A Guide to Some of Jamaica's Best All Inclusive Resorts

Call this the "everything island." From the minute you arrive, you're going to find something here you like - for example, the free rum punches served new arrivals at the international airport and hospitality center down at the port. Rum is a common commodity throughout the Caribbean. On the other hand, an assortment of top - quality accommodations, priced to suit every budget, is common only to Jamaica.

Take all-inclusive resorts; Jamaica offers more of them than any other Caribbean destination, and off-season prices available in the mid fall and early winter, make them even more appealing. All-inclusive means everything you need - room, meals, tips, recreational activities, entertainment, airport transfers and, in most cases, unlimited liquor and cigarettes, if you require them - and all part of the weekly rate.

Hedonism II, on the seven mile, white-sand beach at Negril, caters primarily to singles, although couples are welcomed. A week's stay, priced at around $700 per person, includes accommodations, three meals daily, all water sports, unlimited tennis and use of a complete Nautilus gym.

Sandals, at Montego Bay, is an adults-only club favoring the fitness-minded, with its 24-hour sports complex containing a weight room and exercise equipment, plus space for daily aerobics classes. Rates running from around S1,500 to $1,900 per couple cover accommodations, meals, watersports such as scuba diving, snorkeling and windsurfing, plus cabaret shows, beach parties and an all-night disco.

Jamaica, Jamaica at Runaway Bay is one of the island's prettiest all-inclusive resorts, combining unlimited land and water sports, meals and airport transfers with a unique cultural experience - traditional Jamaican breakfast of ackee and saltfish, mid-morning cricket lesson, afternoon tea served on the lawn and Jamaica-style nighttime entertainment- Rates run about $650 to $670 per person.

Near the former fishing village of Ocho Rios, west of Montego Bay, two resorts provide one-price pleasure: Couples is a popular romantic paradise for two, offering a wide range of daytime and evening activities, accompanied by fine cuisine. Couples at Couples can also take advantage of free daily bus service into Ocho Rios for shopping, sightseeing or touring Dunn's River Falls. Rates for two range from around $1,500 to S1,800 per week. And Eden , appropriately set in a tropical garden, also caters to couples, offering them accommodations, meals, activities like scuba diving, snorkeling, tennis and horseback riding, and massages and hot tubs to pamper sore muscles after long, active days. A week's stay here is priced from around $1,400 to $2,000 per couple.

Families on a Jamaica holiday may consider the Trelawny Beach Hotel in Falmouth, where children under 15, accompanied by an adult, are welcomed with free accommodations, meals and sports activities, during the off season. Adult rates are $400 to $1000 per person, and cover room, breakfast and dinner daily, unlimited water sports, tennis and live nightly entertainment. And, for parents who want to break away from the kids for a while, the hotel provides babysitting services and organized beach activities for youngsters. At Jack Tar Village in Montego Bay, families can share accommodations, meals, water sport activities, tennis, golf, volleyball and shuffleboard. The rate for children under 12 is about $400 per week; for adults, $699 per person.

Another alternative for families is a villa vacation, where the price includes all the amenities of a hotel and all comforts of home. Villas are staffed with a cook, housekeeper and gardener, and the housekeeper also fills in as nanny if parents want to enjoy some activities on their own. Most of the island's 300-plus villas are located apart from hotels nut conveniently close to major resort areas and beaches. Many offer a private swimming pool and, in some cases, even tennis courts. Weekly rentals range from $720 for two bedrooms up to $1,096 for four bedrooms. Honeymooners can be sure of a special welcome in Jamaica. In fact, they can have both wedding and honeymoon, since couples can legally be pronounced man and wife after staying on-island just 24 hours. One especially popular honeymoon destination is Negril Beach, where Hedonism II welcomes newlyweds. as do secluded thatched-roof villas and quaint beach cottages. A more formal environment awaits in Port Antonio, where several exclusive villas and luxury guest houses provide total comfort and privacy, among them Trident Hotel and Villas and the Marbella Club at Dragon Bay. The Marbella Club, 33 deluxe villas dotting a scenic 55-acre estate overlooking Dragon Bay, has two honeymoon packages available through Dec. 19. They include one-bedroom suite overlooking the bay, round-trip airport transfers from Montego Bay, breakfast and dinner daily, a rafting excursion on the Rio Grande River, bottle of champagne on arrival and bottle of wine with dinner one evening, fresh flowers in the room daily, and unlimited daytime tennis.

Sources:

Porter, Darwin, and Danforth Prince Frommer's Jamaica (Frommer's Complete) 2006

Sutherland, Laura Tropical Family Vacations: in the Caribbean, Hawaii, South Florida, and Mexico 1999