The plane landed and once again I feel like I am home….God, I LOVE Jamaica. I feel at ease there, all my problems slip out of memory and for those special moments that I am there I can totally and fully relax. In my mind Jamaica is absolutely perfect.

Those are just some of the reasons why when it came time to marry my best friend there was no comparison and no decision to be made as to where the special event would take place…it had to be Jamaica. So….the planning began.

Resort

We chose Tensing Pen. There was no other choice for us. The resort is stunning in a natural and simple way, which was exactly what we were looking for. We stayed at Tensing Pen for the whole duration of our stay (7 nights), we enjoyed the quietness of the resort.

We stayed in Middle Pillar and the view was gorgeous from the balcony. We didn’t need AC (doesn’t come in that room) but the breezes that come in off of the ocean were enough to keep us cool and comfortable. The room had a bathroom (sinks and toilet), the shower is located at the bottom of the stairs underneath the pillar. It was nice to shower in the outdoors. It also had a 4 poster bamboo bed which was very comfortable. Great pillows! We had enough closet and drawer space for our clothes for the week. The chairs on the balcony were very comfortable and many evenings were spent out there sipping wine or drinking Red Stripes and enjoying the scenery and taking the atmosphere in.

The housekeeping service was fantastic…our room was always spotless and they always left us fresh flowers on the bed and towel decorations like hearts on the bed….very cute.

The wait staff at the resort were great to us too. They always were there to please and happy to do so. Always grateful for the tips that we gave and shared many stories with us about their own lives. The drinks…well, I definitely recommend the Pina Coladas and the Dirty Bananas….I would shy away from the Strawberry Daiquiri and the Bloody Marys (not so good)…decent prices too for the bar service.

The food at the resort was fabulous!! Chef Kevin is gifted. The only complaint is the limited menu that is offered…kind of disappointing. However, the food that is offered is very good. But, with so many options in Negril you want to get off the resort and try multiple places…however, we did eat at the resort 3 nights while there and were NOT disappointed at all each and every time. The pumpkin soup….to die for!! Kevin cooked our wedding special dinner and I have to say it was the best meal of the week!! I believe that if Tensing Pen would expand their menu (Kevin is definitely up for the task of cooking and preparing a larger menu….he is the best!!) and serve to outside patrons then they would definitely make a profit and bring in more dining business.

The grounds of the resort are immaculate. There are always workers who are sweeping and trimming the plants and making sure everything is picture perfect.

For fun….there is a nice pool surrounded by lounge chairs and most of the time we had the pool to ourselves. We were there during slow season and you wouldn’t of known that the resort was booked to capacity, it’s like you are the only ones there. There is the ocean to play in. They have snorkeling equipment that you can borrow and rafts that you can take into the ocean to lay on and enjoy the current. I have to say that the current at Tensing Pen can be, at times, a bit strong. If you are into snorkeling I found the best time to go was in the mornings. It was hit or miss on what you saw though…a little disappointing. We did see some dolphins one day and that was great!! There is also the bridge and the cliffs to jump off into the water…that is such an adrenaline rush! Or you can just lounge and enjoy a good book…got lots or reading in that week.

Wedding….Tensing Pen was perfect for our wedding site. Everything was exactly how I imagined it to be. Sonia, the wedding coordinator at the resort, definitely came through for me when it came to the wedding details. I could not of asked for more. Now….I am married to my best friend and could not be happier. :o)

Outside Activities

We spent a lot of time off the resort too (if you can imagine that)…we loved to eat lunch at Alice’s across the street from Tensing Pen. The people there are so friendly and welcomed us each and every time. We always had great food, great conversation and good times when we were there.

We visited Rick’s. The new hubby had never been there. It is a show to see if you had never seen it before with the cliff divers. We had a few beers, lots of appetizers but the food was just okay in our opinion. We had a good time.

We did our airport transfers with TOTTT and Sienna drove us to and from the airport and she is delightful. Absolutely LOVE her. She is so full of information and loves to talk. We really enjoyed her company. Such a sweet lady….we will definitely be using TOTTT again!!

