My wife and I had a wonderful vacation at Couples Sans Souci the last week in March 2008. We had been to Couples Ocho Rios in 2003 and 2005. The food and drinks were very good. The staff was nice and had plenty of help. Some people complained about the steps, so if you hate steps… But we did not mind at all, as we needed some exercise because of the amounts we were eating. Room service worked great, we had coffee, fruit and pastries delivered every morning. We especially liked our room. The grounds are tropical and quiet. I would like to think that we would be back soon.

My husband and I landed at Sanger International Airport on April 4, 2008 for a 5 night stay for our anniversary. Got thru customs quickly (make sure your forms are completed BEFORE getting off your plane). We were greeted warmly at the Couples lounge inside the airport. Hubby grabbed a complimentary Red Stripe and off we were to the resort. The drive is about 1 hour and 45 minutes to the resort....beautiful drive. The ocean was just beautiful.

We arrived at the resort and were greeted again warmly by the front desk and shown to our room (beach front jaccuzi suite- A22). Our suite was clean, although the furniture and TV were dated badly (more on this later).

Our first stop was for some lunch at the Bella Vista. Great little lunch & dinner (more on this later also) spot. Although we got "server in training" and she seemed less than happy to be there. Unfortunately, every lunch we ate at the Bella Vista, she was our server. But the food was always great, whether lunch or dinner! So I high recommend this restaurant. We actually ended up eating more than one dinner at this restaurant because every morning I tried to make reservations at the Palazzina or casnova, I was always told it was booked...the only reservations available were 8:30 or 9 pm. Although everytime we walked by those restaurants at our requested time (7 pm), there were always several tables empty. So we ate every dinner at Bella Vista or room service. The breakfast in the Palazzina was adequate. The omlettes were divine! Service...so so.

Now...onto watersports. The watersports staff was awesome! Clayton took my husband and I out on the catamarran and he let us just chill out for a bit. We went snorkleing everyday. Although we found out on our last day that they offer an intertube ride on the back of the power boat...book this early in your trip as it fills up quickly. We missed out because they were booked up.

We did the shopping excursion.....Soni Shopping Plaza. You can skip this.... pushy vendors. Definately avoid the market across the street. The marijuana smell was horrible! We also did the Dunn's River excursion....and had a blast! We are in our 30's and physcially fit. If you are not, you shouldn't climb the falls. There was an older gentleman who had no business climbing these falls. He moaned and groaned the entire climb....and slowed the whole group up. Regardless, we did have fun. Take caution when tipping the guides. We had 2 guides, my husband handed the one "head guide" $10 assuming the guides split the tips....not so. He told my husband not to forget to tip the other guide. Hubby told the "head guide" that he was to split the tip in half....that sent both guides off. Ugh! Regardless, don't be swindled out of your money.

Back to San Souci..... the entertainment was second to none. We saw A.J. Brown perform at the Gala Night. He was soooooo wonderful! He did an Andrea Bocelli song and it was so beautiful I almost cried. The entertainment staff was great also! A big shout out to Kimberlee! She always recognized us and greeted us by name.

In our room....we had a king bed. I think this bed is left over from the 80's. More like a slab of concrete. Every morning our backs and hips hurt. Although other rooms, not in our category have been reburbished. We did speak with a few other couples that had our type of room and they also remarked at the shabby furniture and uncomfortable beds. But Sandy was our housekeeper and she was great!!! Always made sure we had everything we needed. The bathroom was clean and well stocked. Hubby used the jaccuzi tub once and said it worked well.

On our last day, we had $60 stolen out of our room. Actually out of my wallet, money that was put aside in a hidden spot in my wallet for our return parking. We suspected a "rouge housekeeper" who upon our return to our room at 4 pm stated she was replacing some towels. We left it at that, but then about 45 minutes later discovered the money missing. We added up that there were no fresh towels in our bathroom as we were told, there was no housekeeping cart outside our room to indicate a housekeeper inside and she made a quick exit when we came back in the room. The whole incident just put us in a sour mood. The manager came to our room, then sent security....but we never were followed up with. End of story so to speak.

