Mammee Bay holiday villa rental with private pool, beach/lake nearby, internet access and balcony/terrace

The villa has  four / five bedrooms with the potential to sleep up to 12 people. Three bedrooms have queen size beds with the other offering two double beds. All main bedrooms have on suite shower rooms with hot and cold running water and are fully air conditioned.

The kitchen is fully fitted with all modern appliances, but more importantly the villa is fully staffed with a full time housekeeper, a cook and a gardener. The main living room is on two levels with an open plan dinning at the rear and the main area with sofas, 50 inch flat screen cable TV, WiFi, DVD player and music centre. 

This villa is ideal for large families or groups of friends, wanting a relaxing vacation with beach access and short drives to town and a variety of tourist venues. Access to a car will give maximum freedom.

Staff:

The staff are the true joy of a Jamaican villa experience. They are wonderfully accommodating and will try to do anything you want. Just ask. Some staff live off the property or in separate accommodations on the villa grounds. Your cook will consistently delight you with wonderful Jamaican meals, special cakes for birthday or anniversary events. Staff members may bring unusual fruits or vegetables that they have grown in their own gardens to the villa for you to sample. It is best to tip the staff at the end of your stay, see tipping advice below. The permanent Sheer Folly staff are:

House Manager/Cook, Hareen (she lives 3mins away)

Housekeeper, Tutu

Gardener/Pool, Mr Singh

Meals:

Ask any repeat traveler to Jamaica about where the best restaurant is and most will tell you "the villas". Villa cooks are fantastic. They can whip up a wonderful western omelet or prepare a superb Jamaican specialty such as ackee and saltfish. It's your choice. You can ask that the cook to "surprise" you with her Jamaican cooking skills, or work with her to plan out your meals. Our experience is that the food is so good you don't even want to think about going out to a restaurant! You should arrange the details of meals with the cook, dinner hours etc.

The staff like to have some set hours that they can then work around. Some staff live on the property so can easily provide later dinner service. Other villa staff go home at night and need to use public transportation. They typically work 8-10 hour days. Almost all the villas will stagger some of the staff hours so that you can have dinner served later in the evening if you prefer. We suggest working out a dining schedule and menu for the week with your cook on the day of your arrival. Here is what is typical for villa dining.

Breakfast: 8-10 am

• 1st course: Fresh juice, Blue Mountain Coffee, and fresh fruit.

• 2nd course: Main entree - eggs or omelets, etc. Main entrees are generally served with toast and a breakfast meat of your choice, or try a real Jamaican breakfast of ackee, Calaloo, and Johnny cakes with guava jelly.

Lunch: 12-1 pm

Some visitors like a hearty lunch and others prefer a light lunch after a large breakfast. Typical lunch menu - salads, sandwiches, Jamaican beef/ vegetable patties, or Jerk Chicken and Festival.

Dinner: 5:30-7:00 pm

You can choose inside or out.

Food Shopping:

As mentioned an initial supply of food and liquor is purchased in advance and is normally sufficient for two days. Guests are responsible for reimbursing the store which provides the supplies. Your cook will work with you on menus for all the meals and will do the shopping. You will need to provide her with money for these purchases. Some guests prefer to shop for the food themselves, and some go with the cook when she shops for fresh food in the Ocho Rios or St Ann's Bay Market.

If you want the staff to food shop you will need to pay for a cab or provide the transportation. Food costs average $35 - $45 per adult per day and $20/day for pre-teens. The size of the group, menu selection and liquor choices will affect the cost, so please remember that this is just an estimate. Also please note that household supplies (such as paper towels, soap, Kleenex) will be included in the grocery costs.

Remember that your meal choices will affect the grocery bill and items such as lobster (typically $10 USD/pound) and conch can have a major effect on your meal budget. Each group of people will have different appetite requirements, so the villa staff will need some guidance as to the quantities of food to be purchased. You only need to purchase food for your group and not the villas staff. The staff will do its best to accommodate your needs, but the final decision on menus and shopping are yours as you are the person paying the grocery bills.

We know that local lobster and conch are favorites with many guests; however, we request that you refrain from purchasing both these delicacies out of season. They need a chance to breed and replenish the supply, plus it is illegal to purchase live lobsters and conch "out of season". The Lobster season is CLOSED April 1 through June 30; and the Conch season is CLOSED July 1 through October 30.

You can purchase imported lobster and conch, which may be available frozen in the grocery stores.

We have found that the best grocery shopping in Ocho Rios is General Foods.  It is a large air-conditioned store, with a good liquor section and does accept credit cards. It is near the straw market in Ocean Village Shopping Center. There is also an excellent meat market on Main Street, Moneysworth. They will have both Jamaican and imported meats, along with seafood.

Last Day Tipping:

It is customary to tip your staff at the conclusion of your stay. An appropriate gratuity is 10% This would be divided among the staff members according to their seniority and service provided. It is also appropriate to tip your van driver approximately 10% after they drop you off at the airport on your return home. Typically the largest tip percentage would go to the cook, with the remained divided up among the other staff members.

We typically place the tip in individual envelopes for each staff member. We give it to them when the van picks us up for the airport. Here is a table showing suggested tip percentages for each staff member at Sheer Folly. These numbers are suggestions and you can certainly vary them depending on your experience with each staff member.

Tipping guidelines

House Manager/Cook 50%

Housekeeper 30%

Gardener/Pool 20%