Goblin Hill opened Easter weekend 1972, a venture of three young couples from Kingston. One of them was the architect, who designed a modern twist on the elegant and highly climate-appropriate 'Jamaican Georgian' style the British brought versions of to so many of their tropical possessions. The 700-acre estate the hotel sits in was the second home of families like Woolworths, Aga Khans, Westons, Molsons, and Thyssens.

The lots it sits on were owned previously by Denis Smith-Bingham, a developer and broker of much of the neighbourhood, and Princess Maria Gortchacow, as the land title states, "The wife of Prince Constantin Gortchacow, Banker, of Montevideo'. 

The logo with its illuminated 'G' was inspired by the Art Nouveau revival of the day, and was created by Renaissance man and architect Angus McDonald, who among other things, owned a car with a chandelier and no reverse, played the sitar for many of the Indian weddings in Jamaica, and built a harpsichord from scratch. 

Each unit was individually owned, and those early years saw race car champion Stirling Moss, the head of the Supreme Court of Jamaica, and other Kingston muck-a-mucks as owners. 

It was the heyday of tennis, and Goblin Hill's courts were the center of social life at the hotel, with tournaments and games always watched by lots of spectators. There were also French- and Spanish-themed weekends and film festivals.

In 1979 the hotel was leased for two years to Norwegian Caribbean Lines, who bought San San Estate for that period. Through many adventures and ups and downs, the hotel has been open for over 50 years, still under the same ownership.

The hotel now has the grandchildren of its original guests staying with us, and we look forward to seeing their kids here in due course.