On Wednesday, December 4, guests were introduced to a special bar experience at the ROK N Wine Bar launch at the ROK Hotel in downtown Kingston.

The event transformed the ROK Cafe and Market into an intimate wine bar which will be open from Thursday to Sunday, 4:00 pm to midnight.

The vision for the bar was years in the making before the hotel opened in 2022, knowing that there would not be enough space for a traditional bar in the hotel lobby. However, according to ROK Hotel Director of Sales and Marketing Marlene Buckridge, it brought out the creative direction to transform the ROK Cafe into that space.

“It has been in the works since before we opened because we weren’t going to have the lobby bar, but it is always about the timing,” Buckridge said. “I think it was the right time to do this concept to have something a little bit more upscale, something that was more relaxing and an intimate sort of environment.”

Calling the bar a “little hideaway”, ROK Hotel Director of Food and Beverage Sherene Brown insisted that patrons will get an experience that is different from the other restaurants and bars available at the hotel, fitting the ROK N Wine theme.

“This is not here anywhere and if you want that experience that we are selling, then you have to only come here,” Brown said. “The name ties in both ways because you are only using rock glass and we are only using wine glasses. So we are only serving wine, cognacs, whiskeys and scotch. It ties in the other way because it is in our culture because, you know Jamaicans love to rock and ‘whine’. So I think that name is so fitting for us to be downtown because it ties the culture and our name together in one concept.”

Page 2 shares highlights.