Erase your clichid images of Jamaica. Forget the half-dressed Euros toasting on the beach at Negril. Forget the long, impeccably groomed fairways at Tryall. Sitting on the terrace at the Bonnie View Plantation Hotel in Port Antonio, it's easy to forget: that we've already had three rounds of Red Stripe and another is on the way; that tomorrow is Tuesday and we're leaving.
The sun has slipped under the horizon and we stare as shimmers of a garnet-and-gold sunset lambada on the Port's perfect double-bowl harbor below.
Perched atop a high hill at the back of town, the Bonnie View ought to get an award for truth in advertising - or at least naming: The view is spectacular.
Bonnie View isn't pretentious. The rooms are comfortable, not opulent. The staff is friendly, but not obsequious. The linens aren't starched and there's no uniformed bell-staff herd to fawn over your luggage. But right out front, there's a terrace with one of the most dramatic views on the island.
Better yet, within a few minutes' drive, you can sample some of the best that Jamaica has to offer: floating down the Rio Grande River on a bamboo raft, shadowed by clouds of egrets; the fiery flavors forged in the jerk pits of Boston Beach; horseback riding in the hills. Rates are about US$75 a night and special packages are available. For information call Bonnie View Plantation Hotel (876-993-2752).
Posted online 07/01/97.
