City View Hotel: Trevor Bent returns from England to build his dream hotel in Jamaica

Written by Kareem LaTouche

I remember the first time I saw the City View Hotel, which occurred while I was questing about in the hills of St Andrew. I was driving to Smokey Vale when I saw this building perched on the hillside. I then decided to stop and enquired within, so I pressed the buzzer, but there was no answer. As fate would have it, the PR person called me a year later, after watching my Kareem’s Quest episode on Youtube and asked if I would be interested in reviewing the property. After speaking with the owner, Trevolyn McCadious Bent, and hearing his story, it was a no-brainer.

Our first phone call lasted nearly an hour, as the sexagenarian spoke openly and philosophically about many things. Not one who lacks a sense of humour, every time I said, “Mr Bent, remember you haven’t told me the main point as yet.” He often laughed and said to kareemsquest.com, “My dear boy, I am notorious for straying from the point.”

Watch the Full Interview at City View

The other side of the Windrush Era

For him, the digression does not stem from a wandering mind, but rather from a passionate heart. Relocating to England, after his father had migrated during the Windrush era, Bent was thrust into a cultural awakening. “When I was about 13, a white boy saw me walking down the street and spat on me, and said, ‘black bastard, go home’. That was my welcome,” he shared with kareemsquest.com.

Known to be very focused and ambitious, Bent felt that his academic training would lead him to become an untrained labourer with a stagnant pay cheque. “In a class of 34, there were seven Jamaican students, so I called them and said let us go down to the youth employment office on Waterlane, Brixton Hill, and learn a trade. This would be a more profitable and secure option than staying in school, where the only thing you got was a school-leaving certificate,” Bent said to kareemsquest.com.

At this point it was clear, Bent was in total control of the interview, as each time I asked, “What did you choose to study?” he would slightly adjust his posture, with his legs folded like a traditional Englishman, and shoulders leaned into the back of the chair, he asserted, “That part not coming for now.”

Fighting to have a voice

I laughed mid-sentence, as he continued, “I looked at the chaps and said, ‘Before we leave school, let us make a statement by protesting’. I wanted to let the headmaster and teachers know that we were aware of their racist system.”

As he got more emotional telling his story, his baritone voice went down an octave, as that of a commanding general who refuses to relent on his position.

Several minutes later he revealed to kareemsquest.com, “I became good friends with the youth employment coordinator and one day he said to me, ‘My friend, I have a profession for you, dental technician’, so that is the field I entered.”

“After I successfully completed my years of study, I was very competent in the field. However, I was reduced to doing delivery work, as I was not allowed to practise and get hands-on experience.”

City View Hotel comes to reality

Determined not to allow this to discourage him, Bent found ingenious ways to hone his craft until his counterparts, ironically, sought his counsel.

After years of hard labour, Bent and his wife, Hopelyn, were determined to return to Jamaica, and started building their dream house on the island in 1990.

“Originally, City View was our home; however, my wife and I saw much more potential in it. Kingston is mostly a corporate area and there are very few scenic spots where you can get away. So we started to transform this into a nice getaway, where persons can have events and weddings,” he said to kareemsquest.com.

We continued talking for hours, as Bent shared his views on economic empowerment and his desire to expand the City View Hotel. In the end, I was left more enlightened and inspired more than anything else.