Sundown Villas can hook you up with some of the best Jamaican villas
Jamaicans of means know the importance of embracing their island’s vibe and getting irie in their off time. Now some very well known ones (the owners of Sandals and Beaches Resorts) are opening their personal vacation homes to you. | Zach Stovall
ByIslands StaffApril 8, 2014
These aren't just any Jamaican villas... these are personal vacation homes from some of Jamaica's most influential. They're fully-staffed and just like home — if home had a private beach. Ready to book? Find your perfect villa at Sundown Villas. — Zach Stovall
That's why my Appleton and Ting drink tastes like success. The glassware (and the couch I've been splashed across shirtless all afternoon) belongs to Butch Stewart's family. And since Sundown Villa's jetty gazebo comes with its own drink delivery mon, named Dujon, I'm easily feeling four or five times as successful as I did this morning. | Zach StovallThough three Jamaican villas are part of the Stewarts' "Your Jamaican Villas" collection, Sundown is the only one on the affluent street known locally as Millionaire's Row. It's where some of Jamaica's most prominent families spend their holidays recharging. | Zach StovallI can see why. Just off of the villa's private beach on protected Discovery Bay, I'm watching some reef fish bob slowly to the pulse of Bob Marley's "Waiting in Vain" drifting from the outdoor speakers. I'm a thousand percent relaxed. And if the fish are soaking up any of the rum fumes I'm putting down, they're feeling it too. | Zach StovallWhen I get out, there's always an artfully arranged snack or drink – or both – waiting. That's Dujon on the right. | Zach StovallI somehow managed to walk away from our initial room-battle-royale with the best digs of all nine bedrooms. Beachfront view, with French doors I can leave open all night to hear the waves and some faint reggae drifting from across the bay. | Zach StovallSundown comes fully staffed – chef, bartender, groundskeeper, housekeeper, security, and best of all, a Rocky. His title is Butler, and although everyone else can keep me plied with the important stuff, clean up after me, and be nothing less than amazing, he's the only one that can suggest my friend Daiquiri Taylor Thomas (not his given name) and I do not take the paddleboards at 1 in the morning to investigate the source of the faint reggae. But he will call us a cab. | Zach StovallSince it's affiliated, pretty much anything I want to do can be arranged through Rocky...via Sandals' Island Routes: ATV's, waterfall hikes, tours, even camel riding (who knew, right?). I ended up on a bamboo raft cruising down the Martha Brae, which seemed to be about as authentic as a Jamaican experience can be. Maybe that's the paddleboarder in me. | Zach StovallIt's a cliché that Jamaicans are good at sparking up. But when it's a bon fire on the beach with s'mores materials, that's something everyone can gather around. | Zach StovallI couldn't ask any more from the Jamaican villas at Sundown. Funny, friendly staff, well-manicured grounds, exclusivity – and an equally irie price – all add up to one memorable vacation. | Zach Stovall
