We arrived on Friday the 29th, after a 4hr flight delay leaving Fort Lauderdale. We were initially delayed for fog 85 minutes, then we boarded and they realized they had misloaded baggage. They pulled each bag off and checked the tags by hand, while we waited and waited and .....
Upon touchdown, all was IRIE! We always do CLUB MOBAY so we skipped the lengthy line, prob saved 1.5 hours. Had a few drinks and finished up a business deal (damn work) in the lounge and then headed to Negril. The traffic was the heaviest we have ever seen! At one point we detoured through the hills around Lucy and 2.5 hours and 2 more Red Stripes later we arrived to our destination The OASIS Negril.
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Our next 7 nights would be at the completely newly renovated Oasis. Let me tell you, no expense here, we are around 12 trips to Negril and about 15 total to JA and never saw anything like this in Negril, its very high end. Travertine around the pool deck, ceramic planking at the bar, Red Stripe is served in bottles, water is as well! The liquor is high end, Grey Goose Vodka, Jim Beam Bourbon, Hennessy, Courvosseir, the list goes on.
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The room was completely new as well. We had a third floor courtyard view. A nice balcony with a couple chairs and a table. There was also a sink and a small refrigerator. All you need, right? We ended up here quite by happenstance, the boss lady was a little frustrated after our last trip in July and due to some problems with the accomodations, ie; running water and flushable toilet she began to call my Negril trips "Jamaican Camping Vacations". So far this place fit the bill quite nicely, its a beyond beautiful property. I usally take more photos, but didn't this trip. I stole some of hers and they don't do the place proper justice.
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The reosrt is A/I. I never imagined doing another A/I in Negril, due to our last minute changes there was not much to select from. The rate was dirt cheap, averaged $249 a night for the two of us. In high season that seemed like a steal to me and still left plenty of $$ to eat out and explore. The meals are buffet style and fixed times. The food seemed to be the achilles heal of the resort based on the the other guests. There are right around 30 rooms and out of those rooms I think there were never more than 5 or 6 occupied by tourists. Most rooms were occupied by Jamaicans on holiday in their own country. So, the first morning the breakfast was completely and totally Jamaican. I usually do a bit of salt fish and ackee each trip, but I wasnt sure about 7 mornings of it. Lunch was usually grilled and burgers/hotdogs/bologna etc. There was always plenty, you just had to ask. There just wasn't much on the side, no vegetable, not much for a vegetarian. We got by okay though. The dinner was always good, some nights better than other. Usually a fish, chicken, beef of some type. Usually two choices for the entree. Most night rice and peas and a soup. One night we hit the jackpot and there was a vegetable! Green beans and carrots!!
About three days in a large group complained about the food and the management said the guests were welcome to put in a special order if the Jamiacan fare wasn't to their liking. I took them up on that for breakfast the rest of the week and ordered pancakes and bacon and it was very good! All in all I found the food sufficient and more than expected for what we paid. There was always a desert, sometimes you just had to ask. They would put out fruit, but it went quickly and if you snooze you lose and if you hit the wront time you were just out of luck. They were very flexible though with the times and more than willing to accomodate the guests, you just had to ask.
The bar service was good, there was one veteran bartender training a couple younger men. They would take anything you threw at them and give it a shot, we don't get exotic but heard some pretty complex orders being shouted out. We found the bar to be very good with one major exception. They did not have the storage to keep all those Red Stripe bottles cold. The first part of the day they were fine, but as consumption increased they could not cool sufficiently. A few guests, me included suggested they just use ice buckets and after a couple days they brought in a cooler which helped when the veteran bartended was there but the younger kids didn't seem to get the concept. One day the younger kids messed up the order or something and kept saying Red Stripe "come soon", wel it was 230pm and not Red Stripe. I approached the owner who is almost always on site and mentioned to him and he had no clue they were out. It was there in stock in 30 mins.
I think if they are going to be succesful with the US/Canadian/European toursit they will have to figure out the beer situation and either go to draft or get a bigger cooler. As we all know everyone likes a cold Red Stripe! I have high hopes for the resort as the owner and the upper management seem very receptive and certainly don't mind putting money towards making the place great and a true boutique experience.
Our room was good, we did have to switch once. The second night there a pipe broke and we had no running water in the bathroom. Oddly though the sink at the front of the room worked fine. I literally bathed in the sink with a wash cloth! The boss lady was not nearly as adventorous and waited untill around midnight when it was repaired. A couple days later we had the same issue and they swapped our room out and all was IRIE after that. A few small details with the rooms need worked out, ie; TV's working properly, etc. Water pressure is a bit of a concern as well. Nothing a seasoned West End traveler isn't used to but the typical A/I crowd will struggle.
I don't want to write a whole novel here, but I knew folks were curious about the new Oasis. Overall I would say its a hit, seems to be going for about $180 a night this month which is a steal for two people A/I. I don't know what the non A/I rate is. We had a blast there and even won the couples contest competing against two Jamaican couples. They called us "Team Oreo" which we got a big kick out of. The entertainment team was there on the weekend and did pool aerobics in the mornings and played a couple games in the evening. It was just right, enough for a some quick laughs and fun but not over the top and in your face. The girl that runs the crew I think her name is Jodi is a super sweet kid and really put a lot into helping out the guests. We saw her bartend, serve food, etc. Whatever it took.
A few final thoughts on Oasis: It is a unique property, their solar grid alone is impressive. They do grow a lot of their own foods and are tyring to be organic and enviromentally friendly. We enjoyed our stay there and wish them success and I am sure we will be back at some point this year.
HIGHS;
We found a great new property and had a great time on our trip!
We were pleased to see a lot of new construction going up in the West End. We took a tour of Sovereign which is the currently under construction next to Coral Seas Cliffs and it will be a really impressive addition to the Cliffs. They are def doing it large! Huge restaurant and pool w swim up bar right next to the sea. Citronella is under going quite the renovation as well.
It was nice to see everything open on Beach road and the Beach. We found great pricing at "Authors" and yes I think that is how they spelled it, its right next to Grand Pineapple. $2 US Red Stripes, a really cool bartender and a good vibe. A lot of folks hanging. Its become our replacement for Tony's Hut. We don't get down towards Tony's as much anymore and it seems a lot of the clientele and a lot of the vibe left w Grace Ann. We also found a couple of the small huts between Travelers and Negril Beach Condos in that kind of open space that were doing Red Stripe for 200J! SCORE!!
We found a new favorite spot at Wake and Bake/Can Jam. Great brownies and a chill vibe. I think Karen is the lady's name that runs/owns? She was really cool to talk to and get the scoop on whats going on in the area.
Lows
Not much in the lows department, we lost water for a night and I bathed in a sink. That was about the low point.
This is the first time we stayed at a resort in which there were 80 to 90% Jamaican occupancy. It was a bit of a downer how they treated the staff and even stole from each other. Some were really rude to and demanding to the staff members and the day after the big NYE party we saw two different folks at front desk reporting stolen cell phones.
We won two bottles of Appleton Rum for winning the couples contest. I remarked to the boss lady, lets give it to the entertainment team to enjoy. We didn't have to effort in giving it away as sat it on the bar and it disappeared within 5 minutes. We have no clue who took it as we just laughed it off.
One Love!
Originally Posted by original spanky
