In Montego Bay, a Jamaican Proverb on Your Pillow

By: - May 3rd, 2017

By Sarah Greaves-Gabbadon
CJ Travel Editor

We love it when hotels integrate the local culture into their offerings, bringing a sense of destination to what has the potential to be a generic Caribbean vacation.

And at Riu Palace in Montego Bay, Jamaica, they’ve found a particularly charming way of doing so.

Each evening during turndown service guests at the 289-room hotel are surprised with a Jamaican proverb on their pillow. Written in the colorful local lingua, patois, it comes complete with its standard English translation and an explanation of its meaning.

During a recent stay we appreciated this piece of advice, which cautioned us not to count our chickens before they hatch – and the opportunity to leave Jamaica with something more than a tan and a tummy full of jerk chicken.

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