Arriving at Jamaica Inn amidst a tropical afternoon
downpour, I was thrilled to find tea, sandwiches and
home-made cake being served.Every day between 4 p.m.
and 5 p.m., the hotel keeps up this quintessentially English
colonial tradition to the delight of guests, who adore the
old-fashioned hospitality.
A huge umbrella was quickly produced to escort me to my
divine Blue Cottage right on the hotel’s private 700-foot
beach, and I sank into the comfort of one of the most
gracious establishments in Jamaica, if not the Caribbean.
When I’d previously mentioned my impending visit
to a well-to-do Kingstonian lady, she informed me that the
hotel was one of the last remaining places where one could experience “the old Jamaica”. So much so, that she and her
family had rented out their own north-coast holiday villa and
had booked into the inn for Easter weekend.
I was not to be disappointed by her description. Jamaica
Inn is the grand old dame of island hospitality, exuding elegance
and sophistication. Built in 1950 by Charles Marsh,
a newspaper publisher from America, it was purchased by
Charlie Marrow and Matthew Archibald in 1958. Today, it is owned by Charlie’s two sons Peter and Eric, who divide their
time between Jamaica and the States. In the early days,
the hotel was frequented by members of the jet set crowd
such as playwright Noel Coward, whose house Firefly is in
the hills nearby, and James Bond author Ian Fleming, who
made his home at Golden Eye, just along the coast. Actress
Marilyn Monroe honeymooned at Jamaica Inn with her second
husband, playwright Arthur Miller (there is a picture of
the happy couple on the library wall), while the exclusive White Suite was favoured by former British Prime Minister
Sir Winston Churchill. |
