Review Couples Sans Souci
All Inclusive, Couples Only
Ocho Rios, Jamaica
February 1 - February 11, 2011
© Revkiew and photos by Patricia Blackstock

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Review - 9 nights at Couples Sans Souci, Feb. 1 - Feb. 11 (page 6 of 6 - Review)

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I'm Patricia Blackstock and my husband is Wally Snider. We have been enjoying yearly all-inclusive vacations since 1997. Prior to this vacation we read many Couples Sans Souci reviews, and we were not sure what to expect from this vacation.

The resort is drop-dead beautiful, but if you are going to fully enjoy the scenery and amenities, you'll have a lot of walking and climbing to do. I have tried to give you a lot of staircase photos and views on page 1of my photo album, linked at the bottom of this page.

If anyone needs transportation to the 2nd or 3rd level, you can call the office and a bus will be sent to pick you up. We chose to walk and enjoy the beautiful landscapes. We walked up and down 100 steps a day, and after the 3rd day my calves finally stopped screaming at my brain and I began to look forward to this uphill daily walk.

Room Review, Couples Sans Souci:

We were in A-15 , a beachfront toom on the 2nd floor which overlooked the main pools and the ocean. We liked this suite a lot. the patio was small, but sufficient. The mini-bar is on the left as you enter.   It was stocked with soft drinks and juice, and we found cards on top inviting us to select the alcoholic beverages and mixers we would like to have stocked. While we did not order from the list, we added our requests at the bottom…champagne, white and rose wine. Apparently that was never a problem since these were delivered on an as-asked-for basis. The suites should offer more closet space, and the layout is awkward, but we got used to it. The iPod charger worked fine, but the lightt did not work at all. Pump bottles for shampoo, liqud bath soap and hand cream are mounted on the wall in the bathroom and shower.  I always bring my own shampoo, conditioner and hand cream, so this didn't bother me. But the pump for the body soap in the show was extremelt slow to pumpnany reasonable amount of soap. We used the bar of soap from the Jacuzzi for the shower

Returning (Repeat) Guest Dinner Night and Cocktail Party - Sans Souci - Review

I read somewhere that if you were at CSS over two RepeatGuest dinner nights you would have to choose only one. However,we received two invitations although we went ony to the first.

The Repeat Guest Dinner at San Souci was preceded by a cocktail party tthat included all guests. The cocktail party was held at the main popol and consisted of your choice of beverages and appetizers. It's a wonderful way to meet other guests aswell as staff members. I would highly recommend this to everyone.

Review of the Repeat Dinner at Sans Souci : This restaurant was located in the Heliconia Suites, and lasted about two hours. There were 80 people in attendance, and each couple was introduced, including the announcement of how many nights they have spent at Couples. All the staff members were there, and they sat with the guests which allowed everyone one-on-one chats. Overall, we were not impressed with the dinner, and like many award shows it moved along at a snail's pace. Couples needs to take a look at this event and decide if it is worth continuing. We decided to return to the Ristorante Casanova the night of what would have been our 2nd returning guest dinner.

Review of Restaurants and Bars at Couples Sans Souci

Review of Ristorante Casanova at Sans Souci: This restaurant was our favorite. We had dinner there three nights, and would have gone there more often, ahd it been possible. Anthony was our waiter all three nights, and after we raved about how well the tenderloin had been prepared, Anthony brought the chef out to introduce us. Very nice atmosphere, along with excellent service including soothing live piano music. Reservations ae required.

Review: The Palazzina Restaurant at Sans Souci: is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There are plenty of choices for breakfast and lunch, or you can enhoy the buffet. Often the carved fruits are the feature of the day. (I took at lot of photos of them!) We enjoyed the made-to-order omelets for breakfast, along with many other local fruits, pastries, muffins, sweet rolls and much more. The breakfast and lunch selections were always good, but we didn't feel there was anything exceptional about dinner at this resteaurant. Reservations required.

Review: Bella Vista at Sans Souci You can enjoy dining on the beach as you listen to music by the Jamaican Guitarists. This is a very romantic restaurant, and the food there is very enjoyable.

Review: Beach Grill at Sans Souci: This restaurant is located beach side, and it's casual. They serve Jamaican-style burgers and other grilled specialties. We had lunch there a few times. The ocean view is beautiful and the service was quick and efficient.

Review: Beach Party Night at Sans Souci The Beach party is held on Tuesday, and we would rate the food as adequate. We decided this would be a good night to have dinner delivered to our room. That way, we could still enjoy watching the people, activities, and entertainment from our balcony.

Review: Starlight Gala Night at Sans Souci is held on Friday. The food is buffet-style, and the local entertainment is worth watching. Again, nothing outstanding about the food, but the shows and entertainment were a lot of fun.

Review: The Balloon Bar at Couples Sans Souci: The Balloon Bar was by far our favorite bar, as well as our favorite spot for drinks! It's not only a very pretty location, but they made the best drinks in the resort. We especially enjoyed their chocolate martinis which were head and shoulders above the Chocolate Martinis we ordered at all other bars and were far better than any we had at the swim-up bar.

The Beach Review, Couples Sans Souci: We live at a beach, so having a wide beach and white sand is not that important to us. BUT... it's important to you, you might want to choose another all-inclusive resort. For beach views, see the photo to the right of this review as well as Page 5 of my photo pages.

Main Pool Review, Couples Sans Souci: We were very disappointed with this pool because there were were never enough chairs and/or floaties to go around. We had a pool view from our room, and we realized on our first full day that if you wanted a lounge chair, you'd better grab it before 6:45 AM.

