Located just off the A30, near the middle of the moor close to the hamlet of Bolventor, it was originally used as a staging post for changing horses.

Brown Willy is situated four miles (six kilometres) to the north,[8] while Rough Tor is nearby, as are the valleys of Hantergantick and Hannon.

[9] Spread over 3⁄4 acre (0.3 hectares) of land,[10] the Jamaica Inn has been refurbished and functions as an exclusive bed and breakfast establishment, with a pub, a museum and a gift shop.

Bodmin is connected by road with St Austell railway station, which is on the London-Penzance Cornish Main Line.

[2] Between the inn and Kilmarth, a house near Par, can be found hut circles, stone lines and parts of ancient stream works.

[12] Though an inn has stood on the main road (modern A30, before the bypass was built) through the hamlet since 1547, the current building dates from 1750.

[13] Cornwall has been very aptly described as the "haven of smugglers" in view of its topographic features of "rocky coves, sheltered bays, tumultuous waves and wild and untenanted landscapes".

By 1847, Francis Rodd of Trebartha Hall, who had been High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1845, was building a chapel at Bolventor to accommodate those who lived in the Jamaica Inn area.

[15] A 1856 guide book by Thomas Clifton Paris states that the same Francis Rodd had erected a church, parsonage, and school near the hitherto solitary halfway house to the satisfaction of the area's residents, and that the inn was frequented by sportsmen in the winter and afforded comfortable, though somewhat rude, accommodation.

[9] The current building still includes the extension of a coach house, stables and a tack room added in 1778.

[14][19] The bar area contains many old bank notes on the walls and various items such as brass or copper kettles and urns.

There is also a display of various items owned by Daphne du Maurier, including her writing desk and typewriter, in the room where she stayed in 1930.