Heart Melting in Jamaica Be My Valentine Offer

If you book Mocking Bird Hill to celebrate Valentine’s Day and eat at our acclaimed Mille Fleurs Restaurant before February 8 you’ll receive our Secret Romance Turndown Service free.

We’ll secretly decorate your room with a sea of romantic votive candles, beautifully scented candles and a shower of floral petals. Tropical orchids and anthuriums will be arranged within your room, and a bottle of chilled champagne with a plate of our extremely moreish ‘Flirtatious Fondue’ (Swiss dark chocolate silkily hugging local fruits) will be ready & waiting for the ultimate in sensual turndown services.

Our scrumptious Valentine’s menu for the evening is sure to melt any heart!

Rosy Sorrel Cocktail (with sparkling wine)

Lobster Mousse with warm Champagne and Herb Sauce (Amuse Bouche)

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Love Apple Soup with Vodka Cream

Or

Lobster Parfait with Tomatoes, Hearts of Palm and Cilantro Dressing

or

Mozzarella filled Polenta with Tomatoes and Basil Mayonnaise

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Love Apple and Basil Granita

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Fish Fillet with Crayfish Ravioli

Sweet Pea Purée and Orange Carrots

or

Slow Roasted Lamb with Jamaican Spiced Chocolate and Rum

Otaheiti Apple, Celery Salad with Passion fruit Dressing, Baked Potatoes

or

Spinach and Mushroom Ravioli

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Chocolate Brownie Sundae

Indulgent Chocolate Truffle with Sorrel Sauce

Goats Cheese Terrine with Caramalised Otaheiti Apples and Almond Chocolate Brittle

Book this offer via emailing the hotel.

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Last-Minute Christmas Cheer Offer for Winter Sun in Jamaica

Fancy some last-minute Christmas Cheer in Jamaica in January 2012? We know there are many who’d welcome a last-minute Christmas & New Year holiday in Jamaica after 2011′s money too tight to mention antics. 

For that reason we’ve got our very own extended Christmas Cheer booking offer to stay at Mocking Bird Hill in January  – awarded 2010 Best Hotel for the Environment at the Responsible Tourism Awards.

7 Nights for the Price of 6  & Free Continental Breakfast

Book between the 16th-30th December 2011 for 1 week or more in January and you will receive 7 nights for the price of 6 and a daily complimentary organic Continental Breakfast , for which Mocking Bird Hill are famous throughout the world and normally costs  $ US 15.75  per person daily.

 Mocking Bird Hill Christmas Stocking – Complimentary Wine & Liqueur

For those that book online, upon your arrival at the hotel you’ll receive a small bottle of wine to help wave goodbye to jetlag and a bottle of Pimento Liqueur to enjoy a tipple from. We guarantee it will bring a warm glow to those feeling grey.

To make sure this warm Jamaican glow continues when you arrive back home to more snowy Northern hemisphere climes we’ll also give you a jar of our homemade jerk seasoning to indulge your gourmet spirit.

How Much Does it all Cost?

- Garden View Room – ($US325 per night per room), ’7 4 6′ Christmas Cheer Offer -US$ 1,9500.00 – (Saving of $ US 580.50 based on 2 sharing)

- Superior Room – ($US380 per night per room), ’7 4 6′ Christmas Cheer Offer -US$ 2,80.00 – (Saving of $US 635.50)

- Deluxe Room – ($US465 per night per room), ’7 4 6′ Christmas Cheer Offer -US$ 2,790.00 – (Saving of $US 720.50)

Book Now

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Brighter than Sunshine Jamaican Hotel Offers

For those seeking the best value summer sunshine offers from a luxury Jamaican hotel, Mocking Bird Hill have 3 fabulous offers to help you make the most of your stay in Port Antonio.  Stay for 5 nights and receive the first 2 of our 'Brighter than Sunshine' holiday offers, stay 7 nights and you'll receive all 3, how's that for extra value!

