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Couples - Negril 05/29/02
Reviewers Rating:  Great
My wife and I just returned from our first trip to Jamaica (May 15-May 19). We are 30 yrs old and have never been to a Caribbean island before. After much research, we chose Couples - Negril. We are pretty active and wanted a great water sports experience, as well as a somewhat laid-back beach and dining approach. Overall, we were very happy with Couples. Here's some opinions on the trip and the resort. I am generally not a real picky person, but am leaving as candid and honest a review of everything that I can. This will probably be a little lenghty, so I'll organize into sections: TRAVEL TO THE RESORT: We booked through an agency with Air Jamaica Vacations = a GREAT choice! Everything is done for you (customs paperwork, travel arrangements to the resort, etc..) and there are Air Jamaica Vacations personnel available to answer questions and direct you where to go (especially useful at the airport). We flew direct from Chicago to Montego Bay via Air Jamaica. The airline was great and the trip was very smooth (free champaign and beer, movie, etc...). Food was pretty decent (for airline food). We had decided in advance to take the Air Jamaica Express flight from Montego Bay to Negril. By the time we got to the smaller terminal, booked the flight, waited for a while, flew to Negril (10-15 min), and waited to be picked up (10-15 more min), we actually only beat the bus from Montego Bay by about 10 minutes! The cost was $62 pp one-way. We did take a small bus on the return to Montego Bay - as harrowing as advertised, but only took 1 hr 10 min (not 2 hrs like others have said). Either method is a little stomach-turning = toss-up. FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF COUPLES: Overall, a very pretty resort and the grounds and very well maintained. Lobby area is very nice, open-air, and overlooks the pool. The pool and swim-up bar are very nice and large. The beach area is large and very well groomed and maintained. The views of the bay are gorgeous! There are spots on the roofs and outside walls of the buildings that show dirt and wear, mainly in the more shaded areas, but overall pretty clean. ROOMS: We stayed on the first floor of block 4000 (room 4103), which is back by the tennis courts and spa. It has a very nice garden view. The rooms are just OK. A little wet/musty smelling, kinda plain, and tile floors. I guess this is typical for Jamaica resorts, but don't go into it expecting a 5-star room like you'd find in a big city in the US. They did have a turn-down service and brought us a bottle of champaign the first night = very nice touch. We spent little time in the room so I won't focus any more on it. I wouldn't spend more money for beach front or ocean view - most blocks don't give much of either anyway. FOOD: I'm not too picky but my wife is a little more particular. There are 3 dining choices: the Beach Grille, the Terrace Restaurant, and the Oteheite. The Beach Grille is always open and will make you one of a small selection of items (grille cheese, burgers, pita-bread pizza, etc...). I thought the food here was very BAD. The burgers are definitely not "beef" like we know it in the states! Stay away, except for snacking on nacho's. The Terrace is open for a couples hours for each of the 3 meals. Most of the time it's a huge buffet. The food here was VERY good and there were lots of choices. Service was excellent! We didn't eat at the Oteheite (requires reservations and is a 2-hr meal), but heard the food was very good there as well! BARS: The drinks were pretty good and there was a very good choice of liquor available. Only beer is Red Stripe, which isn't too bad. There wasn't any "red-flag" beach service (at least not while we were there), but it wasn't too big a deal to go walk up and get something for yourself. Bartenders were generally quiet and not too enthused, but not rude. POOL / BEACH: The pool was very nice, clean, and large. The two hot tubs on either end weren't really very "hot", but we didn't spend any time in them anyway. The swim-up bar was a nice convenience and was a popular hangout. They played island music and had ocassional water volleyball in the pool. The pool was definitely a plus. The beach, as I menioned before, is very large and well maintained. Plenty of chairs and a few hammocks to choose from. The ocean is gorgeous - clear water, sandy bottom, and beautiful bay views. Plenty of floating pads to lounge in the water on (though some are old and somewhat worn). WATER SPORTS: The resort offers about anything you want to do in the water as part of the all-inclusive package. There is also parasailing and jet skis available by outside vendors for additional charge (bargain with them). We went snorkeling twice and it was AWESOME! They take you to a reef where the views of coral, fish, and other sea creatures are unforgetable! They only offer the trips twice a day and you are supposed to sign up a day in advance (and they'll let you know about it if you don't!). The staff in the water sports area was kinda ho-hum and not real enthusiastic, but if you ask they will help you do whatever you want. They had Hobie Cat sail boats, but you need to take the training class first (only offered once a day). They have a ski boat and will take you skiing if you ask. OFF-SITE: We didn't go shopping and heard it was just "ok" (lots of harrassing and a very poor area). We wanted to go to Rick's Cafe, but it rained the night we planned to go. One thing to not miss is the Sunse Catamaran Cruise ("booze cruise")! It sails down to the cliffs where you can swim or jump off them into the ocean if you wish (all at your own risk). They had music on the boat and plenty to drink - it was a blast! We even saw some dolphins swimming along the boat on the way back! OK - now I'm about done. To summarize: I would go back again; beautiful beaches and water; good food (avoid the Beach Grille); pretty grounds; average rooms; staff are pretty good but not real outgoing or talkative. Also, it tends to rain more often starting in mid-May, so you may want to go earlier in the year. Have fun!!!
Chris
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