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Jamaica: the Rockhouse |
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Jamaica has a wide variety of hotel and resort accommodations. There are lots of all-inclusive and very popular resorts, like Sandals, Beeches, Riu, and Grand Lido, as well as many smaller, less familiar places. Then there are the small and very modestly priced properties that offer beach, bed, and restaurant. I recently stayed in a small hotel on the beach property in Negril that had "limited" facilities, and it was great! Now that I’ve found this gem, the Rockhouse, I know that Jamaica does have something for almost everyone! |
| The Rockhouse is in the West End—the most western tip of the island, where you can see great 180-degree sunsets. The hotel has a variety of accommodations. These individual, thatched roof style villas / rooms / cottages are private and spacious. They are located on a cliff-top directly overlooking the water. |  |
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They feature wrap around private terraces and sliding glass doors, which provide wonderful vistas of Pristine Cove. All twelve have queen size beds. |
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Five of the villas have lofts with a queen bed downstairs and a double bed and a twin bed upstairs. They can accommodate up to four people. All the villas have CD players and private outdoor showers to the skies. Rockhouse also has studio and standard rooms, all with balconies and some with views of the water. |
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There is no beach at Rockhouse, but they do have a beautiful pool and the Caribbean sea just below. The 20-yard freshwater pool is carved into the cliff’s edge. A beverage bar is just inches away. Or you can climb down a few stairs into the sea below and snorkel along the coral reef, take a kayak around the rocky ledge, or float about on a rubber raft (topless is OK!) in the rocky cove.
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The open-air restaurant provides Jamaican cuisine, a complex mix of all the cultures that have come to her shores. The Native Arawak Amerindians, the Chinese, the Spanish, the English, and the Indian (from India) all brought their own culinary staples and techniques when settling on the island. Even the Rastafarians, upholding the ideals of vegetarianism, have placed new emphasis on the island's natural foods. Drawing from these diverse roots, Rockhouse’s restaurant creates "new Jamaican cuisine"—a lighter, modern interpretation of classic Jamaican cooking. And there is always their Blue Mountain Coffee. |
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Many activities can be arranged, like golf, tennis, scuba diving, sailing, windsurfing, and parasailing—just to list a few. Or you can order a massage— Or just sit and be still! |
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Harriet
H. Ahouse | Independent Travel Consultant |
