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Jackie’s on the Reef is a holistic and yoga retreat secluded in a cliff-front garden at the southern limits of Negril. And seclusion is what Jackie’s is all about, as it enables a tranquil atmosphere suitable for their holistic activities. The inn is centred on a simple but attractive stone house with a huge main room and a sea-facing veranda where the various group yoga sessions are held. Then there are several areas around the grounds for eating and for private massage or meditation. The bedrooms are (intentionally) simple, making them stylishly minimal. If you visit Jackie’s it is important to have an interest in a holistic lifestyle, but not everyone is there for the more esoteric treatments on offer. Some are simply escaping to a place where they know they can relax and pursue their interest in yoga and eat healthy food.
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KEY FEATURES
| Secluded Negril yoga center and perfect for a retreat in Negril, Jamaica. Holistic Negril spa and beauty services, massage, meditation, tai chi (subject to availability), Reiki, star gazing and some more esoteric therapies such as ear-candling and past life regression. Organic produce and dairy free menu, open wood burning stove. |
STYLE
| Simple stone house set in a sandy garden on the cliff’s edge. Rooms large and fairly lean but stylish. Atmosphere health conscious but very relaxed, some communal activities |
CLIENT PROFILE
| A mix of health-conscious and holistic travellers. Some spiritual and mystical types, sometimes on retreats, groups, couples and individuals |
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One of the first things you will see on arriving at Jackie’s on the Reef is a sign saying ‘Quiet Zone’. And this is the clear intention of the small inn, to offer an atmosphere of calm and tranquillity in which you can forget the busyness and stresses of the world outside. Jackie’s simple, natural environment helps contemplation and spiritual regeneration. There are just a handful of rooms, so it is small and quiet to begin with. Then a great deal of effort is made to make sure that you can relax and pursue a goal of rejuvenation, whether it is just a few massages or a full programme of alternative therapies. They will go as far as meeting you beforehand even, to make sure that you know how to get the best of the place. And they can offer a coach to guide you if you wish.
The reef of the name is the coast that lines the West End of Negril, beyond the lighthouse. It is a section of limestone foreshore which was once under the sea but has been uplifted above the water (there is a new reef right offshore). For years, since the 1980s when Jackie’s opened, it was the only house in this area, which is only now seeing development. It is set in a fenced garden right on the shore. You enter by a set of gates and a very attractive dry coastal garden opens around you - the Quiet Zone, as you will see. This is the point where you are expected to switch off your mobile phone. You may also opt for their recommended ‘check-in massage’ to get into the mood of the place.
The main house is set on a raised platform and is large, open and attractive, with very large rooms. It is clad inside and out with local limestone and it has louvers that encourage the breeze (Jackie’s does not have air-conditioning, ventilation is by the natural air, which is whipped up by ceiling fans). The roof is tin, under which you will find huge arched doorways with wooden louvers giving into the rooms. The floors are hand-painted and the walls and ceilings are decorated with muslin hangings.
There are just four bedrooms in the large main house and so they are huge and airy. They are purposefully quite lean, but not in any way spartan. The wooden beds are simple, their frames made of dogwood. And of course there are none of the distractions of the cluttered modern world. There is no TV and no phone (though there is one on property in case of emergency). Instead there are shelves full of books around the house if you feel the need for a diversion and there is plenty of time for meditation. Another feature of Jackie’s that may be worth noting is that there is no shop on the property. Of course they will help you get anything that you need in the town, but in keeping with the spirit of the place, overt commercialism is kept off property. There is another bedroom is a small cottage close to the main gate.
The central point of the main house, and of the inn itself, is the huge veranda that overlooks the sea at the front. It used for yoga and other group activities, and then for general leisurely inactivity during the day, often on the daybeds provided. And of course it is an ideal place for watching the sunset over the sea horizon. The veranda is covered, its tin roof held up by stone-clad pillars at the front. There are tables and chairs and of course the daybeds which enable you to read or relax in comfort.
A broad set of steps leads down off the front of the veranda into the garden, which is well established and pleasantly lush for such a dry area – the limestone rock underfoot swallows up any water that drops as rain. Paths have been set into it, lined with stone. The section closest to the shore itself is the roughest coral limestone, pitted and scarred like a petrified cake mix. A natural saltwater pool has been cut into the stone here. It is not large, but enough to take a dip against the heat of the sun. There are also access points to the sea where you will find excellent water in which to swim and a reef to explore.
There are several thatched gazebos around the garden where you can take a quiet moment to meditate, a spa treatment or read a book, but there is another central area, for dining. This is set under a tree close to the shorefront, to the right of the main building. A path leads down to it through the trees. The food, which is all cooked on an open wood-burning stove, is one of the key features of Jackie’s. It is all natural and fresh. They have their own spice, vegetable and fruit garden and so a lot of the ingredients are grown right there. Of course this area becomes one of the gathering points in the evenings. It may also be worth noting that they do not serve alcohol at Jackie’s.
