My husband and I along with our 5 1/2 year old daughter took our first caribbean vacation to Blue Harbour and hated to leave. My husband and I had stayed in Port Antonio before and didn't think we could find any place better but now we are in love with Port Maria and the villa and can't wait to return
The staff are wonderful, very friendly and help you out tremendously to navigate the hustle and bustle of downtown. My husband's laptop crashed our 2nd day in and Mark brought us downtown to the library and to an internet cafe, carefully holding my daughter's hand to make sure she made it across the streets ( watch the traffic!)
Candy the cook was lovely and made amazing meals. Leroy and Roy were both so friendly but my daughter's heart belonged to Mark. I almost forgot Ernie, who drove us to Port Antonio for a day trip-wonderful tour guide, driver and story teller.
We were the only ones there at that time so we had the run of the place which was great. My daughter learned to dive and swim underwater in the pool, a memory I will cherish.
The grounds are beautiful, the view unbelievable and I am running out of superlatives!!
As much as I hate to share this secret place I highly recommend it for people who like off the beaten path little gems. Most of the furnishings haven't been touched since Noel's tenure there and the is a wonderfully funkiness to it all which made us love it even more.

"I couldn't have liked it more!" as Mr Coward once sang.

I can confirm that the new road is now completed, meaning that the old road outside the hotel now has little traffic travelling along it.

I have always been a big fan of Noel Coward's work and so when I learnt that you could actually stay at his orignal home in Jamaica, I jumped at the chance!

Hotel arranged pick-up for me from Mo-Bay airport and it took around 1.5 hours to reach Blue Harbour with very friendly taxi driver called Trevor.

The hotel itself is like something from the bygone days of the 1950s and all the better for it. It is well worn - maybe "shabby chic" would describe it well. I stayed in the smallest villa, "Villa Chica" which is the closest to the sea. Huge amount of room, with walk in closet, bathroom and bedroom, plus a terrace with chairs and a hammock. As I said earlier, everything is very old but was spotlessly clean. Shower worked well too. There is no AC and although nights were quite humid, I slept well with fans on and sea breeze passing through.

The saltwater swimming pool was lovely to hang out by - much more pleasant than a chlorine filled pool. Beach is small, but good swimming still posssible.

Staff were super friendly and helped with anything I needed. Leroy the main guy in charge is very nice and even took me into Port Maria on market day to look around and help carry the shopping. I travelled as a single, but never felt isolated as in the evenings lots of locals came round for a chat and a game of dominoes!

Food was great, very Jamaican. I said I wanted to try all the Jamaican food so I sampled the likes of ackee, callaloo and oxtail while I was there. The only drink you will be provided with is water, but staff will happily buy your tipple at the local shop for you (no rip-off hotel bars!).

Spent a morning at Firefly, Coward's final home and now a museum. Very interesting, as the house is still as he left it and views spectacular.

Please be aware, that you book Blue Harbour directly with its owner Michael and Michelle Gleeson. I did this all by email and everything went smoothly. Payments must be made in cash or traveller's cheques (I used the latter).

As they say in Jamaica, I hope to "soon come" to Blue harbour once again!

May 2007, the new road is far from being all built; all the roads in NE Jamaica are in atrocious condition and this deterred me from doing more than the bare minimum of driving around. I stayed in Villa Chica; the other 2 houses would get more road and construction noise. Villa Chica is basic but pleasant, set in lush gardens above the excellent pool. A small fridge in the room would have been good, and the colour TV (in the main house) needs replacing. The staff were very friendly and helpful and I recommend staying here.

I should say, above avg to excellent. The setting for this hotel is incomprable, romantic, overlooking a bay with an island. This was part of our honeymoon, but I would think that families would like the place and the Villas, just as much (mindful of no beach). If you want to be overwhelmed, pay $10 for a half day to visit Firefly historic site on the hill behind hotel. That view is the best in all the Carribean and compares with Megan's Bay, St. Thomas. I stayed in the main house at Blue Harbour in Port Maria in Feb. 2005 and loved having the whole floor and hugely spaciou s accomodations to ourselves.

Be advised, rates are per person and include 3 meals. Rooms are breezy no A/C and look out onto the bay. Veranda is wide and spacious, wonderful and you could spend you vacation there. We are active but spent much time enthralled by the full moon over the bay and morning sunrises. Could be a little noisy with truck traffic on the road behind. Villas on property rent for same price but are lower down the hill (but away from the traffic). In any case , by 2006 a new road should be completed routing most traffic away from the hotel. If you are into history and theater and film this is a great place. Noel Coward effects are all around. Film star portraits of who stayed in your room.

Firefly on the hill was Pirate Morgan's lair and he looked out across the bay.
Staff is very friendly. Owners, Michelle and Micheal are very engaging, supervise everything daily and cooking. Michael's an ethnobotanist / anthropologist and can tell you about the area. Michele has Jamaican roots and knows the culture. Later done by Jamaican chefs and fresh caught fish. Dinners above average to excellent and cater to American tastes, so not a lot of Jerk or heavy spices. Some Jamaican specialties do enter as at breakfast and wonderful spice and Johhny cakes. Grounds pretty, well maintained, although some hurricane damage (Ivan, '04). Only very small beach, really no beach. Sea swimming pretty good, esp. on calm days. Pool wonderful on the ocean. Snorkelling fairly good. On calm days snorkel, swim, or kayaks (later provided free) to the outer fringing reef in the bay.

I liked the nearby area of Port Maria and Oracbessa better than the tourist towns of Ocho and Negril, but due to remote location you may find you need a car at this resort or rely on cabs and rides from the staff into town. People nicer and less hassling and hustle than big towns. From my stay I came to like the owners very much is why I wrote this review and would recommend this hotel especially to those wanting an "away from the maddening crowds" and interesting, peaceful vacation at beautiful spot.
Great value. Michael Rund, Kansas City, MO