Demar Metcalfe

We just found a groundskeeper and had him cut flowers from the property for the bridesmaids. We got 5 bunches and they looked better than the one they were charging $60 for. We just tipped $20 to the groundskeeper and got 5 beautiful bunches for much less!!

Nice review!! Route taxis are the best way to get around Jamaica. You can travel up to 20 miles for about $100 JMD ($1 US). Just as Jenna said make sure you hail a RED tag car and negotiate the price before you enter the car. The price will magically drop if u do not like the price you are given and walk away.

I also wanted to share info that we shared with our guests with some useful information about Jamaica. TRANSPORTATION I know some of you asked about Transportation from the Airport to the Hotel. I would suggest booking with Jamaica Tours Ltd. They have a stand at Montego Bay Airport and conveniently take you from the airport to the Hotel. Jamaica’s roads are certainly not the best in the world. Although the country has made much improvements on the roads in recent years you can still see plenty of giant potholes, narrow roads, local drivers whizzing by you while they tell you all about your B….clots (if you don’t know what this I am sure you will understand when you arrive). I would suggest not to rent a car for these reasons as well as the fact of Taxi’s being inexpensive in Jamaica. There are two type of Taxis in JA. Charter (aka Tourist) and Route (aka Local) Taxi. You can visit the following link to learn more about taxis in Jamaica, JAMAICAN TAXIS. The cheaper of the two is Route Taxi’s where you can travel 20 miles for $100 JMD (about $1 US Dollar). It will just look like a local's car, which is precisely what it is. The licensed ones usually have the taxi signs spray painted on their front fenders. Seldom will you find one with a taxi sign on the top, because not many do this. The color of the license plate will tell you. A red plate will tell you that it is for transportation, while a white plate will tell you it is a private vehicle. The yellow plate indicates a government vehicle (like a police car or ambulance) and the list continues. Although the route taxis generally run from the center of one town to the center of the next town, you can flag a taxi anywhere along the road. Walk or stand on the side of the road and wave at passing cars and you'll be surprised how quickly you get one. I would suggest using this method while you are in Runaway Bay for the people that like adventure and want to experience the real Jamaica. If you are uncomfortable with this then the Charter (Tourist) taxi is the way go. Whichever method you choose remember to establish a price before entering the car and that everything is negotiable. Rarely do you go with the first price they give you. Simply walk away and you will see the price magically drop. If you would like more structure I can you provide you with a list of prices you should pay based on your destination. CURRENCY At the time of writing this email the current exchange rate is $1 US dollar to $104.53 JA Dollars (I know this is horrible for JA L). I would suggest either using ATMs in Jamaica to take out Jamaican Currency (the method I use since I hate carrying around large amount of cash). Or bringing US dollars and converting them to JA dollars at a Cambio. Lastly you can just simply use US dollars if you plan on not venturing outside of the tourist areas since all tourist areas accept US & JA dollars. But if you planning on venturing out and hanging out with the locals I would suggest using JA$ since you will be quoted a much better price when you use JA$. SIGHTSEEING There is a great deal of things to see and do in Jamaica. You can visit this site to get an idea of some of the things, JA Sightseeing. Do not pay much attention to the prices since everything can be negotiated. Once you had a chance to look thru you can visit this survey to pick out what you would like to do or see while you are in Jamaica and we can possibly organize a group outing. Survey COMMUNICATION Since you will be in another country roaming charges on your American phone will be high if you use it in Jamaica. If you would like to use a local cell phone in Jamaica I would suggest bringing an unlocked phone that is GSM capable. In which you can buy a SIM card (~$15) with minutes for local and US calls or buy a cheap phone (~$50US) at a local JA cell shop (i.e.: Digicel) to use while in Jamaica. Another alternative is to just use apps like Tango and Skype to make calls using Wi-Fi at the Hotel.

