Jamaica Villas Blog. Jamaica Villas from Villas Sur Mer at West End, Negril in Jamaica. Villas Sur Mer is a boutique resort for Jamaica holidays, weddings, honeymoons and special events.
“Where have you been for so long?” and well you might ask! I have been Blogging away but not on here as would appear self evident, I have been blogging on the two new blogs of http://www.jamaicantreasures.com/blog and http://www.myluxuryvillas.com/blogboth have which have been created to enable more people to be able to add to the site.
The staff at Jamaican Treasures often stay at the villas that are listed on the site, doing site trips, updating photographs and other such details and so they know more than anyone what these villas and locations are really like and their inside knowledge is a great help for people who are choosing villas and so it makes sense to have them contributing to the Blog.
Getting away from Jamaica for a little while, here is a delightful 3 bedroom penthouse in Dutch St. Maarten I would like you to take a look at:
If you’re the type of person who likes views then Cirrus Penthouse at the Wyndham Sapphire Beach Resort is the ideal location for you because views it most certainly does have and in abundance! Penthouse Cirrus is a 3 bedroom 3 bathroom penthouse at Cupecoy Beach in Dutch St Maarten that has a delightful rooftop terrace with a Jacuzzi and an amazing spiral staircase that takes you from one level to another.
5 minutes to the airport and beachfront, Cirrus has its own housekeeper and is complete with DVD player, CD, TV and Internet, everything you need and fantastic views as well. You really do need to take a look at this beautiful penthouse from our main website. Penthouse Cirrus Saint Martin
Joy upon joy! We have a new bed coming this afternoon (“Big deal!” I hear you say) and my wife and I are delighted, not that there was anything wrong with the bed we have but this bed is special.
My wife has quit smoking; she smoked about 200 cigarettes per week on average but wanted to quit the habit for many reasons not least because her father had not long died of the dreaded lung cancer, the same dreadful disease that took her mother at the age of 49, so, an effort was to be made to quit. Not an easy task as anyone who has taken up the habit of smoking will tell you, it’s not just a case of “that’s it, no more!” well, not in the majority of cases anyway. As an ex smoker myself I knew what lay ahead.
If you have never smoked, well done, you have not succumbed to fashion or peer pressure, you have managed to avoid one of the most addictive habits and surely one of the unhealthiest and dangerous habits as well. Government figures, any government figures that is, will show that there are tens of thousands of people dying each year from cigarette related diseases, cancer mostly and heart disease and each year more young people take up the habit to replace the people who have died, there seems to be no end to it, strangely enough, in a lot of cases its girls who are taking up smoking, a lot with the belief that it will keep their weight down, others because they think it makes them look like “cool gangsters!” it doesn’t of course, it just makes them smell bad.
So, we decided there should be a little extra incentive for giving up the fags and this came in the form of a bed. We live in Spain and so wood is scarce here, things are built with steel or concrete in a lot of cases (the beds are not made of concrete, don’t be silly, mind you, our old mattress felt like it was!) and headboards are usually ornate wrought iron affairs that rattle against the wall as they are fixed with a couple of screws, oh no! This bed is all wood with four ornate posts and a nice big wooden headboard, it’s something that would look right in a cottage and we live in a cottage of sorts.
The plan was this; Every Monday my wife would pay around 40€ that’s around 4,343 JMD for a carton of 200 cigarettes, so, every Monday that she quit smoking we would put the money in a box to purchase this bed, the weeks soon went by and we started to build up a fair amount of cash that would have been wasted on buying tobacco and when we reached 500€ (54,282JMD) we put the deposit down and ordered the bed, that left us another 500€ to pay and thus we were at a point of no return, if she started smoking again we lose the money. Happily though, we are still smoke free and the bed comes today, a further incentive to keep cigarette free.
Why am I rattling on about my wife giving up smoking and a new wooden bed being delivered? What has this got to do with renting Luxury Jamaica villas or Jamaican Treasures (The best Jamaica villa rentals company in the world, so I’m told?) Nothing! Absolutely nothing to do with Jamaica or Jamaican Treasures but I would like to say this; Giving up a habit is hard for anyone and any little incentive is a help, be it a pat on the back or a small present or whatever, if you know someone who is trying to give it up then why not help them.
Anyway, a lot of our fantastic Jamaica villas are smoke free rentals so you will feel a lot better in one of them if you are giving up the habit. Good luck and “well done!” in advance.
