Jamaica - a GREAT place for honeymoons!!
Looking for a tropical, romantic, affordable (or pricey too if you want) honeymoon destination? Jamaica has it all! Jamaica tops many of the “World’s Best Honeymoon” Lists every year. And, Jamaica has an amazing inventory of fantastic hotels with a variety of styles – no matter what your romantic preferences may be.Here are just a few of the many wonderful choices available to you. Let us help you plan your romantic honeymoon to Jamaica!
Goldeneye, once the home of Bond’s creator, Ian Fleming, is now a resort run by Island Outpost ( www.islandoutpost.com), a collection of five distinct small properties located in Jamaica and the Bahamas. Created by Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records and Palm Pictures, Island Outpost tries to create environments reminiscent of staying at a good friend’s home. Among its Jamaican properties are Goldeneye, Strawberry Hill and The Caves, all wonderful choices for romance. Throughout the resort’s 40 acres are beaches, a tropical forest, caves and secluded nooks. Five villas stand on a bluff over the Caribbean Sea, while Fleming’s former home overlooks a secluded cove.
The Caves, Island Outpost’s haven in Negril, is situated on a volcanic cliff honeycombed with grottoes. One such grotto is candlelit for dining, another features a hot tub. The Caves underwent extensive refurbishments, including upscale in-room extras and new facilities.
Negril’s Couples Swept Away is one of four Couples (www.couples.com) properties in Jamaica. This 234-room, 18-acre all-inclusive resort situated on one of Jamaica’s best beaches is highlighted by its spa and by five quality restaurants specializing in cuisine from Jamaican to Asian to Mediterranean. The mood is set by the private hammock that hangs outside each suite, in-suite Jacuzzis and the hors d’oeuvres that are delivered each evening to couples who wish to enjoy them with a glass of wine on their private balcony. The resort also has a special in-room dining menu available nightly. The property’s 10-acre fitness complex specializes in body shaping, yoga, Pilates and abdominal workouts. Other popular programs for those looking to grow a little closer are Soca dance classes, cocktail mixology and the Couples Resorts’ signature massage course. Here, couples learn the art of a romantic massage.
Half Moon (www.halfmoonweddings.com) recently added a Romance Concierge program, staffed by specialists who help plan weddings. A Romance Concierge is prepared to coordinate florists, chefs, spa therapists and other wedding services, as well as offer creative suggestions. Among the details he or she can arrange are gourmet picnic baskets or a champagne beach ride on horseback, with a private breakfast on the beach just after dawn. The Half Moon resort stretches across two miles of beaches, featuring manicured gardens, a semi-enclosed chapel, a spa and restaurants. Accommodations include suites, cottages and villas. Half Moon also features a recently renovated Robert Trent Jones, Sr.-designed 18-hole golf course, the Half Moon Golf Academy, 13 lit tennis courts, an equestrian center, fitness center, 51 swimming pools, a Dolphin Lagoon and more. Fern Tree, The Spa at Half Moon, recently opened with beachfront spa suites, hydrotherapy swimming pools, yoga pavilions and a host of treatments.
The 74-suite Royal Plantation Ocho Rios (www.royalplantation.com) is Jamaica’s only member of Leading Small Hotel of the World. The adults-only resort was originally opened in the 1950s, and its elegant British Colonial plantation style still recalls a time when luxury was much more exclusive. The resort sits on a bluff some 25 feet above the sea, with 74 suites looking out over the ocean. The “Royal Plan” allows guests to receive the added convenience of an all-inclusive.
Last November the resort won a World Travel Award as the Caribbean’s Leading Honeymoon Resort. The resort offers such activities as private cooking classes or a couple’s treatment at the Red Lane Spa. Set on 17 manicured acres, its flagship accommodation is a private, 3,000-square-foot, three-bedroom villa with a private pool and dedicated household staff. The resort, a Sandals property, underwent a complete renovation in 2004.
Round Hill Hotel and Villas (www.roundhilljamaica.com), is a luxury resort in Montego Bay. The resort sits on a former pineapple plantation on a 110-acre peninsula, where guests may be accommodated in either the 36-room Pineapple House Hotel (recently designed by Ralph Lauren) or in one of the 27 individually owned villas with suites overlooking the sea. The resort features gardens, a secluded beach and a spa in an 18th-century Great House at the edge of the sea. All suites have huge verandas, air conditioning, ceiling fans and Jamaican antiques.
Sandals (www.sandals.com) spent $6 million and four months renovating its Whitehouse Hotel European Village Spa on the south coast of Jamaica, a project completed in December. Sandals Whitehouse opened in 2005 with government participation in order to bring tourism to a part of Jamaica that sees few visitors. Set within a pristine, 500-acre nature reserve, Sandals Whitehouse comprises three seaside European villages—French, Italian and Dutch.
The resort’s 360 rooms and suites in nine categories, all with beachfront views, are complemented by eight restaurants and six bars; the largest freshwater pool in Jamaica; and a European-style square, complete with duty-free shops, formal gardens and more. As with all Sandals Resorts Luxury Included vacations, Whitehouse offers exclusive butler service in select room categories, unlimited premium-brand wine and spirits, and championship golf, among other amenities.
Sandals offers many other stunning properties in Jamaica!
SuperClubs (www.breezes.com or www.superclubs.com) rechristened three Jamaican properties to the Breezes brand. Breezes serves a value-conscious market that’s every bit as interested in romance as the high-enders are. The Grand Lido Braco became Breezes Resort & Spa Rio Bueno. The Breezes Resort & Spa Rio Bueno houses within its grounds the Braco Village at Rio Bueno, a “hotel-within-a-hotel.” The Village includes a separate au naturel section with 52 beachfront suites and a 24-hour clubhouse serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Au naturel, or nude, bathing is offered at many Breezes resorts, but it shouldn’t be confused with the sort of market that Hedonism is reaching out to.
It’s more akin to the kind of bathing you find on the Mediterranean. All guests receive Rio Bueno’s Super-Inclusive amenities, including complimentary rounds on the resort’s golf course, a selection of dining options, room service in suite accommodations, cooking classes with the culinary team, and access to the sauna as well as the fitness center with floor-to-ceiling views of the beach.
Jamaica Inn (800-837-4608, www.jamaicainn.com) is an independent property that has been operating in Ocho Rios since 1950. This little jewel of 47 suites and cottages offers lodging without TVs, radios or clocks for the couple who seeks to get away from it all without forgoing luxurious comfort. Every suite and cottage has sea views that can be appreciated from balconies or verandas that are fitted out with a large sofa and breakfast table. The cottages are free-standing suites with oversized bathrooms featuring a separate shower and tub, and marble floors. Each has an outdoor shower and an infinity pool for plunging, just off the bedroom.
Cottages Three and Four are exclusively private, with their own entrances to the sea. A wet bar is located in the living room of each. Cottages are available by request only.
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