I also wanted to share info that we shared with our guests with some useful information about Jamaica. TRANSPORTATION I know some of you asked about Transportation from the Airport to the Hotel. I would suggest booking with Jamaica Tours Ltd. They have a stand at Montego Bay Airport and conveniently take you from the airport to the Hotel. Jamaica’s roads are certainly not the best in the world. Although the country has made much improvements on the roads in recent years you can still see plenty of giant potholes, narrow roads, local drivers whizzing by you while they tell you all about your B….clots (if you don’t know what this I am sure you will understand when you arrive). I would suggest not to rent a car for these reasons as well as the fact of Taxi’s being inexpensive in Jamaica. There are two type of Taxis in JA. Charter (aka Tourist) and Route (aka Local) Taxi. You can visit the following link to learn more about taxis in Jamaica, JAMAICAN TAXIS. The cheaper of the two is Route Taxi’s where you can travel 20 miles for $100 JMD (about $1 US Dollar). It will just look like a local's car, which is precisely what it is. The licensed ones usually have the taxi signs spray painted on their front fenders. Seldom will you find one with a taxi sign on the top, because not many do this. The color of the license plate will tell you. A red plate will tell you that it is for transportation, while a white plate will tell you it is a private vehicle. The yellow plate indicates a government vehicle (like a police car or ambulance) and the list continues. Although the route taxis generally run from the center of one town to the center of the next town, you can flag a taxi anywhere along the road. Walk or stand on the side of the road and wave at passing cars and you'll be surprised how quickly you get one. I would suggest using this method while you are in Runaway Bay for the people that like adventure and want to experience the real Jamaica. If you are uncomfortable with this then the Charter (Tourist) taxi is the way go. Whichever method you choose remember to establish a price before entering the car and that everything is negotiable. Rarely do you go with the first price they give you. Simply walk away and you will see the price magically drop. If you would like more structure I can you provide you with a list of prices you should pay based on your destination. CURRENCY At the time of writing this email the current exchange rate is $1 US dollar to $104.53 JA Dollars (I know this is horrible for JA L). I would suggest either using ATMs in Jamaica to take out Jamaican Currency (the method I use since I hate carrying around large amount of cash). Or bringing US dollars and converting them to JA dollars at a Cambio. Lastly you can just simply use US dollars if you plan on not venturing outside of the tourist areas since all tourist areas accept US & JA dollars. But if you planning on venturing out and hanging out with the locals I would suggest using JA$ since you will be quoted a much better price when you use JA$. SIGHTSEEING There is a great deal of things to see and do in Jamaica. You can visit this site to get an idea of some of the things, JA Sightseeing. Do not pay much attention to the prices since everything can be negotiated. Once you had a chance to look thru you can visit this survey to pick out what you would like to do or see while you are in Jamaica and we can possibly organize a group outing. Survey COMMUNICATION Since you will be in another country roaming charges on your American phone will be high if you use it in Jamaica. If you would like to use a local cell phone in Jamaica I would suggest bringing an unlocked phone that is GSM capable. In which you can buy a SIM card (~$15) with minutes for local and US calls or buy a cheap phone (~$50US) at a local JA cell shop (i.e.: Digicel) to use while in Jamaica. Another alternative is to just use apps like Tango and Skype to make calls using Wi-Fi at the Hotel.

I will send you the contact information when I get back home. We have a large group and everything in Jamaica is negotiable. You just have to negotiate the right price. The $15 is just transportation the actractions have separate additional prices.

