“Towels please.”
My request is met with a wide smile. But as I lean forward to collect the stack of fluffy butter-yellow beach towels, the affable attendant at Half Moon Jamaica tightens his grip.
“I am here to accommodate,” he says, leading me to a pair of sun loungers (my daughter already set up under a shady palm tree; a fresh-cut coconut water in hand) overlooking the aquamarine Caribbean Sea.
“Full joy,” he continues, briskly arranging my towels just so before presenting me with my own coconut water. “In Jamaica, we don’t say ‘enjoy’ as that implies one single moment in time. Instead, we embrace full joy. That is the soul of Jamaica. During your time here, find yourself moving from happy [just to be here] to happier to happiness.” And with another quick grin, he disappears behind the towering palm and mango trees.
Certainly, full-blown happiness is obtainable on this stunning seven-mile, 400-acre resort as rich in colorful, Hollywood-glam history as marine life. After checking into our white-on-white, old-Caribbean-style suite with four-poster beds and verandah spilling to the sea, and following a lunch of fresh watermelon salad topped with jerk fish, my happy scale is already rising. Now, ready to dip into the shades-of-blue sea — Jamaica’s lush greenery and famous blue mountains as backdrop — I’m definitely tipping toward ‘happier’.
The Golden Years
Named after the crescent-shaped beach on which the main resort area (Founder’s Cove where I’m staying) still sits, Half Moon opened in 1954 with 17 whitewashed, sea-facing cottages. The property was never a simple beach colony, however, but more a sun-drenched playground for the elite topped with white-glove service.
Among its earliest guests: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who anchored his yacht in Half Moon Bay while dining at the hotel; writer Ian Fleming (of James Bond fame); Alfred Steele, then CEO of Pepsi-Cola, who stocked his refrigerator with cola for wife and actress Joan Crawford; and legendary singer Harry Belafonte who is said to have cemented Jamaica’s cultural identity here with his (still popular) Jamaica Farewell song.
The Hollywood set (Paul Newman and crooner Andy Williams) along with royalty (the late Queen Elizabeth and her Caribbean island-hopping sister, Princess Margaret) soon followed suit. A coconut ball was held annually and fashion shows weekly on Seagrape Terrace (today, a sea of white ice cream parlor-esque wrought-iron tables and chairs overlooking the sea). And the intrigue continues. Last year, royal renegade Prince Harry and wife, Meghan Markle, stayed in one of the uber-private, five-to-seven-bedroom seafront Rose Hall villas (complete with plunge pool, private chef, and butler). And always, a pair of copper lion statues — a gift from the late Queen — greet guests upon arrival to Founder’s Cove.
Although still privately owned, Half Moon in 2019 became part of the prestigious Salamander Collection, helmed by American billionaire — businesswoman and co-founder of BET — Sheila Johnson. Other hotels in the collection include: Salamander Middleburg, Virginia; Salamander Washington DC; Aspen Meadows Resort, Colorado; Hotel Bennett, Charleston, South Carolina; and Innisbrook Resort, Florida.
“Miss Johnson fell in love with Jamaica and especially the north coast and Half Moon,” a staff member tells me. “She visits often and even has a favorite butler. She comes here for the natural beauty, and to rest and decompress.”
Decades before joining Salamander, an unfortunate fire destroyed much of Founder Cove’s main building (lobby, dining room, and kitchen) — all of which has been restored to its present 19th-century porte-cochère style. In 2020 (shortly after becoming part of Salamander), Half Moon took yet another architectural leap forward with the debut of Eclipse — a contemporary, modern hotel with ocean views, showers that open to lush gardens, fine-dining Italian restaurant, Delmare, overlooking the sea (order the cocoa-infused papadella with lobster), and Lester’s Bar — a nod to the island’s specialty and aged rums, and artist Michael Lester.
Art Runs Through It
During the ‘60s, Half Moon commissioned the talented Polish-born artist to paint a series of intricate murals for the hotel lobby and dining room. His massive watercolors and oils on hardboard quickly became a symbol of Half Moon and, in time, a legacy to the decades Lester spent living and working in Jamaica. He came to the island by way of the Royal Navy and never left — opening a gallery on the island and successfully living off the income of his work; most of his paintings were commissioned and shipped across the globe.
