Nikolet,
Our stay was very enjoyable and Roots and related staff assisted in that process. The villa, the staff and the public areas (mart, beach club, etc.) were all very nice.
Dorothy and Joy were very pleasant and willing to do most anything asked of them and we were blessed by them as we sang with them, prayed with them, listened to their life stories, etc. We spent a lot of our time outside the compound area visiting with some local families we know and taking in some of the day-to-day Jamaican lifestyle (bend-down day in Falmouth and stops in Duncans and other local towns, for example).
Coming back to Roots in the late evening for a meal already prepared and relaxing around the villa until morning was most pleasant. We ventured next door to LeRoy's and to see the boats going out or coming in with fresh fish (which we purchased for Dorothy to prepare on occasion). The mart had most of the items we (or Dorothy) required but we also went to stores in Duncans and Falmouth. Joy had the villa ship-shape each day with some nice floral touches and having laundry available really helped.
The beach at the club is one of the best along the north shore that we have experienced. We did stop at a public beach between SilverSands and Falmouth that was pretty nice except for some of the trash locals left. While I would like to know more about some of the other villas in SilverSands, I am not sure we could have done better than Roots given our family needs (I did explore the website for some time before picking Roots).
I am sure we will return to both Jamaica and SilverSands at some point in the future. I hope the country can change the perception much of the world has of Jamaica... we were warned time and again about the desperate nature of the locals... and while I am sure there can/could be very negative experiences found most anywhere... but in parts of some of the more urban areas particularly, we found everyone very curious and willing to engage in conversation (but still battling the difficult economic times... which can make people desperate).
Our family includes 5 children (ages 19 to 14 months) as we wanted the kids to experience life outside of the US. While funds are difficult right now for me (re-building a business given the current economic crisis)... I found several individuals during our stay that I would have supported in order to help them achieve some of their goal (college or further education, primarily).
Regards,
Gary Hoyer
NJ, USA
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