was reading an unrelated story last night that noted an old quote of Arthur Frommer (of the travel guide fame) who said that the less you spend on vacation, the more you enjoy the vacation. You stay in more interesting places, meet more locals, and encounter more engaging fellow travelers than those who flock to five star hotels.
After meeting you at Bert,s party, I dont think it matters where you stay, you will have a good time. If the Delhi motel was ok I am sure Fun Holiday will be no prblem!
Here's my trip report on Fun Holidays and other stuff from last year click the link for comments and follow ups from boardies: http://www.negril.com/discus/messages/343814/341548.html?1294870716
The actual initial post is below, hope this helps;
This year we decided to take a trip at a different time of the year. It was our first excursion to Negril during the New Years season, as we didn't want our kids to be out of school for too long.
As per the previous years, we dragged along a bunch of friends to enjoy the unique vibe of Jamaica through our experience. It seems that every year when we talk about our trip and share our experiences, new folks come along. A bit of background, we've been traveling to Negril for over 17 ish years, my wife has been coming here for over 27 years, and we've stayed in a variety of places. We're not into the fancy RIU types, we're more akin to the Roots Bamboo (Cabins on the beach, with camp style showers) types. But with the arrival of the kidlettes we needed to find slightly better accommodations, so about 8 years ago we found "Point Village Resort". For the longest time, that was our home base. But alas, Point Village is no longer open for hotel type of business so the search for a new home base was on. This is when we stumbled upon Fun Holidays Beach Resort.
Our mode of vacation is a bit different, I think, than the typical beach comber type. When we arrive we usually rent a car at "Island Cruiser Jamaica" on Norman Manley, we've known Patrick Marzouca for a long time and he usually cuts a great deal, this year was no different as we needed the car for all of 17 days.
From our home base we do day trips to various places across the island, this year we've visited:
Pelican Bar (Perotte Bay)
YS Falls (South coast area)
Mayfield Falls (In the mountains)
Roaring River (Just past Sav)
Country Western Horse Riding Ranch (Little London)
Plus numerous trips to Hi Lo plaza and the west end.
For food, we've eaten everywhere from Gluttons Corner 3/4 of the way to YS Falls to the local yardie food, I've even met Niya and his lovely german wife, not to mention running into a couple of wild women one of which is famous here (Farmerdeb)... What a great laugh she is, full of life and certainly knows how to enjoy it.
I'll be posting more stories about each of the trips, and driving in Jamaica on subsequent posts, this post is about our arrival and review of our little home base this year.
Clive Transport:
When we originally booked our vacation in Jamaica, we scanned this message board to look for a transport company to take us from the airport to Fun Holidays. It is through this board where we discovered Clive Transport. We sent him emails of everyone's itinerary and when our groups arrived at the airport, he had nicely printed laminated signs held up with the names of the guests. What a nice initial touch, a complimentary beverage was the icing to the cake.
Clive Transport: Great service, great price, great professionalism.
Bigga @ Green Island: True to his name, he is a bigga fellow, but one of the nicest folks you'll ever meet, we chatted about scaling fish, how he only buys the freshest ingredients for his food, and let me tell you, his Jerk Pork is fantastic, Jerk Chicken is amazing, but to top it all off, his home made jerk spice (he gave us a cup of it to take to the hotel) was awesome. We use it on everything.
Fun Holidays
Fun Holidays Resort: Prior to arriving to Negril, this year, we read reviews on Trip Advisor and there were mixed reviews. Note, we were 13 people this year traveling, and we prefaced everyone that the place we're going to be staying at was "Rustic" and not to expect a RIU or Sandals. I believe these guys (Fun Holidays) have been getting a bad rap on the internet, and it's all about setting the correct expectation.
The Staff: Everyone from the office staff, hospitality staff, security and even the handyman was super super super helpful about everything. Aye Aye the head chef was always accommodating, we asked for Ackee and Saltfish for breakfast and he more than obliged, we asked for Porrage and he was more than happy to provide, we asked for spicier food and he made jerk chicken to rival any of the best out there. Vernon was super nice and the guards kept an eye out on the guests making sure that they weren't harassed by potential rudeboys on the beach.
The Rooms: Setting expectations is key here... Expect the RIU and you'll be disappointed, expect a grass roots homey place that's clean not fancy and you'll have a great time. The rooms all have 2 double beds, a nice big closet, a vanity with lots of drawers to keep all your stuff in, and it's cleaned every day, towels are so white it lights up the bathroom. Hot water is present and lasts for 4 showers (perfect for us), but typical to Negril, water pressure is a bit on the low side, but does the job adequately.
Overall the stay at Fun Holidays has been great, and continues to be great, we have another week to go, and I'll be posting pictures and reports on all of our journeys across the island.
Stay tuned.
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