Casa Maria Hotel

I stayed at the Casa Maria for a few days, wanting to be near the ocean without the craziness of too many tourists. This was the perfect place! The room was quiet and clean, and the staff of the Casa Maria were fantastic. A late night dip in the pool and drinks from the "007 Bar" topped it off. The only tricky thing was navigating how to get there without a car. If you ask, the hotel can help you arrange a taxi from Ocho Rios to the Casa Maria (about a 40 minute drive). Their taxi driver was fantastic, and we had a great chat. He was very helpful. This is the quickest and easiest way- but not the cheapest way. There are also shared buses that run along the road between Port Maria and Ocho Rios if you prefer the significantly less expensive (somewhere around 150 Jamaican dollars) and more adventurous route. They can be picked up from downtown Ocho Rios, and also can be hailed down outside the Casa Maria hotel. You may feel like a sardine, packed into the tiny hot bus with 15 other people - cruising very quickly along the shore - but it is a fun memory! There are also shared buses/taxis that go into Port Maria from near the hotel (about a 5 minute drive) if you want to hit up a local beach. Overall, I was VERY satisfied with my stay and would indeed recommend it!

I have already sent an e-mail regarding my recent overnight stay at the above hotel but so far have not received an acknowledgement! Just to repeat my complaint briefly! I found it difficult to understand why a conference involving a great number of people was being held in the dining facility of the hotel when obviously other guests were staying who presumably would want a meal of some description at some point during the day! My understanding was the conference started on Saturday morning finishing at 10 o'clock in the evening and restarting on the Sunday morning at 9 o'clock! Equally so it was very annoying the amount of noise made when this party of people were leaving the hotel into the early hours of the morning! My other complaint concerned the extensive restaurant menu in that the hotel despite the conference taking place offered us refreshment only to discover that very little food was actually available! Because of the above we chose to drive back into Ocho Rhios in order to get dinner that evening which was tiring considering we had already driven up from Kingston earlier in the day! This hotel could be much improved by giving a little more thought to the needs of the tourists who pass through as well as the needs of the local community! Finally my thanks go to the waitress in the dining room who did her very best to try and help us but she was the only member of staff who did! I await your response!

Very basic hotel with no air conditioning ~ no screens at windows so make sure u bring your mosquito repellant n watchout for the bugs ~ linens and towels was old and worn out-bring your own ~ Food at (onsite) restaurant was ok but little overpriced ~ they did have internet access which was great and u will have to borrow hairdryer n iron from front desk if needed.