ejcrowe

For the first time my husband and I are considering a trip to the Caribbean during high season. Our schedule is limited to the time I can get off from work so soon after the holidays and his getting back to school to teach the Tuesday after MLK day, which probably means 4 nts/5 days. After some thought about airfare prices, I think we'd like to try Jamaica. We'd like to spend no more than $175/night for the hotel room, with food and activities a la carte. If we stay in Negril, we'd like a quieter section of the beach or cliffs. I love the website for Kuyaba, but I've yet to find any reviews on it. Any feedback there? I also like the look of Idle Awhile, but if memory serves, it's more expensive than $175/nt.

We'd also be interested in trying the Treasure Beach area, but I've not put much time into researching that yet. Any suggestions (Tivertonhouse? Liza?) on where to start would be terrific.

I'm open to other areas in Jamaica, too, but the main thing is to have a variety of restaurants nearby, preferably within walking or very short ride away. Thanks!

liza

Treasure Beach wins for quiet. For an idea of the range of accomodations see:

www.treasurebeach.net

www.jamaicaescapes.com

Negril....the deluxe rooms at Idle are $180. Kuyaba gets pretty consistently good reviews, I've seen some of the rooms and they are very nice, the location is a bit busy for me personally (down by town).

Other thoughts in Negril:

Cliffs: Rockhouse
Tensing Pen
Blue Cave Castle (way below your budget but a unique place to stay for any amount)

Beach: Whistling Bird
Nirvana - both have really great landscaping/gardens and beachfront and are located mid-beach, with Nirvana having the slightly quieter location.
Rondel Village is nice too, though more modern (AC, pool, jacuzzi, tvs etc).

Negril has more restaurants that are walkable but TB has several good ones, and many villas with cooks so you can eat in if you like too.

cartera45

I would add Coco LaPalm to the list - one of the best locations on a great section of beach. I stayed there last year and loved the staff. You can get packages there too to save some money on airfare.

ejcrowe

Thanks for all of the input so far. Still torn between Negril and Treasure Beach. If Negril, the choice is probably between Tensing Pen and Idle Awhile. In general, is the water rougher on the Cliffs in January or is it usually swimmable that time of year?

Treasure Beach looks great, too. I guess it will come down to how much quiet we want vs. how much variety. I couldn't find much price info for the hotels on the www.treasurebeach.net website. I've heard (I think on this board) good things about Mar-Blue. Any recent opinions?

THanks again, and please keep the suggestions coming!

liza

To see prices on the treasurebeach.net site, you need to go to WHERE TO STAY, click on an area on the map, then see the individual properties' ads or web sites.

I loved Mar Blue, it's really a but above anything else in the area for two. I wrote a report on that in 2003:

http://www.alink.com/personal/liz/negril/2003trip.htm (towards the bottom, it was the end of the trip).

liza

Calmness of water on the west end really varies by day...in a week we spent there in January it was not swimmable (too rough) maybe 2 days out of the 7.

tivertonhouse

EJCROWE: In the Old Wharf section of Treasure Beach, Mar Blue will be opening the new Mar Blue Verandah. next door to Mar Blue Domicil. 5 villa suites ( bedroom, living room, small kitchen, private bathroom), new pool, breakfast included and option of having a cook (the wonderful Rhema) do lunch/dinner for you
en suite, cooking yourself or doing lunch/dinner at the small guest-only
in-house bar/restaurant. Special rates for inaugural season. We have a new
watercolor of the two-story buillding just done by Jamaican artist Patrick Waldemar. Contact me for more details --it's definitely your kind of place.
Room pricing in Feb at Jake's runs a nightly min of US$115 plus 20% tax/service, no meals, no staff, at the simplest room up to US$395 + tax/service
incl.breakfast for one of the 3 new Octopussy two-story units. Treasure Beach Hotel and Golden Sands are the other two small hotels in Calabash Bay, lower-priced.

liza

When is the verandah opening?

tivertonhouse

Liz: Just after New Year's week; building is being completed in next 10 days and interior design/furnishings come in next.

Dori

I would like to clear up a very common misconception. January is not considered high season in the Caribbean. Even though it falls between the standard high season of "December through April" January is an exception. I assume because of all the money spent and time already taken off from the holidays, people don't travel then. I have taken caribbean vacations during that time for this very reason. Minimal crowds and cheaper. You can get very good package deals for January. Prices jump considerably starting in February. By the way, the slowest month for caribbean travel is September (again, probably because money was already spent on summer vacations and kids are back in school!)

ejcrowe

Tivertonhouse, could you be so kind as to send me another email address for you? Or would it be better to contact you through your website for jamaica escapes?

Treasure Beach is starting to look better & better! I leave tomorrow for a long weekend surprise visit to my mother's house, so I may not be able to contact you until I return on Tuesday. Thanks again to both you and Liza for providing such helpful information!