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Round Hill Hotel And Villas

Hotel Overview

Secluded on a peninsula 8 miles west of Montego Bay, this resort serves as a retreat for the world-famous as well as the world-weary. Guest accommodations include seaside hotel rooms and large villas tucked into forested hillsides--all without televisions. A pretty bay laps a pretty beach. An isolated, tranquil, adults-only section contains a spa offering hydrotherapy in the forest.

Location

Montego Bay (Jamaica)
Embracing Sangster Airport, the north island's main market center, and some of the most venerable luxury resorts, “Mobay” is Jamaica with a bit of decorum. The region offers Jamaica's greatest variety of lodgings, from cottages to grand resorts, and well-organized visits to plantations and natural attractions. The drive to Negril takes an hour.

Round Hill Bluff
Montego Bay,
Jamaica

General information

What to expect: Begun in 1953 as a collection of private vacation villas on a 110-acre former pineapple, allspice, and coconut plantation, Round Hill has served for 50 years as a retreat for American and European socialites and entertainment-world luminaries. Its villa owners have included Noel Coward, Adele (Mrs. Fred) Astaire, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Viscount and Viscountess Rothermere. Ralph Lauren is an owner and decorates resort interiors. Accustomed to marble, crystal, and other opulence, owners come for the "rusticity" of wood, tile, and rattan. Simplicity does not mean deprivation, however, as Round Hill's inclusion on Condé Nast Traveler's Gold List attests.

Amenity highlights: A calm little bay containing swimming rafts and a trampoline raft laps a private beach furnished with cushioned lounge chairs. Above the seashore, a large pool provides freshwater swimming on a sundeck. A bar encirling an almond tree serves both beach and pool. Complimentary non-motorized water-sports equipment such as kayaks and windsurfers are available on the beach. Styled as Welcome Wharf and off-limits to children, a 10-acre parcel 0.25 mile from the resort's main section and accessible by a path lighted at night for romantic strolls includes an expansive lawn, a pool, a fitness center, and a health-and-beauty spa.

Insider tip: Along the winding, seaside path between the main resort and the health spa and fitness center lies a limestone cliff, the bottom of which contains shallow caves. Guests decorate the caves with white stones plucked from the shore.

Property amenities

Featuring an open-air hydrotherapy tub and treatment table enveloped by trees up a hillside behind the building, the resort's health-and-beauty spa offers massage, body treatments, facials, and hair and nail care in addition to hydrotherapy. A 25-foot-diameter pool and redbrick sundeck front the spa.

Treatments and massages are available in the spa's air-conditioned rooms, on a second-floor open-air veranda, or at the seaside edge of a lawn gently. Treatment options include Pineapple Body Buff, Papaya Mint Polish, and Sweet Coconut Glow. Massage options include Thai, Reiki, and river-stone. Facials include Sunlovers, Aromatherapy, and Anti-stress. Offering sea views, the air-conditioned fitness center contains free weights and cardio and weight machines. Complimentary aerobics take place on the center's open-air veranda, yoga classes on the lawn.

Pineapple Kids' Club provides complimentary activities for children age 3-12. Activities include arts and crafts, yoga, gymnastics, reggae dance lessons, water sports, and video movies. Friday nights feature a Caribbean show on the Seaside Terrace. The resort's library includes a 61-inch television and complimentary Internet connections.

• Outdoor pool
• Private beach
• Poolside bar
• Spa (massage)
• Concierge
• Complimentary newspaper
• Fitness center
• Bar/lounge
• Restaurant
• Room service (limited hours)
• Limousine service available
• Free parking
• Conference rooms
• Business services
• Internet access
• Wake-up calls
• Multilingual staff
• 24-hour front desk
• Porter/bellhop
• Security guard
• Currency exchange
• Gift shops or newsstand
• Barber/beauty shop
• Babysitting or child care
• Maid service daily
• Dry cleaning service
• Turndown service
• Garden
• Library
• Rollaway beds
• Cribs available
• Caters to families
• Children's programs
• Suitable for children
• Wheelchair accessible

Policies

Listed room charges apply to a maximum number of guests for each room category. A charge is levied for each extra guest age 12 and older. There are no extra-guest charges for children aged 11 and younger.
A fee will be assessed for cancellations less than 30 days before arrival during winter season, 14 days during summer, and 45 days from December 22 to January 2.
A three-night charge will be assessed for no-shows.
Extra beds and cribs are available and should be requested at the time of booking; fees might apply.
Photo identification and credit card or cash deposit are required upon check-in for incidental charges.
All special requests are subject to availability upon check-in.