Overall, Couples San Souci was a beautiful resort. Well maintained, charming and very private....best for honeymooners, anniversary celebrations and couples wishing to reconnect. This is not a party resort in anyway....mind you, you will enjoy yourself if you are looking for a relaxing vacation. Will I return....probably not. Too many other places in the Caribbean I think I would rather check out.

Pros: ground maintenance, Bella Vista, free excursions, food, watersports & entertainment staff

Cons: beds, furniture, restaurants requiring reservations, servers in training (smile some more!), theft

A HUGE THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING STAFF: Kimberlee in Entertainment; Sandy in Housekeeping; Maureen & Fabian at the Bella Vista; Easton at the Pool Bar; Adrian in the Bella Vista kitchen; the ENTIRE Watersports staff! Thanks...YOU made our vacation great!

We ended our recent Jamaican holiday with a four night stay at Couples Sans Souci. A very friendly welcome from the staff awaited us as we arrived at the in the late afternoon.

It's a beautiful resort, with lush gardens and landscaping, terraced along a hillside next to the ocean. There's plenty of little romantic spots scattered all over the property. Every time we went someplace we'd notice another quiet bench or hammock neatly tucked into a corner or nook. There are some stairs to climb as you walk about the resort, but we did not find them to be an issue at all. There's also elevator near the Mineral Pool/Spa which saves you a lot of stair climbing. There are a few computers that are available 24 hours a day in the game room, if you need internet access.

The staff was extremely friendly, very helpful and attentive to our every need. The resort is very well managed. The food service was excellent, we really enjoyed the room service and wish that every Couples resort had this convenient feature. We had some wonderful meals at Bella Vista, dining by the seaside while the Mento Band serenaded us.

During the daytime, the Beach Grill had really good jerk chicken and patties. We didn't eat at the French or Italian restaurants, because we can get plenty of that type of cuisine back at home and we wanted to enjoy more traditional Jamaican foods while we could.

The swim up bar was a fun place to hang out, a friendly crowd and great bartenders too. The "Au Natural" Sunset Beach was nice, but it was a little more on the quiet side during our stay. It has a great pool and hot tub. We'd have spent more time over there if it had been a bit more lively. However, it was a very comfortable place to get that elusive "all - over tan".

The mineral pool and spa were also a lot of fun. You can only soak in the water for a little while though, or else you'll absorb too many minerals. Nearby is Charlie the Sea Turtle's grotto, the ten o'clock morning feeding is the best time to see her in action.

We really enjoyed the complimentary glass bottom boat ride, the reefs off the coast are much deeper and more interesting than the ones near Negril. The watersports crew was great, too.

We enjoyed the Beach Party, but thought the "fashion show" beforehand was a bit too long. The music and entertainment were really good, we had a lot of fun every night.

Couples Sans Souci was the perfect place to bring our two week long Jamaican adventure to a very relaxing end. We'll defintely return for another taste of her romantic ambience and
classic Carribean charm.

We stayed at Couples Sans Souci from March 17-24, 2008. We had a room in the A block which was a Beachfront Jacuzzi room. It was very nice. The room itself was very big, with a seperate living room and a jacuzzi. We were on the ground level so we had a walkout patio which overlooked the pool area.

The food was fabulous. We ate at the Italian and French restaurants and also at the buffett. You can get anything from pasta to fish to steak there.

The beach area is nice but there are a limited amount of umbrellas for shade, so we had to go early and put our bag down to save a chair. The staff at this resort really go out of their way to make your stay a great one. Whatever you asked for was gladly done. We never tipped anyone either. The only person we tipped was the bellboy, nobody else.

It is a quiet resort at night. We loved it though. It is all couples, at all different ages. We met alot of people there. The resort itself is smaller in comparison to other places. That was the thing we loved most about it. We will definitely go back!