After reading the raving reviews of Blue Harbour my family and friends decided to go. As a travel agent, I was excited because I could also recommend the estate to clients.......after my experience there I don't think I would be recommending it to anyone.

We stayed for a week and rented the entire estate along with the manager's suite. There were 16 of us total.

Upon arrival at the airport we had a very long drive to the estate....almost 4 hous. Once we arrived and got settled the manager approached me and advised that the owner had incrased the price from the previous night and demanded more money from the group. We argued the price and advised the manager it was not his fault and we would take it up directly with the owner. Apparently the owner sent an email after we had gone to bed to rise early for our trip so we didn't get to check the email but the manager had a print out of it upon arrival.

The people were very nice, but very standoffish. I am not sure if we made a bad impression but we attempted on several occassions to engage them in conversation but were turned down. We brought our own snorkel gear and inflatable pool toys.

We attempted to snorkel a lot but the beach and the huge boulders made it almost impossible to snorkel. With the way it was situated it would have been very dangerous. The kayaks were held together by duct tape and were hardly usable.

The rooms were very sparce but very clean and the beds were comfortable. The bathrooms were also very clean. You would see the occasional very large cockroach but in the tropics that was to be expected so we didn't pay it any mind.

One of the people who ran the estate was very nice to the kids and made them little lassoe's out of the palm stems so they could catch the lizzards.

The food was the same thing every day. We thought with the amount we paid per person we would have enough but every day ran out and the adults several times went without lunch or breakfast because there just wasn't enough. We made several trips to stores to stock up on sodas and snacks as the staff were helping themselves. When you purchase the meal plan it does not include drinks or snacks we found out.

One night, my husband went into the main house to get something to drink and found the night watchman asleep on the couch. Now, we weren't concerned or upset about that because the estate seemed safe enough.....we were more concerned that he fell asleep watching porn and we had teenagers and younger children with us. Needless to say the teenagers walked in and saw the nightwatchman asleep with the porn on before my husband could shut it off.

Every morning we would wake to find another of the staff sweeping the walks and stairs making it safe for us....but also smoking a joint. Again, if we didn't have children with us we wouldn't have cared. I know it is the Jamaican way but when you have children you would think the staff would take better care.

The estate itself was beautiful with stunning views. The main buildings and several outbuildings were situated so you could all spend time together and for a large group like ours there was pleanty of space to do your own thing if you wanted.

My husband and I along with our 5 1/2 year old daughter took our first caribbean vacation to Blue Harbour and hated to leave. My husband and I had stayed in Port Antonio before and didn't think we could find any place better but now we are in love with Port Maria and the villa and can't wait to return
The staff are wonderful, very friendly and help you out tremendously to navigate the hustle and bustle of downtown. My husband's laptop crashed our 2nd day in and Mark brought us downtown to the library and to an internet cafe, carefully holding my daughter's hand to make sure she made it across the streets ( watch the traffic!)
Candy the cook was lovely and made amazing meals. Leroy and Roy were both so friendly but my daughter's heart belonged to Mark. I almost forgot Ernie, who drove us to Port Antonio for a day trip-wonderful tour guide, driver and story teller.
We were the only ones there at that time so we had the run of the place which was great. My daughter learned to dive and swim underwater in the pool, a memory I will cherish.
The grounds are beautiful, the view unbelievable and I am running out of superlatives!!
As much as I hate to share this secret place I highly recommend it for people who like off the beaten path little gems. Most of the furnishings haven't been touched since Noel's tenure there and the is a wonderfully funkiness to it all which made us love it even more.

"I couldn't have liked it more!" as Mr Coward once sang.

I can confirm that the new road is now completed, meaning that the old road outside the hotel now has little traffic travelling along it.

I have always been a big fan of Noel Coward's work and so when I learnt that you could actually stay at his orignal home in Jamaica, I jumped at the chance!

Hotel arranged pick-up for me from Mo-Bay airport and it took around 1.5 hours to reach Blue Harbour with very friendly taxi driver called Trevor.

The hotel itself is like something from the bygone days of the 1950s and all the better for it. It is well worn - maybe "shabby chic" would describe it well. I stayed in the smallest villa, "Villa Chica" which is the closest to the sea. Huge amount of room, with walk in closet, bathroom and bedroom, plus a terrace with chairs and a hammock. As I said earlier, everything is very old but was spotlessly clean. Shower worked well too. There is no AC and although nights were quite humid, I slept well with fans on and sea breeze passing through.

The saltwater swimming pool was lovely to hang out by - much more pleasant than a chlorine filled pool. Beach is small, but good swimming still posssible.

Staff were super friendly and helped with anything I needed. Leroy the main guy in charge is very nice and even took me into Port Maria on market day to look around and help carry the shopping. I travelled as a single, but never felt isolated as in the evenings lots of locals came round for a chat and a game of dominoes!

Food was great, very Jamaican. I said I wanted to try all the Jamaican food so I sampled the likes of ackee, callaloo and oxtail while I was there. The only drink you will be provided with is water, but staff will happily buy your tipple at the local shop for you (no rip-off hotel bars!).

Spent a morning at Firefly, Coward's final home and now a museum. Very interesting, as the house is still as he left it and views spectacular.

Please be aware, that you book Blue Harbour directly with its owner Michael and Michelle Gleeson. I did this all by email and everything went smoothly. Payments must be made in cash or traveller's cheques (I used the latter).

As they say in Jamaica, I hope to "soon come" to Blue harbour once again!

May 2007, the new road is far from being all built; all the roads in NE Jamaica are in atrocious condition and this deterred me from doing more than the bare minimum of driving around. I stayed in Villa Chica; the other 2 houses would get more road and construction noise. Villa Chica is basic but pleasant, set in lush gardens above the excellent pool. A small fridge in the room would have been good, and the colour TV (in the main house) needs replacing. The staff were very friendly and helpful and I recommend staying here.