Suggestions for Where to Stay in Jamaica?

MickiSue

Level 2 Member
We're going there in late Jan, thank you, SW CP! I don't know much about it, other than NOT wanting to stay at a hotel in Montego Bay.

Husband has a friend who swears by Negril, but as he's never stayed anywhere else, he just possibly maybe could be biased....And he's the type who is sure that his opinion of anything is the only possible valid one.

I am attracted to the Runaway Bay area, based as much on the name as anything else. :D

So, between my liking quirky names and Mr. Know It All, it's pretty clear that I need some suggestions from someone who's been there.

THANKS in advance!
 

stellar

Level 2 Member
Silver Sands.
Code:
http://www.mysilversands.com/content/home.aspx
Edited: was going to recommend a B&B in Mo Bay but found out they are no longer available.
 
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MickiSue

Level 2 Member
Thank you, Stellar. But could you break the link, please. We like this site to be unsearchable.
 

treklectic

Level 2 Member
Hyatt Zilara in Mo Bay was nice. The staff was great. The beach was decent, but there was a good bit of seaweed in the water. You are on the right track, as the beach in Negril is astounding. I didn't see large resorts on the beach. Rather, there were a bunch of smaller establishments. There are resorts w/o beach, and on the rocky cliffs, like Rockhouse. If you like diving, that may be ideal.
 

MickiSue

Level 2 Member
Thanks for the suggestions! In the end, we decided against the party town of Negril, and are staying on the north side of the island for the week. Three nights in Runaway Bay, at the Cardiff, which is a lovely place associated with a school for hospitality that's right next door.

And then Port Antonio for 3 nights, at a place called The Polish Princess, a name I kind of love. It was interesting to me that, unless you go very high in price, there are only a handful of places that get better than 3.5 stars. And the lower scores tend to be pretty compelling.

Both the Cardiff and the Polish Princess had very good scores. I found it especially charming when the ONLY low score for the Polish Princess was in German, and the proprietress posted a bewildered response to him, mentioning that he'd said he was sick upon arrival, and they found him a German speaking doctor, in tiny Port Antonio!

If we return to Jamaica, we probably will spend some time in Negril. But this time, we wanted to see Jamaica, not partying Americans and Canadians.
 

MickiSue

Level 2 Member
FWIW, I tend to save my hotel points for big cities, and we like to stay in smaller, more intimate places in vacation areas. We use mostly Arrival points, some of which have already been traded for the stay in Runaway Bay, and our last night in MoBay.
 

extradosed

Professional Engineer, Amateur World Traveller
i've got a trip planned for july to jamaica. staying at the hyatt zilara. this will be primarily a relaxation trip, so the all-inclusive works well for our goals. however i'm thinking it would be fun to go off property for a day and do some sightseeing with a tour guide. any suggestions?
 

MickiSue

Level 2 Member
Where on the island is the Hyatt you're staying at? It's a big island, and not all the roads are the best.

We concentrated on the north side of the island, and the highways are good for most of it. My favorite part was the Port Antonio area. But the roads there are terrible.

We chose to stay outside of the all-inclusive's, because we wanted to be in Jamaica not at Jamaica.
 

extradosed

Professional Engineer, Amateur World Traveller
the hyatt zilara is just a few miles to the east of the Montego Bay airport.

I normally share your sentiments regarding big resorts. There were a number of factors that led me to book this hotel, none of which were a desire to go to Jamaica. However, I'd like to overcome that shortfall in my planning by actually seeing the place for a day. Hence my desire to hire a tour guide/driver. I've had great luck doing that in other places. I'm sure there are some good ones in the Montego Bay area.
 

MickiSue

Level 2 Member
In that case, you definitely want to go to Doctor's Cave beach. It's lovely, a big safe swimming area. Be sure to get there by mid-morning. By about 11 or so, streams of tour bus folks from the AIs and the cruise ships will be arriving, and you'll be hard put to find a place to plant yourself on the beach.

The Hip Strip, Gloustershire Avenue, is a great place to get some food that is NOT AI food, and to do some shopping for souvenirs. Make sure to haggle or you will overpay by a lot.

We only had a night in MoBay, so really didn't see a lot of it. But those two places (the entrance to Doctor's Cave is on Gloustershire) were definitely worth it.
 
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