Let me start by saying this is not a beach hotel, nor is it a four star resort. But I woke up my first morning there to busloads of tourists (not guests) coming to the hotel just for the view. One american tourist signed up for a room on the spot even though she had already paid for her room at another hotel, when her tour driver asked her why, she said "because I wanna wake up HERE, tomorrow", and the way she stressed the word "here", you would think it was the four seasons.

I think its a local attraction or something, and all the tour companies and taxis know where to go when they want to show their clients a view of montego bay. The spot where the hotel is located is not a recent discovery. It was chosen hundreds of years ago, when the spanish ruled jamaica (1600's to 1700's). The house was a plantation "great house", and still has the original structure as part of the hotel. There is a jar in the main courtyard that came over on a spanish galleon or something and still bears the original seal of isabella or whoever the queen was back then. Original mahogany furniture older than dirt is still in some of the rooms in the historic part of the hotel, where there is sort of a museum feel.

OK after all of that lets get to the lodgings. The biggest drawback is there is no food. there is only a continental breakfast (muffins, juice coffee, fruit, etc), and you can order from the montego bay restaruants. If you're going to do a getaway hotel with no food in jamaica, montego bay is probably one of th eonly towns that can swing it, its more of a city than ocho rios, but without the urban bustle of kingston. So my point is there are dozens of food options within five minutes. The rooms are fine, I've seen the rooms at the sandals etc, and really they are not worth the extra 500 per night for my money, but you should know that this is a boutique hotel, so there is a mini fridge in your room, and it aint stocked, in fact you have to flip a switch on a power strip mounted on the side of the vanity that powers the fridge, tv, and vanity lamp), but the rooms/baths are clean and relatively modern, with your own remote controlled air conditioner, and the beds are good, even with my bad back. The hotel is sort of deserted at night though, i think all the guests go down to other clubs/hotels/restaurants at night. I went up to the pool/bar/checkin counter after 8pm and it was dark and deserted. But there is free wifi up there 24/7 if you want, you just have to turn on the lamp yourself.

By my reveiws, you can see that I'm a value hunter, and I've travelled around the caribbean and the US since I was in my 20's, so when I saw this veiw I knew it was nothing to scoff at. My dad stayed at this hotel for years, and when I asked him for a value place he didnt hesitate, and he knows every inch of this island like a GPS. I was born in jamaica and to this day i know no one with a more encyclopedic knowledge of the island. He stayed here back when it was run by the "mother", now its run by her twin daughters. In short, my new montego bay plan is to stay at this hotel and get day/night passes for the more expensive places. That way I can pay $85 for a room with a great view, and pay $90 for a day/night pass to a $600 place. I stayed here a few weeks ago and I'm going back.