Mr. X does Negril (2010) with No Reservations

[Mr. X]

Mr. X Does Negril (2010) with No Reservations

Chapter 24 (cont) – Review of Seastar Inn
September 6th, 2010 – Monday – (Day 3)

Drinks
I found the drinks to be well made. Usually pay way more for way less. Happy hour 4 to 6pm. 2 for 1 drinks. Just so happens this is an ideal time for me to want a drink or 2 or 4. I am not normally a frozen drink person but I am on vacation in the tropics. Now is the time for frozen drinks. Don’t really know what’s in a purple reign (rain?). Pretty good. Dirty bananas. Lots of good drinks. Lots more research for the future.

We introduced ourselves the first time we went to bar and I guess they remember us (and you). We never have to pay. Usually tip when we leave bar to bartender or server. Someone new they ask our room number the first time and they write it out long hand. Room 10. 1 Red Stripe. Probably 1 page per work shift or whatever. Point being I love not having to pay all the time and they are not going to have a computer glitch and mess up my bill. If you are just going to pound down red stripes or dirty bananas then of course it is going to be cheaper to buy at store and put in refrigerator. But you already knew that. We are on vacation and want to have other people make us drinks we never had before. If I was a “drinker” I would supplement with a case of beer or whatever in the refrigerator. Rest of trip we are going to be staying on the “water” and paying higher prices. After trip I figure when you factor in happy hour 2 for 1’s, size, quality Seastar Inn mixed drinks cost me about 40% less overall. Not a big deal unless you are drinking alcohol on vacation and have a budget.

Food
Off the menu only had 2 breakfasts. Food quality and quantity was excellent. I ate buffet on Saturday night so I know the food is excellent. Need to eat more meals at Seastar Inn when I go back. I figure due to the size and quality of the food I will order less food and so every time I eat at Seastar I am saving money and making my stomach happy. Talk about win win. This use to be one of the things that kept Jamaica from being perfect for me. Finding quality reliably food at the hotel with low prices is convenient.

Overall Cost
Considerably below normal vacation prices for me. Especially in a tourist town. Other places may get you in with a low internet or package price and then nickel and dime you to death. If I got to pay for coffee and refills then it’s going to affect my budget. Free Wi-Fi. No nickel and diming at the Seastar Inn. In fact it’s the opposite. Don’t really know what the opposite of nickel and dime. We forgot to tell you about the tax on this and surcharge on the Johnson Rod. No surprises. No extra charges at Seastar Inn. Includes tax everything. If you are on a tight budget these are the things that can make a huge difference.

Seastar Inn Employees
Staff was great and made us feel welcome. Attentive without being overbearing. It’s the owners that make this place. Mrs. Seastar (Francine) took my wife to some family events. Mr. Seastar (Chris) despite having a lot going on was extra nice to me and our guests for no apparent reason. (Turns out they treat most everybody that way).

Wow the Seastar Inn sounds perfect!
Life is not perfect.
The Seastar Inn is not on water. For some this is a deal killer.
If it was on the water it would cost 5 times as much and always be booked up.

I felt a comfort level that I don’t normally feel at a hotel.
No doubt for me that I have a home place in Negril at Seastar Inn.
So you stay at a place 2 nights and its ur home place?
Explain? Can’t really.

I had very high standards for the Seastar Inn. Exceeded all expectations. Later when looking at total costs of vacation I spent less money on drinks, food and lodging at Seastar Inn. By staying here it allows me to stay at some other places that are above my budget. Low cost with very high value. What part is confusing to you?

Anybody who has been to Jamaica over the years has had to endure certain things different as part of the tradeoff. So many things such as adequate hot water, backup generator when power goes off, etc. etc. If you have experience these things over the years then you will have a far greater appreciation for the Seastar Inn than just meets the eye.

I did not just wander upon the Seastar Inn.
I was directed.
I read hundreds of trip reports and comments over the last few years.
Directed by people (Negril.com) who go to Negril regularly and have stayed in many places. For many people this is their home place. Now it’s my home place. (Assuming they are not booked up!)

