Just returned, Negril looking good!

[RonMon]

We just returned from an 8 nighter, 5 nights at Coral Seas Garden and the final 3 at Samsara. This is somewhere between 12 and 15 Jamaica trips for us, 8 or 10 to Negril. We had a good trip, some highligts were dinner at Rockhouse, the new Winery "Wine with Me" at Beachcomber, breakfast at Travelers a few mornings, etc. etc. Had some typical JA annoyances at the hotels, always hate this as it is what turns first timers off. Shouldn't be an issue to have a working A/C at check in and a flushing toilet, but that is part of the budget accomodations. We caught up with some old friends and met some new ones. We did the "One Love Pub Crawl" and the vibe has changed since we first did it almost 6 years ago, but it was still a nice time.

The boss lady said back on all-inclusive next year, so a 5 year run has ended. She wants to do Sunset at the Palms next year in July and bring some friends along. I'm sure we will bounch off property a time or two though.

The best thing we saw was lots of new construction going on! We checked out the winery "Wine with Me", its at the Beachcomber and it is really well done and has great wines and a super cool vibe. We wanted to stop by again, but just couldn't squeeze it in!

One Love.

[Markospoon]

Hey RonMon,
Sorry to hear about the annoyances.
As you know, I recommended Coral Seas Garden to folks.
Hope they quickly hard to fix things for you.

Take care,
Later.

[Jaherring]

Sounds like you had a nice trip! We are looking forward to visiting Negril again very soon!

[MikeyNYC]

would like to hear you take on the pub crawl.

[RonMon]

Hey RonMon,
Sorry to hear about the annoyances.
As you know, I recommended Coral Seas Garden to folks.
Hope they quickly hard to fix things for you.

Take care,
Later.

Marko, I think they have a good thing there, just need some fine tuning. I would stay there again, I think the location is primo and out bed was ultra comfortable. The boss lady was a bit upset that we had to move twice due to A/C not working in first room and toiltet not flushing in second room. Actually she was more annoyed that the girl at the front desk basically didn't care. Carl is the go to guy on the property, once he found out it was quickly resolved. He even said they were at 20% occupancy so no reason to have someone in a room where things don't work.

I am with you Marko, I have it on my recommend list and I would go again.

[Markospoon]

Cool RonMon,
I do love that place.
Been staying there since 2000.
As you said "Perfect location".

Mi know Carl good, he's always on the job.

[RonMon]

would like to hear you take on the pub crawl.

Well since you asked, I was hesitant to say because I don't want to offend anyone, but here is my take. We first began our One Love Pub Crawling about 5 or so years ago, we loved it! The Crawl is what prompted us to leave the big A/I and venture off on our own. Lenbert was fun, engaging and made a great time for all. I read a review on his Facebook site just before we left where a guy stated that he felt the crawl had changed a lot and that Lenbert had kind of lost interest and just went through the motions, I had hoped this was untrue.

Our experience this trip was 7 stops, about half were new to us so that was good. First thing we noticed that Lenbert did seem a bit off and just not as into it as he used to be. I completely understand, its a job for him and hes not on vacation. The second thing we noticed is that there is now a bit of a cottage industry of locals that follow the Crawl to beg and expect gifts, money etc. Lenbert didn't mingle and interact with the guests as he used to and as the review I read stated it is kind of an "on your own" now vibe. Along that same line one of the stops was a simple wooden stand type bar that clearly was not open until we pulled up. Lenbert stated that his ex wife owned it and we were helping out with the alimony. $4 a RS made some folks groan, but that would be the low price for the trip. As we pulled away they were clearly shutting down the shop and calling it a day.

We hit a small hut far out in the West End and while we were there prior and paid $3 a RS, Crawl price was $4. I know this has been a bone of contention for some folks, but it is what it is, I am just stating the experience we had.

Of course the now regular "Shanty Town" as Lenbert referred stop was next. This is where it got a bit crazy! Only a handful of folks exited the bus, they had some clothes, school supplies, etc to hand out. In a minute or two it was a mob scene, kids were coming on the bus, Lenbert was trying to regulate the going ons outside the bus, but clearly had his hands full. This turned a lot of folks off and kinda killed the vibe a bit. Some of the people that were handing things out said they literally had items ripped out of their hands and their clothing pulled on, etc, etc. It got a bit crazy for sure.

The crawl didn't end with the usual singing and dancing, just kind of drifted into the sunset quietly. I don't want to sound as though I am anti anything, we contribute to the pople of Negril. I choose to donate through Travelers as I like what they do and I don't think it promotes the begging culture which is in contrast to the great good. For example, Royal Carribbean just cancled the Falmouth port off their itinerary. They said in their statement it was due to harrassment of guests by the hustlers and practices of the tour operators that resulted in excessive complaints. We are cruisers as well and when I read the rankings of ports Jamaica is always at the bottom for this same reason.

Anyhow, back on track I think everyone should try the Crawl and we will continue to support and recommned. It has just changed and in many ways you can't blame Lenbert. The folks at the Couples Swept Away boards have made a whole thing of using the Crawl as a way to donate to the kids, etc, etc. Most of these folks never see the outside of the resort other than this trip so they don't really get what they are doing. Lenbert has done a ton of good and I'm sure he feels caught in the middle at times.

One Love

[Jaherring]

Good read. We haven't done the bus pub crawl in a couple years and it does sound much different. When we went it was a rolling party. Lenbert kept us laughing and we really enjoyed ourselves.

[Accompong]

Hey RonMon,
Sorry to hear about the annoyances.
As you know, I recommended Coral Seas Garden to folks.
Hope they quickly hard to fix things for you.

Take care,
Later.

Marko. I stayed one night at the Coral Seas Garden so I could catch the bus to the airport after 6 months on the island. I was disappointed in what I got for $80+ for a night. I got a room near the pool on the bottom level. A/C did not work properly, water pressure was poor and the furnishings were old and some broken in places.

You know I live in an area without pipe water and nothing approaching air conditioning so these two deficiencies were extremely annoying to me.

I like saving money but, in my opinion, this experience was a waste of it.

[*vi*]

Thank you, RonMon, for sharing your observations. I agree, it’s an informative read. I must say, I admire your loyalty to Lenbert and the crawl even after a “not-so-irie experience”. The shanty town stop is what kept me off the bus. Children getting on the bus now??? How can it not continue to get worse?? For safety reasons, no one should be allowed on the bus except the original patrons.

I fear that even if he wanted to eliminate the stop, he can’t.