Jamaica has been welcoming visitors for centuries, from the pirates and planters of centuries past to writers and movie stars of late. But as a luxury holiday destination, boasting new resorts and quirky hotels, it is finally coming into its own.

STRAWBERRY HILL
Irish Town (00 1 876 944 8400; fax: 944 8408). The hotel is an hour's drive up the Blue Mountains from Kingston's Norman Manley Airport. Either the hotel's shuttle bus can collect you or they can arrange a 10-minute helicopter ride there. Although you are some distance from the sea - Hellshire, Kingston's favourite beach, is a 75-minute drive away 'Strawberry' now has a mountain stream-cool swimming pool and a new Aveda Concept Spa. Thanks to James Palmer, once a chef on Adnan Khashoggi's yacht, the 'New Jamaican' cuisine has also become one of the island's attractions: try the plantain-encrusted snapper. Rooms and villas available. £££

TRIDENT VILLAS AND HOTEL
Anchovy, Port Antonio (00 1 876 993 2602; fax: 993 2590; trident@infochan.com). The quiet repose of this hotel is disturbed only by the shriek of peacocks, the soft thwack of croquet mallets on balls and very occasionally, a splash from the circular pool, an alternative to the small but pleasant beach. There are 28 rooms, including an Imperial Suite and the eight roomed Trident Villa. Meals (very slightly limited menu) are taken on the terrace, or in the very formal, wood-panelled dining room which, at night, can seem like a stiflingly hot Scottish lodge. ££

GOLDENEYE
Orcabessa (00 1 876 975 3354; fax: 975 3620; goldeneye@cwjamaica.com). Goldeneye is the three bedroom clifftop house where Ian Fleming wrote some of his most famous James Bond books. This once-spartan bungalow has been transformed into a luxurious rental villa frequented by Dennis Hopper and Francis Coppola. There are also four wooden cottages in the Goldeneye Village. £££££

JAMAICA INN
Ocho Rios (00 1 876 974 2514; fax: 974 2449). Cottage accommodation. There's a sea-island air of leisure about this place that can slide into a pleasant sopor following one of the restaurant's famously sumptuous dinners. Almost everyone staying at Jamaica Inn is of, or over, a certain age. £££

ROUND HILL HOTEL AND VILLAS
Montego Bay (00 1 876 956 7050; fax: 956 7505; email: roundhill@cwjamaica.com). The original Jamaican resort for the rich and famous. ££

THE CAVES
Lighthouse Road, West End, Negril (00 1 876 957 0270; email: thecaves@islandoutpost.com). Located at the far end of the Negril cliffs. A stay here can be breathtaking - especially if you leap into the sea from one of the jumps scattered around the property (it takes longer to hit the water than expected). Views of the legendary Negril sunset from the upstairs bedroom in the two-storey cottage are worth making a booking for. Rent the entire 12-bedroom property or a one-bedroom cottage. The resort's renowned white sand Seven Mile Beach is some distance away. Also has an Aveda spa. £££

JAKE'S
Calabash Bay, Treasure Beach (00 1 876 965 0635; fax: 965 0552; email: jakes@toj.com). Situated on the south coast, Jakes is owned by Sally and Jason Henzell, wife and son of Perry, director of the film The Harder They Come. At this quintessentially funky property, dolphins can sometimes be spotted in the relatively rough sea - and, thanks to the rustling grassland all around, this hottest part of the island is reminiscent of the African Savannah. £

HALF MOON
Rose Hall, Montego Bay (00 1 876 953 2615; fax: 935 2731; email: hmoondat@infochan.com). Half Moon was clearly designed as a flatlands version of Round Hill. The golf carts that whiz guests around the substantial grounds give the hotel something of the flavour of Portmeirion. Many of the villas have private pools and the hotel has its own golf course. £££

DEVON HOUSE
In Kingston, stop at Devon House (00 1 876 929 7046), the former governor's residence on Hope Road. Has a pleasingly elegant restaurant where you can eat well for about US$35 a head without wine. £

REDBONES THE BLUES CAFE
Politicians and industry shakers also dine at the high-end Redbones The Blues Café (00 1 876 978 6091) on Braemar Avenue, Kingston, which is recognisable by the late-model Mercedes parked outside. £

BLUE MOUNTAIN INN
The Blue Mountain Inn (00 1 876 927 2606), which is about three miles out of Kingston on Gordon Town Main Road, the road up to Strawberry Hill, has beautiful gardens. ££

CABIN ON THE SEA
In Port Royal, the Cabin On The Sea seafood restaurant (00 1 876 967 8051), with tables set on a jetty over the sea, is exciting in an extremely leisurely sort of way. £££

ROCK HOUSE RESTAURANT
In Negril, eat local food in style here on West End Road (00 1 876 957 4373). £

HUNAN GARDEN CHINESE
Alternatively visit the Hunan Garden Chinese Restaurant at the Country Country resort (00 1 876 957 4359), the best of many Chinese restaurants in the area. £

TOSCANINI
At the Harmony Hall arts and crafts centre, on the road from Oracabessa to Ocho Rios (00 1 9876975 4785) (see What To See).