A few years ago (2022), Half Moon purchased a huge portion of Lester’s estate (600 original works), including paintings on hardboard and some of his earliest etchings on paper. In addition to the murals hanging in Founder’s Cove and Lester’s Bar, the artist’s works are also sold in the resort’s gallery. Every morning, I arrive in the lobby for fresh-brewed Blue Mountain coffee elegantly presented in silver urns, where I pause to admire Lester’s bold, colorful, brushstrokes, before heading to dip toes in the sea.
No matter which section of the resort guests stay — Founder’s Cove, the new Eclipse, or Rose Hall villas — everyone has equal access to the various restaurants, pools, beaches, boutiques, golf, equine, and spa services scattered about the property. Just take one of the aquamarine bicycles and cruise along pathways lined with bougainvillea, flamboyant trees, lush hibiscus, and banana plants.
And Then There Is Spa
It is this two-wheeled blue mode of transportation that lands me (daily) on one of the far-flung beaches and in the enveloped-by-trees, Fern Spa. Familiar with and a fan of Salamander spas (I’ve personally christened Middleburg, Charleston, and soon, DC), I arrive with high expectations. And I am not disappointed.
After changing into a waffle robe, I’m led, by my therapist, Pauline, past treatment rooms with names like butterfly, water, hummingbird, and seashell (my final destination) to a Jamaican Bush Bath, infused with lemongrass and cerasee (an island bush tea). The soak is followed by a decadent, 90-minute deep-tissue massage, with lemongrass, eucalyptus, peppermint, and rosemary to work deeply the muscles in my legs, shoulders, back, arms, and scalp. All too soon, the gentle rattling of a rain stick signals the end of my treatment. Hot tea with lemongrass and basil and a fresh fruit plate follow, after which my attendant Karlene tucks a red hibiscus into my hair.
“You are strong. You are beautiful. And now, you take a little piece of Jamaica with you,” she whispers.
I am not completely finished, however. As part of the spa experience, I can continue to come and go throughout the day — using the steam and sauna, resting on one of the private canopied, lounge beds, dipping in the lush outdoor (for spa guests only) waterfall pool surrounded by tropical foliage and ferns, and ordering smoothies and fresh, cold-pressed juices at Ital Café, the spa bar.
The treatment menu is also rich with other Jamaican-inspired treatments including a Jamaican all-spice sugar scrub, a selection of lifting/firming non-invasive facials, and massages delivered in over-water cabanas, all of which I make note to try during my visit. There are also yoga classes, energy healing, a garden labyrinth, and an elegant spa boutique retailing a number of Jamaican specialties (clothing, beauty items, candles), and one of my favorite product brands: Zents (a signature of Salamander).
As I leave the spa — relaxed, rejuvenated, restored — pedaling back to my ocean-facing Hibiscus suite, I am pretty sure I am now beyond ‘happier’ and in a full-blown ‘happiness’ state of mind.
My suspicion is confirmed hours later over dinner at the resort’s Sugar Mill Restaurant — housed in a working 17th-century watermill once part of the Rose Hall sugar plantation. Seated on the outdoor terrace — low-hanging lanterns dripping from the trees, tables covered in white linen — awaiting the signature pan-roasted local catch (red snapper) with coconut escovitch sauce, Chef Christopher Golding, renowned for his reinterpretation of Jamaican ingredients, presents two beautifully crafted salads.
“This [salad] is not yet on the menu so you must try,” he smiles, noting the mix of fresh greens, pomegranate, local homemade goat’s cheese, and crispy jack fruit seed. Aesthetically pleasing in its deep green, red, and white hues, the salad is also beyond delicious (especially the jack fruit) — so much so that I clean my plate, an undertaking I rarely (if ever) accomplish.
“You like it?” Chef reappears as if by magic, ceremoniously clearing our dishes.
“Very much.”
“Then I will put it on the menu and name it after you: the Shari Salad.”
Sea swims and spa treatments by day; an exotic tropical salad named in my honor by night. And we laugh — my daughter, Chef Christopher, and me. One Love. Full Joy. Complete happiness at this iconic Jamaican resort.
Feature image courtesy, Half Moon
