by Joe Pike
Last updated: 1:00 PM ET, Mon July 9, 2018
Round Hill Hotel and Villas in Montego Bay, Jamaica recently announced that is working closely with marine scientists in an effort to preserve the luxury hotel's environmental assets.
The ultimate goal, according to a Round Hill news release, is to restore the corals, fish and shellfish to the property's house-reef through a small no-fishing sanctuary, augmented through coral culture and active reef enhancement techniques known as, "coral gardening."
In restoring this ecosystem, the Round Hill Reef Gardens will ultimately be healthier and better able to sustain local sea life, including contributing to the local fishery downstream.
Round Hill has partnered with coral restoration specialist Dr. Andrew Ross of Seascape Caribbean to propagate nursery culture and replant 5,000 corals to the Round Hill Reef Gardens over three years.
To date, the project has planted 1,100 golden ecosystem-keystone branching corals and is currently resetting the nurseries with coral lineages that have shown resilience to elevated sea temperatures.
"The Round Hill bay's reefscape was in relatively reasonable condition at the beginning of this project," said Ross in the release. "Our progress in this first year has been promising, even as a year of exceptional sea temperatures and storms."
Part of this restoration process is the "gardening" of corals, which is the process of growing tiny coral "nubbin" cuttings in a nursery, and then planting those grown and energized corals back in the reef. These corals, in turn, provide vital nursery habitats for baby fish, lobsters and crabs, increasing total numbers for all sea life.
Local spear fishermen have been trained and employed to tend to the Reef Garden, including the existing and new corals, in order to accelerate the renewal of balance to Round Hill's reefscape.
Round Hill Hotel and Villas, a popular Jamaican resort for years, became the center of international attraction back in 2017 when Prince Harry and his now wife, Meghan Markle, stayed at Round Hill Hotel and Villas as they were attending a friend's wedding.
Shortly after, Round Hill Hotel and Villas capitalized on the exposure by promoting resort takeovers. At the time, the resort was charging a full resort takeover for three nights for $320,000.
The hotel includes 36 Ralph Lauren-designed oceanfront guest rooms and 27 private, luxury Jamaica villas. Located in the Pineapple House, the hotel's guest rooms overlook Round Hill Bay and close to the infinity pool.
These designer rooms feature plantation-shuttered windows or balconies, white linen-adorned four-poster beds, sitting areas and bathrooms offering walk-in showers, soaking tubs and dual vanities.
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