Famous Faces, Famous Places and Famous Foods
Xtabi on the Cliffs
Location:
Spectacular. The West End of Negril is a six mile stretch of pale limestone cliffs that plunge into the turquoise sea. It has small and rustic properties with less than 30 rooms. It is a hedonistic, heady place -- where swimming nude is optional and the smell of jasmine, honeysuckle and Jamaican marijuana mix in the air.
It is not for everybody. When a tourist wanders down Negril’s pretty bougainvillea and sun streaked Lighthouse Road, he / she is sure to hear a local call out, "Need some buds or some magic mushrooms mon…?"
Xtabi on the Cliffs is located in Negril’s West End on Lighthouse Road. It is a charming property with seven seaside octagon shaped cabins that have their very own sea access, and 14 very affordable rooms and cottages across the road in a garden setting with swimming pool. The draw at Xtabi is the dramatic cliffs, the sea with its crystal clear coves, and Five Caves of the Gods. Here the sea is your own private pool, complete with ladder.
Traveler’s Tip:
It matters little if you can’t afford to stay at the relatively expensive -- although charming, but rundown, seven seaside cottages -- if you stay across the street in what they call their economy rooms -- you still have access to Xtabi’s spectacular cliffside location and fabulous swimming and snorkeling. Xtabi also has a cliffside restaurant with the best ocean view (other than Rick’s Café and Rock House) in Negril.
The Cost:
Sea Front cottages cost at US$110 per night (April 14 - Dec.14), $160 (Dec. 15-April 14) and have private sundecks and sea access. They are rustic and rundown but very charming. Two are two-story cottages with kitchenette / bath downstairs and bedroom upstairs. If you’re concerned about getting up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and don’t think you can handle a steep staircase, don’t book these.
Standard and economy rooms across the small road are US$45to $65 daily depending on season. Rooms 11-20 are newer with air-conditioning; rooms 9 and 10 are in a privately set building in the garden; room 21 is a two room cottage with kitchenette, privately set in a garden near the pool; and rooms 22 and 23 are located in a octagon cottage near the pool with separate verandahs. All guests have sea access by way of a spiral staircase that leads through a cave to a perfectly lovely ribbon of sand and then into the sea.
Telephone Xtabi at (876) 957-4336, or fax: (876) 957-0121.