[Mr. X]

Mr. X Does Negril (2010) with No Reservations

Chapter 25 – BarBBarn Beach Hotel

September 6th, 2010 – Monday – (Day 3)
Jump in car with Granville and my 3 guests. Now my plan is take them to the BarBBarn. We know all about the beach because we were next door at Bourbon Beach yesterday. Show is tonight at Bourbon Beach. So if they say yes to room and price then it will be perfect. Actual perfect should not be the goal. Damn they are not going to go for it.
We park.
Go in office.
Tell them we would like to tour their property and maybe stay the night. Front desk person was nice and patience with us. Walk us to the front of property. Looked good to me. Bar and Restaurant area small but nice. Which is how I like it. Beach in front. Stunning water, sand and view. Not too big of a beach area. Since it looked like not to many people around we would have the run of the place. Please let the rooms be ok.



Showed us best room with best view on property. Ok looks cool to me. Clean. Sheets looked very fresh. Not fancy but I don’t care if it has a flat screen TV. Sheets must be line dried as well. Bath was fine. Basic. I am only going to be showering not soaking in a Jacuzzi tub. No Jacuzzi no problem for me at all.



Show us room across building top front again. Which would be the room with the 2nd best view. Bit dated but clean. Nice view of ocean if you are standing directly in front of window that does not open. Looks good to me. Ok I explain to our negotiation team $65 internet special with breakfast.
They claim they got it under control and for us to chill out.
We go to bar and get drink and like 15 minutes they come back.
Damn what took you girls so long?
Tough negotiation apparently.
Best they could do was $60 total per room.
No problem I say. Beach front for 60 bucks a couple I am in. Everybody says yes. Cool.
Ok we got to pay, get keys and go back to Seastar Inn and pick up bags. It is early. No problem. We pay and get room keys and are all standing in parking lot. Girls say they will be back one second just want to look around.

So we waited and waited and waited on the girls.
30 minutes went by.
They did not come back.
Like kidnapped?
No like shopping and leaving us in the BarBBarn parking lot. I went to bar and beach and did not see them. Ok let’s hot foot it back to Seastar Inn to pick up luggage. Had to lug all the suitcases to car. With Granville’s help still took about 3 trips to room. Girls do not know how to pack worth a sh*t. Say goodbye again. First time when it was just the men in the car. Granville actually hit the gas. Which is exactly what we wanted without asking. He is smart like that. No telling what could happen if we leave the women alone too long.
From time we left until return less than 30 minutes. We are pulling back in the parking lot. Just now they are walking to parking lot to find us 1 hour after saying they are just going to look around for a second. Par for the course of course.

We are near enough to entrance of BarBBarn that people are shouting at us with all kinds of “special offers”. Just then 2 white guys came walking up and looking frazzled and frantic. They were tan at least been here couple days. I am fending off 4 or 5 people with no thanks and jokes, etc. So am naturally leery of these guys as well. One guy kind of blurted out something about the vendors were driving them crazy and they did not know what to do! I don’t know if they just did not know how to say no or what the deal was. I was a little tongue tied for once in my life. I just kind of joked not to worry about they will be ok. Got busy unloading car and shuttling all our stuff from parking lot to our new ocean front room. We get all the suitcases down to our rooms. 2 rooms on opposite sides. Theirs has a slightly better view ours is 2nd best room on property.

Got a chance rest of trip and following months thinking about those 2 guys who were really asking for my advice. In hindsight they were at the start of the public beach. Other than a craft market this has about the highest per capital of people trying to sell you something, hustle u, help u, etc. for probably 50 miles in any direction. I should have told him to get off the main tourist drag. Hope they figured it out.

I am telling you it was tough. Slow season. Slow period. I am not interested in getting something for nothing. Truth is/was I had EVERTHING I needed. Nothing they could offer that I was remotely interested in. Don’t need no weed. Don’t need no tour. Don’t need no bracelets. Easy for me to joke around about it. Don’t want to waste ur time don’t want to waste mine. Not interested. Respect.

