TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

We stayed at Couples, Negril for the second time, our fourth time in Jamaica total. We were very happy to be supporting this island after the storm last year and the people and the resort were great. The airport is under some renovation, but we had no problems at all. We arrived on Friday and left on Thursday, so no Club Mobay needed. Travel was smooth. The ride to the resort ended up being private for us, and while I wish it were less than 90 minutes on smoother roads, it is not. Highlights: The coffee bar. I mean, just fantastic to grab an espresso beverage from 7 am to 10 pm. Delicious. Scuba, my hubby dove several times from their Padi shop and he had a great time. They match you up with a dive buddy if you don't have one. The weather. We had some rain and some wind this trip. It made us appreciate the sunny days more, and was kind of relaxing to get a massage while it was raining. The beach. Clean, chairs plentiful, the offer of drinks all day was excellent. The pool. Aqua aerobics every day were a hoot. The pool bar was not a free for all like at some other resorts (RIU) and people were generally more classy and less rowdy than at some other resorts. We like a good time, but we keep it classy. One disappointment was the non-working jungle hot tub, but that's ok. The food was as expected. Some things are very good, some things are good and some things were not up to standards. The vast majority of what we were served was very good. If not, there were many other choices available and there is no way to go hungry at this resort. We come back because of the size, the comfort and the laid back nature of this resort. It's awesome. If you want shiny white tile and lots of glass, look elsewhere. If you want to see 100s of birds in your jungle view room just steps from the beach, this is the place. Enjoy

We returned here after 15 years to renew our wedding vows on the same beach as our original wedding. There were problems from the start with this holiday. Couples do not reply to any emails sent to them yet they bombard you with emails selling their excursions. After a delayed 10 hour flight we were left to sit at the airport in their reception area for almost an hour whilst transport arrived. When we got to the hotel they wanted lots of information including return flight details. As we were not returning to the airport from this hotel I did not see the relevance. All I wanted to do was get to my room. The room was very nice and was always cleaned every day. Our wedding ceremony had several issues which included the wedding co-ordinator arriving late for our consultation meeting and also the ceremony. The reverend came to our room looking for us. The music which we wanted was played in the wrong order and also included a song which we had not chosen. The photos which were taken by their photographer were not great. Out of approximately 150 shots we chose 20 after the first pass that we thought were acceptable and reduced this further after looking at them again. When we went to collect our album, the quality of the prints was terrible. When I raised this with the person at the desk she became very defensive and had a very bad attitude towards us. We had to take our complaint to the management to get a resolution. The food in the buffet restaurant was not great with very little choice and some food undercooked to the point where we could not cut the meat with the knives provided. The food in the a la carte restaurants was OK but the portions were very small. Most of the staff who we passed whilst there were very friendly but the staff who served in any of the bars and restaurants were not so friendly and clearly gave better service to those who tipped although this is supposed to be a non tipping hotel. Overall we found that the standards have dropped since our previous visit and no longer think that this is worth the higher than average cost to stay here.

Just back from the couples swept away in Jamaica, what a lovely hotel, and in the perfect beach location, all the staff are amazing and very friendly, however we did find the food limited and sometimes luke warm,and we were shocked that people were reserving sunbeds very early in the morning, I was up early most mornings and watched people with there torches going down to the beach area to reserve there sunbeds, which left not many when normal people went out at a sensible time.other the that we had a good time and are rooms were cleaned daily with friendly staff

This is our second trip to CSA and I really only have two comments. 1- My wife and friend went for a massage and said it was the best they had ever had. Also heard another guest repeat the same. 2- There is absolutely nothing to complain about at this resort. Food, room, service, sports complex, entertainment and beach are top notch.