For the next 10 days I ousted Wally from the bed at 6:45, bless his heart. While he took the towels to reserve chairs, I made coffee in the room. You don't snooze (well at least Wally doesn't) if you want to have a lounge chair at the pool! There were never more than 26 - 28 lounge chairs around the pool (I counted them every day) and not as many floaties as there are lounge chairs.

The problem can be solved by adding more chairs, which the pool can easily accommodate, purchasing more floaties, and even placing some chairs on the "front lawn" below buildings A and B, directly behind the pool. Couples Sans Souci has way too many guests for such a small number of chairs. Once the chairs are claimed, people "reserve" them with their towels as they leave to eat, go to the beach, or engage in other activities. In other words, if you don't "save" your chair early, you can forget about getting one until late afternoon. And that just isn't right! We're pool people who spend a lot of time at the pool, but we should not have to "reserve" our chair at 6:45 AM. I know for a fact that other all-inclusive resorts have a pool manager on duty. If chairs are left empty for 30 minutes, the pool manager removes the towels. This is posted by the pool so people know in advance what to expect.

For us, the main pool is a deal-breaker for a return visit. We simply would not do that again. Last year I praised Couples Swept Away for accommodating all guests with lots of lounge chairs and a floatie for every chair. (I read other reviews with this pool complaint at CSS, but I had no idea thw true they were.)

Couples San Souci Mineral Pool / Spa Review: For an analysis of the Mineral pool, please see photos, page 5. This pool, along with the Spa, overlook some beautiful scenery and the ocean. This is also where you'll find the Smoothie Bar and Fitness Center. The Couples Massage, which is excellent, is provided in one of the gazebos overlooking the ocean. The mineral pool is seldom, if ever, crowded.

Couples San Souci Snorkeling Review: There are two different locations for snorkeling, but there were never a lot of fish. Although you could see the sunken ship, it was too deep to snorkel that far down. The reefs were good and the Couples snorkeling team did their best to ensure that everyone had good time. You can also snorkel off the beach if you have your own gear. We didn't, but someone told us the water wasn't clear enough to see much.

Review Other Activities - Couples Sans Souci: There are many planned entertainments that are just plain fun. For instance, we really enjoyed Casino Night. The Dunn's River trip (5 days a week) and shopping in Ocho Rios (3 days a week) are also included in your stay. Also, many daily activities are listed on the Daily Activities list you receive upon check-in. Aquacize, Croquet, Volleyball, Fishing Tournament, Yoga, Mixology, Tennis, Aerobics, Bingo, wood carving, nature walks and many others. Or if you don't want to participate, no one will make you feel guilty. You can view some of the activities on photo page 4.
Couples San Souci Staff

Staff Review at Sans Souci: You won't find a friendlier staff than Couples Sans Souci. This held true from the moment we arrived at the airport Couples Lounge until we said our good-byes. So many people on the staff remembered our names, and greeted us whenever they saw us anywhere on the resort. Housekeeping did a wonderful job.

Our Travel Agent: Last, but certainly not least, a special thanks to Amy McHugh with Dream Makers Vacation Services. Wally and I have booked several Sandals and Couples Resort vacations with Amy. She is everything you could want in a travel agent - dependable, responsible and reliable, plus she always follows up. On this vacation to Couples Sans Souci, she called the resort the day we arrived, as she always does, to make sure we were happy with our room, and that the check-in process had gone smoothly. After her call, we had a flurry of phone calls from various employees on the Couples staff. It made us smile! If you don't already have a travel agent, do yourself a favor. Contact Amy. Tell her I sent you. There is no additional charge to you, and you won't be sorry.

WiFi Review: WiFi is included with your all-inclusive vacation at Couples. We brought a laptop, and while I can only speak for the Beachfront 1-br Suite, we had excellent wi-fi reception, especially on the patio. As it turned out, our room was quite a hike from the Computer Room located next to the office on the second level, so I was happy we had our laptop with us. On the occasions when we were at the Computer Room, all the computers were being used. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I think there were 8 computers total.

Your idea of a couples only all-inclusive resort may (and probably will) vary from mine. For example, Wally and I generally dislike buffets, even here in Myrtle Beach. We much more prefer sit-down-order-from-the-menu dinners, so no one who knows us would be surprised that we weren't crazy about buffets at CSS (or any other all-inclusive.)

It didn't bother us that the beach was not wide. We've got a wide beautiful beach 2 miles from home. And not everyone is a pool person. Your experience might include going to the beach every day, so you might never notice a shortage of lounge chairs at the pool. And so on. Your experience could be entirely different from ours, so take from this review what you feel is worthwhile.

Thanks for taking the time to read this Couples Sans Souci review, and for viewing our photos.
If you have questions about Couples San Souci, please feel free to Contact me!

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Couples Sans Souci

For More Photo Pages, choose from the information beloe. Please click each photot to enlarge.

Page 1 - Coples Sans Souci Grounds and Landscaping
Page 2 - Couples Sans Souci Photos of People
Page 3 - Couples Sans Souci Food and Drinks
Page 4 - Entertainment
Page 5 - Couples Sans Souci Beach, Pools, Misc
Page 6 - Couples Sans Souci Resort Review

Review Couples Sans Souci
Crackers ay Sans Souci
Food reviews sans souci
dessert at Sans Soucy
Wally at Sans Souct
Casino Night
Outdoors bar
our room