pineapple, October 2009 - LOVED it. Great spot on the beach.

Trip #5 - Grand Palladium, October 2010 - Hated it, wouldn't return if it was free. The place is huge and the beach was horrible. (We only paid $600 pp for 7 nights including airfare so we thought we'd give it a try.) After being in Negril the year before, we were sooooo disappointed that we wasted vacation time going to this place.

Trip # 6 - Breezes Grand Negril, October 2011 - nice place, nightlife sucked.

Trip # 7 - Relax Resort (Merrill's 3), May 2012 - now closed - We liked this place. Smaller place, nothing fancy but nice enough. We were the only English speaking people staying at the resort so we became very friendly with the staff (still keep in touch with 3 of them).

Trip # 8 - Couples Negril, October 2012 - Really nice place but we decided we like the Long Bay beach area better than Bloody Bay.

Trip # 9 - Seastar, Catcha Falling Star & Coco La Palm, April 2013- 1st non-AI trip and we loved all 3 places.

Trip # 10 - upcoming in 5 weeks, October 2013 - We are doing our first repeat stay at Catcha Falling Star. We'll be at Catcha for 2 nights and then move to Couples Swept Away for 7 nights.

Trip #11 - planning on a trip in April - we'll do non-AI again and we will either do a repeat stay at Coco or possibly Treehouse.

We haven't found our "home" yet but we do know that Negril is our spot.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Seveen

Bar B Barn room 118 --- been staying there since my son was 3 -- he's 17 now lol

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Wow! So BBB is your 1 and only stay in 14yrs.?

First stay in 98 was Samsara. It was booked through Sears in Canada and included a 25 dollar per week bar credit and an air equipped room with breakfast included.
Loved it. Loved the grounds and the nicest person we met at the hotel was the groundskeeper; Melvin.
Free daily transfers to Legends and back was a big selling point.
The next trip we decided to go all-inclusive at Trelawny Beach Resort which I believe was a "Starfish" branded resort at the time.
We had a great time, but the beach was always windy and more choppy than Negril. Visited Falmouth and loved it. Left my bank card in the machine and had people chasing me down the road to return it. They wouldn't accept a reward.
That last 8 visits have been to Seastar Inn on the west end (best end).
Chris and Francine are the best hosts in the parish and the hotel has some of the best vibes on the island. No need for us to go anywhere else; but if I couldn't find space at the popular Seastar, I would stay at Rhodes Hall with their wonderful infinity pool and spectacular setting.

My first stay was at Charela Inn in 1999 for a wedding. The next year it was the Blue Cave Castle solo. The next time it was a week at each with a group of friends. In 2002 for the marathon we stayed at RIU, there was only one then, as part of a charity group but were very happy to cut the wristband and get back to the Castle for the last part of our stay. After that the timeline gets lost in the haze but Treehouse was next. Then we would split our stays between the Castle and alternate Treehouse and Charela. One year we attempted a low budget trip and tried Jah B's but only lasted one night there. It was nice but a bit too rustic and no A/C. So on SLP's recommendation we moved to Yellow Bird and stayed there on several trips. Our wedding was at the Castle with family staying there and guests at Treehouse, Charela and YB. After a week at the Castle we honeymooned in a suite at Treehouse and got royally spoiled. The last few years we have rotated between the Castle, Treehouse and Charela. I can't say we have settled but after our 2 week stay in a Treehouse suite a couple weeks ago it is definitely #1 on our list. We love them all and visit each of them even when staying elsewhere. The joy is we are welcomed by name like family at all of them.

12 times since our return home. All at Seastar