By way of some context, my wife and I are frequent Caribbean all inclusive hotel travellers - usually twice a year, staying on average for two weeks each time. This was our first stay in a Couples resort and absolutely will be our last. We simply urge readers of this review to alter their travel plans and go elsewhere. It has without doubt been, on balance, the worst trip experience in thirty years! The hotel styles itself online as “boutique” and “luxurious” with our travel agent advising it has a 4* rating. Once you read the comments below hopefully you will agree nothing could be further from the truth. We were told of no problems with the hotel prior to our arrival and our trip cost reflects in full the peak season we are travelling in. **Airport Transfer** After a long day of travel (which included a transatlantic flight from the U.K.) we got to the Couples airport arrival lounge in Montego Bay and provided our details to the one member of staff on duty. We then sat around and waited (and waited and waited) for a minivan to take us the 1.5 hour journey to Swept Away. All in all the delay here was around an hour which seemed wholly unnecessary as there were more than enough fellow travellers to occupy the minivans parked outside which we eventually got put in. **Hot Water** This isn’t listed as a room amenity but should be as availability is variable. During our trip we had to move rooms because of no hot water and then no water from the hot taps! Our 2nd room was also plagued with similar problems despite being some distance from our first room. Other guests complained of poor water pressure/luke warm supplies too so there is clearly a widespread issue with the plumbing that management are struggling to address. In a 12 night stay we had no hot water for evening showers on four occasions. **Wi-Fi** I am frankly amazed it was possible to draft this review in resort. Connecting was problematic at best with numerous ‘not spots’ and weak signal areas. Between us we lost count of the times we needed to try and reconnect each day. If you are thinking of using the hotel IT connectivity for work/FaceTime/Teams/Zoom then be prepared for disappointment. **Dining Options** Breakfast has two (excluding continental room service) with buffet and à la carte seating. This is probably the easiest/best dining option of the day. Lunch has buffet or a fast food option (burgers and the like) where the overall quality leaves much room for improvement and very much depends on whether a food delivery has arrived in terms of a good range of options/cook to order station. Evening fare is challenging with two à la carte restaurants which have onerous booking hurdles to overcome, another walk in à la carte (open only 5 nights) with variable overall quality and lastly a buffet which we would suggest should be your absolute last resort, particularly when the entertainment starts and you have to shout to have a conversation at the dinner table. There is an evening snack option after 10pm but choice is mediocre and quality poor. **Staff** One of a few highlights. They are polite, try their best under sometimes difficult circumstances and are as good as any other all inclusive resort we have stayed at in Jamaica. When you consider many have challenging accommodation arrangements at home post hurricane Melissa a few months ago their stoic attitude is great to witness. The watersports team during extended periods of bad weather (which renders them unable to complete normal duties) are left to watch TV and while away their days doing little/nothing productive when there are plenty of other tasks (like neatly tidying beach loungers/stacking pool floats) which could easily be dealt with. This smacked of “not my department/not my responsibility”. **Bars** Staff encourage guests to vacate bars early so they can finish up/close well ahead of published guest closing times. Our worst experience here was Patios when they were clearing the bar just after 10pm but with an 11pm official closing time. **Housekeeping** Good overall with both our rooms as well as turndown all being well taken care of. **Property Generally** Tired and in need of some decent capital investment. Our first room was styled in probably the early 80’s and whilst the second has old Caribbean charm, the lack of descent lighting, particularly in the bathroom is awful. Cold showers in the gloom were not on our list of highlights! There is a total lack of drawer space too. **Overall** The team here really lacks any tangible pride in their hotel (anything which isn’t in their job description is very much off the menu and left for others) which is underpinned by lacklustre senior management and an owning family who simply don’t care or are oblivious to basic issues that shouldn’t be hard to correct. There are guests here who have been coming regularly for years so must have better luck than us or expectations/standards well below what they are realistically paying for. Many tell us they provide the same comments/feedback each year about deficiencies we mention here but nothing ever changes which speaks volumes! Why they keep coming back defies logic. THERE IS NO REASON WHY WE/YOU SHOULD HAVE TO ENDURE A STAY AT THIS HOTEL WITH CORRECTABLE PROBLEMS BEING REPEATED/IGNORED TIME AND AGAIN. WITH THAT IN MIND WE CANNOT IN ALL GOOD CONSCIENCE RECOMMEND THIS SPECIFIC HOTEL AND THE THREE OTHER COUPLES RESORTS IN JAMAICA THAT MOST LIKELY HAVE THE SAME OPERATING RHYTHM.