Also wanted to share some tips that we passed on our guests. The original email has useful links in it but for some reason the forum is not allowing me to post the links. If you would like the original emails with links i can forward it to you if you PM me your email address. TRANSPORTATION I know some of you asked about Transportation from the Airport to the Hotel. I would suggest booking with Jamaica Tours Ltd. They have a stand at Montego Bay Airport and conveniently take you from the airport to the Hotel. Jamaica’s roads are certainly not the best in the world. Although the country has made much improvements on the roads in recent years you can still see plenty of giant potholes, narrow roads, local drivers whizzing by you while they tell you all about your B….clots (if you don’t know what this I am sure you will understand when you arrive). I would suggest not to rent a car for these reasons as well as the fact of Taxi’s being inexpensive in Jamaica. There are two type of Taxis in JA. Charter (aka Tourist) and Route (aka Local) Taxi. You can visit the following link to learn more about taxis in Jamaica, JAMAICAN TAXIS. The cheaper of the two is Route Taxi’s where you can travel 20 miles for $100 JMD (about $1 US Dollar). It will just look like a local's car, which is precisely what it is. The licensed ones usually have the taxi signs spray painted on their front fenders. Seldom will you find one with a taxi sign on the top, because not many do this. The color of the license plate will tell you. A red plate will tell you that it is for transportation, while a white plate will tell you it is a private vehicle. The yellow plate indicates a government vehicle (like a police car or ambulance) and the list continues. Although the route taxis generally run from the center of one town to the center of the next town, you can flag a taxi anywhere along the road. Walk or stand on the side of the road and wave at passing cars and you'll be surprised how quickly you get one. I would suggest using this method while you are in Runaway Bay for the people that like adventure and want to experience the real Jamaica. If you are uncomfortable with this then the Charter (Tourist) taxi is the way go. Whichever method you choose remember to establish a price before entering the car and that everything is negotiable. Rarely do you go with the first price they give you. Simply walk away and you will see the price magically drop. If you would like more structure I can you provide you with a list of prices you should pay based on your destination. CURRENCY At the time of writing this email the current exchange rate is $1 US dollar to $104.53 JA Dollars (I know this is horrible for JA ïŒ). I would suggest either using ATMs in Jamaica to take out Jamaican Currency (the method I use since I hate carrying around large amount of cash). Or bringing US dollars and converting them to JA dollars at a Cambio. Lastly you can just simply use US dollars if you plan on not venturing outside of the tourist areas since all tourist areas accept US & JA dollars. But if you planning on venturing out and hanging out with the locals I would suggest using JA$ since you will be quoted a much better price when you use JA$. SIGHTSEEING There is a great deal of things to see and do in Jamaica. You can visit this site to get an idea of some of the things, JA Sightseeing. Do not pay much attention to the prices since everything can be negotiated. Once you had a chance to look thru you can visit this survey to pick out what you would like to do or see while you are in Jamaica and we can possibly organize a group outing. Survey COMMUNICATION Since you will be in another country roaming charges on your American phone will be high if you use it in Jamaica. If you would like to use a local cell phone in Jamaica I would suggest bringing an unlocked phone that is GSM capable. In which you can buy a SIM card (~$15) with minutes for local and US calls or buy a cheap phone (~$50US) at a local JA cell shop (i.e.: Digicel) to use while in Jamaica. Another alternative is to just use apps like Tango and Skype to make calls using Wi-Fi at the Hotel. We will send out additional emails as we get closer to departure to clear things up and provide more useful information but in the time being feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns!

Also wanted to share some other useful tips that we passed on to our guests flying into Jamaica TRANSPORTATION I know some of you asked about Transportation from the Airport to the Hotel. I would suggest booking with Jamaica Tours Ltd. They have a stand at Montego Bay Airport and conveniently take you from the airport to the Hotel. Jamaica’s roads are certainly not the best in the world. Although the country has made much improvements on the roads in recent years you can still see plenty of giant potholes, narrow roads, local drivers whizzing by you while they tell you all about your B….clots (if you don’t know what this I am sure you will understand when you arrive). I would suggest not to rent a car for these reasons as well as the fact of Taxi’s being inexpensive in Jamaica. There are two type of Taxis in JA. Charter (aka Tourist) and Route (aka Local) Taxi. You can visit the following link to learn more about taxis in Jamaica, JAMAICAN TAXIS. The cheaper of the two is Route Taxi’s where you can travel 20 miles for $100 JMD (about $1 US Dollar). It will just look like a local's car, which is precisely what it is. The licensed ones usually have the taxi signs spray painted on their front fenders. Seldom will you find one with a taxi sign on the top, because not many do this. The color of the license plate will tell you. A red plate will tell you that it is for transportation, while a white plate will tell you it is a private vehicle. The yellow plate indicates a government vehicle (like a police car or ambulance) and the list continues. Although the route taxis generally run from the center of one town to the center of the next town, you can flag a taxi anywhere along the road. Walk or stand on the side of the road and wave at passing cars and you'll be surprised how quickly you get one. I would suggest using this method while you are in Runaway Bay for the people that like adventure and want to experience the real Jamaica. If you are uncomfortable with this then the Charter (Tourist) taxi is the way go. Whichever method you choose remember to establish a price before entering the car and that everything is negotiable. Rarely do you go with the first price they give you. Simply walk away and you will see the price magically drop. If you would like more structure I can you provide you with a list of prices you should pay based on your destination. CURRENCY At the time of writing this email the current exchange rate is $1 US dollar to $104.53 JA Dollars (I know this is horrible for JA L). I would suggest either using ATMs in Jamaica to take out Jamaican Currency (the method I use since I hate carrying around large amount of cash). Or bringing US dollars and converting them to JA dollars at a Cambio. Lastly you can just simply use US dollars if you plan on not venturing outside of the tourist areas since all tourist areas accept US & JA dollars. But if you planning on venturing out and hanging out with the locals I would suggest using JA$ since you will be quoted a much better price when you use JA$. SIGHTSEEING There is a great deal of things to see and do in Jamaica. You can visit this site to get an idea of some of the things, JA Sightseeing. Do not pay much attention to the prices since everything can be negotiated. Once you had a chance to look thru you can visit this survey to pick out what you would like to do or see while you are in Jamaica and we can possibly organize a group outing. Survey COMMUNICATION Since you will be in another country roaming charges on your American phone will be high if you use it in Jamaica. If you would like to use a local cell phone in Jamaica I would suggest bringing an unlocked phone that is GSM capable. In which you can buy a SIM card (~$15) with minutes for local and US calls or buy a cheap phone (~$50US) at a local JA cell shop (i.e.: Digicel) to use while in Jamaica. Another alternative is to just use apps like Tango and Skype to make calls using Wi-Fi at the Hotel.

