Skylark Negril Beach Resort in Jamaica. Corey Hamilton
From the mountains to the sea, the cliffs to the falls, Jamaica is an island of vast natural beauty. It is also a lively place to experience world-famous music, indulge in delicious food, and sip cocktails brimming with locally distilled rum. Here, our pick of the country's best hotels, each offering easy access to the surplus of activities and places to luxuriate in Jamaica's warm and relaxing atmosphere.
1. GoldenEye
Best for a glam but low-key vacay
Price rating: $$$
This is where author Ian Fleming penned all of the James Bond novels (thus the name), but your only job when you’re at GoldenEye is to soak up the beauty of Jamaica’s northwestern coast, and savor every second of barefoot luxury. That might mean launching a kayak from the porch of your lagoon villa for the ride over to the Field Spa, or enjoying a sunset cocktail and the chill beats at the breezy Bizot Bar. (Try something with Blackwell Rum, the label founded by GoldenEye’s owner, Chris Blackwell.) With stylish cottages and villas scattered around 40 tropical acres, you’ll feel like you’ve arrived at your very own Jamaican compound.
Getting there: To avoid a 2-hour drive from Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, look into flights landing at the small, still-fairly-new Ian Fleming International airport, less than 10 minutes away from GoldenEye.
2. Jakes Treasure Beach
Best for families and groups
Price rating: $$
This family-run property on Jamaica’s south coast has been an institution for 30 years, but its vibrant mosaics and textiles create a warm, homey vibe and make Jakes feel fresh and contemporary. The location in Treasure Beach, a small fishing village, adds to the feeling that you’ve stepped into a secret getaway. The expansive grounds are dotted with hotel rooms, bungalows, cottages and villas, and you’ll probably make fast friends with your fellow guests over dinner at Jakes Restaurant, an al fresco spot specializing in fresh seafood and locally grown produce. Book a post-beach massage in one of their open-air treatment rooms, then have a sundowner at Dougie's Bar.
Planning tip: Even if you don’t stay at Jakes, the restaurant is worth the trip. Most of Jamaica’s fruit and vegetables come from the local parish of St Elizabeth – and the menu changes daily. Jakes also holds monthly full moon farm-to-table dinners where you can dine at a seaside communal table with your toes in the sand.
3. Rockhouse Hotel & Spa
Best for swimming and diving
Price rating: $$
Negril, on the south shore of Jamaica, is a magnet for beach-lovers who come to snorkel and dive Long Bay and kick back on the sands of Seven Mile Beach. After a long day in the water, savvy travelers retreat to Rockhouse Hotel, an upscale boutique resort perched on the cliffs over Negril’s Pristine Cove. Here, rock-walled rooms are nestled in lush, tropical gardens with outdoor showers and private decks overlooking the ocean. The hotel has two restaurants, a fresh juice bar and a pool bar and grill (get the fish sandwich). Also, don’t miss jumping into the water from their oft-photographed bridge.
Planning tip: To give back to the local community, ask the staff how you can support the hotel’s Rockhouse Foundation, which has invested more than US$10 million in local education initiatives.
4. Skylark Negril Beach Resort
Best for a no-fuss getaway
Price rating: $
With a prime perch on Seven Mile Beach, Skylark Negril Beach Resort caters to an energetic, creative crowd with its brights-on-white, Instagram-ready design, a music-centric vibe and an outpost of the popular New York restaurant Miss Lily’s. (With its ocean views and open-air jerk smokehouse and BBQ grilling station, this one has an edge over NYC!) Music memorabilia and colorful signs by local legend Nurse dot the motel-style property, and the biggest set-piece of all is the resort’s panoramic stretch of white sand and turquoise water.
What to do: Swimming, snorkeling, paddle boarding, glass-bottom boating and parasailing are all on tap here. But so is kicking back on a beach lounger and doing nothing at all.
5. Jamaica Inn
Best for a digital detox
Price rating: $$$
Check in and chill out. At Jamaica Inn in Ocho Rios, there are no TVs, clocks, or radios in guest rooms. You may want your phone to take photos of the hotel’s gorgeous stretch of foliage-framed beach, but then it’s time to switch to Do Not Disturb mode. This historic resort is family-run and has an intimate atmosphere where you’ll strike up conversation over salt-fish-and-ackee breakfasts on the patio or at a rumology (Jamaican run tasting) class at the beach bar. This is where Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller honeymooned in a villa, but even the “regular” rooms in the “Jamaica Inn blue” main building exude laidback luxury.
Planning tip: A spa treatment in the open-air Ocean Spa will melt away travel stress and leave you limber for all the paddle boarding you may do (perhaps in the company of the Inn’s dog-in-residence, Shadow). If you enjoy the soothing Jacana CBD oil and balms used in some of the spa treatments, ask about taking a tour of the Jacana farm, a 35-minute drive away in St Ann Parish’s lush interior.
6. Geejam Hotel
Best for music fans and musicians
Price rating: $$
This undeniably cool boutique property in Port Antonio is nestled in the rainforest at the foot of the Blue Mountains with views of the sea. We’re talking the kinds of vistas and relaxed, barefoot vibes that inspire some of the world’s best musicians to lay down hits. While Geejam Hotel shares a location with the renowned Geejam Studios, you don’t have to be a recording artist to experience a celebrity-worthy stay in one of the property's rooms, cabins or villas, complete with an off-the-beaten track sense of privacy. Jamaican-fusion dishes are available at Geejam’s Bushbar, which hosts regular live shows and guest selectors spinning from the tree-house DJ booth.
Getting there: If you’re traveling like a superstar, Geejam can help arrange VIP airport fast-track services at Kingston or Montego Bay’s airports. Thirty-minute helicopter transfers from Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston can also be arranged. For the rest of us, fly into Ian Fleming International Airport and take ground transportation to Geejam works.
7. Strawberry Hill Hotel
Best for nature-lovers and Bob Marley fans
Price rating: $$$
Like GoldenEye, Strawberry Hill is an Island Outpost hotel, owned by former record producer Chris Blackwell. His most famous artist, Bob Marley, was a fan of Strawberry Hill in an earlier iteration; he found this spot nestled in Jamaica’s Blue Mountains to be a peaceful retreat from the stress of everyday life. Now, the hotel offers that kind of escape to guests who make the trek up the mountains to reach a private cottage with breathtaking views of Kingston and the Caribbean Sea. If you can peel yourself off your breezy veranda, resort amenities include an infinity pool, an indoor/outdoor spa and a wood-paneled bar serving rum punch.
Getting there: To reach Strawberry Hill’s 26 acres of paradise, guests can fly into Kingston’s Norman Manley International and take a car transfer to whisk them on a 50-minute journey through the capital and up the mountainside. The drive takes in the region’s famous 365 bends of Irish Town Rd, through tiny villages and the Hope River. Arriving at the picturesque grounds of Strawberry Hill is a fitting reward.