We just returned from Idle Awhile. We have stayed at several places in Negril, but it was our first time at Idle Awhile. Except in one area, the place was fabulous.

Idle Awhile is a 14-room hotel. We had a Deluxe room, their name for a standard one bedroom unit. It was plenty big, well cared for and had a small fridge. The building with the Deluxe rooms is about a hundred paces from the beach, and two of the eight Deluxe units (203 and 204) should have limited ocean views. The building housing most of the one bedroom suites is closer to the beach with more of a view for several of the suites.

The grounds resemble a tropical forest and are very well maintained. Concrete paths snake from building to building, ultimately terminating at the beach. The beach is one of the best maintained in the non-all-inclusive area of Negril beach. The beach furniture was the best we saw. White plastic loungers, topped with a thick foam cushion, are standard issue, along with a luxurious white beach towel. Comfort, comfort, comfort! The cushion doubles as a floating mat, wonderful for those long floats in the Caribbean Sea.

There are several mature trees that can provide natural shading for those times when full sun isn’t wise. For those who prefer them, the beach staff will fix you up with a pale yellow umbrella, the visual impact of which mirrors some of the best images from the travel mags.

The staff throughout Idle Awhile are top notch as well.

The only problem area we experienced was with the speed of food delivery at the on-site, beachside restaurant, Chill Awhile. The name says it all. Whether it be breakfast, lunch or dinner, expect to spend awhile in the restaurant. Whether we were the first to arrive in the restaurant, or the last to fill up its nine tables, the length of time from sit-down to being served your food was LONG. We never wore watches to time it, but we ate breakfast, lunch and dinner at other beach restaurants, and the food-delivery time was always much less (the food quality often was not as good as that at Chill Awhile). Not sure of the bottleneck, but it must have been somewhere in the kitchen, as the wait staff were never loafing. Yeah, we know, island-time, soon come and all that. We are not imposing American standards on Jamaicans. We have been in Jamaica enough to know the difference between waiting for a meal that is cooked to order, and experiencing a kitchen that is slow to deliver the food.

Some of the other places we can recommend for food are Best of the West (jerk stand across the street), La Vendome at Charela Inn next door, Ristorante Da Gino (Italian at Mariposa Hotel) and Norma’s at Sea Splash. Between 1:30 and 2:00 every afternoon, the patty man pushes his bicycle loaded with a box full of pattys past the hotel. Fresh, hot, spicy and cheap! Don’t let him pass you by!

Given everything else that was top notch at Idle Awhile, we would definitely stay there again …. we will just plan to spend more of our meal monies elsewhere if the food delivery remains slow.

I stayed at idle awhile for four days and wish I had stayed longer! Everything was wonderful! The staff were so sweet and helpful..many of the staff had been with idle awhile for five plus years, so you know they are loyal to the resort! Anything I asked for they did their best to provide it.. I travelled with two small children and my six month old's skin started to peel from the sweat and heat. I asked one of the hotel personell about what should I use to help my baby. She recommended a special powder and she went the pharmacy and got it for me! People from other resorts would come over and eat at chill awhile because it was the best on the beach! We loved the beach and the tropical foliage was beautiful! We will be back! next time without the kids!

This hotel was perfect. Family friendly, but we didn’t see any kids. Romantic without being obnoxious. Perfect for friends traveling together (which is what we were). We were a group of 7(all in our late 20s) in 2 rooms and could have easily and comfortably slept 3 more. The staff is so kind and accommodating and everything was wonderfully clean and easy.
We ate a few times away from the restaurant at the hotel, but we regretted leaving. all of our favorite meals where 10 steps from our room.

I spent several days at Idle Awhile, with 6 friends. We are in our late 20's and we were a little concerned that we were going during spring break... However, the hotel makes certain that the hotel is not overrun by spring breakers.

Room - we had two of the suites. One was across the street, but they were both terrific. Very spacious, lots of room and sleeping space and extremely clean.

Beach - the beach was well kept with plenty of lounge chairs. The water was calm and perfect for floating. Since the hotel is so small, the beach was really peaceful and there really werent very many people. FYI...there is not a pool

Restaurant - DELICIOUS! We ate here for nearly every meal. We are from NY (so used to slightly higher prices), but the restaurant was really affordable. The curry and jerk sauces are divine!

Staff - Very friendly and helpful, yet relaxed and not in your face.

Location - about a ten minute cab ride to town. Very easy to walk along the beach and go to different restaurants and bars. Very good location. THERE WAS A TERRIFIC JERK CHICKEN STAND ACROSS THE STREET! REALLY CHEAP DON'T MISS IT!

Other - We went to Rick's, because we heard it was a good bar with cliff divers. I was not thrilled and would not recommend. It's just a tourist trap and the divers made me nervous....it was fun for 5 minutes, but not a must-do. Great views.

We went to the Rockhouse Hotel's restuarant for dinner. The views were unreal...so gorgeous and the food was good, a little pricey though.

Overall, Negril was great...very relaxing. If you are looking for a happening downtown scene, you are not going to find it. I got the impression that everything evolves around the beach and relaxing, not a huge going-out scene.