We visited YS Falls and Pelican Bar with TOTTT. Barry was our driver that day and he was fantastic. He shared information, let us jam our to tunes in the van and showed us a great day in Jamaica. He introduced us to some of the local food bought from street vendors…OMG the corn was so good!! When we went to Pelican Bar he arranged for us to have fresh fish prepared/cooked when we got back to shore. That fish was so yummy!! Great day…good times!

We absolutely love 3-Dives. Their hot sauce/jerk sauce is some of the best I have tasted. We even bought three bottles and brought it home with us. It seems hotter here in the states then it was in Jamaica. Love it when the mouth burns!! Oh so good!! :o)

We also did the Ultimate Kayak Adventure with Chukka Tours. They picked us up our resort and dropped us off afterwards…would stop for cold Red Stripes along the way when asked. Our tour bus driver (don’t recall the name) but he was so funny!! The tour itself was fantastic. It consisted our us kayaking down the river, exiting the river and doing a series of three zip lines and then getting back into the kayak to finish the trip down the river. Our tour guide Marlin was so informative and gave us a lot of background about the island he really took pride in his job…it was great to see that. The views that we saw from the river were breathtaking. The trees were so old, and HUGE. The zip lines where crazy!! The first one takes you right over the river…the views were amazing! I would definitely recommend taking this tour. We also got lunch combined with our tour and Chukkas hot sauce/jerk sauce was, by far, the HOTTEST jerk sauce I have ever ate. It was good.

I think that pretty much sums up our trip to Jamaica. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions…would be happy to try and answer anything that I can.

Hope you love Jamaica as much as we do!! :o)

My wife and I stayed at Tensing Pen for 6 days at the end of April, as part of group there to see my best friend marry the love of his life! 12 of us all in the entire group, with 10 of us staying there the entire time. Tensing is an oasis on the rocky, cliff side of Negril, tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of Negril..truely a gem in the rough! Each of the rooms is unique, my wife and I stayed in the Garden B, what an enchanting room, with a large 4 poster queen bed, a private bath, and AC(a godsend for the groom in a suit!!!) The ocean is just a leap away off the cliffs or the bridge, as crystal clear as that water is, it's 20+ feet down...your not gonna hit bottom! The ocean is like swimming in your bathtub, same temperature! No shock at all! The maid service was efficient and thorough, often times leaving flowers on our bed, and we weren't even the wedding couple! The lodge served a wonderful breakfast every morning, and while you can just eat from the buffet, fresh fruit, juices, Jamaican Blue coffee, cereals, toast, eggs...you HAVE to one time, order pancakes or french toast! My god, I've never seen a pancake that is over an inch thick, light and fluffy, garnished with the fresh fruit of the day, maple syrup and cinnamon! I'd go back just for that!
The staff is excellent, curtious, and friendly; everyone has a smile on their face, and it's so laid back! The resort itself is walled and secure, but with the tropical growth and feel to the place, you don't even realize it! Secure so much, that in the 6 days we were there, we never even locked our door! Im a photographer and was carrying several thousand dollars in camera/computer gear! There is internet access in the main lodge or outside the office, and while it's a bit sketchy at times, I never did, not hook-up...though why would really want to stay in touch with the outside world!
There are awesome places to eat, just across the road, a place called Alice's, great jerk chicken and curried goat for sure mon! Plus there is a grocer just a short jaunt down the street for drinks if you want to keep something in your room(refrig in the room).
If your a dog lover, you will love the hotels pups, there for night security, a friendly wag, and general atmosphere! Tensing, Sugar, and I forget the other one's name....great, friendly pooches! But dont feed them!
We will not hesitate to return to Jamaica, we fell in love the country, its people, and the lifestyle!
I should reccomend, for transfers, contact, Errol, at Errol Flynn Tours(google it)! He can provide you with comfortable, relaxing, airport transfers and tours of the country he loves! He's friendly and very knowledgable, and will have you in stitches! There is no better tour/driver in the country!

