Eden, although not recent, we have been visiting negril on a regular basis since our son was in diapers. We always used our house keeper from the hotel we were staying at. Back then when lil jamb was that age it was either Rondel Village or twice it was Beachcomber.

We would not even consider someone that wasn't employed by our "home base" hotel and some visits if we did not feel comfortable for whatever reason with the staff that we interacted with daily then we just bit the bullet and didn't venture out.

That we can remember only one time did our house keeper (with enough notice) not jump at the opportunity to make extra and good money. We totally planned our escape, hmmmm... evening out around what was best for our house keeper. When lil jamb was that age we were the type of parents that literally growing up his grandmother or for a couple years a chain daycare (kindercare / la petite ) watched him, literally no one else, we just considered that period in his life and for our mental comfort the only options. The single time our housekeeper was not available she introduced us to a co-worker that was working another section of our home base hotel that we met beforehand and all involved felt very comfortable. Even then we just could not stay out for more than a few hours without worrying getting the best of us. Your question is extremely valid and any parent would have similar concerns.

So in short depending upon what hotel you are staying at my (opinion only) advice would be only considering a staff member you see daily at your homebase that you really hit it off with and making a worthwhile offer. Personally our son is now 16 and back when he was a toddler, youngster, if we went out for a few hours we paid our house keeper $40 or $50 and considered it well worth the peace of mind. I am sure there will be many that will say that's way too much, but during a 2 week trip on only a couple of occassions to us money well and wisely spent. You can not put a price on peace of mind with your children.

Hope this helps and hope your vacation rocks!!

Jamb