Hotel Rio Bueno

We had a lovely traditional Jamaican meal of chicken with rice and peas and salad with excellent service and a spotlessly clean restaurant and restrooms. We ate on a balcony with views across the water and a jetty to visit, the mature gardens were in full bloom. Our tour guide from Holiday Service Limited took us there because of all the amazing paintings and sculptures. It was a cool place to visit because we felt that we had stepped back in time to the Jamaican hippie era from the 60's and 70's and matched perfectly with our visit to 9 miles ( Bob Marley's home).

I missed my way and found this place!!! Didn't stay here, but as well as a hotel, there's an art gallery!!! Joe James' art I'd amazing. Sadly, he passed a few years back. You can get to see his studio and his art. There is also a lobster restaurant. It's definitely worth a stop and explore. The church next door is also beautiful. Am definitely coming back.

The location, the food, the well stocked gardens, but most of all the bountiful art on display made this one of the highlights of my visit to Jamaica in early 2023

Hotel Rio Bueno is located in the Trelawny-parish seaside village of Rio Bueno, about 55 kilometres east of Montego Bay and a little off the main north-coast highway. It encompasses a spacious indoor-outdoor restaurant – The Lobster Bowl – as well as the rambling Joe James Gallery – which features a unique assortment of paintings – some of which are for sale – by the late Jamaican Renaissance-man, Joseph Bernard “Joe” James (1936-2018), plus woodcarvings and sculptures made by his students. The intimate fisherman's bay and small cargo-ship harbour setting and the nostalgic mood of the hotel, restaurant and gallery, together make for a distinctively free-spirited destination.
There are rooms with a balcony and water view that allow you to watch the sun rise; fisherman setting out with their nets; and pelicans dive-bombing for fish. A family of herons was to-and-fro-ing during our stay, and a dozen sandpipers beetled about among the honeycomb rocks below. People who need their afternoon at the beach can head out and in less than 10 minutes back up on the main road turn off to Bamboo Beach Club where you can be pampered if you desire, or drive a little further on to Duncans where picture-perfect Silver Sands Beach awaits the more independent you.
Hotel Rio Bueno is owned and managed by Michael-Edward James, who is a thoughtful yet unobtrusive host and an intriguing conversationalist. Danielle and their daughter Naomi are a warm presence, as is Mrs. James, Senior, whose recipes form the bulk of the menu at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Mr. James himself makes superb musical choices at meal-time, and classic recordings by Monty Alexander, Ernest Ranglin or Peter Ashbourne may well accompany your pepperpot or pumpkin soup, curry chicken or escovitch.
There are many flavours to this Island Nation, but this one tastes best of all. Hotel Rio Bueno is my one-of-a-kind Jamaica favourite!