Quote Originally Posted by plongdin View Post
Our first trip to Negril was to Beaches for a family wedding. It was very nice but my husband and I can spend three weeks in Negril for what we paid for one week there. Luckily we disregarded all the warnings we got that it wasn't safe to leave the resort and discovered the REAL Negril outside the walls and for that we thank the destination wedding at Beaches We will be returning for our fourth trip in January and will smile as we pass the Beaches sign on our way to one of the smaller cliff properties that we fell in love with!
Good for you plongdin!! My first trip to Negril, I stayed a SamSara on the cliffs. I was treated so nicely!!! And as a single woman traveling alone I never felt uncomfortable. The staff really looked out for me, would chat with me and helped me get to know the area. Since it was my first time there, I booked several tours. Usually I was the first pick up on the bus before we would head to the Resorts (Sandals, Beaches, etc) to pick up other guests. It would take a moment for folks to realize that I was "alone" and they always said the same thing "Aren't you afraid? They (the resorts) told us not to leave the property by ourselves." So if folks want to pay a ton of money for the luxury, fine let them have it - those properties ARE lovely and top notch. However, they should not tell the tourists lies or exaggerate the "danger" and it would be nice if a likkle bit more of that high end money would trickle down into the salaries of the people who work there.