Where do I begin? Everything about this place is even better than I imagined! We booked the South Pillar an entire year before our stay, as we were celebrating our 10 year anniversary and wanted to guarantee a pillar room at this resort. From the moment we arrived on the property, we were blown away as to how beautiful and peaceful it is.

The South Pillar is next to the bridge at the entrance to the cove. It has a great balcony for relaxing and watching the sunsets. The room isn't large, but it is a nice size with a small refrigerator. We had our driver from Montego Bay stop at a grocery store so we could pick up snacks, rum, juice and Red Stripe to keep in our room. We never experienced any problem with ants or other bugs from having the snacks in our room, but we sealed the bags well with bag clips brought from home. It was so nice to mix up a drink in the room and take it out to the balcony. (This is where it was handy to have our insulated mugs that we brought with us!). If you need ice, just ask someone and they will fill an ice bucket for you. The bathroom was small, but it had a little closet with hangers, a sink, toilet, a small safe, bath & pool towels, and a basket with soaps, shampoo, lotion, etc. One thing I noticed was that there were no outlets in the bathroom, so I used one in the main part of the room for my hairdryer. As a side note, there is not a lot of light in the room at night, just two small bedside lamps, so if you spend a lot of time styling your hair and putting on makeup, it could be an issue. For me, it was not because, hey - I'm on vacation in Jamaica! : )

We brought a small travel candle and some mosquito coils with us, and lit them while sitting outside at night. We didn't have too much of a problem with mosquitos, but a few here and there. We also had Off and an insect repellant with 98% deet that we used.

The pillars each have outdoor showers but that wasn't a problem for us; it was actually pretty neat. There was a high wall around the shower for privacy, but yet you still had the open air and could see the foliage around you. No problem with water pressure or temperature.

There are plenty of lounge chairs and terraces around the property so if you want to be by yourself you can do that, or you can hang out with others by the pool. We really enjoyed getting a drink from the bar (thanks Malcolm!) and relaxing at the pool.

The breakfast that is included with the room rate consists of toast & jelly, cereal and fresh fruit. You can order an omelet, french toast or pancakes, and bacon for a small charge. We aren't big breakfast eaters, so typically we would have toast & fruit, then split an order of french toast or an omelet. The portions are a good size and too much for me to eat on my own! The french toast was amazing, by the way, with fresh bananas on top!

We never ate at the restaurant for lunch but we ate there once for dinner. It was very good. The pumpkin soup we had was outstanding, and while I tried pumpkin soup at other restaurants afterward, none of them came close to the one at Tensing! The dinner prices were a bit high, but no higher than a nice meal out somewhere else. For about $26 - $35, you got soup, salad and an entree. The menu changes daily and is posted in the restaurant so you can check it out ahead of time. The only drawback we found with the restaurant was the selection of choices. If you didn't want a full meal, there really was no other option. One night we just wanted something light, like a sandwich, but they told us they couldn't do that. I realize that with such a small place, they cannot be a full service restaurant with lots of options, but since they serve sandwiches at lunch, I thought we could have gotten something like that at night. We ended up just going up to our room and not eating, since I really didn't want to walk or take a cab down to Rick's cafe. Walking along that road at night could be dangerous and I wasn't in the mood to go anywhere. We found the kitchen staff to be, let's say, not as friendly as the other staff members. They weren't rude, but I just never saw a smile. Almost like they didn't want to be there. Maybe we just caught them on some 'off' days.

We brought along some inflatable rafts (they are U-shaped with a connecting piece to sit on, so they are like chairs). The rafts had cup holders and plastic handles, so I also brought some nylon rope and 2 carabiners, which I used to clip one end to my raft and the other to the ladder. That way I could float around without worrying that I'd be carried too far off. It worked out really well! The rafts were only $6 at Target, and I got a cheap pump for $5 so I could blow them up. We stored them in our shower when we weren't using them - that way they didn't take up space in the room, but yet were not going to blow away. We brought them home with us, but since they were so cheap, we could have left them if we needed space in the suitcase. We also brought our own masks and snorkels, but we didn't see much in the way of sea life except for some jacks and trumpet fish. I was happy to see some dolphins one day while we were in the pool; I heard that they often go up and down the shore.

