The Hostelz.com Review - Genuine, independent review you can trust.
For travelers looking to find a quiet retreat from Jamaican city life while still being within reach of it, Five Gables is an excellent choice.
The Location
As the hostel is located in the hills overlooking Ironshore, just eight kilometers east of Montego Bay, there are great views down to the ocean. If you're looking for peace and quiet in beautiful surroundings, you'll find it here. Of course, having your own transport helps you get here, as public transport is sparse. This is a well-to-do area of large houses, where the owners have their own transport, but you can find a few route (shared) taxis that will take you between the hostel and the main road, where you can get onward transport to Montego Bay or Sangster Airport. These are best called for by the hostel owner, however.
At the bottom of the hill by the main road to and from Montego Bay, there is a large shopping complex with supermarkets, restaurants, cafes, banks, and pharmacies. The owner can call for a cheap route taxi to take you to and from. On the main road, you can hail any route taxi going west into Montego Bay city, and these go right past Sangster Airport, too.
Rooms and Bathrooms
There are three rooms in this hostel and the configurations vary depending on the needs of the guests. Basically, there is a private room behind the kitchen that can be either a double or single; this has its own bathroom outside the room. By the reception desk, there is a larger family room that can take up to three double beds, but can be booked as a standard double, too. This room is en suite. All the rooms are fan cooled. The dorm is a very spacious, six-bed affair, with stout, wooden bunks and decent mattresses. There is also the option of adding another single bed during the busy season with still plenty of room left. There are drawers for belongings and two standing fans in the dorm to supplement the natural breeze that blows in from the ocean. There is also a charging station. The shared bathroom is right outside the door with twenty-four-hour hot water.
Common Spaces
As you walk into the house, you will enter the huge sitting room, which is tastefully decorated with couches and a large dining table. This room then leads out onto the veranda. This also has couches and a small bar by the swimming pool with sun loungers. The house is also surrounded by gardens. These have hammocks dotted around and there is even a volleyball court at the bottom of the garden. The free Wi-Fi is very fast and available throughout the house.
Summary
This really is a fabulous place. Once you've negotiated your way up here, it's difficult to leave. The whole house is immaculately kept by Ian, the owner, who really knows how to look after backpackers (he has worked for many years at other hostels in this area). He has three very well-behaved dogs and it’s worthwhile calling ahead to get advice on how to get here. We walked from the main road, and it's a very long, hard, and sweaty uphill slog!
In high season, it's essential to book ahead, as this place is very popular and we would advise booking ahead in all cases, as it'd be quite a mission to get there and find it's full!! This is definitely worth the trek though, as this place is, in our opinion, one of the best guesthouses in Jamaica.
Photos taken by the Hostelz.com reviewer — Genuine photos you can trust.
+4
LondonroadMa
Hostelz.com Staff Reviewer
Published on Jan 6, 2019
Location and Contact
Location
From the Airport by Car: Take the Queen's highway for about 6 minutes going east towards Ironshore. Make a right turn onto to Morgan Road (4th traffic signal after leaving airport, there is a total gas station on your left) and continue for about 1 minute before bearing left at the round-a-bout onto Patterson Avenue. Continue on Patterson Ave for about 1 minute before taking the second exit at the next round-about, followed by an immediate left turn onto Aqueduct Road. Make another left turn onto Hartfield North which goes down a hill and then up again and then make the next right turn onto Fairview Avenue. Proceed up Fairview Ave and the villa is the on the left across from the apartment building. Its a yellow house with a white colored roof!