The Cliff Hotel

We went to Jamaica for our first time in February, and stayed for over a week at The Cliff Hotel. What a fantastic place! It truly embodies the Jamaican "No Worries"! ...just a top notch property. I will try and break it down in a way that does it justice. First, the ROOMS. We stayed in a 1 bedroom suite on second floor. It was wonderful to have the separate living area and two balconies, just for more room to spread out. However, just fyi, all the rooms (not sure about the villas) faced the water, and I think we would have been happy in any of them. Though the rooms are not right on the ocean, we found we didn't miss that as we still could see it, and the grounds (which were beautifully and impeccably kept --- shoutout to the groundspeople) and pool tropical views were gorgeous. The rooms were beautiful and pristine. Lots of storage and space. I read another review about there was real housekeeping here, and they were spot on. Towels and products were wonderful, and we were always in great supply with everything, including our bottled water. Our morning clean service was top notch, and turn down service every night was wonderful, with a crisply freshened bed if we had napped, fresh towels and bathroom refresh, and curtains drawn for us. We had a nice surprise for my husband of Happy Birthday written in flowers and palm fronds on our bed when we arrived, and an bottle of champagne, with a lovely personal, hand-written note to him. The bed was VERY comfortable and linens top notch. The GROUNDS. Beautiful, perfectly kept. The pool was wonderful. Lots of places to lay around it. I saw someone working on it every morning to clean, and it was spotless. I appreciated that since I swam laps in it every day (though it was circular laps!). Chairs always available, towels always available, cheerful and fun pool bartender, and someone always checking on you. ALL employees always cheerfully greeted you. You really got the feeling a sense of pride in their jobs and their property. Nice bathrooms by the restaurant to use when by the pool. We heard the massages were wonderful and the workout room. There was a pool table outside and a ping pong table. The cliff side bar was absolutely fantastic, as were the bartenders! We loved to end the day there watching the sunset- did that almost every day, unless we went out for dinner at a place that was on the water and caught the sunset there--- Though we felt the best sunset view was at our hotel! There was just a really nice, laid back vibe at this hotel that made it easy to meet others in a relaxed setting. We met some wonderful people there. The RESTAURANT. We ate breakfast there almost every morning. We loved our morning breakfasts. That view. Wow. Can't be beat. They had Very good portions and excellent preparation on anything we ordered. The people who worked there were wonderful, and so so nice and professional, yet laid back and warm. Very very good food. Some days we ordered lunch or something to split poolside. We also got room service several times for a few meals, and it was all great and easy. OVERALL. From the time of making reservations and getting lots of help and good information with several phone calls pre trip, the front desk crew and management, and all involved with them (baggage assistance, welcome drink and freshen up wash cloth,etc.), they were absolutely wonderful. Always helpful, always a smile and greeting. We also found the cab service to be great. The hotel has cabs that were for the most part the same group of drivers, that we really loved to get to know and enjoy! ...and what was great is if we went off property to dinner at night, they would take you, and then all you had to do was call the hotel 15-20 min before you were ready, let them know when, and they would arrange for the cab to pick you back up, almost always the same driver. There was really a level of comfort to that, and a very nice touch of the hotel to have that option. The hotel does not have an elevator, but even though I have bad knees, I did not find the stairs too difficult, nor the property. Once you get your bearings, you could walk all the way to the cliffs without stairs from the main level, once you figured out where the walkway ramps were vs. stairs. We loved that it was a smaller, elegant property vs one of the huge impersonal places. Overall I would highly recommend this property, and no wonder it gets consistently good ratings! Run, don't walk to book. :)