Hi Everyone! I am groom here that has our wedding planned at Grand Bahia for January 10, 2014. My fiance and I are originally from Jamaica and visited the resort during our trip down one year and decided to have our wedding here being that is is a nice place for our family still in Jamaica to visit as well as a nice place for our friends and family here in the states to visit. I wanted to share with you all some of the activties that we have planned since we wanted to show off Jamaica to our guests and get them off the resort eventhough the Resort is nice it does not show the real Jamaica. If you all will be in JA around this time feel free to join us. The more the merrier! Saturday Jan 11, 2014 Optional Day trip to Ocho Rios leaving Runaway Bay mid-day. ($15pp RT) While in Ocho Rios you have the option to:  Tube on White River  Climb Dunn’s River  Visit Mystic Mountain Sunday Jan 12, 2014 Optional Day trip to Negril leaving Runaway Bay in the morning/mid-day. ($20pp RT) While in Negril you will have the option to:  Visit the Cliffs in Negril  Visit Negril's 7 mile beach  Visit Blue Hole Mineral Spring  View the Sunset from Negril My fiance's uncle has a rum bar on the water in Hopewell which is on the way back from Negril we plan on stopping there to visit and hang out for a little on the way back. He might sacrifice a goat for us so we can have Curry goat and Mannish Water and enjoy the nice vibes of Jamaica! Monday Jan 13, 2014 or Tuesday Jan 14, 2014 Optional Day trip to my fiance's and myself’s birthplace (slightly different times ïŠ) and capital Kingston leaving Runaway Bay in the morning/mid-day. ($40 pp RT) The whole island is smaller than South Florida but it takes ~ 3 ½ hours to drive from the North Coast to Kingston because the roads are not straight and you have go up and down a few mountains on the way there. This makes it a good experience because you can see much of the island on the commute. While in Kingston you will have the option to:  Tour Blue Mountain  Visit Devon’s House for the world’s famous Ice Cream  Visit Bob Marley Museum  View Port Royal

Hi Everyone! I am a Groom here that is originally from Jamaica and planning our wedding at Grand Bahia for January 10, 2014. My fiance who is also originally from Jamaica loved the resort when we visited and thought it would be nice for our friends from the States and family in Jamaica to visit and enjoy our special day. I can't help with the wedding detail. I will leave that with my fiance but I wanted to share with you all some details on activities in Jamaica that we have planned and feel free to join us if you on the island during this time. The more the merrier! Here is what we have planned for off resort sightseeing to see our home the beautiful Jamaica! Saturday Jan 11, 2014 Optional Day trip to Ocho Rios leaving Runaway Bay mid-day. ($15pp RT) While in Ocho Rios you have the option to: § Tube on White River § Climb Dunn’s River § Visit Mystic Mountain Sunday Jan 12, 2014 Optional Day trip to Negril leaving Runaway Bay in the morning/mid-day. ($20pp RT) While in Negril you will have the option to: § Visit the Cliffs in Negril § Visit Negril's 7 mile beach § Visit Blue Hole Mineral Spring § View the Sunset from Negril My fiance's uncle has a rum bar on the water in Hopewell which is on the way back from Negril we plan on stopping there to visit and hang out for a little on the way back. He might sacrifice a goat for us so we can have Curry goat and Mannish Water and enjoy the nice vibes of the real Jamaica! Monday Jan 13, 2014 or Tuesday Jan 14, 2014 Optional Day trip to my fiance's & myself’s birthplace and capital Kingston leaving Runaway Bay in the morning/mid-day. ($40 pp RT) The whole island is smaller than South Florida but it takes ~ 3 ½ hours to drive from the North Coast to Kingston because the roads are not straight and you have go up and down a few mountains on the way there. This makes it a good experience because you can see much of the island on the commute. While in Kingston you will have the option to: § Tour Blue Mountain § Visit Devon’s House for the world’s famous Ice Cream § Visit Bob Marley Museum § View Port Royal