For the adventure traveler only...
Review Submitted: January 16, 2009
Date of Stay: December 2008
This property is for folks looking for the 'real jamaica'. You *will* find it here, complete with local 'restaurants', shopping and nature. The owners are very helpful and responsive and the property is well kept, well built and comfortable. The town is interested and the residents seem to look out for the random tourists that arrive.
However, the above picture of the beach and description that accompanies it are misleading.
* The beach looks nothing like the above. It's piled high (2-3 feet in some places) with debris, trash and wreckage. As there are no resorts here, no one cleans it, because no one uses it. The above photo must have been taken 15 years ago, because that beach isn't here.
* The staff, Church and the driver Charlie brown, are responsible and nice, but not very communicative about what is around or what is offered, nor did we find them around that much. This could be an asset to many, but for us, we needed some guidance. But to say that 'they will ensure an unforgettable holiday' is inaccurate. When we set up a local hike in the hills, the negotiated rate with a local was exorbitant. 80$ USD for a 90 min hike. If you work everything through caretaker Church and driver Charlie Brown and take time to get to know them and trust em, your experience will be vastly improved.
* There was a woman on the property, who repeatedly badgered us to cook for us. In fact, she is related to the owner's wife; her house has a gate that opens up onto the property. We had been warned about her, but we decided to go with it anyways. Bad choice: she will inflate the price of groceries (3000J for 1200J worth of goods) and will repeatedly ask you to buy her alcohol. She is a decent cook, but it hardly worth the hassle; she will enter your apartment uninvited, often drunk and won't leave without being rude. Find another cook; don't engage her.
* There are NO 'tourist' restaurants in town, but there are 2-3 jamaican places that serve good jamaican food and of course the jerk stands and patty place near the large market. These range from a shack with 2 plastic tables to a larger place with fluorescent lighting. Want a sit down dinner? Take a bus to Ocho Rios.
* Again, the owners are responsible, responsive and cooperative.
* Best bet is to have an idea of what is around and plan accordingly and negotiate diligently for some inside knowledge of the real jamaica.
* This place is secure and we felt very comfortable.
Owner's Response: Dear future guests
we are always happy to get some feedback from our guests. We take our responsability as the owners very serious and we need to get some honest feedbacks to improve our service.
First we want to say it again because a lot of travelers have a wrong picture of the island. Jamaica is a third world country and a lot of people have no steady job or any other income. Travelers to Jamaica have to have in mind that they have to negotiate prices and follow simple guidelines when you are traveling a third world country. The majority of the Jamaicans are very helpful and friendly and we are shure that you will enjoy your stay.
1. The beach in Port Maria is about 1,5km long and sandy. It is used mostly by locals and not very often by tourists. In the stormy and winter season from October to January we lately have a lot of rain and winter storms and then it can be that there is more wood and garbage is coming down to the beach with the 2 nearby rivers. The pictures (2005 - 2008) on our page are not misleading there are only taking in the summer season when the beach get cleaned regulary. In the winter season the beach only get cleaned 2 or 3 times because the Jamaicans do not use the beach too much in the cold winter (25 - 30 degrees). The nicest places of the beach are a 5 to 10 min. walk along the seaside out of the town. We will soon update our page with some new pics taken in 2009.
2. We are personaly in Jamaica at the moment and we are setting up a new management to improve the communication and our services.
3. We are not offering any cooking services at Sunrise Apartments. The past management which was in charge since the start of 2008 did allow our family to do so without our knowledge. We are sorry for that inconvenience and we did sort it out with our new manager and our family and those things will shurly not happen again.
4. As we write on our homepage Port Maria is not a tourist resort and you will only find local restaurants and a Kentucky fried chicken in the town center. If you are looking for an US or European standart restaurant you would have to go to Ocho Rios or another tourist resort and the prices are like at your home or even higher.
We thanks our guests for the review and we are shure that with our new management future guests will have a great time in Port Maria and Jamaica.
Greetings
The owners
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Helpful votes: 4/5
