By Sheryl Vandenhouten

 

On June 29 to July 4 I had the pleasure of attending the Melia Braco Village FAM in Jamaica.  It’s a small, quaint and charming resort that makes you feel like you are in a village, located about half way between Montego Bay and Ochos Rios, about 45 minutes from the Kingston airport. 

 

With only 226 rooms in small two story buildings scattered throughout this resort, nothing feels too far to get to, because it isn’t.  In the centre of this resort is like a town square with the spa, gift shop, restaurants, and front desk, all leading to the main pool. The main pool is a large pool but not too deep with a swim up bar.  The pair of beaches on this property is protected from waves but is a tad rocky.  This property has tennis courts, large lawn areas, and kayaking and snorkelling available free for guests, and a gazebo that jets out over the water for weddings and photo shoots. 

 

The kids club is small, but no one was in attendance at the time of my stay.  What’s exciting is the Tween activities hey are bringing to this resort, trampolines with tethers, zip lining, and a paintball outdoor obstacle course. 

 

The rooms were very clean, modern, and very comfortable beds.

 

The food at this resort was very good, with 5 choices for dinners, Buffet, Rasta Pasta (Italian), Japanese, steak house and the grill.  The buffet was very good and a wide variety that changed every day. The Japanese has teppanyaki grills and are very entertaining with great food.  The Italian one had amazing pasta, and the steak house has amazing decor and the food was good, but some steaks you had to pay extra for.  The grill is an outdoor fast food type of patio restaurant with amazing traditional Jamaican jerk pork and chicken and you could get it less spicy.

 

This resort offers a variety of entertainment, from tradition steel drum players and singers, to acrobatic type shows, and synchronized swimming shows, there is also a small disco but very few people attended but it’s a nice option.  These are on a smaller scale but feel very quaint but still amazing. Friday nights are Jamaican nights and everything is set up in the middle of town square, from tables and chairs to eat, and listen to music, entertainers and outdoor market place, you can visit each table to sample each food, or buy some local hand crafted item, it’s like an exciting street fair.

 

This resort is split into two parts the regular side and then the “Level” a more prestigious higher end, where they have a private pool, top shelf options, concierge service, and a private dining area.  On the level side there are side by side rooms with a communal front door that would be perfect or larger families.

 

On this trip we had the opportunity to visit Dunns River Falls, it is a very popular Jamaican destination where you climb up fast moving water falls, and while most find it exciting and exhilarating, it wasn’t my cup of tea, I found it caused me anxiety, but there are lots of exit points for those like me who don’t want to continue. The second excursion was a catamaran snorkelling, then ride to Margaretville, which was a fun filled music and drinks trip that wasn’t too long but lots of fun.

 

What I always remember about my trips is the service, and the service at this resort is very good, typical warm Jamaican hospitality, it’s the people that make the difference. 

 

This resort is for good for people or groups who like small resorts and like to relax in an upscale laid back resort.  I spoke with a single guy who was at the buffet and he wasn’t happy that there wasn’t anything for him to do, so that’s not the clientele.

 

Accessibility is medium in my opinion for disabled or elderly, there are main floor rooms, but there is a lip/step from the sidewalk to the door, but I was told they could put a ramp up, and the steak house is on the second story with about 15-20 steps up.

 

I would definitely bring my family of 4 here because it’s higher end, clean, beautiful and small with great service, but given the choice I would choose the level side.