Does The Caves Hotel have a restaurant/bar open to the public?

[gailnegril]

I agree. Regular folding chairs? For those prices, I was expecting velvet.

I was at the Film Festival and those folding chairs were used at the Film Venue on the other side of the street. It was a nice event that I would like to see come back

[Big_frank]

Closest I'll ever get:

[KidRick]

Made my way up to the gates once. Felt like I was the tin man trying to get in to see the wizard. "Bring back the wheels from step asides cart, then you may see the wizard of caves"...
I would have but didn't have the heart... Badoom boom...
Tough room.

[shell]

haha.. we also felt like we were asking for a visit with the wizard when we rang the bell one day in an attempt to see the property. Rang the bell..little door opened…(I swear someone popped their head out like in the Wizard of Oz, but I may have embellished that in my recollection) We gave our request .. said they would check… asked where we were staying… locked the little door back up...a few minutes later the "magic gates opened" I guess guests of Swept Away were on the approved list. haha .They were very nice and gave us a personal tour of the property. We were impressed enough to book a few nights there for our next trip.
Having said that..we enjoyed our time there , but found it to be overpriced and overhyped. Food was ok..nothing special, that includes the private cave dinner. A once in a lifetime experience for us.
And to answer the original question… The Sands bar at that time was open for sunset hours on I believe Wednesday and Saturday like has already been mentioned. At the time I think you could also purchase jerk chicken on Saturdays.

[Accompong]

The Caves and other ultra-Expensive properties in Jamaica are all about the hype. After all, would you expect a rock star or a wall street tycoon to stay in a $100 a night place? To rich people, the rooms at the Caves are pocket change and the fact that they have some type of exclusivity via locked gates etc. is part of that allure.

This is a Chris Blackwell (producer of artists like Bob Marley etc.) and owner or controller of many properties in Jamaica who came up with this concept he dubs http://www.islandoutpost.com/ .


I used to live in Treasure Beach and I am quite familiar with how the Henzells (Perry of "Harder they Come" fame, Sally (wife of Perry) and self-described "Tycoon" Jason (of Jake's) http://jamaica-gleaner.com/pages/50u...p#.Uxh_Ds62x9U became (with Chris Blackwell's help) such a powerful force in the area.

They took a property at Frenchmans that was going to be demolished, painted it up funky and called it "Jakes" and then convinced people through slick advertising that staying there http://www.jakeshotel.com/stay/rates.html for hundreds of dollars a night was somehow "sexy" and the in place to stay when all around the property, rooms were and still are going for $50 a night.

It's all about perception and status. No one wants to think that they overpaid for something so they suck it up and put a smile on their face when they tell their friends. If you have money to blow then by all means do just that. I am not against people having what they want. But to think that The Caves is something you can't get elsewhere for less money is an illusion.

Just my opinion.

Peace and Guidance

[Lorax2]

It's all about perception and status. No one wants to think that they overpaid for something so they suck it up and put a smile on their face when they tell their friends. If you have money to blow then by all means do just that. I am not against people having what they want. But to think that The Caves is something you can't get elsewhere for less money is an illusion.

Just my opinion.

Peace and Guidance

So true Accompong
A diamond is really just a rock...now thanks mostly to DeBeers, it is an overpriced rock that we are made to feel we need to purchase if we want to "get hitched"...Definitely all about perception.

[TedP]

This thread makes me think of the lyrics from Neil Young's song "Sail Away":

"See the losers in the best bars
Meet the winners in the dive
Where the people are the real stars
All the rest of their lives"

[gerryg123]

I would assume for such high prices, you can expect a better level of service. It should be more than just perception. At Sandals, for instance, they do treat you better than at RIU Club. Basic principle of business -- high risk, high return.

[shell]

I don't know gerry… maybe thats true to a degree. But for me personally, while the staff were all very nice,I didn't feel they went above and beyond what we normally experience in Negril. That was our biggest surprise, along with the food not being outstanding. I think Accompongs post is spot on.

[jar77]

I don't know gerry… maybe thats true to a degree. But for me personally, while the staff were all very nice,I didn't feel they went above and beyond what we normally experience in Negril. That was our biggest surprise, along with the food not being outstanding. I think Accompongs post is spot on.

Tensing Pen or Catcha just as good if not better bar, rooms and food

Caves has a help yourself bar late night or so ive been told.

Booked a cave dinner once..expensive..never made it called and canceled ocean filled the cave but they offered on site dinner for same....decided ivans at catcha was the way to go since I was staying there