Trying every trick in the book. Was not for the feign hearted. I had a group of 4 plus other people I knew so I could be semi bold. You have to be a strong person to handle this by ur self.

Frankly people were not in a great mood. Hardly any tourists. Nobody buying nothing. I feel you brother but if I start handing out money it is not going to change anything and we will be out of money quick.

If you are walking towards me and are going to ask for a “handout” trust me I am going to beat you to the punch.
“Hey we spent all our money can you tell me where the free food and free drinks are?” That always gets crazy looks and they usually just shake their head and walk off.

I am also good at asking somebody can I have a dollar before they can ask me for a dollar. They usually say they are broke. Me too. Laugh and keep going.

Just want my bathing suit on and my float which is still in a bag to be blown up.

Get all suitcases to room and they want to go to HiLo in town to get what I don’t know. You guys go. I head next door to BarBBarn. Have cold red stripe. Make sure show is still on tonight. Shabba is getting started putting up a giant blue tarp covered fence to keep free views of concert to a minimum.

Before long they are back and track me down at Bourbon Beach
Finish food (I was there so figured ¼ chicken could not hurt me) and then we head back to BarBBarn.

[Mr. X]

Mr. X Does Negril (2010) with No Reservations

Chapter 26 – Red Dragon in Red Ground
September 6th, 2010 – Monday – (Day 3)
It is Monday and the plan is to go to Red Dragon (Raggabones) in Red Ground for Lunch. Following my general plan of not wanting to hang out in direct sun during the hottest part of the day. Red Dragon home of super cold beer and the best jerk pork around. Guess I will find out for myself.

Ok I get everybody rounded up and on road by 12:15pm. I know 12:30pm is time the meat comes off so I am again a bit anxious trying to get everybody moving.

I got shotgun seat window down. Enjoying drive not too far maybe 10 minutes at most from BarBBarn. I am always amazed at how close some resident’s homes are to the road. You can practically reach in and shake hands with someone while they are home and you are in the car. Anyhow as we arrive in the suburb of Red Ground we are slowing down to make a right turn and someone says “white man” from a house as we drive by about 3 feet away.

It was in a low quiet voice.
It was like someone talking to you in normal voice except they were in a house and I was in a moving car. We were going too fast and I was not ready with a witty come back

Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions (MissBlue) I have had a lifetime of practice. Next time I will be ready with my reply to “white man”.
Are you the village idiot?
Wow how observant of you?
Actually light brown is the correct color sir!
Anyhow I am ready if it happens again.

Granville knows where it is and we pull right across from it.
Rustic.





Several drivers are waiting on side for meat to come out. We go in. It is a local bar. Lots of semi-nudie posters on the walls. Year Calendars sponsored by Rum and Red Stripe. Some years are pretty damn impressive. Was going to get some photos (for Smith744). Wifey might not have understood I was doing it in the name of research for the board. We order beers they come out frosty. Super cold. Nice.

After about 10 minutes I lean over and say to the bartender don’t let that jerk pork comes out without telling me. He said no worries. About 5 minutes later he brings me the first serving from today’s batch.





I am not fooling around I had already told him I wanted a ½ lb (400J) and ½ lb for my friend. Wow pretty damn good. Ending up drinking about 3 beers each. Mouth burning. My friend ate one of the hot peppers and his whole face went bright red. I was not paying attention but looked over and several people were giving him Ice and brown sugar. Few minutes later things were under control. Does not appear to be the first time a tourist or local did that.

Review of Red Dragon (Raggabones) in Red Ground.
Medium sized local bar in the suburbs of Negril. Mix of locals and tourists and expats. Very Limited menu. On the plus size the beers are ice cold (frosty) and the jerk pork is the best I have ever had. Inexpensive for tourists. Nice change of pace.


We do a little touring around the Red Ground area and then loop back around to Negril. It is really pretty up there and I love the views of the ocean. Early tourists who had to stay way up in Red Ground with minimal accommodations. I know they had it rough but what a view.