You don’t even need to commit to a big trek; a 20-minute walk from the hotel can bring you to the plantations at neighbouring Craighton House where you can learn more about what goes into your morning brew (packed lunches can be requested). Similarly, an easy stomp to the Redlight hamlet will enable you to visit St. Mark’s Chapel, a British-built church that dates back to the early 1800s. For something a little more strenuous, there are longer, guided hikes that take you past waterfalls, through isolated mountain villages and coffee farms, and to a family-run restaurant for an authentic, locally made feast. Some of the excursions involve swimming and bird-watching, others will take you as far as the Blue Mountain Peak. 

You’ve got the beautiful botanical Hope Gardens of Kingston just a 20-minute taxi away, but closer to home the flora and fauna around Strawberry Hill is a glorious part of this area’s heritage – and not something that other tourists necessarily get to experience. Evidence (arrowheads found on the property) shows that these gardens date back to the days of the native Taino or Arawak Indians. The land was cultivated as a coffee farm in 1890 and has since been developed to yield all sorts of weird and wonderful plants, not least a whole host of fruit trees. Being based on a mountain doesn’t mean you have to forego the beach; just under an hour away there’s Fort Clarence Park and Beach at Hellshire, where days revolve around lunches of fresh grilled fish and “festival” (a local treat a bit like a doughnut) in one of the two restaurants; and picnics and snorkelling at Lime Cay Beach, a small uninhabited island a 15-minute boat ride away. 

Discover more about Strawberry Hill here: strawberryhillhotel.com