There is not a specific schedule of activities at Jackie’s, but there is usually a rhythm to the day. Guests tend to wake up early – actually the rooms are designed to let the sun in, so that you do not miss this particularly nice part of the West Indian day. There is usually a yoga session (suitable for any level), if you would like to join in, at 8.30am. And breakfast is then served following that. After that your time is your own, to attend the treatments that you have arranged, or if you are part of a retreat then there will no doubt be group activities. Lunch is served between 1 and 2pm and dinner at 6pm.
Quite a few groups do come to Jackie’s (obviously the inn is really very small, but they can fit up to twelve people and there is spillover space in a cottage nearby). They also offer workshops (always posted on the website, please use the link above), which you can join, in the company of like-minded people. Or you can simply go as an individual or a couple. In this last case, if you have not come with a particular plan or interest then they advise you and help you to work out a healthier, less stressful way of living.
There is a spa at Jackie’s, but it has a particular angle, tending more to relaxation and regeneration than simple pampering and beauty. Treatments are often taken on the seafront, open to the sea air under a thatched gazebo. All products used in the treatments are natural. They offer facials (mainly for the benefit of your sinuses), massages, body scrubs and reflexology. And then more esoteric treatments are also available, including re-birthing, energy rebalancing, past life regression, cranio-sacral therapy and numerology.
It is perhaps important to say that while Jackie’s is by no means exclusive, you do have to be up for it and prepared to join in in order to get the best of the place. It is ideal for people with an interest in a holistic life – you are expected to have a minimum number of treatments during your visit (see Rates below) – and then it will reward you if you have a specific interest to pursue. You can go either as an individual or as a group, and you can be guided by a mentor if you wish. Jackie’s is different from pretty much anywhere in the whole of the Caribbean. The key features that run through every visitor’s experience are intended to be peace, rest and the chance to reconnect with nature and yourself in a lovely setting. |
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Beach & Swimming
As you can imagine by the name, Jackie’s on the Reef is not set on the beach. It is on the cliffs of the West End of Negril, about fifteen minutes drive from the famous strip of sand. Most guests end up staying on the property for most of their time here, but if you really do want to visit the beach, there are several places where you can base yourself for the afternoon or the day.
At Jackie’s itself there are platforms from which you can access the sea, where there is excellent swimming. The water is about ten or fifteen feet deep and there are coral heads and undercuts which you can explore. There is a saltwater pool on the property itself, set into the pitted limestone rock of the foreshore. There are loungers on the flat spaces around it. |
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Sports & Recreation
The main activities at Jackie’s are obviously the holistic pursuits, a full list of which appears below, however there are some other activities on the property. These include snorkelling in the waters offshore (for which there is equipment available). There are also several recommended tours, for instance birding trips and visits to some of Jamaica’s extraordinary waterfalls. Negril also has a number of the more regular holiday activities – glass bottom boat tours, scuba diving, golf and horse riding.
Within the small hotel, there is not generally a schedule to the activities, though there is usually a group yoga session to start the day and then there are the regular meal times.
A full list of activities includes – Yoga, meditation, Tai Chi, rubber ball movements, full moon, equinox and solstice ceremonies, reflexology, massages (deep tissue, hot stone, aromatherapy), herbal scrubs, facials, ion cleanse detoxification, rain drop technique, energy balancing, re-birthing, past life regression, numerology charts work, ear-candling, live cell analysis with nutritional counselling. Some of these are available at all times, others by prior arrangement. You can be in touch with them in advance to arrange a programme of activities.
Workshops are a fairly regular event and they are generally ‘led’ by a specialist in the field. Some are retreats for which the participants are arranged in advance. Others are announced on Jackie’s website and anyone can sign up to them. They cover all sorts of topics, for example Tai Chi, the power of crystals and quilting. |
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The Rooms
There are just four bedrooms at Jackie’s and they are set in the main house. They are large and attractive, with polished, painted floors, walls clad in limestone in a crazy pattern and large openings for the doors and windows in which there are set wooden louvers and muslin drapes. They are designed to encourage natural ventilation. They also fit the spirit of the place well in that they are nicely presented but intentionally fairly simple. The beds are made with local dogwood and they are three-quarter size, a large single or small double. The bathrooms are private but quite large and light. There is a small cottage at the rear of the property with a double room in it. |
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Dining
The food at Jackie’s is healthy and many of the ingredients are grown on the small inn’s own three acre farm nearby. They produce fruits for the many juices, vegetables and spices. The menu has a number of influences. Jamaican and other creole, of course, but also Indian and Chinese. They are quite happy to offer vegetarian menus and can also offer meals for specific diets. Meats (mainly chicken and fish) are grilled on an open wood-burning oven.
