PRICE:
Frommer's Highly Recommended

Because this hotel is so intimate, whether you like it will depend on whether you click with the owner and the other guests. Basically, it's an upscale private home in the style of the British colonial world at its most rarefied that accepts paying guests. It was built for a socially prominent heiress, Kitty Spence, granddaughter of prairie-state populist William Jennings Bryan, and later served as the home and laboratory of a horticulturist who successfully bred 560 varieties of flowering hibiscus. The estate's 15 hectares (37 acres), set 168m (550 ft.) above the coast and 11km (6 3/4 miles) west of Ocho Rios, thrive with flowering plants as well as memories of such luminaries as Noël Coward, who used to play the grand piano that graces one of the public areas. There are absolutely no planned activities here. Bedrooms are a delight -- spacious, well thought out, and exceedingly comfortable. The staff is on hand to help supervise children, maintain the property, and prepare meals for anyone who gives advance notice. The nearest beach is a 10-minute ride away.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Jamaica, 5th Edition, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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