Great Escape-Private Staffed Villa on Jamaica's Southcoast

The property was lovely. A large patio, pool and private beach. And a skilled cook who loves preparing meals. We enjoyed breakfasts and suppers, we went exploring during the days . The beach waves were awesome. Who could ask for more?

Beautiful, well-equipped and with very helpful staff.

I am never going to be a millionaire but I just spent a week on my own private beach with a full staff so I am getting an idea of what it might be like.

The trip started with our driver, Rambo, picking us up at the airport. He is such a great guy. He knew just where to take us and we headed out to get provisioned. Once we had our needs for libations satisfied he suggested that we head to the Jerk Shack. This is Jamaica at its best. It is on the way to Great Escape and a must stop. We arranged to stop on the way home, it was that good.

Once there, we were greeted by Shane, our majordomo for the week. He had already planned the menu and shopped per our instructions. Another wonderful experience. We were in his hands and it was not long before we got to experience his culinary skills. But not before we ran down to the beach, Red Stripe in hand, to observe the first of many glorious sunsets on OUR OWN PRIVATE FREAKIN' BEACH. There is a bedroom and full bath on the beach with a great deck and outside bar. The sound system is first class. The pool and deck at the house is great but the beach is its own private world. We spent a lot of time down there.

Great Escape is very well situated for local sightseeing. The Treasure Beach community is something the people who populate the all-inclusive resorts will never get to experience; real Jamaicans, some of the nicest people we had the good fortune to meet. But there was so much more, YS Falls, the Appleton distillery and Lovers Leap all put together with Shane and Rambo as our guide. Rambo knows everyone and got us all the VIP treatment. We even stopped by his local watering hole on the way home one day. That was very cool.

The rest of the staff, Pansy and Neville, were friendly but very discrete. The grounds were groomed, the beach and pool were cleaned and the house was always immaculate. I could definitely get used to this.

We are already searching our calendars to book our next trip. I would give Great Escape 6 stars if I could.

The property is absolutely stunning. Beautiful landscaping, beautiful private beach.

It would have been nice to know ahead of time we would be nickel and dimed for everything. I was not happy we spent so much to stay at the villa and had to provide all of our basic living needs. We had to purchase our own toilet paper, ($4 a roll by the way), dish soap and sponges for the cook, household cleaning goods for the cleaning lady, paper towels, even our drinking water. We had to go grocery shopping every 3 days which cost the two of us $170 a trip including $20 to the driver. We tried to talk the cook into not getting so much food so we could save our money for excursions, but this seemed to be an inconvenience for him so our hands were tied. The beds in the bedrooms were so uncomfortable it stated effecting our trip. We would wake up in so much pain because of it. Our trip was supposed to be 10 days but because of American Airlines messing my wife's flights up our trip was cut short by 5 days. It would have been great to receive a partial refund for the villa, but as it was the airlines fault and not the property's fault I do not see this happening.

Minus the negative feedback I provided, it was a great experience overall. Playing on the beach, swimming in the ocean, etc.