We stayed in Negril for two weeks. This was our second stop of three places. Looking back , it was by far the best place to stay. We were in the Honeymoon suite , fantastic !! The location on the strip and beach is the best you can do. Shopping and bank across the street and right in the heart of 7 mile beach. The price was very reasonable. The restaurant was top shelf. Fine dining in the evening that would even impress the snobby people. Friendly staff and great security. The jungle feel walking through the property was great. Very well designed and built. My wife and I rate this place as high as possible , 10+. Be aware when booking though , it's the one flaw. Example: I booked 3 nights. Another couple booked 8 nights starting the same day. They booked 2 months after I did. Since they booked a longer duration , it kicked my reservation out and booked them in my suite. It sent some confusion at check-in to say the least. Fortunately , the couple that booked the room after us agreed to stay in another suite for the 3 nights while we were there and then move back in later. A very nice couple and we spent some time with them because of it. I don't know how to fix that problem but it's something to check into when booking.

After having stayed in June 2011 and again in December/Jan I have to say we are well pleased with our selection of Kuyaba. An honest review of the property/food/staff and grounds follows:

PROPERTY

Kuyaba has a narrow strip of land running from Norman Manley Blvd to the beach. Within this strip they have done an excellent job of layout design, planting, and maintenance. The rooms are housed primarily in two-story units, with the rooms running the width of the unit. The standard rooms seem mostly upstairs, while the deluxe king rooms are downstairs. There are also two cabin buildings from back in the day. The cabin nearest the beach is a duplex and the cabin near the road is a single unit. The cabins are rustic, but very old school cool and CHEAP.

ROOMS

We had the honeymoon suite in June. Very large room for Negril. Tall wooden vaulted ceiling, excellent patio.......1970's dated bathroom with a tub that should be replaced due to large pieces of enamel having departed..we liked this room, except the a/c never got it cold enough...we did register our complaint with the staff, who were amiable, but put the blame on the repairmen who wasn't showing up...oh well. Fast forward to December 2011 and we chose the standard deluxe room. Two queen beds, spotlessly clean room and bathroom, clean and very comfy wooden deck. The a/c would get cold enough that we needed the comforter from the other bed! Hot water and water pressure were both island adequate. The room proved very quiet, even when a band was at Bourbon Beach next door. The room was of a large size and we never bumped into each other. TIP, if you email the hotel and request one, a nice large fridge will be brought to your room for only $5/day. Our maid was very personable and did a great job each day before noon.

FOOD

We had eaten here many times before staying here. The quality of the food has never disappointed. It is one of the top restaurants in Negril. Some things that we like and keep ordering are the mountain pepper shrimp, lobster grilled, fried snapper sandwich on coco bread, curry conch, american style hamburger with great fries(I know...but after a couple of weeks...you want the burger!) and if there is a special that day, order it! The servers are very friendly and for the most part, service is good. Out of over 20 times eating at Kuyaba over the years...two examples of having to wait longer than one hour for food. That's not great, but its not tragic, either. Once was no excuse, the other was on New Years Day, good excuse! LOL We will be back to stay and eat, on that you may rely,

STAFF

From the front desk staff who are courteous and polite to the GREAT bartenders RICARDO AND DJ, to Paul the beach security guard who is your go-to guy for all things beach, to front security who is funny and vigilant to grounds crew Earl who really takes care of Buddy and Charlie all the staff at Kuyaba are excellent. All requests within reason are accommodated. Everyone is polite, friendly, competent and empowered to get it done for the guests. Now that is rare.

CONCLUSION

Ok, so why did I only give 4 stars? Simple. No swimming pool. Its not Kuyaba's fault(there is literally no room for it), but you can't get five stars without a swimming pool. And, Kuyaba's prices give you the best value to luxury ratio in Negril. If you can live without a pool. We can!

I have stayed at many places in Negril, but this was my first stay at Kuyaba.
Overall I really enjoyed my stay.

The grounds are lush and beautiful, the staff is very friendly and accommodating, and of course the restaurant never disappoints! When I had issues such as burned out light bulbs, broken coffee maker or a lost key, the staff was quick to help me. Zelma in the office is delightful.

There are plenty of loungers on the beach, and one of the security guards will set one up for you, and they will keep unwanted vendors at bay. My favorite bar is next door to the left as you look at the sea; owned by an Italian man. ("Irie..." something).

I stayed in the kitchenette cottage #22 for most of my stay (stayed in a deluxe room for the first 4 days). The cottage is as described - a rustic board house. That said, it had everything I needed. It is a little dark inside, but I found that opening the louvered windows helped somewhat. Yes, the windows have screens on them.

There are two twin beds in one room and a full size bed in the next room. The AC unit is in the room with the full size bed. Each room has a ceiling fan also. I never used the AC during my trip in December/January because it was not needed. The bathroom was probably my least favorite due to the lack of water pressure in the shower. I found that if I showered early in the afternoon, before other guests may shower for dinner, the pressure would be improved. I think that some of the other rooms have jacuzzi tubs which may in fact affect the shower water pressure in the cottage. I had to turn on the hot water and wait because it took a few minutes to heat up.
The water pressure in the kitchen and bathroom faucets, however, was very good.

The rustic cottage consists of two units - #22 kitchenette and #21 without kitchenette. They share one porch, and frankly there isn't any privacy when it comes to noise or guests staying there, so you should keep that in mind. You can hear everything through the board walls. I think if you go there with the "right" mindset it won't be bothersome, but it is something to consider depending on what type of traveler you are. An ideal set up would be to book both #21 and #22, which have an inside adjoining door, then you would have the entire cottage and porch to yourself.

I enjoyed sitting on the porch, relaxing in the adirondack chairs; the (free of charge) wifi reception was very good there as well.

The cottage is located near the street side of the property, so you will hear street noise, workers coming into work chatting in the morning, restaurant guests, etc. I used earplugs and was able to sleep soundly.
Bring a power strip/surge protector since the electrical outlets are not located in convenient places.

There is another set of rustic cottages located closer to the restaurant (no kitchenettes).

Like I stated, overall I really enjoyed my stay and I enjoyed the charm of the rustic cottage, even with its faults. I would return to Kuyaba again.

Great hotel with clean rooms. Rustic and beautiful settings. The rooms are clean and has a closet and a side table. The room does have a flat screen television and sufficient cable channels to keep you occupied. You do have a small balcony with a hammock seat and chairs. It is a short walk to the restaurant and beach which means no hassle in getting to maybe the reason why you came to Negril in the first place.


The bathroom is clean and serviceable but it sucks that there is no iron or blow dryer in the room. There is no fridge or coffee maker or ice bucket. If you ask at the bar though, they will give you ice in cups or a bag. The bed is hard as other reviewers have said, but still doable.

The beach is small but then you do have the entire stretch of beach if you want to walk. There are great security guards and the one on the beach will provide you with beach chairs-we never had a problem getting sun loungers. You can get food served to you on the beach and relax while you view the incredible scenery in front of you.