Strawberry Hill

We stayed at 3 places across Jamaica in March, Strawberry Hill was by far the most classy and upmarket. The views are incredible, really remarkable. The architecture, interior designs, and details around the hotel and rooms is great. Not to mention the wildlife and nature around. It's truly a great spot to escape the city and disconnect (especially considering the wifi didn't work for apple devices 😅). The history around the place and Chris Blackwell's legacy is really cool to see. The frontdesk staff is helpful, quick to respond and organise excursions + taxis. The wifi problem did sound like a bit of an inconvenience though. Unfortunately for me and my wife, the restaurant and traditional formal service ruins the vibes. A lot of waiting staff seem unhappy or quite uninterested, there's a bit of an avoidance culture which leads to an inconsistent service. The menu is also quite limited. This makes it a deal breaker as a taxi to and from Kingston will cost you at least $100. There's only one other option at night for dinner (not open all week + a 15min walk down the road and steep uphill back). Here are some other random points: - Pool is great, with a super cool view - Pool service is weird and feels unimportant; one day someone brought us towels and made the beds. The other days we struggled to get someone to give us clean towels. - Pool has only 6 loungers. 2 are in a private guest area. Other ones can be next to lots of non hotel guests taking photos and mingling. Non guests in other area didn't seem to be enforced either. - Restaurant service is pretty awful. The first time our drinks (2 simple cocktails) arrived after the food (around 30-45mins wait). It's weird because there's a big bar, however, a bar without a barman is useless. The other meal, our water was never refilled nor we were asked how anything was, this is the only time i left a $0 tip. - Prices are expensive for the food, which was a very disappointed as it was average at best. For example, we requested a salad, and staff said fortunately there was 1 salad left - so the meals/salads aren't really freshly prepared? - For breakfast, bowls of fruit are preferable to a plate of a few slices. I don't like fried food for breakfast so I was surprised at the little choice. - To emphasize, the room views are really amazing. The sunrises, the sunsets over the city with the trees and birds around you is one of a kind.

Disappointing! We booked a tour for our clients, paid Strawberry Hill Hotel the money they requested and still the client was requested to pay on site. This was on the 27th December 2023. Yet up to today the 12th March 2024, we are still calling them 3 or 4 times a week requesting a refund and they have been promising us a refund for nearly 3 months yet they fail to refund the money paid. Their customer service is not the best, they ignore calls and messages, not sure what else to do to get our money back. Just be mindful when paying, frankly we have been taking guest to Strawberry Hill Hotel for years so we are extremely disappointing that they don't return their customers money. It turns out they are quick to collect but slow to refund, if at all. Initially they told us that they would return the money after 6 weeks (how crazy is that?), well its been nearly 3 months and no matter how much we call and message them, all we get are promises.

The place is amazing… THE STAFF ARE NOT. It was my birthday and my friend told the waiter to please bring a candle for me to make my bday wish. We thought maybe the waiter didn’t hear. He and another waitress sang happy birthday to the woman sitting across from us. When my friend said she asked him to sing me happy birthday and bring a candle so I could blow out a candle. When the check came and no birthday song or candle after especially asking for it we asked the waiter why he didn’t sing and he said he didn’t know why and he didn’t want to. I’ve never been treated so incredibly rudely before especially on birthday. I blow out a candle every year for my birthday and this is the first time I have ever been denied that at a restaurant and for my birthday. It was so disappointing and completely took away from my birthday experience at strawberry hill. We spent over 1,000k just that day at the resort for my birthday there and the waiter decided to ruin my birthday and not sing to me or bring a candle. He did sing and bring a candle for the group exactly across from us. It was so hurtful and I would recommend that if you would like to come for your birthday do not go to strawberry hill and avoid the restaurant if you don’t want to be ignored and disregarded after giving them business.

12 miles up a very winding road you reach the hotel. Beautifully kept grounds and facilities and The best food we had in Jamaica . Staff are friendly and very helpful, they can arrange any trips, or as we did- arrange a driver to take you on your own tour. All public areas have amazing photos of bands, dignitaries and film stars . Good library where you swap books. TV room if you feel the need. Rooms are spacious and great views from the balcony. Yoga pavilion with outstanding views . Just ask for a mat at reception. Pool is quite cold but the views from it are worth it. Quite possibly my favourite place in Jamaica. The only downside is that if you want to go offsite it will cost you $50 for a taxi just to get to you. Our Kingston day was circa $250 for a driver plus entry into museums and food. Lots of steps all around the property so not for those with mobility problems. Top tip - take a torch , it can be dark and the steps tricky!

We were after a relaxing getaway and it did not disappoint. We arranged taxi from Kingston airport to the hotel and back through the hotel as we found it was cheaper. The driver was great, it was a long drive up a lot of winding roads but the views at the top were breathtaking. We had a two bed cottage with two double beds. If you’re planning to self cater I’d say by the kitchen facilities there’s no point. The kettle was working though. We booked a spa treatment and a day hike and both of those were perfect. We sat around reading and soaking in the views. It is an open air cabin so if you’re not used to the sounds of nature at night take ear plugs - tree frogs are loud! Beds were comfy and it was v clean throughout the stay. They also had scrabble. The hotel area - restaurant, bar, pool were all lovely. Everyone was friendly and helpful. It’s worth going downstairs under the bar to see Chris Blackwells awards room. The only downfall for me was the food, we ate dinner twice. We ended up going for breakfast at Cafe Blue every day which was about 15 min walk downhill. On the last night we went to a roadside place for fried chicken, rice & bean etc and it was the best & cheapest meal we had.

Beautiful!!! We also had a great lunch there. The view was outstanding as well as the infinity pool and grounds. The drive up the hill was a bit challenging because of recent falling rocks but once we got there it was more than worth it!

I have made several trips to Janaica for work over the years and this time I decided to gift myself and my partner some relaxing time. Locals recommended this place and although expensive ii is worth the money. We took advantage of the low season special and had a wonderful relaxing time with the mist amazing views and friendliest staff. It’s the best showcase of Jamaican friendliness and joy from small things. The food was ok and not very options for vegetarians but the ambience made up for it. We overheard our upstairs neighbors but other wise the place is amazing, clean and quiet.

So we came here for a lunch, not a guest but just for a nice lunch with views.of the Our server Bernice was lovely. HOWEVER!!!,,, it took 1 hour for us to get appetizers! How is that normal service?! I contracted a car for 2 hours for lunch and it will cost me extra to extend the time to accommodate the extra time it will take to get the food. All served with the most aggressive flies Ive ever encountered (thats not their fault) honestly, its Unconscionable. Never again…

We rocked up at Strawberry Hill for the final night of our Jamaica holiday. The setting is gorgeous, high in the mountains, he view overlooking Kingston. The grounds are immaculate, beautifully tendered to. Our room was equally lovely, rustic charm best describes it. However, you have to be relatively fit to stay in strawberry Hill due to the amount of stairs you have to encounter to get to your room. But so worth it. Dinner was OK, not spectacular alas. Breakfast a little hurried. Lunch fine. My biggest complaint was when we returned to our room after dinner…about 10.30pm, there had been no turn down service (I know, first world problem!). The lack of turn down was in itself fine, I can swish bedcovers, but all the shutters were wide open. I fiddled about, unable to shut them, so had to call reception and duly someone arrived to help. Also our safe was broken. The manager, Ricardo, was very very hands on and a complete treasure. Without him at the helm, this resort would sink and I’d probably rated it 2 stars. Definitely an experience for the scenery alone but the hotel is certainly lacking in many departments and needs serious investment.