As a Jamaican living in Canada for the past 17 years, safety and good accomodations in Kingston are my top priorities. My husband is Canadian and we visit Jamaica (negril) and Kingston every year. The two hotels we like a lot are the Hilton and the Courtleigh. The Hilton is a safe, comfortable hotel with good security and helpful staff. It is a great business hotel which comes alive nightly with different themed poolside buffets and many other entertaining events (e.g. fashion shows, karaoke etc). There are many dining options (Japanese, poolside bar etc) and even a 24hour snack bar with takeout sandwiches and great dessets! The Courtleigh is smaller but also very nice with GREAT food. Try eating at their restaurant "Alexanders" even if you don't stay there. A more modest hotel is the Altamont Court Hotel. Small, safe and family owned, the rooms are very clean and comfortable. Food is average for dinner, good for breakfast. Hope this helps!

thanks !- i actually was already there when you replied. but your suggestions were deeply apreciated, and on target. i did stay at the courtleigh and found the stay very pleasant. we got a free upgrade to a very spacious suite which was a pleasant surprise. all in all the visit went smoothly. the food at alexanders restaurant was good, the service excellent - and comparatively inexpensive - when converted to us dollars - you really do get good value for your money. tipping was not a hassle, and grats were not automatically added to our bills - it felt good to know that tipping in us dollars would go far for the locals.

courtleigh doesnt have a shuttle service from the airport - but they can arrange for a taxi to meet you at the airport holding a sign with your name/initials on it. - its about a 20/25 min drive to the hotel - around 25 or 30 usd. a taxi driver nick named

Dr. Watson transported us - he is familiar to the hotel staff and we found him reliable - we arranged for him to take us back to the airport as well. i would say the difference in distance between the hilton, the pegausis or the courtleigh to the embassy is negligeable.

as for any other caymanians traveling to the embassy - i would say get there 1/2 hour before time in morning (by 7:00 or a little after) (caymanians are seen without appointments between 7:30 and 8:30)- you may have to wait in line for close to an hour. going with another person may be a little less scary especially if its the 1st time - although i think is quite manageable by yourself. its less than a 5 min walk from the coutleigh to the embassy - its a little unnerving because the area doesnt look that good compared to what we are used to in geoge town - but we walked quickly and purposefully - we were not hassled at all. take only your documents with you (no cell phones, umbrellas, calculators or other electronic devices). there are people that stand outside the embassy and make a living from holding those possesions for you for a dollar or two until you get back out - but i would say just dont take anything of the sort would be lot more straightforward. you stand in queue under an awning to go through a security check point at the buildings entrance - you have to remove your shoes - using sandals would be more convenient for this. we only took about 2 1/2 hours to finish in the morning and they issue you a ticket to return after 1:30 to collect the passports and visas. you can actually wait in the embassy or return. we left and came back a little after 1:00. - we had to join the line and go through the security check again. we got stuck in the embassy due to rain . they seemed willing to let us wait inside the embassy till stopped raining though - but we were uncertain if it going to get worse or how long it would take. we were able to speak to a security guard at the front - and since there are local people that hang around the front of the building just waiting to make a quick dollar or two - in circumstances just like this - we took a chance and were able to get someone with a car to drop us back to the hotel very quickly - about 3 us dollars.

thanks !- i actually was already there when you replied. but your suggestions were deeply apreciated, and on target. i did stay at the courtleigh and found the stay very pleasant. we got a free upgrade to a very spacious suite which was a pleasant surprise. all in all the visit went smoothly. the food at alexanders restaurant was good, the service excellent - and comparatively inexpensive - when converted to us dollars - you really do get good value for your money. tipping was not a hassle, and grats were not automatically added to our bills - it felt good to know that tipping in us dollars would go far for the locals.

courtleigh doesnt have a shuttle service from the airport - but they can arrange for a taxi to meet you at the airport holding a sign with your name/initials on it. - its about a 20/25 min drive to the hotel - around 25 or 30 usd. a taxi driver nick named

Dr. Watson transported us - he is familiar to the hotel staff and we found him reliable - we arranged for him to take us back to the airport as well. i would say the difference in distance between the hilton, the pegausis or the courtleigh to the embassy is negligeable.

as for any other caymanians traveling to the embassy - i would say get there 1/2 hour before time in morning (by 7:00 or a little after) (caymanians are seen without appointments between 7:30 and 8:30)- you may have to wait in line for close to an hour. going with another person may be a little less scary especially if its the 1st time - although i think is quite manageable by yourself. its less than a 5 min walk from the coutleigh to the embassy - its a little unnerving because the area doesnt look that good compared to what we are used to in geoge town - but we walked quickly and purposefully - we were not hassled at all. take only your documents with you (no cell phones, umbrellas, calculators or other electronic devices). there are people that stand outside the embassy and make a living from holding those possesions for you for a dollar or two until you get back out - but i would say just dont take anything of the sort would be lot more straightforward. you stand in queue under an awning to go through a security check point at the buildings entrance - you have to remove your shoes - using sandals would be more convenient for this. we only took about 2 1/2 hours to finish in the morning and they issue you a ticket to return after 1:30 to collect the passports and visas. you can actually wait in the embassy or return. we left and came back a little after 1:00. - we had to join the line and go through the security check again. we got stuck in the embassy due to rain . they seemed willing to let us wait inside the embassy till stopped raining though - but we were uncertain if it going to get worse or how long it would take. we were able to speak to a security guard at the front - and since there are local people that hang around the front of the building just waiting to make a quick dollar or two - in circumstances just like this - we took a chance and were able to get someone with a car to drop us back to the hotel very quickly - about 3 us dollars.