THE NATIONAL GALLERY
Orange Street, Kingston (00 1 876 922 1561). The National Gallery has an impressive collection of local art, including a large display of paintings by Intuitive artists (the name curator Dr David Boxer has given the startling style of a group of untrained Rastafarian mystics such as Ras Dizzy, Leonard Daley and Albert Artwell).

THE STREET MARKET
At the nearby Parade, the street market is also well worth a visit, but watch your valuables.

BOB MARLEY MUSEUM
It's probably de rigueur to visit the somewhat ramshackle Bob Marley Museum at 56 Hope Road, if only to observe the last pair of culture shocked Japanese tourists.

HARMONY HALL
On the road from Oracabessa to Ocho Rios (00 1 876 975 4222). An arts and crafts centre, with work on sale by some of the artists exhibited at the National Gallery. Locals travel from miles around to eat at the Toscanini Restaurant (00 1 987 6975 4785) at Harmony Hall.

ASYLUM CLUB
For wild nights, check out the outrageous fashions at Dancehall night each Thursday at the Asylum Club on Knutsford Boulevard in New Kingston.

GO RAFTING
Rafting on the Rio Grande is a fantastic way to spend a day: you are driven high up the Blue Mountains to join the river and spend the next five or six hours travelling downstream on a banana raft, stopping to eat and swim in the clear river water. Trips (each lasts three-and-a-half hours) can be organised from the Port Antonio tourist office on Harbour Street (00 1 876 993 3051). There are cheaper freelance operators but you may have to set off and depart the river at unorthodox points.

GO EXPLORING
Cycling in the hills is increasingly popular, or you can take the 90-minute drive from Ocho Rios into the interior to Nine Miles, the birth and burial place of Bob Marley. From Montego Bay, take a drive of similar length to Accompong, the eyrie-like capital of the Maroons (the escaped slaves turned fearsome guerrilla fighters who gained some measure of autonomy with the peace treaty of 1739). If you tire of the charms of Negrils Seven Mile Beach, there is horse riding, yoga and mushroom tea. While at Jakes (See Where to Stay), take the 50-minute drive back to Black River, with its crocodile-infested river. Or check out the breathtaking, unspoilt terrain of Bluefields, 90 minutes from both Treasure Beach and Negril, in whose bay pirate fleets would assemble.

SEE THE WATERFALLS
Waterfalls are popular attractions on the north coast: the tourist-thronged Dunns River Falls at Ocho Rios, the more agreeable Reach Falls past Manchioneal to the east of Port Antonio, and Somerset Falls to its west, near Hope Bay.

GO TO THE BEACH
Round Hill, Jamaica Inn and Goldeneye all have superb beaches. Frenchman's Cove, four miles past the Trident, is one of the finest beaches in the world, on a cove into which the freshwater streams also run, overhung with tropical foliage. Winnifred Beach, a couple of miles on at Boston Bay, is also exceptional. When clean, the Norwich Beach, to the west of Port Antonio, is one of the unsung gems of the Caribbean. The legendary Seven Mile Beach at Negril is best sampled past the town's strip of hotels, which encourages excessive hustling, something you may also come across at Hellshire, near Kingston - although this is compensated for by the sheer gusto with which the Jamaican capital city enjoys itself at the seashore, particularly on Sundays.

AIRPORT
The main airport for tourist arrivals is Sangster Airport in Montego Bay. Norman Manley Airport is situated just outside Kingston.

AIRLINES FROM THE UK
Air Jamaica (020 8570 7999) flies from London Heathrow to Kingston five times a week and to Montego Bay four times a week. British Airways (0845 779 9977; www.british-airways.com) flies from London Gatwick via Miami or New York four times a week to the same destinations.

Abercrombie and Kent (020 7730 9600; fax: 7730 9376); Caribbean Connection (01244 355 300; fax: 355 309); Caribbean Escapes (020 7581 3517; fax: 7589 1468); Caribbean Expressions (020 7431 2131; fax: 7431 4221); Carrier (0161 491 7620; www.carrier.co.uk); Elegant Resorts (01244 897 999; fax: 897 750); International Chapters (020 7722 9560; fax: 7722 9140); Kuoni (01306 742 222; fax: 742 888); or Villa Connections (01625 858158; fax: 858258).

High season kicks off around mid-December, but the two weeks preceding this date generally offer better rates and an extremely equable climate. Although the first rainy season of the year (March to April) seems almost to have vanished, there are downpours in September and early October - and they can last for several weeks. Kingston can be stiflingly hot in August, but the coastal resorts, licked by caressing breezes, are especially fabulous in the driest, warmest month of the year (high peaks around 35ºC).

Contact the Port Antonio tourist office (00 1 876 993 3051) on Harbour Street.