It's been a bit over a month since our stay, but wanted to write a review of the cutest place to stay in Negril! It consists of about 20 cottages, and is very well kept, the staff were all very helpful and courteous, we especially enjoyed our first evening at the beach bar conversing with Amadean & Romaine, the bartenders.
It is so refreshing to go out of the country and find people who are happy with their occupaions, singing while they work, and making our stay in Negril an enjoyable one.
The office staff were very helpful in helping us retrieve luggage that was lost coming down on the plane and with calling a cab if we needed one - they even assisted us with a couple of day trips we had planned where our tour bus didn't show to get us!
We were dumb enough to lock ourselves out of our room one evening after a few too many cocktails and thank goodness the manager happened by and rescued us. OOPS!
The rooms are very well kept, clean, CUTE, and have sitting areas out front. I'd much rather stay in a small area like this than the bigger hotels on the beach, they are very unique if you want something out of the norm. I can't say enough about Country Country...ya mon...no problem. I only wish that I could be sitting on the beach chairs on the ocean listening to the tree frogs sing right this moment. It's a wonderful place to visit.
Lisa & Greg from Beloit, Wisconsin, USA

Just came back from my second stay in Country Country this year. The garden and the beach cottages are just very beautiful. The staff always friendly and willing to go the extra mile for you. The restaurant has very nice food and it is right on the beach, candle light and romance. The beach it self is small but very clean. You can have your drinks and food served at your beach chair. This is one of the unique places in the world, that is hard to find any where else. Go, relax and enjoy! The only thing that must be mentioned is, next door is Margaritaville, they seem to get louder and louder. It has come to a point that it starts getting anoying. Unfortunally!

What an incredible hotel! I cannot express how perfect my vacation was…but I will try! To begin, the charm and coziness of Country Jamaica put you into a relaxed state of mind almost instantly. I really found the individual cottages to be perfectly suited to give the feeling of being in your own hideaway in paradise. And let me mention the pancakes!!! You MUST have the pancakes!!! The staff was always very attentive to our needs including handling my special requests for a Champagne and fruit presentation for my wife and upon our arrival. If you stop reading now, that is OK, know this – a vacation to Country Jamaica will be the BEST money you could ever spend in Negril, Jamaica…PERIOD.

Highlights of Country Country

1) The staff is very courteous at Country, regardless of tipping. I quickly made friends with everybody at Country, from Monique the Manager, to Ernie and Alex (the drivers), to Opal and the entire restaurant and bar crew. And let’s not forget our security guard team that was quick to check on us if they sensed an overly eager beach vendor.
2) The food at Country was very good (especially the pancakes in the morning – WOW). We traveled to the best Negril has to offer (like Rock House and Kuyaba). The food was no better than at Country. Though I DO suggest you venture out around Negril, if you choose to stay at Country for all your meals…that will be “No Problem Mon”. Know that you didn’t “miss something” in the way of a really special culinary treat…
3) I really loved the cottages! Each cottage is painted to be unique (no pre-fabricated, standardized hotel rooms). Each has a little porch to sit and relax, facing the gardens or the beach, really cozy and special. Best part, you feel like you are in your own little world. This is EXACTLY why I picked this destination.
4) The beach area in front of Country is perfectly sized, flanked by the restaurant and a fence. Everyday the sand is cleaned, the chairs and umbrellas are setup, and you’re ready to lay back and relax. To avoid the beach vendors, simply sit two rows back from the water…they are not allowed to venture into the hotel grounds and the guards will always ask if everything is OK; if you are brave and outgoing then sit in the first row…you just might meet some interesting people!
5) Breakfast is really great…have the pancakes PLEASE…oh, did I say this already?
6) Country Country is for relaxing….you could spend double at another hotel in Negril and easily be disappointed…you simply cannot compare the great value, cozy atmosphere, clean/new accommodations, and friendly staff with any other location in Negril.


Highlights of Negril

1) The beach is SO SOFT. I have to say some of the softest sand I have every put my toes into. Truly a GREAT beach.
2) So much activity on the beach I cannot believe that anybody would not be entertained completely. In fact, it can be too hustle and bustle at times but that’s OK.
3) The water is really VERY clear. For swimming off the shore, you have plenty of visibility. It is such a great ocean to simply float along letting your stress roll away.
4) Get a patty on the beach or at Juici in town. The chicken has a good curry cumin flavor, the beef is like an empanada. Great lunch or snack and very inexpensive.
5) Make sure you get some Jerk Chicken. Flavors and styles vary from place to place so try it a couple times.
6) Enjoy people watching….Negril has every walk of life splashing in the water; it is a great place to sit back and take in the crowd.
7) Try Akee, it is the national fruit in Jamaica and very interesting!


Let me finish with a little education about visiting the Caribbean…I have spent years traveling around various island destinations in the Caribbean and South America and some things that you must know to help manage your expectations…

1) Lots of Caribbean food is fried. Most often the flavors are NOT what you would expect while eating at restaurants in New York, Chicago, Miami, etc – once you know this, you will not have the wrong expectation. Explore the local cuisine, avoid cuisine intended to mimic what you would get at home…
2) Remember that you are traveling to a resort destination where the labor pool is working to service you. The vast majority of the employed populous earns their living from tips. And understand that the tips and service charges are shared by wait staff, cooking staff, security, everybody. If you understand this then it is not a shock…and truth be told, adding up all of the singles amounts to very little money for otherwise being waited on hand and foot by everybody.
3) All resort beach destinations have local beach vendors selling EVERYTHING you can imagine. The Caribbean is no different. With that in mind, you can choose to enjoy being engaged by the locals, have a spirited time negotiating for goods, talk non-sense for a couple minutes, or simply say “Not Interested”…engaging and interacting with the locals is part of the experience of the country you are visiting. If this is not of interest to you, then you should look for a captive all inclusive resort.
4) Finally, talk to the people, ask questions about their country, and engage them. You will learn about local traditions and "special" destinations, and most importantly you will be accepted into the community and not feel like an alien in a foreign land…

