Leighton House

Good but some average aspects
For the price it is quite a good deal. However be aware that it is a decent distance from the centre of kingston. There is a bus a short walk from the hostel, and the bus service is pretty regular and takes about half an hour to get you into kingston. The hostel offered a shuttle service which was around $10 per person. My major issue with the place was the nickel and diming going on by management. After a two-week stay at the hostel, they refused to refund my friend and I a couple of nights we paid for in advance as our trip plans had changed. Their excuse was they had to cancel other inquiries, however, the place was relatively empty and obviously Mr. Hobson (the owner) was just being a d*ck. My advice with regards to bookings would be to book the minimum of a couple of nights, and then ask for more if you want. Other features, has a great view. Staff are friendly. There is a computer for internet access, however the cost is variable depending on who you ask. You should get an hour for a couple of U.S. dollars.

Personnel look after guests who don't make demands on them, cultivate regular clients and the hotel is dirt damn cheap so expect to help out around the place every so often. If you're used to four star luxury and staff who you can harass don't bother, because Jamaicans don't like that. Kingston is a beautiful city but not for the faint hearted. Leighton House was brilliant, the employees took me to karaoke, their parents houses for dinner on Sunday nights, and domino playing sessions in traditional yards. Nobody expected a tip, I bought them an expensive bottle of sparkling wine on my last day and they were almost too embarassed to accept it. got very good advice on what to do and what not to do in Jamaica, had to lock myself in my room because they were screaming for me to visit an ultra hip nightclub and I couldn't accept any more hospitality because they were too good as it was. (one other guest was from Haiti, literally ten minutes after I finished an evening meal from KFC she insisted I must still be hungry and cooked me chicken and rice.) Got some very good contacts of places and people in Kingston, go there with the right attitude and they look after you well. There was a problem with water supply because Jamaica doesn't have full plumbing just yet, so I shared a shower with the attractive hotel cleaner and concierge.

Personnel like to harass guests -- ten dollars for internet, when calling a taxi give you higher price than you call it by yourself (twenty dollars to go there from the airport, thirty dollars to go to the airport). If you pay some deposit during booking they say that they don't get it and ask for full price (so you pay more than you expected). It is easy to get a bus and go wherever you want, but there are big jams after eleven so don't expect to be at the Bob Marley museum in thirty minuts. Problems with water (I confirmed with other guests) I had water in shower (lucky one) but didn't have in a sink, other persons didn't have at all. But this hostel was the only thing I didn't like on Jamaica.
Reply from the Hostel: Staff are very welcoming for a start, they don't harass anybody, and the hotel charges are well listed throughout the building with room tariffs roughly less than a third of those for others in Kingston and both times I stayed there, the deposit was noted and taken away from what I owed. Many people visit more than once and staff are happy to take guests to bars and nightclubs, and they buy drinks without expecting them back.