Dont listen to the crazy unhappycamper!!! After reading many good reviews and experiencing them for myself i am absolutely disgusted at the ungreatfulcampers comments about her trip and stay at Rite Vibes. My boyfriend and I have gone to Jamaica 3 years in a row and always stay in Negril. This was our first year staying at the Rite Vibes new location on the Westland Mountain and as always it's like going home to visit family. With relaxing surroundings, music, food and privacy.
I cannot even believe someone would complain about broken bottles, water shortage and cooking with a hot plate! Do you know what country you were in!? And when youre only paying $35 a night? WHATS WRONG WITH YOU!?! obviously you have never been to Jamaica or know the real value of their culture. Bottles are EVERYWHERE because Jamaica only collects recycling a few times a year... in Kingston! Water Shortage happens every month and affects the WHOLE island.Not just one Villa.Gas is expesive for cooking, so giving the chef a bit of money and it can go a long way!
The two wonderful owners; an american lady named Penny and her man named Kevin. Kevin is the chef, housekeeper, security, handyman, DJ,and a really honest down to earth Jamaican. Rite Vibes is built on Keven's family's land so it is a great authentic local atmosphere. Penny has a heart of gold for dogs and will usually be raising a few pups for selling or guarding. So Note: There are big dogs! But are very well trained and fenced away from the Villa to protect you. We stayed in the upstairs room, cute and cozy, no tv but with the most gorgeous view of the entire beach! It was great for predicting the weather because we could watch the rain make it's way down the beach and by the time it hit the Westland mountain the beach would be all sunshine again! Getfting a taxi from the bottom of the road to any entrence on the beach would be 200JA each.Make sure your taxi driver knows exactly what youre paying before getting in..Confidence is key know matter what they're selling!!! dont let anyone intimidate you, and you'll get respect.
As for the Settings and grounds of Rite Vibes they have the most beautiful gardens lined with akee trees and tropical flowers bursting with color all over! There's a path leading up to a chill spot where youre free to do whatever you want in private! Thanks for the stay I definetly recommend for couples,friends,families...on an independent trip..-not for kids it gets very hot off the main road. Rite Vibes will always be a place my love and I will revisit.!
-Steffi and David- Sask Canada

I went to Jamaica for the 4th time in February 2010 and it was my 3rd time staying at Right Vibes. From the very beginning I loved the place, the vibes and the people around me, but since Right Vibes moved their cottages even closer to the town center and the beach, a lot of things have improved enormously.

To make a start I am really not an unaspiring person, quite the contrary…. I am used to a certain kind of standard like getting good food, having water and electricity and especially feeling safe and comfortable all the time. And this exactly what I got at Right Vibes! I can say that because the first time I travelled to Jamaica ( I was 19 that time) I didn´t know anyone on the island, so I didn´t have another possibility than staying in a normal standard hotel! And it was a very very bad and disappointing experience in contrast to the time I spent at Right Vibes.

I also know about the water shortage, but this affected nearly the whole island, even hotels in Ocho Rios didn´t have water for several hours (and I had to pay much more for the room there!). The owner of the property and the Jamaican caretaker even waived to take a shower, just that I was able to have water upstairs.
While we´re at it: staying upstairs means having an impressive and gorgeous overview…. You can see the whole neighborhood and the beach! And you also can enjoy the sunset (or sunrise, depends on how long you went to one of the nightclubs), while getting a cool breeze!

As I am a person who likes to have a lot of privacy, I must say that I totally got what I needed! Whenever I wanted to talk, get some information or advices I went down… but if I didn´t feel like, I just stayed in my room. The only time somebody knocked on my door was when I got my fresh cooked food (the caretaker is an excellent cook, oh my god….. I could also tell him what I want to eat and he prepared it for me!)

The probably most important aspect for travelers to Jamaica (especially if they visit Jamaica for the first time) may be to feel save and comfortable…. I always did so because there are no hustlers or beggars around the area….. The people in the neighborhood always treated my very nice and I also enjoyed to get in contact with them. If I just want to meet other tourists (this is the situation you will experience on the beach areas), then I can also stay at home!

I can´t wait to go back to my favourite island again and I always know in advance where I want to stay!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is no comparable amazing atmosphere and I really know what I am talking about!

