Lashings

• Price Guidance:
• $$$$$

Can $100/day buy Jamaican luxury? Lashings is the setting for our $100/day Jamaica luxury challenge.

Lashings may be the best bargain in Jamaica if you’re looking for a hotel with an eye for design, with a fair amount of quirk thrown in. Rooms come as cheap as $65 a night and go up from there. If you have slightly more room in your budget, you should consider Lashings Beach Club rooms.

Lashings

Regardless of whether you choose the main Lashings location on the hill overlooking the ocean, or the beach club, you have access to 3 pools, 2 restaurants and the beach. This is a great place to explore the quieter side of Jamaica; no cruise ships or KFC’s for miles, and the bohemian town of Treasure Beach.

Highs:

• The price
• The quirk factor
• The upper rooms

Lows:

• The restaurant’s just ok
• You’re kind of stuck up on the hill… walking into town will take a bit of time (unless you stay at the beach club)

Jakes

• Price Guidance:
• $$$$$

Set along the sun-soaked stretches of Jamaica’s South Coast, Jakes Hotel in Treasure Beach is the très-chic getaway for the boho elite…. even if you’re on a budget. This boutique resort’s eclectic, and colorful, mix of island-vibe cottages are uniquely designed and the complete opposite of what you’d find at the mega-resorts that dominate Jamaica. Layer in the laid-back charm of slightly scruffy, yet adorable, Treasure Beach, and you have a cocktail full of fun and relaxation.

There are 49 rooms, suites, and cottages here, each with its own bohemian twist. Whether it’s the intimate bungalows with mosaic mirrors, or the palatial oceanfront villas with private pools and direct water access, each space has its own unique, quirky, quality, with locally-sourced art and furnishings.

Jakes

But the experience doesn’t end when the sun sets. For all you gourmands, Jakes has two dining options. Dive into the good, but not excellent, Jakes’ main restaurant next to the pool and beach, that will still be there the next day for that alfresco breakfast and bloody mary. Option two is Jack Sprats – the hotel’s ever-buzzing beach bar + restaurant that serves jerk, pizza and other Jamaican faves.

Then there’s the Pelican Bar that’s not part of Jakes, but close enough for a convenient excursion that Jakes will arrange for you. Think world’s coolest shabby-chic bar on a sandbar a mile offshore…

Highs:

• The price
• The funk factor
• Great vibe

Lows:

• The very small beach