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Style: A grand 1960s Jamaican home, built with elements of traditional colonial style - curved shingle roofs, Georgian arches and ‘bottle’ balustrades. Birdie Hill has an air of elegance but is homely and very comfortable as a vacation villa in Jamaica
The Beach: Free entrance to San San Beach about 3 minutes drive away
The Rooms: 4 bedrooms. Two are en suite and 2 share a bathroom
Key features: A Port Antonio vacation villa with fantastic views, swimming pool, adjoining sun terrace and covered patios with steps into pool, cable TV, DVD, CD player, wet bar and built-in barbecue.
Children: Welcome, however small children will need to be supervised around the pool, which is all one depth at 8ft
Staff: Chef, butler, housekeeper, grounds keeper and gardeners – personal laundry extra |
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Description
Birdie Hill is a grand four-bedroom villa set in lawned gardens above the coast to the east of Port Antonio in Jamaica. The house sits on a hillside with a superb view over the magical bit of coastline at San San beach and Alligator Head. Built as a holiday home in the 1960s by a wealthy international family, it is in the very best tradition of an older, more elegant Jamaica. It has gracious, traditional style both inside and out, and it makes for a very comfortable holiday home.
Birdie Hill sits on a small summit reached on a road inland past Goblin Hill Villas. Once you draw into the parking area you will notice a classical grandeur about the house, albeit in limited size and scale. A broad set of steps leads up to a lawn and gardens with a central fountain, which is enclosed by three wings of the house. The central path leads you to the front door. Many of the classic Jamaican colonial features are immediately visible too – the gracefully sloped shingle roofs trimmed with white wood, the shuttered sash windows and a portico supported on slender pillars. You will also notice that rather than facing into this courtyard area, the villa looks outwards, over the outer gardens and the view on three sides.
You enter the house through double front doors and come into a small hall, from which corridors lead left and right to the two wings. There is a powder room to your right and next to it a desk with the computer and phone. Ahead the hall is open to the main drawing room. This is large and light, with double doors leading outside onto terraces on three of its sides. The room has an elegant, traditional Jamaican feel, with a white tray ceiling and skirting around the walls up to two feet in height. They are decorated with tropical prints and are painted pink, giving a gentle contrast to the furniture, which is mainly light in colour, with white sofas and tables. There is a television (with DVD and CD player) in one corner. Actually the most spectacular feature of the room is the floor. It is laid with Jamaican marble, a stone that is no longer available, but which runs through the central parts of the house. Cut in square tiles, it has a very attractive ‘cracked’ pattern and varies in colour from rust through pink to cream.
Directly ahead, through the drawing room, you come to a small but lovely terrace. This is semi-circular and bordered by a classical ‘bottle’ balustrade. The terrace gets the best of the extremely pretty view from the house, looking over San San beach on the left, Alligator Head peninsular, Pellew Island and the Blue Lagoon. The terrace has two low armchairs from which you can take in the view in comfort. The second terrace, to the right, is larger (it has a table and chairs), but the view is partly obscured by a massive old tree. The third terrace, to the left, has a small sitting area overlooking the pool. Stairs lead from here down to the pool level.
From the rear of the sitting room, a corridor leads left to the striking and original dining room. This is octagonal in shape, with the same pink walls, white fittings and Jamaican marble floor as the sitting room. A circular glass table large enough for eight sits on a wrought iron stand at the centre of the room, beneath an ornate metalwork chandelier. There are tall sash windows on five of the eight sides, so it is extremely light by day, but of course it is in the evenings when its elegance comes into its own. Beyond here the house turns 90 degrees into one wing, where you will find the kitchen and staff quarters.
The four bedrooms are all in the opposite wing, reached by a corridor leading the other way from the entrance hall. The bedrooms are all air-conditioned, two have en suite bathrooms and two share a bathroom. One bedroom has a king bed and the rest have twin beds. Two of the bedrooms have a balcony that overlooks the garden.
