10/10 Excellent
Wendy S.
Jan 11, 2020
Liked: Cleanliness
Excellent Christmas Jamaica Vacation
I believe that we were the first family to rent from Ian on VRBO. Ian was super easy to work with. He arranged transportation to and from the MBJ airport and the house in St Ann’s Bay.
The house was beautiful and large enough to accommodate our 10 person family. Even though the listing showed air conditioning in the house, it was only located in the large tv/common area upstairs. Ian did go out and purchase floor fans for all of the bedrooms. Since we had no A/C in the bedrooms, we left the windows and doors open to cool things down at night. Unfortunately there were no screens on the windows and doors and we got bitten quite a bit by mosquitoes. After a couple of nights, we got acclimated to the temperature and slept with the windows and doors closed and had no further issues with mosquitoes.
The host provided us with a housekeeper that cooked two meals a day for us. Novelette was a wonderful cook and a pleasure to have around the house. We went to the outdoor market, quite a sight to see, and the supermarket on our second day to pick up groceries provisioned by Novalette. We enjoyed the Jamaican cuisine of curried and jerked chicken, fish and rice and peas to name a few. She cooked a wonderful dinner of ham and goat for us on Christmas day.
There is also a handyman that lives on the property to fix anything that might crop up. Jason was quite helpful during our stay as well.
You will probably need transportation to go to the beach and other excursions. Research for rental vehicles and/or drivers before you arrive so that you can compare to Ian's offerings. We used drivers of three smaller vehicles on demand.
In hindsight, we probably should have hired two drivers of larger vehicles for our group. Excursion brochures were available in the house and Ian can be helpful offering suggestions. The airline lost my suitcase and I cannot thank Ian enough for purchasing an outfit for me to wear until my luggage arrived.
Overall, this was a wonderful vacation home for our family. We were not looking for an all-inclusive type vacation. We wanted to stay in a property that allowed us to really experience Jamaica culture and cuisine. This house met our needs for the most part. Air conditioning in the bedrooms and in more parts of the house or screens on the windows and doors would be an outstanding upgrade to this home. We would definitely return to this property. Thanks Ian.
Scott and Wendy