At Jamaican Treasures we are always ready and willing to welcome link partners who are in the same field as ourselves that is, supplying luxury villas to people looking for a great vacation. Our newest link partner is the Ermolaos Vacation Club which is located at Livadi on the Ermolaos Hillside Village on the beautiful Greek island of Kefalonia.
The Ermolaos Vacation Club offers you a relaxing quite villa holiday lazing around the private pool but if that’s not enough then you can always enjoy the fantastic scenery, the beautiful beach and views of the sea, walking in the hills and mountain biking there is also an onsite Club. You are only a short distance to the nearest town Lixouri with shops, bars and restaurants.
Please visit the main website for the Ermolaos Vacation Club and discover a side of Greece you may not have seen.
Stepping the World is a travel program that has made some excellent studies of locations all over the world. Here, Stepping the World is in Jamaica offering you hints and tips of where to go and what to do, where not to go and what not to do and points out the benefits of hotels, All inclusive Resorts and guest houses and a Hedonism resort (around about the 14 minute mark theres all sorts of naughty nude people!.)
By renting your own accommodation you are free from the chains of resorts and hotels, free from rigid routines and meal times. Take a look at our villas in Jamaica and I think you will agree that My Luxury Villas and Jamaican Treasures have the best villas on the Island. http://www.myluxuryvillas.com/destination/106/
There is nothing more relaxing tan the sound of the waves lapping the beach or splashing off the rocks, there is nothing more pleasing to the eye tan bright blue skies and deep blue sea split asunder by golden sands. Who wrote that? Me! That’s who.
I mention the sea and the sand for a reason and that reason is the large selection of waterfront or beachfront luxury villas listed by Jamaican Treasures on their main website. These are what they say they are luxury villas that are almost touching the Caribbean Sea, some have handsome private beaches, some are on the rocks overlooking the sea but they have something in common, they are very close to the water.
There is a really cool choice on the main website, there are waterfront or beachfront villas at OchosRios, Montego Bay, Silver Sands, Oracabessa, Port Antonio and a host of other really exotic and beautiful locations on the north coast of Jamaica, some of these villas are ideal for honeymoon couples or small family vacations, others, like Golden Clouds at Oracabessa are 9 bedroom luxury villas that are perfect for beach weddings, family reunions or large groups, this villa is also one of our hot villa deals and has some excellent offers available. Golden Couds Oracabessa Villa.
No matter what you are in Jamaica for, a wedding, honeymoon, reunion or vacation, we have the ideal beachfront locations for those who love the sea, please take a visit to our waterfront villas pages and pick yourself a real perfect villa by the sea. Waterfront Villas page.
Today is a very sad day as I woke this morning to hear of the death of musician Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees. Although this news was not unexpected it was nonetheless saddening.Robin Gibb had been ill for some time, he went into hospital some 18 months ago for an intestinal problem and it was whilst he was in having tests that they discovered a tumor and he was diagnosed as having Colon cancer whish had also spread to the liver.
Born Robin Hugh Gibb in December 1949 to Barbara and Hugh Gibb in Douglas on the Isle of Man, the family later relocated to Manchester before immigrating to Australia.
Robin Gibb along with twin brother Maurice and eldest brother Barry formed a group in their teens called the Bee Gees (B.G’s a pseudonym for Brothers Gibb) and began writing and performing their own material but it wasn’t until they relocated to the UK that success came, with such songs as ‘To love somebody’ ‘New York Mining disaster’ ‘First of May’ ‘How can you mend a broken heart’ ‘Gotta get a message to you’ and countless other timeless classics. Robin also had success as a solo artist with a number of hits that included the rather odd ‘I started a Joke’ (odd because no one to this day, not even the Bee Gees knew what it was about, some say it was a reference to Jesus Christ and others had their own take on the lyrics, Robin himself was at a loss to explain the meaning behind the song. Although Maurice and Barry are credited along with Robin, they helped with the middle section, the main body was Robins. )
The Brothers fell out for a while, each going their own way until common sense (or financial sense) prevailed and thankfully it did otherwise we would not have had the 70’s (imagine what life would have been like without Saturday Night fever!!!) they were credited with beckoning in the Disco era (Cheers lads!)
From thereon in there was no letting up and success followed success as they wrote and produced for stars like Celine Dion, Barbara Streisand, Elvis, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, Dianna Ross, Dian Warwick and countless others, their music was covered a thousand times over in some cases. They were eventually honoured by HM Queen and awarded CBE’s in 2002.
