For most travelers heading to Jamaica the beach is, understandably, the prime attraction. But those who limit their trip to the country’s coastline will miss out. The hilly and lush interior of Jamaica provides its own kind of special vibe. More than that, it is where true quiet and peace is found on the island. And if you are heading to the Caribbean in the summer months you’ll also find the climate in Jamaica’s scenic hills more agreeable.
Here’s a rundown of our three favorite hilltop hotels in Jamaica. At each a swimming pool, a peaceful environment and an amazing views will await guests.
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Spot Cool Stuff has not seen the movie How Stella Got Her Groove Back. But we’ve seen where Stella got her groove back. At My Time ‘N’ Place, a wonderful little cottage bed and breakfasty type of place on the northern coast of Jamaica.
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The resort itself feels a little like the casbah in Star Wars (except without the space aliens and bar fights)
We are prepared to stand by this bold statement:
The Adrere Amellal is the single coolest eco-resort on the African continent!
Set within a scenic oasis, at the foot of a dramatic rock-mountain, amidst the desert in Egypt, the Adrere Amellal has the feel of a place time forgot. The local Berbers here still live much like they’ve done for centuries, wearing their traditional clothing, speaking their native Siwi (not Arabic) and harvesting the bountiful dates and olives by hand.
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The Bamboo Treehouse is not the only place to sleep at the Rosalie Forest Eco-Lodge on the Caribbean island-country of “>Dominica. Guests can also choose to stay in a self contained cottage or in one of several cabins. There’s a secluded area where campers can pitch a tent. The lodge can arrange a local home stay too.
But of all those accommodations options the Bamboo Treehouse is the coolest.
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Spending the night in drainage pipe in a public park is a bad thing . . . usually
It’s almost like being homeless
All the charm and safety of a bomb shelter
Our rooms are no longer full of crap
We like to imagine that those were among the tag lines rejected by the Dasparkhotel, the accommodations in a suburb of Linz, Austria where guests spend the night in a recycled drainage pipe.
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Take a modern, stylish boutique hotel. Then automate its check-in process. Then shrink down its rooms. Then place this hotel inside the terminal of a busy airport. What you’ll get as your result is Yotel—Spot Cool Stuff’s favorite chain of airport-only accommodations.
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There’s a scene in The Simpsons in which a cartoon rendering of architect Frank Gehry casually tosses a piece of paper onto the ground, gives it a look and then says to himself “Frank, you genius! You did it again!”
That joke is probably funnier seeing it than reading our recounting. And it’s certainly funnier if you are familiar with certain Gehry-designed buildings—like the Walt Disney Concert Hall in L.A., the Experience Music Project in Seattle and, especially, Bilbao Spain’s Guggenheim Museum—which really do bear some resemblance to crinkled paper (if you squint a little).
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