Jamaica in pictures

Sunset at Round Hill

A stunning time in Jamaica this April, in pictures

And now to to put the words to the pictures….

BA fly from Gatwick to the Caribbean.  We’ve avoided Gatwick for years, T5 has become a bit of a safe haven and is 20mins from my parents house.  However we were pleasantly surprised with Gatwick.  Best bit – fast track security – it was really quick despite the airport being busy.  The lounge was also the standard offering, it was however busier than the Heathrow ones that feel quite relaxing.  The porridge was as good as it always is at any location and champagne was available on request.

Our first stop was Strawberry Hill.  The flight arrived at dusk and the quality of map we had bought wasn’t really good enough.  We had an exciting drive round and round Kingston until we eventually found our way to the mountain road (we had to take some advice from someone near the university).  I would recommend screen grabbing google earth shots of the route to make life easier – I’ll be doing that in the future.  The drive up into the mountains was equally exhausting as the roads are so dark and pot-holed.  But we made it eventually!  And the best bit was the welcome and the rum punch that accompanied it and the epic view we had from our cottage down across the lights of Kingston.

We only stayed here one night, but with jet lag we were up at dawn, only the birds and chirpees were awake!  Great blue mountain coffee in the room and a clear morning view from our terrace.  We had the run of the hotel site and loved exploring as the sun came up – it was the most relaxing thing to do.  Then chilling by the pool until breakfast (which was fab of course).  After a bit more time by the pool we headed west to the beach, there’s a good motorway and we were now much more confident having come out of Kingston successfully twice!

We stopped at Lover’s Leap and were blown away by the colour of the sea – just stunning!  Then onwards to our second stop – The Cove.  This is near Treasure Beach but away from the busyness of that tourist town.  It is a relatively modest boutique hotel and will become a spot to visit in the future as it matures.  We really liked it – rustic chic is how I would describe it.  Properly remote and really friendly staff.

While we were there we visited the Pelican Bar – 1km out to sea!  We took a water taxi.  The afternoons get breezy, so if you don’t have sea legs, consider how much time you need to spend in the boat and go from Black River instead!  This place is crazy – a hut on sticks that serves Red Stripe alongside BBQ’d lobster.

Next we headed across to the north coast, stopping first at YS Falls.  A bit busy, but we are early birds and it definitely paid to be early and arrive before all the Sandals day trips did!!

Final stop was Round Hill.  We had a standard room and it was massive, had an amazing view and came with a bottle of fizz and a bottle of rum.  Didn’t expect to like this resort as much as we did as I had expected it to be stuffy.  But it wasn’t at all and the GM was out and about and remembering names.  Expensive food and drink, but tbh I think that’s expected.  Use Kingsley the concierge to book you restaurants.  We strayed out for supper at the houseboat but mainly just enjoyed some R&R time at this lovely hotel.

More of my tips are on A Luxury Travel Blog