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Beauty Bountiful in Bluefields Bay

09-07-2011

 

 

 

Bluefields Bay Villas offer old-style luxury in the “real Jamaica.”

Bluefields Bay, JAMAICA – You spend the early morning snorkeling in the Caribbean Sea, just a few steps below your private villa. Your Headman announces that the breakfast you requested from your private chef is now ready.  Later you travel to the Black River searching for crocodiles, and then you’re off for a swim in the verdant pools below YS Falls – with a picnic lunch awaiting you on a veranda enhanced by a white tablecloth, china, and silverware.  Late afternoon is spent squeezing the sweet liquid from sugar cane at Appleton Estate and watching how it ends up as some of the world’s best rum. Then it’s back to the villa where you enjoy a refreshing dip in your private pool steps away from the private dining room where dinner will be served according to your specifications.  It’s “a day in the life” at Bluefields Bay Villas, on the sleepy southwest coast of what locals refer to as “the real Jamaica."

If it sounds too good to be true, think again. This may be your first trip to Jamaica or your tenth, but here at Bluefields Bay Villas you will experience the “real Jamaica” away from the frenzied pace of the big cities, large resorts and endless buffet lines. 
At Bluefields Bay Villas, we offer a reclusive inclusive – you can experience the ultimate in pampered perfection while enjoying the warmth and beauty of the natural landscape of Jamaica and its people.

About Bluefields Bay Villas
Bluefields Bay Villas is a sophisticated traveler’s dream of personalized service in an authentic and highly distinctive setting. Its expertly trained workers ensure that visitors enjoy nothing less than the best vacation of their lives. On Bluefields Bay (one of three original Spanish settlements in Jamaica), you are seen by the community as a welcome guest.

It’s this sense of heritage and history that makes each of these villas radiate “old world charm” and grandeur. Each is beautifully furnished and houses a major collection of authentic antique Jamaican furniture and furnishings. Antique mahogany four-poster beds, louvered windows that let in the evening breeze, and spacious elegant bathrooms are only a small part of the charm of these villas.  Expansive dining and living rooms are also yours to enjoy.  As architect and owner Debbie Moncure says:  “Our villas are not simply hotel rooms – they are homes.” 

All of these villas are set on seafront properties, and all except sea-level San Michele are perched on a hillside overlooking the turquoise and jade green waters of the Caribbean Sea. Swimming, snorkeling, fishing and beach time await you far from the noise and crowds.  

Westmoreland Parish’s Bluefields Bay (recently declared a protected fish sanctuary) is far enough away from the centers of Negril and Montego Bay to offer peace, relaxation and seafront privacy that most visitors do not know still exists in Jamaica, and a way of life that local residents have enjoyed for decades.  With this area being only 34 miles from Montego Bay and 25 miles from Negril, it is a real “hidden gem.”
  
Each villa is outfitted with luxurious touches like fresh flowers, crystal stemware, and a variety of fine china and sterling silverware at every meal. Your own private swimming pool, personal chef and attentive staff ensure that you will be pampered like never before.
What Others Are Saying About Bluefields Bay Villas 


“You will never stay at a Caribbean resort so seriously, memorably indulgent—and yet so congenial with the neighborhood, both socially and ecologically.”
The Washington Post 

“Bluefields Villas epitomize the kind of style that years ago made Jamaica the birthplace of the luxurious Caribbean getaway.”
Caribbean Travel & Life Magazine 

“When I got to my villa in Bluefields Bay, I found it: Jamaican peace, and divine it is, too.”
 British Airways High Life 

POSSIBLE STORY ANGLES:
  

Jungles Steep and Rivers Deep
Jamaica’s Black River is the island’s largest waterway and historically was a critical exporting and importing route whose activity goes back to the 16th century. The town of the same name is one of the oldest in Jamaica. It is on this primordial river that some of the oldest reptiles on earth are living – the crocodile. You’ll board a pontoon boat and cruise up the Black River looking for these ancient river dwellers, marveling at them in their natural habitat as you get close enough to touch them.  Then it’s out of the water and off into the treetops going deep into the jungle near Montpelier. You walk through an orange orchard, see centuries-old cottonwood trees and bamboo hundreds of feet long bending across a river valley before travelling over 6 zip lines, traversing two parishes - ending with a dramatic 1,000 ft. crossing.