Tragedy was to strike though and the premature death of youngest brother Andy Gibb from a heart attack, the passing of twin brother Maurice Gibb from colon condition and then Robin has caused mother Barbara Gibb to say that this was payback for all the success the band had, maybe so, maybe not but Barbara Gibb is now in her nineties, maybe longevity has its drawbacks.
Thankfully we have been left with lots of music and other material from this fantastic of singer /songwriting group and their music will last many lifetimes. RIP Robin Gibb, thanks for the memories.
I started a Joke
I started a joke, which started the whole world crying,
but I didn't see that the joke was on me, oh no.
I started to cry, which started the whole world laughing,
oh, if I'd only seen that the joke was on me.
I looked at the skies, running my hands over my eyes,
and I fell out of bed, hurting my head from things that I'd said.
Til I finally died, which started the whole world living,
oh, if I'd only seen that the joke was on me.
I looked at the skies, running my hands over my eyes,
and I fell out of bed, hurting my head from things that I'd said.
'Til I finally died, which started the whole world living,
oh, if I'd only seen that the joke was one me.
It’s hard to describe Jamaica or anywhere for that matter if you have never been there and so very often we rely on TV programs to give us some insight, quite often this leaves you at the mercy of the programmed editors and presenters and you may get an overly jaundiced view or on the other hand, if the program is sponsored, you get a sugary, rose coloured view of the place.
Anthony Bourdain - No Reservations - Jamaica 2:3
There is a TV chef of some repute called Anthony Bourdain who has an excellent show called ‘No Reservations’ which is a play on words (‘I have no reservations about sending you here”..”Sorry, there are No reservations available at my restaurant!” you get the picture?) And in this program Anthony Bourdain travels around the world checking out the very best and sometimes the very worst of food locations.
Anthony Bourdain - No Reservations - Jamaica 3:3
Fortunately for us, Anthony Bourdain travel to Jamaica to check out the food, he also gives you a very good insight to what Jamaica is all about and ventures to both the luxurious side of Jamaica whilst not ignoring the poorer side of the capital Kingston. Some people would say it was a fair portrayal whilst others would say it was not, either way, this is an entertaining program and the food on display is mouth watering.
Red Snapper, carnival and Quarters at Aunt May's Fish Place
Over the last week or so I have been rummaging about the Caribbean looking for the very best bars and restaurants and I have come across some real beauties, the best, according to the readers of the Caribbean Travel and Life is a place on the beautiful island of St Thomas called Iggies Bar but on the other hand I was given some photographs and links for another place near Kingston in Jamaica called “Aunt May’s Fish Place” on Hellshire Beach which is in Hellshire Bay.
The two places could not be more diverse, Iggies Bar is a rather up market, high profile, all singing and dancing (literally!) bar cum restaurant that has its own troupe of entertainers that includes fire eaters, stilt walkers, clowns and limbo dancers, the menu goes from Chic to common or market and the prices are about 38$ for adults and 15$ for kids. The menus can be found on their swanky website and the whole package looks like a real professional “bums-on-seats” affair.
Aunt May’s Fish Place on the other hand looks like a shack, the menu is written in chalk outside on a board, the décor is “understated” and the kitchen would not win any design awards. What then makes Aunt May’s Fish Place such a good option when you consider that you are within spitting distance of the capital and it’s mass of restaurants? ‘Fresh fish and plenty of it!’ straight out of the sea and into the frying pan be it realizes it’s been caught. Not just that but you get a great choice from the catch of the day.
Such is the reputation of this fish shack on Hellshire beach that none other than Anthony Bourdain took the film crew from “No reservations” to Aunt May’s to see for himself what was cooking, he wasn’t disappointed. I’ve added the video for you to take a look at. If you have ever been to Aunt May’s Fish Place in Kingston Jamaica or Iggies Bar Restaurant in St Martin, please send us some feedback (no pun intended)
Theres more great news! If you book a vacation in St Thomas or in Jamaica you can visit these very places I have just mentioned. You will of course need accommodation but that isn't a problem as My Luxury Villas have some amazing places in St Thomas and some excellent luxury villas in Jamaica. Take a Look; Villas in St. Thomas Link and Villas in Jamaica Link.
Anthony Bourdains 'No Reservations' Aunt May's Fish Place appears at the 11 minute mark.
