Where do I begin? Everything about this place is even better than I imagined! We booked the South Pillar an entire year before our stay, as we were celebrating our 10 year anniversary and wanted to guarantee a pillar room at this resort. From the moment we arrived on the property, we were blown away as to how beautiful and peaceful it is.

The South Pillar is next to the bridge at the entrance to the cove. It has a great balcony for relaxing and watching the sunsets. The room isn't large, but it is a nice size with a small refrigerator. We had our driver from Montego Bay stop at a grocery store so we could pick up snacks, rum, juice and Red Stripe to keep in our room. We never experienced any problem with ants or other bugs from having the snacks in our room, but we sealed the bags well with bag clips brought from home. It was so nice to mix up a drink in the room and take it out to the balcony. (This is where it was handy to have our insulated mugs that we brought with us!). If you need ice, just ask someone and they will fill an ice bucket for you. The bathroom was small, but it had a little closet with hangers, a sink, toilet, a small safe, bath & pool towels, and a basket with soaps, shampoo, lotion, etc. One thing I noticed was that there were no outlets in the bathroom, so I used one in the main part of the room for my hairdryer. As a side note, there is not a lot of light in the room at night, just two small bedside lamps, so if you spend a lot of time styling your hair and putting on makeup, it could be an issue. For me, it was not because, hey - I'm on vacation in Jamaica! : )

We brought a small travel candle and some mosquito coils with us, and lit them while sitting outside at night. We didn't have too much of a problem with mosquitos, but a few here and there. We also had Off and an insect repellant with 98% deet that we used.

The pillars each have outdoor showers but that wasn't a problem for us; it was actually pretty neat. There was a high wall around the shower for privacy, but yet you still had the open air and could see the foliage around you. No problem with water pressure or temperature.

There are plenty of lounge chairs and terraces around the property so if you want to be by yourself you can do that, or you can hang out with others by the pool. We really enjoyed getting a drink from the bar (thanks Malcolm!) and relaxing at the pool.

The breakfast that is included with the room rate consists of toast & jelly, cereal and fresh fruit. You can order an omelet, french toast or pancakes, and bacon for a small charge. We aren't big breakfast eaters, so typically we would have toast & fruit, then split an order of french toast or an omelet. The portions are a good size and too much for me to eat on my own! The french toast was amazing, by the way, with fresh bananas on top!

We never ate at the restaurant for lunch but we ate there once for dinner. It was very good. The pumpkin soup we had was outstanding, and while I tried pumpkin soup at other restaurants afterward, none of them came close to the one at Tensing! The dinner prices were a bit high, but no higher than a nice meal out somewhere else. For about $26 - $35, you got soup, salad and an entree. The menu changes daily and is posted in the restaurant so you can check it out ahead of time. The only drawback we found with the restaurant was the selection of choices. If you didn't want a full meal, there really was no other option. One night we just wanted something light, like a sandwich, but they told us they couldn't do that. I realize that with such a small place, they cannot be a full service restaurant with lots of options, but since they serve sandwiches at lunch, I thought we could have gotten something like that at night. We ended up just going up to our room and not eating, since I really didn't want to walk or take a cab down to Rick's cafe. Walking along that road at night could be dangerous and I wasn't in the mood to go anywhere. We found the kitchen staff to be, let's say, not as friendly as the other staff members. They weren't rude, but I just never saw a smile. Almost like they didn't want to be there. Maybe we just caught them on some 'off' days.

We brought along some inflatable rafts (they are U-shaped with a connecting piece to sit on, so they are like chairs). The rafts had cup holders and plastic handles, so I also brought some nylon rope and 2 carabiners, which I used to clip one end to my raft and the other to the ladder. That way I could float around without worrying that I'd be carried too far off. It worked out really well! The rafts were only $6 at Target, and I got a cheap pump for $5 so I could blow them up. We stored them in our shower when we weren't using them - that way they didn't take up space in the room, but yet were not going to blow away. We brought them home with us, but since they were so cheap, we could have left them if we needed space in the suitcase. We also brought our own masks and snorkels, but we didn't see much in the way of sea life except for some jacks and trumpet fish. I was happy to see some dolphins one day while we were in the pool; I heard that they often go up and down the shore.

While staying at Tensing, we tried to go to Three Dives for lunch one day, but after walking all the way there, we found it was closed! So we went next door to Xtabi for lunch. It was nice and the food was pretty good. Another day we tried to eat at Serious Chicken, but again, no one was there! So we ate at Alice's Restaurant directly across from Tensing. We were the only diners there, but the food was fresh and very good. The Red Stripes were especially cold! I had the jerk chicken and it came with a side of rice and peas (which are really red beans) and a salad. My husband had the curried goat. He was hoping for the jerk pork that they had on their sign, but they were out of it. Another day we walked over to Rick's Cafe which is just about 5 minutes down the road. We had been there years ago before the hurricane, so we wanted to check it out. There were a good amount of people there, but it wasn't overly crowded by any means. We had some good drinks and watched the jumpers for a while. I never felt like people had their hands out looking for tips like I've read about.

