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Blue Cave Castle 11/2/00
Reviewers Rating:  Excellent
We picked Blue Cave Castle for several reasons. First, it was recommended by both new-Negril people and old-timers alike and the price is right. Pictures sell this place - it IS gorgeous. We reserved the penthouse (the very tippy-top of the castle) for $20 more than a regular room for the first 4 nights. Rates vary but you can expect to pay what it says on the web site or perhaps a bit less. We planned to find a beach place for our last 4 nights since this was our first Negril trip we thought we should try both the cliffs and the beach. More on that later. Blue Cave Castle is owned by a woman named Susan, from New York City. Susan built the castle with (I think) her ex. She told me they bought the property in 1974 and built the castle gradually from then. She still has plans to expand certain areas - the penthouse where we stayed will grow, the restaurant may re-open, etc. There were so many things we liked about Blue Cave - the view from the grounds is gorgeous but when we climbed the (three flights of) stairs up to our room - the view became absolutely incredible. We had four deck/patios of our own (we wondered aloud often where the other 50 people we should be sharing the space with were!) and the one on top of our room offered awesome views of Negril beach, the cliffs, the sea and the hills - it's a completely 360 degree panoramic view obstructed only by the hills to the east. We just walked around with our mouths open the first few days. The castle is the highest point around there and we stayed in the highest part...it's also not so far up the cliffs that the view of the beach is lost (as it is further along the cliffroad) and we really enjoyed looking out at night - the lights on the beach were like a long necklace glittering on the white sand. That room is made for honeymooners - totally private up there. We had a kitchen but other than the fridge and sink, we didn't really use it. The room is not like any we'd stayed in here or in JA. It's not fancy in the sense that the towels and sheets don't always match and there's a crack or two in the celing but everything says "castle" and it's so over the top, it's cool. The wooden bed and wardrobe and every other piece of furniture had castle touches - the top of the bed and the tops of most everything is cut like a castle top. The bedspreads were castle-ey, the walls are castle-ey - to get the idea you almost have to go, or at least check out the pictures on the web site. The price was really low for what we got. Susan puts out coffee every morning and we grew to love "coffee hour". Everyone ("everyone" meant about 15 people when we were there - this is a relatively small place) comes down to the tables by the sea and has coffee and conversation - the other guests when we were there included a group of ten staying at Blue Cave for their 13th time. There isn't a restaurant at Blue Cave at the moment though there may be when you get there. No matter, we grew to love our little neighborhood on the cliffs - lots of food and drink within an easy walk. I rate it excellent for the money - this is a budget priced hotel that doesn't feel budget at all.
Liz Maher
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