Hotel Review: Holiday Inn

When my boyfriend and I decided that we would be vacationing at Holiday Inn, I honestly had really low expectations. I knew it would not compare to my experiences at Secrets or Palladium. However, I was still looking forward to it, because Lord knows I needed a vacation after my stressful exams.

Service
The service at Holiday in was surprisingly really good. I read a few bad reviews online before we went, but fortunately we did not experience any of the horrors that some guest complained about. The staff were helpful. From the start of our trip until the end, the staff were delightful. I particularly liked the fact that at check-in were served fruit punch while we waited. This is a step down from the champagne they serve at Secrets, but it was still a lovely gesture. I would have to say that the service was pretty decent for the price.

Accommodation
Another surprise for me was the room. I didn't expect that it would have been so spacious. We booked the deluxe suite with ocean view, and I must say that that was the perfect choice. My only complaint would have to be that the bathroom had no jacuzzi. Yes I know, I could survive without that jacuzzi, but it would have been a nice touch to have it there.

Food
The food was so so, nothing special. They had only a few specialty restaurant and we managed to go to two. The first restaurant we went to was the seafood restaurant. I am not really big on seafood, but the food was actually good. However, I was looking forward to the italian restaurant after reading all the wonderful reviews about it. But, what a disappointment! I guess my expectation was too high.

Both the morning and evening buffet are typical of what you would find at any all inclusive hotel, so nothing too special there. I have to give them props though for making some of the best tasting fried dumplings I ever had in my life...yum yum!

Beach
Let me start by saying that I am obsessed with the beach. Maybe I was a mermaid in my past life...haha. With that said, beaches are resorts are very important to me. Thankfully, Holiday Inn did not disappoint because they do have a lovely beach with plenty of space for the guest to spread out. They also had an island (or you might say a patch of sand) by the beach which was actually very lovely. The sand felt good and the water was clear and nice. It was all I could ask for.

Activities
Honestly I don't visit hotels in Jamaica for activities. I am more interested in just relaxing and not having to make the bed, haha. Therefore I didn't go running around the hotel trying to find activities to participating. However, my hubby and I did go wind sailing and it was lovely. We also had a round of competitive miniature golf which was pretty fun, especially because I won! In the evenings the hotel would have some pretty good performance. Our favourite performance night was the Michael Jackson night. Jamaica do have some very talented people!

Ratings
Considering all things relative to the price, I would give this hotel a high rating and would recommend it to anyone. 3.5/5

Check out our other hotel reviews in the mean time:
Tropical Lagoon Heights Resort
Secrets Resort-Wild Orchid


Shannon xoxo

PSA: Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival 2013

This year's staging of the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival promises to be even bigger than previous years. The annual event is now in it's 16th year of operation and like fine wine, it gets better with age. This year's impressive line up showcases international talents Dionne Warwick, Monica, Mary J. Blige, KC and the Sunshine Band, John Legend, Michael Bolton and Arturo Tappin and our local artistes Rootz Underground and Third World Band.

The event takes place at the Greenfield Stadium in Trelawny, Jamaica from January 24 - 26, 2013, and like previous years this is an even that should not be missed; so will you be going?

January 24, 2013 Performers:
Rootz Underground
Third World Band

January 25, 2013 Performers:
Mary J. Blige
Michael Bolton
Arturo Tappin

January 26, 2013 Performers:
John Legend
Monica
KC and the Sunshine Band
Dionne Warwick

For more festival information or information on how to buy tickets check out the website Jamaica Jazz and Blues Art of Music 2013.

Until next time
Debbie :)

1 Day...2 Events! (picture heavy)

Two weekends ago we decided to attend a few events that were going on over and luckily for us we could kill two birds with one stone so we attended both the Health, Home and Garden 2012 Expo as well as the Beauty and Health Care Expo 2012. Expos such as these are a great way of finding out what the Jamaican market has to offer as it relates to health and beauty of course, and as Jamaican beauty and fashion bloggers we figured these expos would be right up our alley.

Health, Home and Garden Expo 2012

Admission: JMD$500 for adults
Venue: National Arena
Date of event: Rescheduled to November 9 - 11, 2012 because of Hurricane Sandy

Overview:
This event was not exactly our cup of tea as it was more geared towards home improvement, gardening, furniture and home decor, and companies which manufactured or sold specialty home related items. Now don't get us wrong it was a fantastic event, well executed and very organized. The floor plan allowed you to walk around with ease and besides the huge array of home/house related booths there were also banks, insurance companies, health test booths, etc. There were also live demonstrations, giveways, discounts and free sampling from Lasco and other food booths. When we own our own homes then we can appreciate this event even more, but it was great to see the wide variety of home decor items and companies that are in Jamaica, you actually don't need to go shopping outside of Jamaica if you're looking for unique pieces because it's all here! It was interesting to see how fashion actually inspires home decor as well. Our favourite booths were Matahari, they had gorgeous, but very expensive home decor items and also Custom Furnishing and Joinery Limited they have exquisitely made custom furniture/cabinetry/closets...virtually anything!

Shannon & I at the Flow booth

Matahari

Custom Furnishing and Joinery Ltd.

Beauty and Healthcare Expo 2012

Admission: FREE
Venue: Pegasus Hotel
Date of event: November 11, 2012

Overview:
*Kiss Teet* (as we say in Jamaica). Where do we start? We were expecting a whole lot more from this even quite honestly and we were not impressed to say the least. The booths showcased the typical hair products that you would normally find in beauty supply stores in and around Jamaica and the prices of the products were not reduced at all, for us an expo should showcase products at a cheaper/discounted price and honey these prices were not cheap. It was a bit crowded and when we initially arrived we were greeted by a very loud person performing on stage... ah boy! Apart from a very crowded L'oreal booth, we did not see any other makeup retail booths and there were not many locally made natural hair and beauty products being showcased besides Tropic Isle (manufacturers of Jamaican black castor oil products). We were hoping that it would have been more of a learning expo, but it was simply a showcase of products...with hardly any samples of these products and, how do you classify this as a beauty expo when it seemed to be more centered around hair and hair care products, what about makeup, nail care, etc? The highlight of the night however was meeting Youtube guru JamaicanMakeupArtist at the Motions booth and receiving some free goodies (which we cannot mention *wink*).

Hope you enjoyed!
Debbie & Shannon

OOTD: Day by the River

Jamaica's emancipation/independence holiday must be the most anticipated period in Jamaica for 2012. We celebrated our 50th year of independence and also we were all hyped on the amazing Olympic's showdown that was to come. Event's were being held all over the island to celebrate Jamaica50. This was a time for me to spend quality time with my family and just celebrate being Jamaicans!

On Emancipation Day, my family and I took a trip to Portland, the parish where my grandmother is from and we had a family riverside cookout. We had a lovely time, and this is the outfit I wore for my day by the river. The outfit is pretty much casual and neutral, with a pop of neon. Belts are a simple way of incorporating colour into a neutral look.

Top: H&M  |  Shorts: Hollister

Headband: Forever21

Belt: Plata (HK)  |  Bangles: Bershka

Bag: Coach  |  Slippers: Roxy

Hope you had a splendid holiday!
Shannon xoxo