Backed by its new-found status as the only hotel now operating in St Elizabeth, the recently opened Country Paradise Hotel Jamaica is looking to bring increased opportunities for tourism to the parish popularly referred to as St Bess.

Sitting in close proximity to other prominent tourist areas such as Treasure Beach, located further south, and Negril in the west, the projected 30-room establishment, when completed, seeks to become a significant revenue earner for the parish said co-owner Robert Witter during an interview with the Jamaica Observer, said .

Known predominantly as the breadbasket parish, St Elizabeth, relying on a mix of agriculture and mining, currently has its economic foundations rooted in these industries. However, through a small fraction of tourism activities driven by its Bamboo Avenue attraction and others such as YS Falls, Lacovia Zoo, and Appleton Estate Rum tour, the parish will from time to time welcome a handful of tourist traffic.

“This investment represents more than two decades of development. We first set out with an intention to develop a guest house or Airbnb-type facility, but after exceeding the required 15-room mark, we were told by the municipal authority that we will have to re-register as a hotel, which we did. Currently offering mainly bed and breakfast service, our aim is to, in the wake of further expansions, continue to take advantage of those ecotourist requests as we look to showcase the rich history and beauty of our parish and community,” said Robert who along with his twin brother Ronald Witter are cited as the proud owners of the newly opened boutique hotel.

The tourism-based facility, housed on parts of a four-acre property in the Fullerswood community of Arlington, St Elizabeth, now operates under a European Plan (EP) model with hopes to later transition to an all-inclusive property following a general onboarding of more amenities and resort-type services. The premises now outfitted with a restaurant, swim-up bar, lounge chairs, air conditioned rooms, having double and single occupancy as well as a soon-to-be-built nature park, are just a few of the offerings now said to be on offer.

With plans to build out a fishing pond and nature concourse, from which it will also operate a number of adventure trails such as dirt bike and horse-back riding and other outdoor activities, the owners said the expectation is for these to be rolled out in the not too distant future.

“Currently at about 20 rooms, we plan to, by the end of next year, further grow our room count as we look to bring increased tourists traffic to St Bess. Most of our guests are currently from the US and UK, which are the main markets from which we get a lot of repeat customers, several of whom have been made aware of the property from referrals and also as a result of a little social media marketing that we’ve done,” Robert said.

Cagey about the level of capital expenditure for the development, the Witters, who, after losing track of the overall spend, which they said have been greatly impacted by a number of project delays, cost-overruns and slow regulatory approval timelines, estimate it at millions in inputs that are being funded largely out of pocket.

Despite a raft of new expenses, the brothers, having spent decades in the US, have, through the property development venture, sought to twin the connections they have built up in North America over the years, with the growing demand for short-term accommodations and culturally rich vacation experiences.

“As our occupancy levels continue to grow we are already fully booked out for the month of April and we expect this uptick to carry forward to the following months, especially as we get ready for the busy summer period and also as we position to provide a haven for more of our oversees guests and some returning residents, who may need a little time away to rest and relax,” Ronald added.

With the hotel poised to inject new life into the predominantly farming parish, it is also set to open up new employment opportunities for residents of the immediate and adjoining communities following its addition of a number of hospitality, technical, and administrative roles.

“We pretty much started this project to drive employment for the area and to ensure that some of the people we went to school with will be able to secure jobs. Over the years, as we made several trips back to Jamaica, we became even more determined to grow and to build here with a view to see how we can meaningful contributions to the local economy. With tourism being one of those industries having a strong pull, and based on our large overseas network, we also saw it as the best vehicle to help us with achieving our objectives. Despite the typical struggles that comes with operating any business, our outlook for this largely family operated venture continues to be positive and hopefully by the end of 2026, we look forward to becoming fully operational while maintaining good occupancy levels,” Ronald also said of the outlook.

“The vision for this hotel and even St Elizabeth is for it to become the next Ocho Rios. So far the feedback from guests have been mostly positive as they, too, seem to feel and understand the direction we’re getting ready to go in. We’re currently the only hotel operating in these parts, offering rooms at very affordable rates coupled with top-rated customer service. Outside of Treasure Beach and Whitehouse, which has a Sandals located there, we pride our operation for ranking as the best in-between,” he further told the
Business Observer.