Jake’s Hotel in Treasure Beach, Jamaica: Opens Its Doors to the World!

This penchant for aesthetics is most prevalent, as I passed the gate at the entrance and was greeted by a beautiful garden area with small ponds, and poinciana and acacia trees with limbs that intertwine and a small wooden gift shop.

As I walked through the passageway, I saw Jason Henzell, and we both recognised each other. He seemed, however, to be inundated with work, with a phone to his ears and one hand skimming through the accounting books with his general manager.

He paused for a moment to welcome me, “Kareem’s Quest, nice having you here. Business has been slow for a couple months, and we are just seeing an uptick, so I’m tied up right now.”

To which I responded, “I understand, do what you have to do, man.”

As I scanned the grounds, I immediately saw the spot where I wanted to sit. It was the outside dining area adjacent to the pool, and it gave me the perfect view of the ocean. In the pool were two women, presumably in their early 20s, wearing skimpy swimsuits. They giggled incessantly as they took selfies and sent voice notes to their friends.

I ordered a beer and began to relax in my seat while I looked at the ocean. With the wind from the sea blowing aggressively in my face, I watched as Jason greeted his guests as they dined. After about 20 minutes, we finally got a chance to chat, with me stating, “You must be happy to see how far this property has come.”

How it all started

He took a big sigh and responded calmly, “We started in ‘93, and in those days, we didn’t have telephones, so I had to leave Treasure Beach and go to Black River to receive calls.

“I remember when I got one of my first guests. It was a guy from New York who wanted to stay for the weekend. However, he said he didn’t want to drive from the airport to the property, so he wanted me to get a helicopter,” he revealed to kareemsquest.com. 

This was a very intimidating experience, Jason recalled. “I was so nervous. The first thing I did was tell him how much the helicopter was going to cost, and he said, ‘That’s fine’. At that point, I am thinking this guy is royalty, and our environment is rustic. Even the mattress we had at the time was very thin. So I ran to Kingston and bought a Posturepedic.”

In all this dialogue, one thing piqued kareemsquest.com’s curiosity. “How and where did the helicopter land?”

To which he replied, “The lot beside us was empty. It was owned by a slim, dapper man, Hugh Clarke, who often wore a classy fedora. I remember when I first spoke to him, I said, ‘Maas Hugh, a chopper is going to land on your property.’ I don’t think he understood, but he consented,” Henzel shared with KareemsQuest.com. 

“On the day of the arrival, I reminded Maas Hugh, who only at that time informed his very stern wife, Maud, who said that under no condition could this craziness take place. The problem was, the helicopter was already en route. Seeing the helicopter overhead, Maas Hugh went on to his lawn, waving his stick to indicate to the pilot that he could no longer land. The pilot misinterpreted, thinking that Maas Hugh was highlighting exactly where he should land. As the helicopter came down, Maas Hugh’s hat went flying, and the force of the wind made him quickly retreat behind a building. When the rotors were eventually turned off, calm was restored, and the rest was history.”

We immediately burst into laughter, as we imagined the frail Maas Hugh running for cover. In the end, the guest was more than satisfied and loved the simplicity of the place.

With my beer finished and Jason’s water bottle almost empty, we decided to call it a day and said our goodbyes.