New-and-Improved: Strawberry Hill Hotel & Spa in Jamaica

There’s yet another irresistible reason to add Jamaica to your travel list: the newly refurbished Strawberry Hill Hotel & Spa perched 3,100 feet above sea level atop the island’s Blue Mountains. The resort’s boutique management company, Island Outpost, excels in imbuing each of their Jamaican properties with, as they write on their website, an “expression that reflects the magic of music, each with its own rhythm, its own beat.”

The former 18th-century coffee plantation houses a Living Spa, a Main House, and twelve handcrafted 19th-century Georgian-style cottages that vary in size from studios to four- and five-bedroom deluxe villas complete with private pools. Each living quarter – nestled in its own tropical nook with spectacular mountainside and city views – has been fully-restored with original four-poster canopied beds, mahogany desks, and hand-carved fretwork, then updated with luxuriant hand-dyed linens.

For an even grander view, the infinity pool grants a 24-hour panorama of the colorful city of Kingston. Taking a wander through the property’s botanical gardens, cozying up to the fireside bar, or feasting on the multi-ethnic “new Jamaican cuisine” at Strawberry Hill’s internationally-acclaimed restaurant will transport you worlds away from reality.

Once owned by Chris Blackwell, the founder of the Island Records label which launched Bob Marley’s legendary career, Strawberry Hill still takes music seriously. DJ and Quango label founder, Bruno Guez, is responsible for every ultra-cool playlist heard throughout the public spaces of this mountaintop oasis.