Big Corn Island, Nicaragua (Textor)
Mocking Bird Hill is an extraordinary hotel.
First off, it’s rare to include a luxury property of this care and attention in koucou’s listings. We’re all about the budget-friendly, the easy and the effortless. Perfect resorts with stunning views high in the hills of largely undeveloped corners of lush islands—in this case, Jamaica's Portland region—don’t usually fall into our purview.
Mocking Bird Hill’s rates only fall below our maximum during the off-season. Be that as it may, we can’t stress strongly enough that this is a place for pennypinching travelers to splurge.
The hotel is run along green principles, without any unnecessary excess. The hotel’s proprietors network with locals to provide a simply luxurious experience that feels very Jamaican—there is none of that disembodied luxury so common throughout the region's higher-standard hotels here. There are no televisions in rooms and there is no air-conditioning. There are fans and mosquito nets, however, to reduce the heat and keep the bugs away. (This far up in the hills, however, air conditioning isn’t really necessary.)
The hotel’s restaurant, Mille Fleurs, sources much of its produce from area farmers, and is a similarly worthwhile splurge.