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Couples Ocho Rios 10/21/02
Reviewers Rating:  Fair
My wife and I went to Couples Ocho Rios for our honeymoon. It was her first time to visit Jamaica. It was my fourth time: twice to Grand Lido Braco, and once to Couples Negril. We stayed only 3 of the 7 nights we were scheduled. Read on to find out why. We arrived just in time for dinner which was being served buffet style on the pool deck. I was immediately disappointed with service by the wait staff. We had to seek out a waiter and ask for a beverage and refills. We found similar poor service at breakfast and lunch the next day. The staff in general was not friendly nor service oriented. Our room (deluxe ocean view category) was not deluxe. The room definitely showed its age and looked nothing like the pictures on the Couples website. The air conditioner rattled loudly. The mattress on the bed sagged terribly in the middle. There was a hole in the carpet by the closet. The sofa and bed headboard (cloth) had stains on them. The bathroom fixtures were old, some rusted. The mirror had lost a good deal of the reflective surface and had black spots. White paint was smeared over rust spots on the walls, ceiling, and also white paint smeared on the counter in the bathroom which was a solid surface counter, not painted. I would rate the overall condition of room equivalent to a 30 year old Motel 6. I peeked in several other rooms and saw similar or worse conditions. As for the common areas, restaurants and bars: there was rust and corrosion in many places. The concrete around the pool area was cracked and crumbling in spots. The games room had a leak in the roof and the floor was covered in water during an afternoon rain shower. The pasta restaurant looked like it was about to fall into the ocean. The lobby of the resort was nice except for a few areas in the ceiling were repairs had been made poorly. The beach area was small and looked to be man made. The pool was small. The private Jacuzzis had no pressure in the water jets. We did the bicycle ride. The bicycles were in poor condition. The ride was short and part of it was on the main road in Ocho Rios which was dangerous. We also had to stop at a local pottery shack where we were hounded to buy a piece of pottery. The nightly entertainment was good except for the hour long commercial for Margaritaville. The only positive aspects were the food quality which was good and the beverages at the bars which were also good. The Gourmet restaurant was nice as was the Veranda. Service was better there than at the main dining room. After the second day, we asked Guest Services if we could move to Couples Negril or Swept Away. They were prompt in sending us to reservations where they gave us the choice of either resort. In 5 minutes, we were set to go to Negril. They even made a flight reservation on Air Jamaica Express for us. We paid the nominal $63.50 US fair ñ a bargain compared to a 3 and ‡ hour bus ride!
John
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