Back to Tensing Pen - the beauty of the place is just unreal. I don't know that I've ever seen water so blue! The foliage is gorgeous; you really felt like you were in your own paradise. My husband and I had a couples massage one afternoon and it was so nice. The sound of the waves nearby made it even more relaxing. I am an early riser, so I liked getting up before my husband and getting a cup of coffee, then just sitting on a lounger and watching the water in perfect silence. That was one of the best things about Tensing Pen - no loud music, no rowdy drunken parties. Just relaxing.

I can really only find one negative thing about our room. Because it was right at the entrance to the cove, the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks was LOUD. I had read about that in previous reviews, but I figured my earplugs would be enough. They weren't. I'm not talking the gentle lapping of waves, this was loud crashing waves! During the day it was nice, but at night, it made it difficult to sleep. Since the room isn't air conditioned, you need the shutters (no windows, but lots of louvered panels) open to get the breeze (which by early morning I needed to shut to keep out the light and because it was chilly!). I would definitely return to Tensing Pen in a heartbeat, but next time I'd go for a room with air conditioning (just to be able to keep some noise out) and a little further from that part of the property. Other than the noise factor, I absolutely loved staying in the South Pillar!

When I originally booked our trip, we planned 3 nights on the cliffs and 3 on the beach. We had never stayed on the cliffs, so we expected to be ready to hit the beach by the time our stay on the cliffs was over. If I could go back and do it all over again, I would have stayed the entire time on the cliffs! My husband, who tends to get a little restless after a few days of doing nothing, was even wishing we were back at Tensing! I agree with the people that say that if you are going to split your time, do the cliffs last. It was very hard for us to leave the paradise of Tensing to go to an AI on the beach! As we sat on the beach with hundreds of other people around us, music playing and vendors walking the beach, we wished we hadn't left Tensing! Not that we didn't enjoy the beach, but it wasn't the same.

If you are looking for a quiet, peaceful bit of heaven, definitely head to Tensing Pen!

We just came back from my daughter's wedding at Tensing Pen.
Our family and friends booked the entire place and it was nothing short of spectacular! Each room/bungalow/treehouse had its own character, but there is not a bad room at the resort.

The setting, atop cliffs, provides a most dramatic view of the sea below and the grounds are impeccably kept by a very pleasant staff. We had a "Welcome" dinner of jerk chicken and Red Stripe one night, followed by the rehearsal dinner and wedding reception on subsequent nights. Everyone loved the food, as prepared by Kevin and staff. Jennifer fed us well for breakfast, too. Unfortunately, I cannot recall all the staff's names, but they all deserve high praise. Courtney, Malcolm, Razor, Jermaine, Niney, were first-rate. Our local guide and driver, Melvin, was excellent - have him take you through the Blue Mountains! Sonia orchestrated all of our events masterfully. Ask for her! And to get the party rockin', mon, arrange for the mentone band, "BB King!"

All in all, it was our group's consensus that Tensing Pen has a magic all its own. You NEED to book a trip here!

Emily's Dad/Heath's new Dad-in-law

I have never felt compelled to write a review before but I can't resist with Tensing Pen. This is a beautiful location for those who don't want a generic Jamaica experience and want to see some gorgeous sunsets.

We had an unexpected possibility of a vacation in late February of this year and so my boyfriend and I booked at Tensing Pen, Rockhouse, and Round Hill. To be honest, we were thinking that Tensing Pen would be great but our least favorite of the bunch. We were completely wrong.

The cliffs are gorgeous, the staff is very nice, and the couples massage by the ocean was the best we've had. Everyone was friendly and didn't seem to be trying too hard.

Definitely eat at Ros Rudy's food stand across the street. I'm totally OCD about germs, but Ros Rudy was some fantastic veg food. Ask him to make you some Aki with a scotch bonnet pepper, if you can handle the spice.

While Rockhouse was nice in a trendy, hipster sort of way and Round Hill was fancy, we both just wished we could have spent our entire time at Tensing Pen. We can't wait to go back.

As experienced travelers always seeking unique, small-scale, and discerning places, Tensing Pen is truly an oasis among the crazy, yet beautiful side of Negril.

The instant feeling is that you have arrived at your own home with an old world feel of elegant yet rustic charm. Each room (we stayed in South Pillar) is quite unique. The property is very cool, with great little trails leading to the cliffs and water's edge or a awesome small pool. Bottom line: TP is a quaint, authentic and comfortable hideaway .

The people are amazing from Razor (young and edgy bartender) to Malcomb (an old world gentleman bartender) to Owen (GM). Their genuine approach to service was world class.

Food was delicious and authentic, yet a little limited, cocktails were good as usual, and the options for venturing out for other food are plenty. Our recommendations are Catch A Falling Star (favorite), Rockhouse, LTU Pub, Westender Inn, Three Dives Jerk, and Sweet Spice in town. All of these are wonderful.

To those of you thinking of staying on the beach, we think it's a tourist trap with plenty of hagglers and too many obvious trappings consistent with resort travel. Not very unique or interesting.

In the end, the cliffs are the last bastion of Negril that are truly local and welcoming. Tensing Pen is the pinnacle of that experience. (We also stayed at Rockhouse one night. It was nice but nowhere close to the laidback and sublime nature of Tensing Pen)

Good luck, safe travels!