"Everybody wants to feel as if they are a VIP; everyone wants to feel special," said Kerry Ann Quallo Casserly, regional commercial director in Jamaica for Blue Diamond Resorts.
She told me that that is the idea behind the Diamond Club service that's now available at the Hideaway at Royalton Blue Waters in Montego Bay, which opened its doors in November.
The 352-room resort, part of the Autograph Collection, underwent a roughly $20 million conversion to the adults-only Hideaway brand.
On a hosted stay at the resort, located adjacent to the family-friendly Royalton Blue Waters, I had a chance to experience the VIP-level service firsthand.
Arriving at the Montego Bay airport and the somewhat chaotic scene of cars and buses jostling in the small parking lot, my guest and I were taken by private car to the hotel, an easy 30-minute drive.
We were provided with the upgraded Diamond Club service, which included access to a special lounge and check-in area, personalized butler service throughout our stay and access to a dedicated beach area and beach bar, among other perks.
A Diamond Club luxury ocean view suite. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Blue Diamond Resorts
Our accommodations for the weekend was a Diamond Club luxury ocean view suite, a spacious room featuring a long balcony with two sliding glass doors, a sitting area and, as the name suggests, superb views of the hotel grounds, white-sand beaches and the ocean.
Other resort accommodations range from luxury rooms to a luxury chairman beach walkout/swim-out suite.
The two hotels have a combined 12 restaurants, three of which are exclusively for Hideaway guests. Food options run the gamut; options include West Indies cuisine, seafood, a teppanyaki and sushi bar and a very popular beachside jerk hut for lighter Jamaican fare. My favorite dish was a coconut-crusted snapper served at Calypso, the resort's West Indies restaurant.
The Hideaway is also home to an infinity pool and swim-up bar, while the neighboring hotel features a lazy river, aquatic playground and three-story waterslides. Not having been down a waterslide in probably 30 years, I'd forgotten how much fun they are.
The Hideaway is an adults-only resort next to the family-friendly Royalton Blue Waters. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Blue Diamond Resorts
Into the country
As first-time visitors to Jamaica, we wanted to see some of the country, so we booked a tour with Nexus Tours, a trusted partner of Blue Diamond Resorts.
Our adventure was a full-day tour to Dunn's River Falls and Nine Mile, Bob Marley's hometown and resting place. At Dunn's River, along with a large group of other visitors, we followed our guide up a series of incredibly picturesque cascades in a lush jungle setting, stopping to swim in deeper pools and shoot down a small natural rock slide.
From there, the drive to get to Nine Mile was an adventure in itself, as our driver raced up a long, winding road into the hills, passing through some small towns and providing us with great (albeit brief) views of the countryside, all the while filling us in on Jamaican history, culture and current events. At Marley's house we were given a tour through the legendary singer's ancestral home by our Rastafarian guide.
The Hideaway's Score sports bar and lounge. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Blue Diamond Resorts
Relaxation expectation
While our stay at the Hideaway was only for a few days, we tried to squeeze in as much as possible to take advantage of all the resort had to offer.
One highlight was a one-hour hydrotherapy session at the resort's Royal Spa (included for Diamond Club guests), where we enjoyed time in the sauna, steam room and cold plunge pool before relaxing in the hot tub.
Another afternoon, despite a brisk breeze, I was able to take one of the hotel kayaks for a paddle down the coastline and around a small island just offshore from the hotel; all nonmotorized watersports are available at no extra cost to guests.
In the evenings we attended some of the resort's regular live music performances or headed to the sports bar to catch an NFL playoff game. (Royalton's Sports Event Guarantee ensures guests won't miss any major international matches.)
But as with many visitors to all-inclusives, our stay was as much about relaxing as it was about seeing Jamaica and experiencing the hotel.
We spent many hours just unwinding in the Diamond Club area of the beach, indulging in some of the premium liquors. And the Hideaway staff seemed to know relaxing was just what we were looking for. As Quallo Casserly described their guests, "They have left their kids behind, and they want to escape everything.
"We have one opportunity to get it right, to live up to the escape nature of this experience. And we have to make sure we hit the mark from arrival to departure," she said.
Rooms at the Hideaway at Royalton Blue Waters start at $230 per person, per night.