Offer 1 – Breakfast for Free, 2-4 Nights

You’ll receive a complimentary continental breakfast in Mille Fleurs our in-house restaurant and winner of Jamaica’s Best Kept Secret.  We believe that breakfast and the ambiance it is enjoyed in makes for the most important meal of the day, and therefore pay as much attention to its details as any other meal served.  Enjoy homemade bread, preserves and muesli.  A wonderful cheese plate is available, including a selection of locally made artisan goat cheeses for you to try, herbs or pepper, a Camembert like cheese called Tom’s Hope and a homemade Brie, accompanied by smooth Blue Mountain Coffee, freshly squeezed juices.

Offer 2 – Complimentary Massage, 5 Nights or More

You’ll be invited to a 20 minute complimentary massage by our certified Aroma therapist & Masseur in our gazebo, surrounded by lush vegetation and home to many types of humming birds.  Massage is great not just for stress and relaxation but has also shown to boast your immunity so it is perfect for those soon to be on a flight home. Products used include bee wax gathered from local beekeepers and local organic coconut oil.

Offer 3 – On the House Jerk Sauce Cookery Lesson, 7 Nights or More

Enjoy a Jamaican cookery class with the Mille Fleurs Chef who hails from Boston Bay, home of the very best Jerk Sauce in Jamaica!  Jerk Sauce is Jamaica’s most famous culinary export, and adds a smoky warmth to all oven-grilled meats as well as acting as a tenderiser.  Knowing how to re-create this piquant sauce can earn you not just the title King of the Barbecue but can help rekindle Caribbean laid-back summer days when you’re back home on a dark cold night.

Offers Valid Until 19 December 2011

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Learn to Cook Jamaican Fusion Cuisine at Mocking Bird Hill

One good Reason to visit Mocking Bird Hill is to learn to cook authentic Jamaican style food.

You will you discover that there is an art to making the renowned Jamaican Jerk Sauce, the world’s first & finest barbecue marinade, and explore modern Jamaican cooking from the wealth of cultures and history that have fused to create such an eclectic & delicious Caribbean Island cookery style.  Each cookery class is supplemented daily with activity that gets you off the beaten track to discover some of the most beautiful coves and beaches of Jamaica, as well as discovering the Blue Mountains where the world’s finest Blue Mountain Coffee is grown above the clouds.

The course is aimed at those who prefer to sharpen their culinary skills on a small one-2-one level with their partner  or a friend whilst enjoying plenty of warm hospitality.

The 12-day course is a 2-centre cookery holiday which includes 3 nights at Green Castle Estate, a 1600 acre historic plantation, to help jettison the jet-lag.  The other nights will be spent at eco-boutique Mocking Bird Hill, winners of Responsible Tourism’s Best Hotel for the Environment 2010 and recent recipients of a Certificate of Excellence from Trip Advisor.  The hotel’s restaurant Mille Fleurs was awarded Jamaica’s “Best Kept Secret” by the Jamaican Observer, so not only will guests enjoy how to cook Jamaican cuisine they will eat possibly some of the very best offered on the island.

View the full itinerary for our Creative Caribbean Cookery Course

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Islanditis – An Island Eco Skip & Jump to Lush North East Jamaica

Everyone who lives on an island recognises the feeling of islanditis, that longing to occasionally wake up in a different environment in which to go walkabout, with a slightly a different horizon to follow.  Before the credit crunch many living in the Caribbean would take a trip to the US or if an expat back ‘home’, but times are more challenging now, with many instead looking at what is closer to home and exploring a different island or archipelago which only needs a short-haul flight to visit.

Thanks to Cayman Airways direct flights to Kingston, those that live in the Cayman Islands can now be whisked away and within 4 hours of leaving home can  be sitting in the historical Greencastle plantation close to Jamaica’s lush Blue Mountains, planning a dip in the nearby Caribbean Sea at Robins Bay.