Into the Countryside - Jamaican Falls and Rum Tumblers
YS Falls is one of Jamaica’s finest natural attractions. Located on the YS Estate in the “breadbasket” of Jamaica’s Saint Elizabeth Parish, a short tractor ride takes you from a working farm to the majestic 120 foot high Falls which tier down into seven separate collecting pools where you can swim, wade or jump in - thanks to some well-placed rope swings.  Then enjoy a custom-made Bluefields Bay deluxe picnic lunch in one of the YS Falls’ gazebos – with white tablecloths and silverware courtesy of Bluefields Bay. 

From a working farm with this natural wonder to a man-made factory bottling island flavors, no trip would be complete without a visit to Appleton Estate.  Since 1749, Appleton has blended some of the world’s finest rums in Jamaica and the world. You’ll taste sugar cane, help squeeze out the sugary juice, taste the molasses and sugar that results from cooking it down, see how the molasses becomes rum, and finally sample the 13 varieties that the factory blends. 

Edible Landscaping – The Bluefields Diet
Mangoes picked from trees outside your villa make their way to your breakfast plate, and local favorites like ackee and callaloo are picked from gardens on-site. Other vegetables are sourced minutes away in Saint Elizabeth, all meats are sourced on-island and fresh seafood is purchased daily from local fisherman.  Our coffee is the finest Jamaican Blue Mountain, organically grown by a single grower that produces only 1,000 pounds a year. Only the freshest local ingredients make it into the kitchens of Bluefields Bay Villas. Our chefs, with training by Belgian and French master chefs and with their own knowledge of local flavors, scents and tastes, create and produce our New Jamaican Cuisine for your enjoyment. And, if you like, you can roll up your sleeves and play assistant chef for a meal, selecting and preparing the food and garnishes for the evening's savory repast. You can also work with our local Jerkmaster James in preparing real Jamaican Jerk Chicken or Jerk Pork.

Nothing is Something…Your Time is Everything
If you’re a do-nothing novice, perhaps start with a trip to Bluefields Bay Villas.  Doing nothing may be a shock to your system. And don’t spend your precious time worrying about getting ready for a meal, getting to the restaurant, waiting for a table, reading a menu, waiting for your meal to arrive, paying, heading home, etc., etc. Just let our staff take care of it for you. Spend your time relaxing and enjoying Jamaica. Early morning snorkeling, followed by a delectable breakfast, lunch…even dinner in your swimsuit. No busy-nonsense distracting your inner peace. Cool libations, dips in the pool, the fragrant Jamaican air and warm sun. Is anything else really necessary? Maybe select a treatment from our spa menu – perhaps a massage on the beach? You’re not even going to need your credit card. We do warn you however, this “doing nothing” at Bluefields Bay Villas may become addictive, causing you to return again and again.

Bluefields is About People
It was the warmth of the people of Bluefields that prompted owner Braxton Moncure to obtain his first property here in 1981. He married spouse/business partner Debbie in 1983 in Bluefields and they started a family (son Houston and daughter Rachel are both born-Jamaicans).  As their family grew, so did their “mission” to make a difference in this unknown and beautiful haven. They created employment so local residents have an opportunity to be close to their extended families (creating a greater sense of family, with some persons working at the villas for over 20 years). The Moncures feel Bluefields Bay Villas should not simply “take” from the community, but also contribute and become part of it in a fully-symbiotic relationship.

They organized Bluefields Bay Villas’ Community Fund which helps sustain the local Basic School for early-childhood education, funds an ongoing anti-littering campaign, is creating a computer lab for the newly-built local high school, constr
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