Pulling up to the unassuming gates of the Mandeville Hotel, many first-time guests are often surprised after taking the time to explore the sprawling property. What they are surprised to find is a veritable oasis in the midst of a thriving and busy commercial centre. It is this blend of convenience and natural tranquility that intrigues many guests and causes them to return time and time again.

For flora and fauna enthusiasts the variety of trees, flowering plants and bird life spread across theMandeville Hotel’s four acres is captivating. Year-round the property’s gardens are alive with the sightsand sounds of nature. The most outstanding specimens, which captivate the attention of all the Hotel’s visitors, are the enormous Sandbox trees, which tower over the buildings and can be seen from most locations in the town centre. The trees date back to the Hotel and the town’s inception in the 1800s and soar to a height of over 90 feet and the diameter of their enormous trunks measure up to 8 feet. They are also the dwelling place of a family of Jamaican Patoo owls and other birds.

Also reaching impressive heights are a number of Royal Palm trees dotting the hotel’s grounds and providing magnificent colour when in blossom are Poinciana and African Tulip Tree. Fruit trees surrounding the property also provide guests with home-grown delights of avocados, ackee, mangoes and otaheite apples. The scent of the flowers of the Perfume Tree or Ylang-Ylang, also permeates the air during the summer months. The Ylang-Ylang’s flower is known as the main ingredient of Coco Chanel’s perfume Chanel Number 5. Other featured flowering plants are the allamanda, hibiscus, heliconia,inger lilies, ixoria, petrea, bougainvillea and poinsettas during Christmastime.

The variety of birds that call the Mandeville Hotel home would spark the interest of the most avid bird enthusiasts. A few of the species sighted on the property are Hopping Dick, Nightingale, Parakeets, Pea doves, Ball pates, Humming Birds and the Jamaican Woodpecker

Says Mrs. Tel McIntyre the Managing Director at the Mandeville Hotel, ‘We have always been respectful to nature and view it as our role to preserve the environment that we have been blessed to be located in.’ As such the Mandeville Hotel has remained as one of the few green spaces within Mandeville’s bustling and growing town centre and this makes it an attractive feature for its guests.