After exploring this intimate eco-estate’s 1600 acres with its abundance of hidden trails, you can relax with a 3-course dinner as the sun sets across the Bay and stay in the cosy and comfortable guesthouse ready for an early breakfast and a day of exploring Jamaica that goes beyond simple sun, sea & sand.  You can choose from hiking around a coffee estate that offers grand vistas of the mountains and valleys, following a trail banked by wild exotic flowers, with a rich picnic lunch; alternatively you can enjoy a hike to Charles Town via an C18th coffee estate and learn about the Maroons, the runaway slaves who defeated the English and formed their own independent settlements in Jamaica.

After your stay in Greencastle, you will be transferred to Port Antonio to stay at Virgin Holidays & Responsible Tourism’s 2010 international winners for best hotel for the environment, Hotel Mocking Bird Hill, where you will enjoy the first of your gourmet dinners at Mille Fleurs, the restaurant that was awarded Jamaica’s Best Kept Secret.

Fresh from your stay in one of the hotel’s superior rooms, indulge in a leisurely breakfast before setting off to the Rio Grande Valley for a short hike through this verdant valley to McKenzie waterfalls where you can luxuriate in secluded waterfalls and take your very own private dip! Your community guide on this hike will also be your raft’s captain, on which where after a traditional lunch at Miss Betty’s or the village pub you can sit back and enjoy an afternoon’s rafting leisurely down the Rio Grande.

Following a traditional Jamaican breakfast you’ll be invited for an invigorating River walk to Reach Falls. Here you can enjoy a natural massage and explore the hidden caves and swim in its pools.  During your return journey you can either stop at Boston Bay for some traditional jerk or return to the hotel to have lunch before your taxi delivers you back to Norman Manley Airport to catch the short flight back to the Cayman Islands.

 Click image to view the full brochure

Prices for 3 nights US$ 1,016.00 per person based on double occupancy in a superior room, all Transfers (car and driver), 2 nights accommodation with breakfast & dinner at Mocking Bird Hill; 1 night at Greencastle, Rafting & lunch on the Rio Grande, guided hike to either the Blue Mountains and McKenzie Falls or the 18th century Coffee Estate from Charles Town

Prices do not include beverages, Reach Falls guide, airfares, gratuities, personal items & additional services

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Virgin Forest, Falls, Rafting & Dominoes Discovery Hike

A guided gentle half-hour hike through virgin forest up to the McKenzie Falls which tumble into a tributary of the Rio Grande, the Sarah River (pronounced “Say”).  Here you’ll be able to take a dip and bathe in the crystal clear river.  We can almost guarantee that unlike some of Jamaica’s other waterfalls this will be alone!

A short walk down to enjoy lunch at our favourite local bar.  You will be served  an apéritif of Coconut Water , eat traditional-style Jamaican food and afterwards you will no doubt be invited to partake in a game of dominoes, Jamaica’s national pastime – are you up to the challenge?!

After one or two games it’s time to be welcomed aboard your bamboo raft by your Captain, who will take you for a leisurely ride down the Rio Grande.  These rafts are 4’ wide & 33’ long, traditionally used to transport bananas and produce in the Port Antonio area, and make for one of Jamaica’s best rafting trips, gliding you effortlessly along the 7 miles of calm water and allowing you to view the lush vegetation and endemic birds.

Depart from: Port Antonio,  9.00 am,  from Kingston/Ochos Rios,  8.30am
Grade of difficulty: easy

Services include
* Return transfer
* Ferry ride across the Rio Grande
* Guided gentle half-an-hour hike (one-way to  McKenzie waterfalls) & time to bathe in the river and under the falls
* Refreshing drink (Coconut water) and lunch
* Opportunity to partake in Jamaica's national past time – dominoes
* Rio Grande Bamboo Raft Trip
 

Price:  From Port Antonio | For 2-6 people , US$ 130,  per person |  7-12 people,  €117 per person

 From Kingston or Ochos Rios | For 2-6 people, US$ 175, per person |  7-12 people,  €168 per person  

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‘This is the Night’ – Win a Valentine’s Meal for 2 in Jamaica

How would you like to share a romantic 4-course surprise Valentine dinner looking out at the stars with your loved one, warmed by a gentle Caribbean breeze?

