The property is located two miles east of central Ocho Rios. It is situated on Cutlass Bay, borderedon the east by the White River.
Shaw Park is a colonial-style hotel located on a 1500 ft. stre DATE * UPDATED 07/21/99 MEPed Cutlass Bay. Offering a club-style, tropical atmosphere, each of the 118 air-conditioned rooms face the ocean and feature a balcony or terrace.
Hotel amenities include an optional All-Inclusive Plan, a restaurant and dining terrace, three bars,24-hour room service, nightly entertainment, two lighted tennis courts, and complimentary entrance to Silks Disco.
Beach: Shaw Park is on 1500 ft. private white sand beach.
“Beautiful Setting!”
Shaw Park Beach Hotel & Spa
This hotel is a colonial style, two storey building set on its own private beach approximately 2 miles from the centre of Ocho Rios. Every room has a sea view. Rooms range from standard, in the older part of the hotel, to superior in the new block and suites which are enormous and would suite a party of four sharing. All rooms have air-conditioning, and you need it! You can step from your room onto the beach. As one of the oldest hotels on the island of Jamaica, it's style is more traditional - no concrete box with rooms here!
We travelled during what is considered to be the 'off' season, and for that reason the hotel was quieter with less in the way of entertainment - however, we didn't chose this hotel to experience singers and bands every night. We wanted a peaceful break and the Shaw Park delivered. We enjoyed sitting at the terrace bar after dinner - and sometimes during the afternoon! - engaging in a bit of friendly banter with the bar staff, who were all marvellous. In fact we couldn't fault the staff at all, and the manager, Melton Ernesto, is a highly visible fixture! He and his team gave us such a warm welcome.
For evening entertainment, there is Silks disco. Small, but air conditioned and we enjoyed several evenings there.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner are all served on the terrace - unless the weather is bad, which is more likely during the time we were there. Rain happens suddenly, although doesn't last long, and we were treated to a number of spectacular light shows over the sea during the evenings.
The food is mainly traditionally Jamaican - plenty of chicken (jerk chicken a speciality, very spicey!), fish and pork with rice and a variety of local vegetables. Most evenings the chef prepared a roast of some kind to suit the less adventurous palette, however don't expect burgers or chips with everything! We didn't expect this and were mainly very happy with the food and the opportunity to try local dishes.
We arranged a number of trips through our tour company and can highly recommend the day trip to the Blue Mountains. Some truly spectacular scenery, although the road trip is perhaps not for the fainthearted! The mountain roads are very narrow so the journey is quite exciting. We also ventured to Dunns River Falls - great fun! - and Dolphin Cove, where we swam with stingrays and dolphins. There is plenty to do if you tire of lying on the beach. The hotel does organise trips from their tour desk, and in some instances these are cheaper than the tour operators. It's also possible to negotiate directly with some of the local drivers, although be very clear on what you want and where you want to go otherwise you may find yourself seeing more than you intended and parting with more cash than you budgeted for!
It is possible to walk into Ocho Rios from the hotel, but I wouldn't really recommend it. Part of the way is unpaved so you have to walk on the hard shoulder and that's a bit risky given the urge of some drivers to under-take on this part of the road! A taxi or bus from the hotel costs $20 a couple return. There are also plenty of taxis on the main road, although we didn't use them so can't advise on price.
Be aware that tipping is customary. Everyone expects a tip! Make sure you take plenty of US dollars in small denominations. A bit of knowledge about the economic situation of the majority of the islanders makes this understandable. I would recommend taking US dollars in cash, not travellers cheques. Everything is priced in US dollars and we found that on cashing travellers cheques we could only get Jamaican dollars. Of course these are acceptable in all shops, however it's not possible to change the smaller denominations back to pounds on returning to the UK. The exchange rate was around $170 Jamaican to £1 when we were there.
It's also worth mentioning that wherever you go, someone will try and sell you something! A firm, polite 'no' worked for us mostly and we didn't feel we were unduly hassled.
We loved our holiday and would certainly return to Jamaica and the Shaw Park. Some areas of the hotel could benefit from a little TLC, however we found our room comfortable and spotlessly clean. I would recommend this hotel to anyone looking for an idyllic location and the sort of personal attention that goes with the smaller resort.
