Half Moon

Description:

• Opening onto 162 hectares (400 acres) that includes 3.2km (2 miles) of coastline, much of it edged with white-sand beach, this is one of the Caribbean's grandest and most appealing hotels. It's bigger than Round Hill (which can sometimes be just a bit snobbish) and consequently has far more activities, amenities, restaurants, and a better beach. And we consider it much more inviting than its newer, and much less dramatic or appealing, competitor, the Ritz-Carlton. It also has top-notch landscaping and an astounding number (51) of swimming pools, some of which are linked to individual villas, others associated with clusters of villas. About 13km (8 miles) east of Montego Bay's city center and 10km (6 1/4 miles) from the international airport, this is a classic, and one of the 25 best hotels in the world according to Condé Nast Traveler. It's a grand and appealing place, a true luxury hideaway with undeniable taste and style.

  Accommodations include conventional small hotel rooms, grand suites, and a collection of superbly accessorized private villas (most villas have private pools and a full-time staff). Each unit is comfortably furnished with mahogany furniture, some of it made within on-site workshops that are considered a triumphant example of this mega-resort's tendency toward at least some degree of self-sufficiency. Furnishings throughout carry an English colonial/Caribbean motif, with a private balcony or patio, plus a state-of-the-art bathroom with a shower/tub combo. Queen Anne-inspired furniture is set off by vibrant Jamaican paintings, and many units contain mahogany four-poster beds. Note, however, that there are a few older, smaller rooms here, and that some accommodations are quite a ways away from the beach (golf carts are the favored form of transportation on this sprawling resort) -- make sure to request the specific type of room you want when making your reservation.

  The Sugar Mill Restaurant, our favorite in Montego Bay, is beside a working water wheel from a bygone sugar estate. The Seagrape Terrace offers delightful meals alfresco. Il Giardino, set within a convincing replica of a Renaissance palazzo, serves savory Italian cuisine. The Akbar Restaurant is a pan-Asian/Indian restaurant. The resort also has a steakhouse, designed like an English pub (The Royal Stocks); a contemporary Jamaican restaurant; and both miniature and full-scale golf courses. Half Moon, thanks to its own on-site hospital, school, furniture-making facilities and upholstery shops, security force, and lavishly accessorized physical plant, is the most completely self-contained resort facility in Jamaica -- there's a good chance you'll never leave the grounds.

  Facilities: 6 restaurants; 7 bars; 4 outdoor pools; golf course; 13 tennis courts (9 lit); fitness club; squash; croquet; spa; Jacuzzi; 2 saunas; deep-sea fishing; dive shop; bike rental; children's activities; horseback riding; car rental; room service; Internet room; babysitting; laundry service; medical center

• © Frommer's 2012

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Very Highly Recommended 2010