Valentine’s Day is already just a short hop, skip & jump away, and plans for 2011’s night of romance could this year be combined with a long weekend break in Jamaica being that it falls on a Monday. Imagine in less than 4 hours from New York, you could be on your way from Kingston to Port Antonio, termed by the NY Times in Nov 2010 as the affordable and less touristy alternative Jamaican destination.

Passion is on our Valentine’s Menu right from the start, beginning with a Passion Daiquiri and including a super cooler to keep that flame in check in the restaurant as well as love cake to take home and perhaps share for breakfast?

We have a twist on traditional Jamaican favourites Fish Ceviche, marinated in beautiful sour orange & passion fruit juice.  We recommend savouring one of our personal loves -  Roast Lamb au Jus  served on a Cho Cho Puree, a Jamaican squash that was a particular favourite of the Aztecs. 

For dessert lovers there will be choice of Passion Fruit Mousse, Cheesecake & even Passion fruit worked deliciously into a Passion Crème Brûlée.

We invite you to enter our competition to win a dreamy gourmet dinner for 2 in their legendary organic and sustainably-sourced restaurant Mille Fleurs on Valentine’s Day, simply by entering their ‘This is the Night ‘Competition.

Winners will be invited to dine at sunset on home-cooked fusion food, cooked with love and passion utilising seasonal ingredients that are guaranteed to surprise & seduce, just take a look at last year's Valentine Menu Afterwards you can sit back and enjoy a starlit nightcap while listening to the chirping of tree frogs and songs of the cicadas, adrift on the scent of Night Jasmin.

If you are looking for a romantic candlelit peaceful 'space', a world away from the large dining rooms, Mille Fleurs sheltered Caribbean terrace with vistas of Port Antonio’s harbour, Jamaica’s forested Blue Mountains and the Caribbean Sea could be just the venue for Valentine’s Day Dinner.

To Enter

Simply identify & correct the wrong element in the statement below and become a Friend on our Facebook page to enter our prize draw.  Winners will be announced on Monday 31st January.

"Errol Flynn, Port Antonio’s most famous resident, believed the Blue Mountains to be the most beautiful woman he had laid eyes on."

This competition has past entries are no longer being received

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The Untouched Black Sands Jamaican Picnic Hike

The Parish of St Mary, with its fabled black sands is one of Jamaica’s smallest parishes and surprisingly one of Jamaica’s least touched by tourism.  Our accompanied picnic ramble along Robins Bay is one of our own personal favorites, as is the refreshing delicacies offered at afternoon-tea at the Green Castle estate.

You will be driven from Port Antonio to St Mary’s, which takes just over an hour in the car.  On arrival your hiking guide will lead you along the gently rolling hills to the beach.  The path is partly shady, through some wooded areas, so a hat is advised for the open paths where there are vistas of an old ruined plantation and its church.

A picnic lunch is provided on the beach according to your dietary requirements, but generally consists of roast chicken in home-baked rolls, quiche or cheese sandwiches, with vegetable crudités, fruit muffins, homemade granola energy bars, banana bread and coconut water or fruit juice.

It is then onto Green Castle, a colourful 3-acre guest house filled with beautiful tropical flowers, shrubs and a diversity of local fruit trees.  Here you will enjoy the delights of a Jamaican-style Afternoon Tea with cake, sandwiches and tarts sitting on the farmhouse veranda with Susan Crum Ewing.  She is famous across the island for hot pepper jelly and is a keen gardener who will give a tour of her organic gardens after tea, perfect to help walk-off any lingering calories for those that feel guilty!

Price per person is US$ 177.00 that includes return transportation, hiking guide, packed lunch with beverages and the afternoon tea with garden tour with the hosts Mrs. Susan Crum Ewing.

