Chrisanns Beach Resort

The good stuff first. Location is good on N Coast highway about 2.5 miles east of Ocho,on the coast side. It has about 24 maybe 30 rooms arranged in two wings both facing a moderate sized pool and common area leading towards the sea. The beach area is very modest and mainly stony with a breakwater close to shore as it is exposed to the predominant wind. Rooms are good /American sized with a cooking area + terrace. The not so good. There is no management / reception staff on site. Security covers reception. Cleaners are not supervised and not thorough.. There is no bar or food offer + Wi-fi is in the small reception area only [8 - 10 places]. The décor is fair at best. Furniture and bed / bedding is a bit tired and shabby. The Red flags are: 1. Safety – One hob of the electric cooker heaters was permanently on and hot enough to boil water. Staff knew all about it already! So no-one cares for guest safety. 2. Fire Extinguishers – Last filled / serviced in early 2012, the pressure gauge was well into the 'Recharge' zone. 3. Cleaning no better than a lick and a promise. Walls doors and lighting had long-term dirt on them and not properly cleaned when reported to cleaner There are a lot of small hotels etc nearby. So I am sure that I can find better accommodation at similar cost 2. Fire Extinguishers – after noting the cooker issue, the extinguisher attracted my attention. Last filled / service

In the past I have been coming to Chrissans for many years for long weekends. Has its original charm still there, just hidden beneath the surface. The room was a bit musty BUT everything worked perfectly. Hot water on demand. Cooling AC. Quiet. Clean pool and beach area. If you are looking for true rest and relaxation then this is the place to do it. Very nice restaurant across the road and just 15 minutes away from major town. It is very secure with guards on duty 24 hours. I'm glad to see the increase in activity in the area so there is much more to do. I was there for an overnight stay so I did not get to explore that much.

Upon arrival we were taken to a small room that was not pictured on hotels.com. not the type of room we paid for. Management tried to up grade and make me pay more. O refused and ahe put me in a room I had stayed in a cpl of yrs ago with a great view but had a broke refrigerator. We left our groceries in the previous room. Waited 3 hours for the refrigerator to be fixed. Only the freezer worked. Apt was in poor repair as it was 2 yrs ago. Roof in bathroom, living room and kitchen falling apart. Not enough dishes, cook wear and cutlery to do anything with. This was brought to houskeepings attention. 2 chairs around the pool and grounds. Not enough for guests. No chairs on patio. We asked the security who was the only one on grounds if he could find any and extra towels and wash clothes as there was only one set in bathroom. Byron was very rude and basically told us across the street. Which was a convenient store. Grounds were littered for 2 days. Although this place could use some serious reno while there 2 yrs ago the staff was amazing and the view to die for as well as clean. They need to step it up because the place has amazing potential if cleaned up and ran properly!

We really enjoyed our little studio at Chrisanns. The staff there was extremely friendly, especially our housekeeper - Marvia. When we first checked in, a few things did not work but they responded immediately and fixed things. This is not a high end resort hotel and that's why we chose it - its low key, with a look of faded elegance. It was especially nice to have a little corner of beachfront so that we could spend a day just lounging around and still get into the water. We loved it!

The hotel was very quiet and calm, and the pool was great. The little private lagoon was nice too, but it could have used more sand. My room was not very modern and the hot water didn't work, but the relaxing environment made up for it. Also, the restaurant across the street had good food and relatively fast service (compared to other Jamaican restaurants).