While staying at Tensing, we tried to go to Three Dives for lunch one day, but after walking all the way there, we found it was closed! So we went next door to Xtabi for lunch. It was nice and the food was pretty good. Another day we tried to eat at Serious Chicken, but again, no one was there! So we ate at Alice's Restaurant directly across from Tensing. We were the only diners there, but the food was fresh and very good. The Red Stripes were especially cold! I had the jerk chicken and it came with a side of rice and peas (which are really red beans) and a salad. My husband had the curried goat. He was hoping for the jerk pork that they had on their sign, but they were out of it. Another day we walked over to Rick's Cafe which is just about 5 minutes down the road. We had been there years ago before the hurricane, so we wanted to check it out. There were a good amount of people there, but it wasn't overly crowded by any means. We had some good drinks and watched the jumpers for a while. I never felt like people had their hands out looking for tips like I've read about.

Back to Tensing Pen - the beauty of the place is just unreal. I don't know that I've ever seen water so blue! The foliage is gorgeous; you really felt like you were in your own paradise. My husband and I had a couples massage one afternoon and it was so nice. The sound of the waves nearby made it even more relaxing. I am an early riser, so I liked getting up before my husband and getting a cup of coffee, then just sitting on a lounger and watching the water in perfect silence. That was one of the best things about Tensing Pen - no loud music, no rowdy drunken parties. Just relaxing.

I can really only find one negative thing about our room. Because it was right at the entrance to the cove, the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks was LOUD. I had read about that in previous reviews, but I figured my earplugs would be enough. They weren't. I'm not talking the gentle lapping of waves, this was loud crashing waves! During the day it was nice, but at night, it made it difficult to sleep. Since the room isn't air conditioned, you need the shutters (no windows, but lots of louvered panels) open to get the breeze (which by early morning I needed to shut to keep out the light and because it was chilly!). I would definitely return to Tensing Pen in a heartbeat, but next time I'd go for a room with air conditioning (just to be able to keep some noise out) and a little further from that part of the property. Other than the noise factor, I absolutely loved staying in the South Pillar!

When I originally booked our trip, we planned 3 nights on the cliffs and 3 on the beach. We had never stayed on the cliffs, so we expected to be ready to hit the beach by the time our stay on the cliffs was over. If I could go back and do it all over again, I would have stayed the entire time on the cliffs! My husband, who tends to get a little restless after a few days of doing nothing, was even wishing we were back at Tensing! I agree with the people that say that if you are going to split your time, do the cliffs last. It was very hard for us to leave the paradise of Tensing to go to an AI on the beach! As we sat on the beach with hundreds of other people around us, music playing and vendors walking the beach, we wished we hadn't left Tensing! Not that we didn't enjoy the beach, but it wasn't the same.

If you are looking for a quiet, peaceful bit of heaven, definitely head to Tensing Pen!

We just came back from my daughter's wedding at Tensing Pen.
Our family and friends booked the entire place and it was nothing short of spectacular! Each room/bungalow/treehouse had its own character, but there is not a bad room at the resort.

The setting, atop cliffs, provides a most dramatic view of the sea below and the grounds are impeccably kept by a very pleasant staff. We had a "Welcome" dinner of jerk chicken and Red Stripe one night, followed by the rehearsal dinner and wedding reception on subsequent nights. Everyone loved the food, as prepared by Kevin and staff. Jennifer fed us well for breakfast, too. Unfortunately, I cannot recall all the staff's names, but they all deserve high praise. Courtney, Malcolm, Razor, Jermaine, Niney, were first-rate. Our local guide and driver, Melvin, was excellent - have him take you through the Blue Mountains! Sonia orchestrated all of our events masterfully. Ask for her! And to get the party rockin', mon, arrange for the mentone band, "BB King!"

All in all, it was our group's consensus that Tensing Pen has a magic all its own. You NEED to book a trip here!

Emily's Dad/Heath's new Dad-in-law