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Rockhouse Hotel in Negril (or other similar recs?)
We are looking at this hotel for our 10-year anniversary trip, which would likely be sometime next February through April. We are planning a five-night trip. I started looking at AI's, but our only AI experience was our honeymoon at a Sandals (Royal Carribbean), and we found it very disappointing. I know there are some fabulous AI's out there, but we are not big drinkers and value quality of food over easy access/quantity.
Can anyone tell me about their experience at this hotel? I am trying to decide between a villa (on the water) or a premium villa. I can't really tell from their website what the difference is, except maybe the premium has a bit more square footage? Where did you eat while staying there, besides the hotel restaurant(s)? Is it easy to get around when you leave the property? Are there restaurants and such within walking distance? Did you plan other sight-seeing excursions? Would it make a difference if we travel in winter or spring?
This hotel looks amazing to me, and we like to try to find unique properties -- not the cookie-cutter hotels and resorts. We do not get to travel much as a couple anymore, because it is not easy to get family to keep our kids (have taken two short trips alone in six years). So we kind of have high hopes for this vacation! Any recommendations are appreciated.
Re: Rockhouse Hotel in Negril (or other similar recs?)
We stayed at Rockhouse years ago, so take this with a grain of salt, but we really enjoyed it. We split our stay between a studio room (all that was available the first night) and a premium villa. It's expanded since we stayed there so I'm not sure what the difference between regular and premium is now, but I think at the time it was just placement. We didn't stay for long so we didn't have a ton of meals, but there are a couple places within walking distance, like Sips & Bites next door.
As far as comparable properties, our cab driver on the way back to the airport said Tensing Pen is basically as nice as Rockhouse but a little cheaper.
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.
Mark Twain
My Travel Blog
This is going to be a long one. I highly suggest checking out Tripadvisor also, that's where I did most of my research and it was very accurate.
We just stayed at the RH in Feb and absolutely LOVED it, we'll NEVER do an AI in Jamaica again! The resort is beautiful, safe and within walking distance (be careful with traffic)to some great restaurants. I highly recommend pampering yourself at the spa!! As PP said Tensing Pen is nice too, however, it's further up the cliffs but we would stay there if we got a better deal or if RH was booked. This was one of our fav trips and if it wasn't for customs we'd go back every year - it took us 5+ hours to get through this time :-( The RH typically sells out, so I'd book early once you decide - I booked 9 months out for our stay.
The room - we stayed in a Studio room and loved it. The villas are gorgeous, but weren't worth an extra $190 a night(if we went during the off-season I'd book one in a heartbeat). The only downside, as with ALL of the room is that they do not have TV's in any of the rooms - we're those "weird" people who can't go without. You can (and we did) rent a TV from the giftshop along with DVDS, but their DVD collection is fairly limited so I'd throw some extras in your suitcase. The a/c does struggle a bit since it turns off everytime you leave your room, but it cooled our room back down within an hour or so. If you are going with a villa, I'd go with the regular over the Premiums. We were talking with some folks in the Premium and while they're the newest, they are also the furthest away and they didn't like that. .
The grounds - gorgeous and VERY well maintained. Crews were always working on it. The pool is one of the best in Negril, gorgeous views!!
Food - the poolside grill for lunch is AWESOME, I had grilled snapper everyday and it was fabulous! The main restaurant was good, but we had better. We were too chicken to try Pushcart and heard differing opinions about it, they did have good chocolate cake though.
Overall, I can't say enough good about The Rockhouse - we absolutely LOVED it. While it's not a 5-star hotel, it's a gorgeous hotel that lets the Jamaican atmosphere surround you.
Other restaurants:
Tours
Shopping - don't be fooled by the little shops across from the RH. It's all mass-market made stuff. Unfortunately, we didn't figure it out until we went to the shopping mall down by the beach and they had the exact same stuff there. We still picked up a couple of trinkets.
Let me know if you have any other questions, there's a reason why The Rockhouse is on so many "must do" lists and gets great reviews!