The swimming pool is one of the main features of Birdie Hill. It is set beneath the octagonal dining room in a semi-circular terrace. There are rounded Georgian arches on two sides - into which the steps lead and a lion waterspout sprays water into the pool. There is a recreation room on this level and of course you can walk out into the gardens, which are excellent at Birdie Hill and cover five acres in all. Lawns lead around the house beneath the terraces and there are several large trees in the gardens which provide shady corners for you to sit out and enjoy the view.
Birdie Hill was built by the Woolworth family in the 1960s and was originally named Pixie Hill. The name was changed to Birdie Hill in 2005. |
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Beach & Swimming
You will find two very nice beaches at the foot of the hill. The first is San San, to which guests of Birdie Hill have free entry (there is normally an entrance fee). This is a very pretty stretch of sand with a beach bar but no sports facilities. You can also swim in the Blue Lagoon. The lovely Frenchman’s Cove is also nearby. Set on the grounds of a hotel, it is a tiny cove overhanging with fantastic greenery. There is a beach bar there down on the sand and there is also an entry fee.
Birdie Hill has a large and quite spectacular pool. It is shaped a like a fan, with steps in the straight edges which are set under rounded Georgian arches. The pool is deep, eight ft all around, and it is surrounded by a sunbathing terrace with loungers on the curved side of the fan. |
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Sports & Recreation
There are several good activities that explore the wonderful countryside and natural life around Port Antonio. If you are interested in hiking, then Valley Hikes take day and multi-day walks around the area, heading up to the local villages and into the John Crow Mountains behind the town. There is excellent birdlife in this area and guides can be arranged. Horse-riding is available near Frenchman’s Cove (contact the villa manager, who can also arrange massage and spa treatments for you). The nine hole golf course at San San, just below the villa, is currently closed.
There is quite good scuba diving on the coast here. It ranges over the reefs and drop offs just offshore east and west of Port Antonio itself. Contact Lady G’ Diver, which operates out of the Errol Flynn Marina in the town. The area is also well known for its deep sea fishing (the Port Antonio International marlin tournament is held each September or October). Fishing boats also operate out of the marina in Port Antonio. |
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Locality
Birdie Hill is located a few miles to the east of the town of Port Antonio, right above San San. The area has long been popular with holidaymakers and there have been several hotels, and particularly private villas, since the 1950s, when Errol Flynn entertained Ginger Rogers there.
The Blue Lagoon, just visible in the distance from the garden, is one of the most famous and prettiest sights in Jamaica. The pool, actually a limestone sinkhole, is a beautiful shade of royal blue and it is surrounded by hanging greenery, which makes it a nice place to swim - if you dare – local lore says that it is fathomless. There is a restaurant and bar but it is currently closed for renovation.
The town of Port Antonio is a few miles to the west. It is a fairly simple Jamaican town, whose heyday was a century ago, when it benefited from the banana trade. Now the fading grandeur of the buildings is gradually being taken over by modern development, though there are still some nice old houses to be seen on ‘Titchfield Hill’, the point that stretches out to sea. It is fun to visit Musgrave Market, where fruit and veg is brought for sale from the surrounding hills. There is a lovely view of the town and the bay (which Errol Flynn described as ‘more beautiful than any woman he had ever known‘) from the Bonnie View Hotel. Beyond Port Antonio heading west you come to the Rio Grande, where you will find Jamaica’s finest river-rafting. The ride takes over two hours but it is well worth doing and it is exceptionally beautiful.
Heading east beyond San San you eventually come to Boston Bay, the home of jerk, a traditional form of cooking meat that has now been adapted to daily barbecue. It is always fun to visit. Beyond here there are some very pretty waterfalls at Reach, inland from Manchioneal.