I am a frequent traveller to Negril - I have family that lives there. We do not expect frills, just basic necessities. However, this accomodation was unable to provide even that.
To begin with I arrived to discover that the owner had left Jamaica and returned to the US.. I was very uncomfortable having had no advanced warning that I would be dealing with others when I arrived. The caretaker left in charge was nice enough, but spent most of the day on the porch socalizing with his friends and family. This was the same porch adjoined to our room - not giving us any privancy or opportunity to relax outdoors. When the neighborhood expreienced an water shortage - there was no back up. Water was trucked in sporadically, until my husband took it upon himself to use our rented car and get water each day. We had enough to rinse off and flush to toilet once or twice. There was a kitchen available - supposedly included in the price - but they ran out of cooking gas and hooked up a dangerous hot plate that my husband was shocked on. They advertise that the caretaker will cook for you, or you can cook for yourself - my husband an I did our own cooking, and when I complained to the owner about the lack of gas - she replied that we should have bought more gas ourselves. Not sure how that makes sense if cooking/use of the kitchen was included. Also supposedly included was the use of a washing machine - not possible without water. The side of the house next to the porch is a garbage dump. There is all manner of food waste, empty and broken bottles, glass, plastic, liquor, you name it. It does not smell so great in the heat, and was one more place I had to protect my child from. There was a discarded toilet in the yard, lots of broken glass and debris strewn about, there was virtually nowhere safe for my child to play. There is a pen of dogs on the property - once they were loose and on the porch and and scratched both myself and my child. My scratches were pretty deep, some of them were bleeding. I expressed my disappointment to the caretaker as soon as we arrived, and was not planning on paying the balance due to the poor conditions, but he indicated that the owner had not left him enough money to pay the utilites or purchase cooking gas. I paid him all but 50 US (which only reduced the daily rate by $5) and tried to resolve the issue with the owner upon my return. When I reported all of these conditions to her, she basically said I should have just found another place to stay.
That is easler said than done when travelling with a three year old - we were housebound for three days because our child had a fever, and didn't want to spent the remaining time we had searching for new accomodations. I do not travel to Jamaica as a tourist - our main objective is to spend time together as a family, since my husband and I live apart for most of the year. All we wanted was a clean, safe, basic accomodation. I would not recommend this place to anyone under any circumstances.

I stayed at Right Vibes from Feb 12 through to Mar 8.

Apart from a rate that made it possible for me to stay a whole month in Negril (yeah!!!), I was treated to a very unique experience. If you travel a lot, you know how difficult it is to find a place that is off the well beaten tourist paths, and though many places promise this, a hotel is a hotel. Right Vibes is very different in that it is more like a house with well equipped rooms that are available to rent. Except the rooms have their own entrances. And the kicker is that it is smack in the middle of a real local residential community!

I got the upper room at first, which I just loved. It was cooler up the hill than down on the beach, and there were great breezes in the evening. I never once felt the need to turn on the AC. During the time I spent there, I got to know many of the people in the area, often many would drop by in the evening to visit Penny (the owner), and Kevin (who, btw, is a great cook!), who works there and is related to most of the neighbors. I never felt unsafe and was never hassled there. Even walking to the town centre (very close), I was rarely confronted after the first few days. I think people just got to know me.

Penny, who owns Right Vibes, is super nice, and one of her main objectives is to make sure her guests are happy and content. I'm a bit of a loner, but right off the bat I felt comfortable with her. She constantly comes up with little surprises, like baking something up, or offering to take you on outings to some of the lesser known attractions around the area. She, Kevin, and I would often do a trip on Sundays, and to some wild and beautiful places. But I won't give away too many spoilers here!

Right Vibes is really not a place for the pampered tourist who prefers to have all the amenities and structure of a AI. Rather, it is for someone who has seen enough hotels to know that that is not where it's really at after many years of traveling. I really felt like I was "living" in Jamaica, not just visiting there. Later, I moved to the downstairs room, which was very nice as well. Hahaha, I would lie on my bed some evenings and pretend I was Leonardo DiCaprio's character from "The Beach"!

Kevin knows all the hot spots for nightlife, and tried to get me out a few times, but I got tired of that a few decades ago! ;-) I should also mention the grounds, so colourful with all kinds of different plants.

I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that this was really the first time I had an experience like this, I made some real friends there, and I will definitely be going back really soon!