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Travel Photography Course

What better way to capture & retain memories from your travels than by taking a course & learning how to make the most of your digital camera and ensuring your photographs are every bit as powerful?!  Anyone can shoot their holiday or travels on automatic mode, but the subsequent results won’t be as creative or half as much fun as if you experimented with & mastered manual mode, with the impressive array of techniques and tricks contained therein.

Our week-long travel photography course in Jamaica offers daily workshops led by the award-winning photographer Jon Whittle, with no more than 14 students to guarantee that you get the personal attention you need when learning to fully utilise your  DSLR camera.  By the end of the week you will not only have learnt to harness your camera’s true potential in manual mode, but you will have a range of photography skills that will provide a crucial edge when you are travelling and looking to capture those perfect holiday moments & experiences.

During the day you will get to experience a truly exceptional holiday exploring Jamaica’s lush north east coast and Blue Mountains, with its varied vistas, birds, botany and a richly diverse plethora of flora & fauna,  people & places, all providing plenty of opportunities for  practical photography, implementing what has been learnt in our daily early evening workshops rounded off by a heavenly a la carte dinner at the Mille Fleurs Restaurant.

Course Dates are: 26 Nov – 3 Dec 2010 | 3 Dec-10 Dec 2010

Click here to read the full syllabus and itinerary

Read Snap Happy Holidays by The Irish Times

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River Deep, Mountain High – A Jamaican Soft Adventure

The newest way to explore Jamaica’s undiscovered lush North east coast

Jamaica’s No 1 eco boutique lodge, Hotel Mocking Bird Hill, has joined forces with Strawberry Fields Together to create a Caribbean adventure for those seeking an active yet laid-back holiday to uncover Jamaica’s 7 shades of blue:  hiking, biking, rafting and snorkelling along costal trails, freshwater rivers and the Blue Mountains themselves.This 10-night all-inclusive package based on Jamaica’s north east coast ensures a holiday off-the-beaten-track that mixes ‘more than the beach’ with a healthy dose of tranquil luxury and outstanding cuisine that has been acclaimed by the likes of the The Guardian and Fodors.

A diverse itinerary has been carefully crafted to appeal to the independent ecological traveller as well as culturally & socially oriented tourists curious about their holiday location. Rejuvenating coastal trails that lead to deserted beaches or picnic hikes to grand mountain ridge waterfalls for a rather different type of afternoon swim; a hike to the ruins of C18th coffee estate led by the leader of Jamaica’s autonomous Maroon community, inventors of the now legendary jerk style of cooking, are just part of what this amazing Jamaican experience has to offer.  

Rafting down the Rio Grande, a hike in the beautiful Blue Mountains to a Blue Mountain Coffee farm to discover where the world’s most expensive coffee is grown, following in the footsteps of Errol Flynn and discovering Frenchman’s Cove where the sea merges into river inlets of a spring and a river ramble to Reach Falls in the middle of the Jamaican tropical Rain Forest are a further taste of the opportunities this holiday will give you.

Guests will be picked up and driven to the 18 acres that is the Strawberry Fields estate in the little fishing village of Robin’s Bay, Parish of St Mary. Staying in Moonlight Magic, an airy bay-fronted first floor room of a cottage overlooking the private cove & 500m sandy beach, guests will be able to take full advantage of its Jacuzzi bath after spending time discovering secret Jamaica.

From the North East Coast, guests will be driven to the organic Hotel Mocking Bird Hill, Jamaica’s award-winning boutique eco-lodge, home to the Mille Fleurs Restaurant, voted Jamaica’s Best Kept Secret and recommended green hotel by OK Magazine. This intimate 10 room-400m hotel sits in 6.5 acre gardens listed as one of the top birding sites within the island. 

The parish of Portland offers visitors unparalleled natural beauty, rugged, exciting coastlines, a romantic beaches, hidden coves, rivers, and waterfalls with the Blue Mountain range providing a spectacular backdrop; Port Antonio, as the capital of Portland, has retained its charm as a quiet rural township and is home to one of the most beautiful harbours in the Caribbean.

Click here to view the pdf version of this soft adventure in Jamaica

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