There is a handful of good restaurants in the area, including a number in the hotels. Try Mille Fleurs at Mocking Bird Hill, Frenchman’s Cove and San San Tropez and Norma’s at the Marina in Port Antonio itself. For local fare you can try Anna Banana in town and of course there is Boston Bay for jerk. |
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Useful Hints
Villa Vacations is happy to arrange initial provisioning for your arrival at Birdie Hill. You should send a list with any special requirements and they will provide enough for an evening meal, breakfast and lunch the next day. You should then liaise with the chef and butler and they will plan a menu for you for the remainder of your holiday. They will also shop for you if you wish, though you might want to join them on their first trip. You should budget on US$20 per adult per day ($15 per child) for a standard menu with some drinks. It will not cover extras such as lobster or imported steak, which vary according to market prices, or large amounts of alcohol. An account will be set up at the local supermarket and your bill will be settled on departure.
Personal laundry (except dry cleaning) is included in the rate. It is usually returned that same afternoon or the following morning.
Rental rates for the villa do not include ‘tips’. It is recommended that you set aside 10% of the total villa rental fee for this and you should leave it in cash when you depart. Yvonne the manager is happy to help with the proportions, so that the gardeners, who you may not actually see, are not forgotten.
The owner of Villa Vacations, Yvonne Blakey, has a very hands-on attitude and she is happy to help guests to get the best out of their holiday in the area. She is on call if you have any requests, for activities or advice, and she can also help to arrange a special event or a wedding.
Children
Children are welcome at Birdie Hill, but because the unfenced pool is eight foot deep, the villa is only suitable for older children that swim well and do not need to be supervised. |
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Rates
| | 10 Jan-14 Apr 2008 | 15 Apr-14 Dec 2008 | | Birdie Hill 1-8 guests | 5500 | 4500 | All rates are quoted in US$ per week including tax and are subject to change without notice. Nightly, pro rata rates are available for stays over 7 nights. Minimum stay of 14 nights during 15 Dec-09 Jan. Gratuities are not included. |
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How To Book
If you wish to make further enquiries or a reservation, this should be done through the villa agent, Villa Vacation. To confirm a reservation you must send a deposit of 50% (non refundable) of the total rental fee with the balance due 4 weeks prior to arrival. A security deposit may be requested against damage to the villa or contents during your stay. It is refundable on your return home if no damage occurs during your stay. You may contact Villa Vacation by using the WEB LINK or DIRECT EMAIL ENQUIRIES facility at 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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Airport Meet & Greet
Villa Vacation is happy to arrange your airport transfer for you (and will probably get you a better rate than you will if you get your taxi at the airport). You should arrange this with your initial booking. If you can, head for Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston (transfer time 2½ hours), rather than Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay (transfer four hours). The rate through Villa Vacations is US$100 for two people one way from Kingston (it reduces per person if there are more of you in a minibus) and US$200 from Montego Bay. The price of your transfer will be added to your final bill.
You can transfer to Port Antonio by air to the Ken Jones Aerodrome just west of the town if you arrive early enough in the day – the airstrip operates during daylight hours only. Private charter flights are available from the international airports. Transfers by helicopter are also available and will land on the golf course in San San.
If you are booking through a travel organiser, it is likely that their representative will be at the airport to meet you. This service and your return airport transfers should be included in the cost of your holiday. Please check at the time of booking. |
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Getting Around
Because of the distance to Port Antonio and the likelihood of your having to drive the unfamiliar roads in the dark, Villa Vacations does not really recommend you to pick up your hire car at the airport on arrival in Jamaica. However, once you have reached Port Antonio, you may want to get one. A vehicle will give you an added element of freedom and will be useful if you want to visit the sights, eat out or go shopping. If you are booking direct or through a tour operator, you can organise your car hire at the same time as booking your accommodation, or Villa Vacations can help you. There is a delivery fee. Vehicles can be returned at the airport or be collected from the property at a pre-arranged time on your departure day. The other option is to hire a care with a driver by the day. |
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