Breakfast it as around 8.30 am, lunch is served at 1-2pm and dinner is at 6pm. No dairy products are used and no alcohol is served at Jackie’s. |
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Practical Facts
Annual Closure Dates: open year round
Dress Code: informal
Facilities: Natural sea pool, open-air thatched spa pavilion, alfresco dining area with open wood burning stove, main house with large lobby and covered veranda for yoga and other activities, book collection, day beds and sun loungers, entry platforms into the sea
Complimentary: Morning Yoga or meditation or *Tai Chi class, morning walks, big rubber ball movements, snorkelling, full moon/Equinox and Solstice ceremonies, star watching, bird watching, fireside talks and story telling.
Other Services: Spa and beauty treatments, regular workshops, day trips arranged - extra cost.
Children: adults only
Weddings: not applicable
Accommodation: 5 rooms
Rooms: All rooms are individually decorated and have locally made dogwood furnishings, ceiling fans and wooden louvers for natural ventilation. 1 x Cottage with a double bed and private en suite bathroom. 4 x bedrooms in the main house each with two twin beds and en suite open-air showers.
Credit Cards: Not accepted – all payments locally either in cash (US or Jamaican dollars) or by travellers cheques
* subject to availability |
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Rates
| | 01 Jun-14 Dec 2009 | 15 Dec-31 May 2009-10 | 01 Jun-14 Dec 2010 | | Per person | 150 | 175 | 150 | All rates are in US$ per person, per night based on double occupancy and include breakfast, dinner and Government Tax. Rates also include a class of yoga, *Tai Chi (when available) or meditation. Service Charge not included. All rates subject to change without notice. A 50% deposit is required to confirm all reservations and is payable to the New York office by credit card, money order or cheque. Balance payable in Jamaica by travellers cheques or cash (Jamaican or US dollars) only – credit or debit cards are not accepted. Cancellations 30 days prior to arrival will incur a one night cancellation fee and cancellations within 30 days of arrival will involve the deposit being held as credit towards a future stay. All guests of Jackie’s on the Reef are required to partake in a minimum of 2 treatments during a 4 night stay and 4 treatments during a 7 night stay. |
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How To Book
If you would like further details of Jackie's on the Reef, Jamaica, or if you wish to make a booking enquiry, please use the WEB LINK or DIRECT EMAIL ENQUIRIES facility a the top of this page, or if you wish to telephone them, their telephone number will be revealed if you click on the CONTACT TELEPHONE NUMBER link. |
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Locality
Jackie’s is set on the southern fringes of Negril, in an area that is only now seeing development. It is away from the ‘beach’ area of the town and so it is generally quieter and does not suffer the excesses of the tourist town. Negril the resort area divides fairly neatly into two halves, each of which has its own character and different things to recommend it. The first half is ‘Seven Mile Beach’ (actually five miles unless you include Bloody Bay to the north) and the second is the section of cliffs to the south of the roundabout at the centre of town. This is called ‘the West End’.
The beach is backed almost entirely with hotels, bars and other businesses. There are several places, including some of the hotels, where you can base yourself for the day. Most do not offer watersports, but it is usually not far to wander along the sand to find a concessionaire. For a slightly more formal dinner you can try Kuyaba or Norma’s and for live music try Alfreds and Bourbon Beach.
The bars on the cliffs are equally famous in their way and so there is a handful of good places to visit. Rick’s is very well known but it sees bus tours and so you might want to try somewhere quieter like the LTU Pub. For dinner out on the cliffs try the Rockhouse Hotel or the Hungry Lion. |
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Meet & Greet
Jackie’s can arrange for a taxi to meet you at Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay (you should head to this airport rather than to Kingston). The driver will wait with a placard with your name and the hotel name. The transfer takes approximately 90 minutes and costs US$70 per car, each way for 2-3 persons or US$60 for one person only, and is payable locally. |
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Getting Around
Hiring a car to go to the beach or to explore the island, which is exceptionally beautiful, is easily arranged. You can book via your tour operator or a hire car can be arranged through Jackie’s. Vehicles can be returned at the airport (many car rental companies have an outlet at both the international airports) or be collected from the property at a pre-arranged time (usually at extra charge). Be aware that in the winter season there can sometimes be a shortage of cars, so you are advised to book in advance. Also book early if you want one for a week or more because the pre-booked rates can be better.
Taxis are readily available at Jackie’s – just ask. They can also suggest a selection of tours to local places of interest. |
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