Well, my wife and I just got back from a week at N Resort. I wish we had booked for 10 days... OK well.
http://s1094.photobucket.com/albums/i449/mediatomb/N%20Resort/As some people have said, the resort is kind of old and there is paint missing and boards that need replacing, yada, yada but it's the staff! Everything is clean and cared for and the people care.
We had a room in block 6 upper and I think this was great. It's sea view not sea side. We had a view of the pool and the sea. I could not ask for a better room and the maid service was just wonderful. Everything was clean and worked well. I would suggest block 6 or 5 upper. Sure, seas side is more expensive but we liked seeing the pool and the sea.
Check in was easy and there was a guy to carry our bags to the room and explain all the workings. We never used the AC, we opened a window on the sea side and the land side and had a nice cross wind.
The rooms are kind of old knotty pine looking but very, very well cared for and nice in a 1970's Adirondack mountains kind of look. Sweet.
Down the stairs and 30 feet over was the pool. A large pool with a bench seat at the beach bar and a Volleyball section and a lap swimming part.
The ocean front rooms are right ON the ocean.
The beach is not real long but well cared for and nice. There are lounges and hammocks if that's you're fancy.
The pool has lots of lounges and chairs, well for the 56 guests when we were there. We still had the jerks who put out towels at 7:00 AM to hold the lounges for the day. We removed them and used the lounges of our choice and the staff backed us up. Nice.
Food:
The main dining room has 3 meals. For breakfast and lunch people usually wore shorts and T shirts or cover ups. Not all, just most. The beach bar was the place for sitting on towels for lunch.
Dinner in the main room was usually dresses for the ladies and shorts and a shirt for the men. Again this was not always the case but mostly. I have to say that my wife and I like wearing something for meals. The Italian rest. upstairs over the main dining saw a little better dress code on the nights it was open. Get a reservation for the Italian, you will need it.
I had Conch one night and didn't like it. When I sent it back the head chef came out and asked what was wrong. I didn't like conch I guess, but the few times a guest had a problem with the food the Head Chef came out to talk to the guest. A level of service that was just great!.
Lunch time salad bar as very good. Don't just have junk food at the beach bar, get some health food.
Entertainment.
Every day there is a chalk board at the pool with a listing of events and times. In true Jamaican style this was just a guide. My wife likes water aerobics and other classes. She had to push to get this kind of thing going. Greg is semi useless, Venus is pregnant and the other woman, I forget her name, was a lazy slug. But you can push them into motion.
The day trip into Montego Bay for shopping is a lie. They actually take you to a strip mall called Blue Diamond and the prices are a rip. But hey, we went with some good people and it was fun. A bottle of Appleton Reserve that you can buy at Duty Free for $10.00 cost $30.00 so beware. My wife bought a nice tank shirt for $9.00. List was $22.00 but all prices are subject to negotiation.
We did the snorkling trip. It was free and we didn't see much but the people on the boat and the crew made it a fun time.
OK, the nitty gritty.
Turn right from the resort and walk past Breezes, clothing required, and into a bunch of Jamaican beach shops. Lost of people around, great beach and a fun time.
Turn left and my wife and I walked for 1.5 hours nude on a truly wonderful beach. Do this at low tide as the beach disappears at high tide. Right next to N Resort, on the left is 'Time N Place' a low rent beach bar. If you walk in the AM the place is closed and no cover up is required.
4 days we took the kayaks out. Great fun. Some days we could actually paddle somewhere and some days we just got dumped in the waves. Fun either way.
Bikes, sigh.
The grounds are just excellent. Plantings, flowers and the like. Just a joy.
Ya got to go to the piano bar.
The disco was dead every night. Too old a crowd? 40's to 60's.
The nightly entertainment was hit or miss. My wife and I did enjoy dancing to the band most every night.
Theme night. A no show except for Tie night which had a few. Again YMMD.
The help TRIED and smiled. The food was good and the location is very nice. We will be back.
Now for the Ugly.
The TIPing policy. There isn't one. The website ways to leave your wallet at home but this is not true.
We have been to Hido where the help is not allowed to take tips. Here it's amixed bag. When the help fins out that this is your last day they all come around to 'talk' to you hoping to get tips.
I didn't carry a wallet with me till the last day as I was leaving so many good people got missed.
Wait, wait. I'm from middle America and don't really like tipping. I found N Resort's lack of policy kind of pissed me off. People who gave great service got missed. Help who came around when we were leaving were a little too 'In your face'. I would rather they just pay the help enough and charge me or like a cruise ship have a set daily fee.
Would we come again. Hell yes!
Was everything perfect? Hell no.
The people, the food, the location all made for a wonderful time. We only booked for 7 nights because we didn't know what to expect. We wished we had booked for 10 nights and next time we will.
I can not cover everything here so feel free to ask question.
We were hesitant because N Resort was new. Go for it.
