For those who aspire to travel as trendsetters in Jamaica, it helps to know that Port Antonio, way out on the eastern end of the island, is the destination to head for. And the address to shelter at is the Trident Hotel, whose 13 waterfront villas would not look out of place on South Beach. Nor would the crowd that hangs around its infinity pool or in its restaurant, Mike’s Supper Club, where local musicians and the occasional celeb sit down to knock out tunes on the 1917 Ferrari-red grand piano. The Trident Castle, a kind of fantasy annex, is a former private residence whose grand rooms, sea-view terraces, and dollhouse-size chapel make it ideal for destination weddings. A hard road to get there? Not for guests who avail themselves of the helicopter pad.
The Trident Hotel
The Trident Hotel
The Trident Hotel
The Trident Hotel
The Trident Hotel
The Trident Hotel
The Trident Hotel
The Trident Hotel
The Trident Hotel
The Trident Hotel
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Music and Mixology at Jamaica's Trident Hotel
The music producers behind Jamaica’s funky Geejam Hotel hired mixologist Shigefumi Kabashima of New York City speakeasy Angel’s Share to create the cocktail menu of this new 13-villa property. An original 1930s billiard table graces the hotel’s Time Bar and Explorer’s Lounge, as does the largest selection of cognacs and Cuban rums in Jamaica. Each villa has a private terrace with an outdoor tub and a heated plunge pool. Trident’s staff can arrange fishing trips on a private boat and surf lessons at Long Bay Beach. From $750. (888) 443-3526. This appeared in the May 2013 issue.
Remodeling Jamaica
Dramatically sleek and wildly sophisticated, the “new” Trident hotel, part of the Geejam collection, will thrill the jet set, the style seekers and the hipsters alike. Music producer turned hotelier, Jon Baker, continues with his “non hotelier” style of producing fabulous little hotels with a sensational sense of style and eye for detail. Intimate yet private with 13 rooms, – all uber hip and fabulously unpretentious. This is the emerging, or remerging Jamaica. It’s locale, Port Antonio, is well worth the 2.5/3 hour drive from either Kingston or Montego Bay Airport. This sensationally lush and rich area of the country is becoming known as the “other” Jamaica, the safe Jamaica, the still innocent Jamaica.
Uber-Relaxation at Trident
The recently renovated Trident Hotel looks straight out of a movie. The sleek, ultra-posh boutique hotel–there’s no big sign by the gates, along the main Port Antonio road–caters to families and couples looking for seclusion and understated luxury. Thirteen all-white studio to three-bedroom villas are privately set along Port Antonio’s breathtaking seafront cliffs. The highlight of each villa is a spacious, 1,000 feet outdoor terrace with a heavenly outdoor soaking plunge pool–you even get to select your own temperature and set the jacuzzi speed. Sunrise over the infinity pool at the front of the property is not to be missed–the water, too, is the most perfect pool temperature I’ve experienced–nor is the evening live jazz at Mike’s Supper Club.