• Check-in time is 3 PM
• Check-out time is Noon

Dining

Georgian Dining Room - The resort's restaurant consists of a dining room and two Seaside Terraces, Upper and Lower, graced by almond trees and offering sea and sunset views. Varying breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus provide international choices and Jamaican specialties. Buffets are offered during high season.

Monday evenings, there's a Jamaican beach buffet - with live musical entertainment.

In the rear of the Lower Terrace, the Ralph Lauren-decorated Piano Bar (blue-and-white striped banquettes, dark wood, charcoal-gray tile floor) features complimentary afternoon tea, cocktails, cigars, and photographs of former villa owners and resort guests: Clark Gable, a young Michael Douglas, Alfred Hitchcock, and dozens of others.

Recreation

Complimentary water-sports equipment includes snorkeling gear, kayaks, pedal boats, Hobie Cats, and windsurfers. Daily there's a complimentary glass-bottom-boat tour of coral heads close to the beach and a reef farther out. Five tennis courts (two lighted) provide complimentary play. For fees, scuba-diving lessons and excursions as well as snorkeling excursions are available. A jogging/walking path winds in the hills above the resort. Other recreational activities listed below are available near the resort; fees may be charged.

• Golf
• Boating
• Kayaking
• Sailing
• Waterskiing
• Windsurfing
• Dock
• Rafting
• Jet Skiing
• Aerobics classes
• Running track/path
• Horseback riding/rental
• Parasailing
• Helicopter/airplane sightseeing
• Fishing

Rooms

Consisting of white buildings with weathered-wood shingles arrayed against deep-green forested hillsides, the resort offers 36 rooms in the two-story Pineapple House and 29 privately owned villas available during owners' absences. All rooms and villas face the Caribbean Sea and include air-conditioning and ceiling fans. Coffee makers are accompanied by Jamaica's renowned Blue Mountain coffee. Accommodations do not include televisions, but TV/VCR combinations are available for rent.

Pineapple House is located directly above the sea, providing all rooms with closeup Caribbean views through large, louvered, fold-back windows. Refurbished in 2002 under designer Ralph Lauren's guidance, extra-large rooms feature the resort's blue-and-white motif accented by mahogany. White walls climb to bleached-wood cathedral ceilings. Tile bathrooms include tub/shower combinations. Separate sitting areas contain two-chair dining sets.

Individually owned and decorated according to owners' tastes, villas adhere to the resort's standard of the simple, unfussy life: wood or black-and-white tile floors, wicker, bamboo, or mahogany furniture; tropical prints on walls. Designed so sea-and-mountain breezes circulate freely, villas include living rooms that can be opened to fresh air even if the rooms are air-conditioned. (Not all are.) All bedrooms are air conditioned, with the option of turning off air conditioning in favor of ceiling fans and opening doors to breezes. Because they're elevated on hillsides, villas offer panoramic Caribbean-and-sunset views. (Complimentary golf-cart shuttles transport guests up and down the hillsides.)

Lawns and flowering gardens flank villas. Some include private swimming pools on decks furnished with thickly cushioned lounge chairs for private sunbathing. All villas include full kitchens and a housekeeper to prepare and serve complimentary breakfasts on an open-air veranda.

Deluxe oceanfront room - One king bed or two double beds. Large sunset-view windows overlooking sea. Bleached-wood cathedral ceiling. Separate sitting area with two-chair dining set. Blue-and-white-tile bathroom with tub/shower combination.

Two-bedroom villa with private pool - One king bed or two double beds in each bedroom. Veranda with four-chair dining set and panoramic sea/sunset views from hillside. Spacious, breezy living room. Full kitchen for personal housekeeper to prepare meals, including complimentary breakfasts. Two tile bathrooms with tub/shower combinations. Private swimming pool and sundeck.

• Cable/satellite TV
• CD player
• Separate sitting area
• Climate control
• Ceiling fan
• Air conditioning
• Telephone
• Multi-line phone
• Modem Internet access
• Coffee/tea maker
• Hair dryer
• In-room safe
• Clock radio
• Desk
• Window open-operating
• Iron/ironing board (on request)
• Wheelchair accessible
• Non-smoking rooms