The Best Hotels and Resorts in Negril, Jamaica

As the name suggests, this suite and villa hotel sits atop a rocky cliff which, as it’s only six feet high, you can jump off into the Caribbean Sea, under a lifeguard’s watchful eye. If you don’t fancy this, you can climb down to the sea via a sturdy ladder. For the less adventurous, there’s an outdoor pool with a swim-up bar, or watch the action over fish tacos in breadfruit shells from the Zest Restaurant terrace.

Right on the moon-white sands of Seven Mile Beach, Sandals Negril offers a long menu of accommodation options. There are rooms with plunge pools, swim-up pools, outdoor freestanding baths, sea views and butler service. Highlights from the selection of seven restaurants include Barefoot by the Sea, where you can tuck into the likes of lobster without your shoes on, and white-glove service Caribbean eatery, Sundowner.

There’s a retro look to this Seven Mile Beach boutique hotel. The design has been inspired by the bohemian beach scene of the ‘60s and ‘70s, with elements like black-and-white floor tiles, colourful plastic seating, kitschy wallpaper, woven rugs and psychedelic artwork tastefully dotted all over. With its diner-style booths and bright colours, Miss Lilly’s restaurant has a vintage feel, too. Don’t leave without trying the homemade coco bread – it’s served with jerk chicken sandwiches.

Next to Seven Mile Beach, this enormous all-inclusive resort spreads out over 20 acres (8ha). Within the grounds, there’s a waterpark with 60 metres (200ft) of waterslides, a 200-metre (650ft) lazy river, nine restaurants – if you dive, you can go lionfish hunting and take your catch back to the Japanese eatery for dinner – and a bar for every day of the week. Rooms, meanwhile, reflect the hotel’s beachside setting with sand-and-sea colour schemes.

First impressions are formed in the lobby of this all-inclusive hotel. There’s an expanse of marble, sofas topped with shiny satin cushions and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the waters of Bloody Bay. On the food front, there are eight restaurants and cafes to choose from, as well as a jerk hut that’s by the pool and open for lunch. Celebrating? Try the chef’s table experience where a personal chef prepares seven courses, with music to accompany each dish.

There are just six exclusive villas at Idle Awhile on Seven Mile Beach, featuring between one and five bedrooms. The three-bed Naseberry villa comes with a private sea-view jacuzzi. Four-bed Almond and five-bed Cottonwood and Palm have private pools and swing-style balcony seating. Each villa comes with its own housekeeper, butler/bartender and a private chef who’s an expert in whipping up classic Jamaican and seafood dishes like jerk chicken and lobster tails.

A few doors down from the legendary Rick’s Café, Catcha Falling Star perches on the cliffs of Negril’s West End overlooking the sea. The cliff-top pool and the terrace at Ivan’s Bar – which serves much-talked-about jerk penne pasta – are some of the best places to watch the waves. You can also see the water from the balconies of some of the cottages and suites, especially the one-bedroom Sky and Libra.

For active couples, this Seven Mile Beach hotel has the edge over other options in Negril. It’s home to a 10-acre (4ha) fitness complex with 10 tennis courts, two squash courts, a 25-metre lap pool and an outdoor jogging track. Exercise is easily rewarded here: there are three relaxing pools – including one that overlooks the beach – five jacuzzis and a spa, where local ingredients like ginger, lemongrass and sugarcane are used in treatments.

The guest rooms at this affordable hotel on Seven Mile Beach are located inside a series of two- and three-storey cottages. Breakfast – don’t miss the banana pancakes – is included in the room rate and it’s served in the hotel’s Country Peppa restaurant, where they offer lunch and dinner later in the day. There’s also a thatched roof-bar on-site called Natty’s, where they pour cold Red Stripe beer and cocktails with names like Purple Rain and Dirty Banana.

A clifftop hammock hut, an open-sided yoga pavilion and an open-air restaurant that serves dishes like akee pizza alongside lobster thermidor are just a few of the highlights at this hotel in the West End pf Negril. Guests who stay here have a choice of cottage or villa accommodation. All of the cottages have thatched roofs and are made with natural materials like stone, wood and bamboo. Most of them also offer unobstructed views of the Caribbean Sea.