Jamaica Part 2

The Hotel...

So after a crazy ride to the hotel, which was only 7 miles from the airport, we pull into the Holiday Inn Sunspree.  I know a lot of you are saying "a Holiday Inn?"  Yes, and it was amazing what they had to offer!

So we get out of the taxi and arrange with the driver to pick us up on Wednesday.  He said "I'll be here!"  We turn and walk into the resort, and this is what you see in the main lobby!

Of course you will see a lot more people...We took this in the morning so we could get the best shot!
We got into the check-in line and were greeted by someone with a tray of drinks.  Rum punch!  What a way to be welcomed!  When it was our turn, we were able to check-in but our room would not be available until 3pm.  It was 2:15.  So they gave us our ID bands so we could go get a bite to each and a drink.  So off we go to the Jerk Chicken/Pork hut.  More on that when we get to the 'food blog'.  So 3pm rolls around, we head back to the lobby to get our room.  There was a line..a very long line.  There was only one person handing out the keys.  This made for a very long wait.  It was muggy warm and people were getting grumpy.  I was one of them.  I had been up since 2:30 am and I was beat!  The wait ended up being an hour and a half.  UHG!  So that is something that needs to be changed.  No doubt!  However, we head to our room in building 5, and get there to find out the elevator is out of order.  Great!  What next.  So we walked 4 flights of stairs.  The first thing we noticed was that our room was on the corner of the building with only one room next to us.  SCORE!  We open the door and THIS is what we saw..

They gave us an ocean view!!!  Okay the hour and a half wait was not in vain!  The room was very clean and we were well stocked with everything we could need.  The rooms had all the normal stuff you would get at hotels in the states.  The bathroom was small, but maybe that's because the room had a garden tub in it!  Everyday the cleaning staff did something cool with our bed.  Here is an example:

When you go to the islands you usually can expect to see some mold, it's tropical, humid.  Mold happens, but not here!  I didn't see any anywhere!  Also on the balcony there was a mini clothes line of sorts so we could hang up our suits to dry. 

The hotel had WiFi but there was no cell service.  So we had to 'activate the room phone'.  This took some doing.  We called the front desk and asked them to turn it on.  There is a 75.00 deposit.   Then calls to the US were 3.80 per minute.  No, I'm not making this up.  To me it was worth it because I needed to touch base with my kids.  It's my way of knowing they are okay.  Yes, I can be a nervous Mom at times.  We kept our calls short, just enough to say I love you, and we'll talk tomorrow!  So keep this in mind.  The hotel phones do not allow you to use pre-paid calling cards. 

So there is part 2!  Part 3 will be about hotel and area activities!