We had never been to Jamaica and booked our trip through Travelocity. The cab ride to Country Country was quite eventful with our Junta driver (we paid $20 per person, which is much less than Country Country offered to arrange for us, and also less than the Taxi drivers initially offered---- be prepared to negotiate). You will drive through mass chaos in Montego Bay, be propositioned by drug dealers and prostitutes at red lights and your vehicle may be approached by "thieves" with window washing equipment (our driver told us). I was very surprised to see the living conditions in Jamaica, even near the big resorts.

Country Country is beautiful. I didn't see any other hotel on the beach I would have rather stayed in. The others look shabby and more like motels. We had a great cottage near the beach. The room was beautiful and had a pitched wooden ceiling. The airconditioner worked (thank god!!) and the room was clean. The bed was too firm but it was nice that it was King sized.

The bar/restaurant is in a great location, really cute, and right on the water. The service there was very cold at first, but after a few days, the staff seemed to warm up to us. I'm not sure if that's a cultural thing, or if they appreciated when we started tipping more... After being there a few days we learned that you are expected to tip for EVERYTHING. I heard that they even tip the cashier at the supermarket. It became annoying after a while, and we definitely felt that the staff expected tips for routine hotel service.

The food was not very good for most meals, but was ok. We found almost all restaurants cook ALL food in margarine. Even if you order steamed fish it has a margarine sauce on it. Lunch is especially over priced and yucky at CC. We had dinner there once and it was on par with the other restaurants we visted, including Norma's (which is supposed to be the best on the beach). We did have a good meal at Cosmo's ($5 cab ride and the driver, Ernie, at Country Country picked us up right on time afterwards).

Our first night we arrived fairly late and went looking for dinner after 10pm. The restaurant staff told us to walk down the beach 2 properties and check another restaurant. We were approached by a 'hustler' in front of Country Country who tried to charm us and offered us drugs, and then help finding a restaurant. We had a hard time shaking him. After we ate and walked back to Country Country, he found us on the beach again, this time more aggressive and put a bag of ganga in my husband's hand. My husband refused it but the guy insisted we buy him a beer. We were very scared, and tried to get away from him. Up the beach, a ways, his friend stopped us and told us we were rude to his friend and insisted we buy them beer. We walked away, but were very scared, and never saw any security guards (we didn't even know they existed yet).

The next day we were very unsure how safe the beach was and felt scared to venture out at all. Luckily this was an isolated incident, and we learned that if you are just friendly to the 'hustlers' they leave you alone pretty quickly. This does not mean it isn't REALLY annoying to be propositioned at least once every 2 minutes walking down the beach. This is my #1 complaint about Negril in general. The sales people on the beach are VERY aggressive and take all enjoyment away from taking a walk on the shore. As long as you are parked on a lounge chair on Country Country's beach, they won't bother you (otherwise the security guard tells them to leave).

Anyways, the other reviews about the loud noise at night is correct. The club music was BOOMING from the Treehouse Inn next door. We didn't bother complaining... it's Negril. It's a party scene, what do you expect? There was one night that was especially loud and long, but we just tried to ignore it.

Tips for anyone going to Negril:

-American $$ is accepted almost everywhere, and we were given a better exchange rate if we paid American vs. Jamaican.
-Get lots of $100J for tips! Tipping is expected everywhere, for everything.
-Don't expect amazing cuisine. At all. We went to several of 'the best' restaurants in Negril, both tourist places and local places. The food is pretty good. Maybe I'm really spoiled (I live in Portland, OR). The margarine sauce got old quick. The 'patties' that are sold at lunchtime are really good though. Also, the food at restaurants takes a bit longer to arrive than in the USA and the portions are smaller.
-Take the tour at Mayfield Falls and try to call ahead and schedule Tony as your tour guide! He was awesome. The trip in to 'the country' made us appreciate Jamaica much more, especially after being so turned off by the hustlers on the beach. Beware, this is a SWIMMING tour, not a 'river walk'. You swim up a river... literally. It was incredible though, and very safe.
-Hire a qualified driver (we had great luck with Junta drivers) to take you on a tour of the area. We paid $150 US for a full day with a Junta driver/tourguide.
-Unless you have never snorkeled in your life, skip the snorkeling on the reef near Negril. There are some cool fish, a nice variety, but we negotiated down to $50 US (couple) and were really underwhelmed for the money. The reef has been totally polluted and is unhealthy, so you're not missing much if you skip it. Also, the water tastes like boat gasoline. Yuck!
-If you are horrified about being offered drugs, don't go to Negril. Or stay at an all inclusive resort and never leave the grounds. We were offered ganga, cocaine, and hash every single day, several times a day.
-BRING BUG SPRAY!! I was eaten alive, despite my thorough use of Off! The mosquitos are no joke.

We enjoyed our stay at Country Country and would return, especially now that we know the flow of things over there. The grounds were beautiful and well maintained. The other issues are more about the condition of the country, which at times was quite depressing to me. People are living in squalor and trying to make a living doing anything they can. But they are also proud of their country, very resourceful people, and usually very kind. Enjoy!