FAQ
Planning for your Jamaica Vacation
Yes, Bluefields Bay Villas are only offered on this basis because of its location and lack of accessibility to provisioning/restaurants. Also please realize this is a “Villa Resort”, and thus there are lots of amenities in the all-inclusive package — such as use of snorkeling gear and sea kayaks and staffed seaside sitting areas and tennis court, complimentary laundry services and easy access to spa services offered on-site (charges apply).
Food and beverage are included for children. For younger children, we include (upon request) nanny coverage on a 9-hour daily shift that can be adjusted to your needs. If you would also like a sleepover nanny or additional daytime coverage for your child, this can be arranged at an extra charge. Our manager will meet with you upon arrival to plan what will work best for you and your children in terms of childcare. There are additionally various activities that children can take advantage of onsite, included in the rates.
Montego Bay Airport (code: MBJ) which is in Jamaica’s second largest city and this is the main tourist destination on the North Coast. There is another airport in the capital, Kingston, but that is 3+ hours from Bluefields and we only provide transfers from Montego Bay Airport.
Since some excursions can be weather-dependent such as deep-sea fishing and visits to YS Falls. Therefore, we suggest that you schedule excursions upon arrival once you meet with our manager who will verify the best timing for your plans.
We require renters to pay an additional 15% of the rental sum of which 13% is to be given to staff who work during their visit. This covers villa staff as well as persons who help with provisioning or provide services for all visitors (juicing oranges, making Jerk Chicken, taking guests on nature walks, monitoring seafront sitting areas). However, as renters frequently tip 15% or 20% at home and so often appreciate our staff, they sometimes wish to give additional funds. Please give extra funds directly to our manager or to your headman with a list of exactly how it should be shared. It will be distributed exactly as you specify – along with your thanks!! We do request that you honor our company policy of not giving money directly to the staff.
The average temperature in Bluefields is 82F (27.7C), and the temperature variation is only 10 degrees year-round. There are always lovely sea breezes and the villas are designed with those in mind. In terms of rainfall, November through April are the driest months of the year. If there is rainfall, it is typically going to be afternoon showers which pass with the sun often returning afterwards.
Every master bedroom has A/C. Of the 22 bedrooms, we have only one downstairs bedroom at Mullion Cove which does not have A/C.
Yes, Bluefields Bay Villas is safe and secure. Each villa has 24-hour security and is individually gated. We believe in sustaining the local community and employ 50+ locals on our staff. With this in mind, the entire community becomes heavily-invested in making sure that our visitors remain happy and healthy.
The network names is “bluefields” and requires no password. On the island, there can be issues that come up to occasionally interrupt service. Please inform your headman immediately if you have an issue so that we can get it resolved quickly.
We recommend that you buy cancellation insurance if you have concerns about not being able to travel which will enable you to cover your airplane ticket costs in addition to the cost of the villa. If you alert us that you cannot travel, we will do our best to re-book the villa for those dates. If we can do so for the same sum, we will hold a $500 administrative fee and refund to you the remainder.
**********UPDATE**********
Temporary COVID-19 Rebooking Policy
For new bookings made with travel occurring on or after April 1st, 2022 and extending until March 31st, 2023 (Policy Period”), we will issue rescheduling credits for similar rate periods in that calendar year if any of the following 3 events occur:
1. You need to cancel your stay because the Island of Jamaica closes or your country of residence closes its borders after you book and before you arrive to commence your stay. If the restriction is imposed after your arrival, we will credit you for any nights remaining on the trip AFTER the restriction takes effect. This is not to include restrictions due to vaccine mandates.
2. You need to cancel because, after you booked your stay but before you arrive for check-in, your Local, State (Provincial), or Federal government institutes a mandatory 2 or more-week quarantine which must occur after return from your booked stay. Local, State or Federal government-issued quarantines do not include quarantines imposed by employers, educational or other non-governmental institutions. State, Local or Federal government-imposed quarantines must be verifiable and must have been imposed by the governmental institution after you booked your stay. It is the responsibility of Lessee to verify about this prior to booking. This also excludes any quarantine imposed solely on unvaccinated persons.
3. In the event that you or a member of your party contracts COVID-19 before you are to arrive for your stay, you may cancel your stay with full credit if all the following criteria are met after you have booked your stay and before you have commenced your stay:
• If the Lessee named in the contract is COVID-19 positive, a credit will be issued.
• If Lessee seeks a credit because a member of their travel party is COVID-19 positive, a credit will be provided only if that person’s full name and date of birth was entered into the Bluefields Trip Portal or emailed to reservations@bluefieldsvillas.com no later than 24 hours after finalizing the booking. If Lessee is not COVID-19 positive, but seeks a credit because a member of their party becomes COVID-19 positive, Lessor will not issue a credit if that party member’s full name and date of birth was not provided to Lessor as stated above.
• Lessee must forward evidence of their or their qualifying travel party member’s positive COVID-19 test results showing positive results within 7 days of arrival.
In order to obtain a credit under this Temporary policy, you must provide Lessor notice and request a cancellation more than 72 hours prior to your stay.
To qualify for a credit under this Temporary COVID-19 Cancellation Policy, the booking must be made no earlier than, nor later than, the Policy Period. This cancellation policy applies only to new bookings made during the Policy Period and this policy excludes trips using credits given or trips rescheduled from an original date prior to the Policy Period.
**(Please note the previous policy period was September 10, 2021 to March 31, 2022. This new policy excludes the weeks of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year for which our normal cancellation policy applies.
Our rental contract states that we will refund (or reschedule) visits that are unable to proceed because of a hurricane. As we do not cover airline costs, we recommend that you consider buying travel insurance at certain times of the year. Some airlines servicing the Caribbean have their own policies for hurricanes, with many being similar to ours.