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Blue Cave Castle 07/17/02
Reviewers Rating:  Excellent
WARNING: If you're looking for the typical 5 star all inclusive resort like tropical beach vacation, read no further. Blue Cave is not the place for you. If you're looking for a nice, quiet, personal, "not so out of the way" place to stay that allows you to experience Negril and Jamaica's north coast, the Blue Cave is PERFECT. In December 2001, I spent 4 nights at the Blue Cave Castle which I absolutely LOVED, LOVED, LOVED. The hotel is literally a castle built on the cliffs of Negril, directly over the sea. There is no beach (a maginificent view of the resorts on 7-mile beach, but no beach) but wonderful plateaus for those who want to layout and get skin cancer (I mean some sun) or watch boats float by. Underneath the castle are natural caves leading into the ocean that make for wonderful secluded swimming and playing (there are stairs on the grounds that lead you down into the caves). The hotel has a nice backyard (but more like a "sideyard") like area with lawn chairs and tables with umbrellas etc etc overlooking the sea (basically everything overlooked the sea) ... this served as communing place for hotel guest in the morning since the owner would put out fresh (free) Blue Mountain coffee every morning. ROOMS - The hotel has 2 parts, the main castle (complete with turrets and towers) and a separate bungalow or villa type structure. The bungalow had about 3 or 4 rooms that were larger and family size -- looked more like apartments, but I didn't go in them. The castle had about 5-7 rooms including a penthouse (120 feet over the sea), 2 huge tower rooms (70 feet above the sea), and then some smaller rooms. I stayed in one of the tower 2 tower rooms (note, I was booked for a smaller room, but since there was availability when I got there the owner gave me the larger room for the same price). My room was the BEST part. First of all, the way it was set up, it didn't feel like a regular hotel room, I walked in and immediately felt like I was in a room in somebody's house. It was a tower room, so it was long and curved (complete with stone walls, a treasure chest and all that!). There was a queen sized bed at one end and a twin bed at the other. There was a private balcony that extended about 3/4 the length of the room (part of the balcony overlooked the grounds and part the sea). In the room, there was a mini refrigerator (nothing in it), a radio/cassette player, ceiling fan, old style wardrobe, and a dining table and chairs -- and you could walk around and not bump into a thing! Built into the walls was a bookshelf with books and magazines and other stuff. The bathroom had a hot water shower. (Note, this room didn't have t/v --let alone cable -- or a/c, but the smaller rooms do have that). That's pretty much it for the hotel, no restaurants, no service (well, they do have a "chambermaid" that cleans the rooms everyday - which blew my mind because I felt so much like I was in someone's house, I wasn't expecting that), no activities, no shows, no giftshops etc. The other great amenity (besides the charm and the great rooms) is it's location. In the immediate vicinity are plenty of local shops and eateries, as well as other cliffside hotels and resorts (but they're all reserved and semi-secluded, so you don't have that overwhelming feeling of being in a resort town -- note, Rick's Cafe is about 10 minutes up the road). Blue Cave is about 1/4 of the way up Light House Road on the cliffside, which makes it a 10 minute walk to "downtown" Negril, and a 20 minute walk to the shopping and smaller resorts the beach side. (I mainly walked because it was so short, but could easily catch a local taxi for about $20JA ($.50 US). Once downtown, there's plenty of shopping and places to eat with GREAT (and inexpensive I might add) Jamaican food - which is a rarity on the resorts from what I've heard). You can also catch a local taxi or bus to nearby Sav-la-mar, or even Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, and Kingston! That is pretty much how I spent my vacation .... I'd get up in the morning and chill out on my balcony listening/dancing to Irie FM (mental note, just cuz it's a private balcony doesn't mean no-one can see you). Then I'd go into town and shop, or take a bus to another town. In the evenings I'd come "home" and sleeep (too tired to even miss the t.v. -- and the soothing sounds of waves crashing on the cliffs didn't help matters). I did do a one day Black River / YS Falls / Appleton Estate tour (note: don't fall for the "it's just punch" line) with Errol tours (highly-recommended). Another day, I got up extra early and caught a local bus to Kingston (4-5 hours), did some walking around, went to a reggae concert, and then caught an early bus back the next morning. The last 3 nights of my 1 week trip I spent in a room on a beach resort (nestled between Hedonism and Grand Lido I think), waaaaaaaaaaaay on the other end of Norman Manley road .... I mean waaaaaaaaay. It was about a 40 minute walk to town (actually I gave up after 40 minutes). There wasn't anything in the vicinity outside the resort except for a marketplace selling souvenirs. On the resort there was a picture perfect beach (complete with the 1 palm tree setting that you always see on the commercials), but there was also cheesy entertainment, cafetaria style food and a bunch of (heaven forbid) tourist. I spent most of the time in the room watching t.v. and studying -- I had an exam waiting for me when I got home ... the whole purpose of the switch.
Jonta
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