Couples Swept Away

2nd time back, and while we were there, booked our 3rd visit for 2027. We don't go to this resort for is amazing food selection (although the food is pretty good overall) but for the fabulous beach, great water sports and friendly staff. Not sure why anyone would want a drink delivered to them on the beach...personally I love taking a walk and getting my own drink! Let's face it, 80% of us need the exercise! We were nice to everyone and were treated very well. Met some great guests who have been coming back for years. I can totally see why. My only minor criticism is that the nightly entertainment is mediocre...with the exception of Exodus, the house band, and the steel drum group. Both groups are super talented. I love dancing, but couldn't get into the music played at the disco. Wish there was a little more variety there...and more fitting for the demographic of the majority of guests (over 50). Read less

First Time Visit to CSA Arrival Arrived late afternoon at Montego Bay Airport and got through quickly. After collecting our luggage, we found the Couples Lounge easily and were checked in straight away. We waited around 10 minutes before boarding the coach. The transfer took about 1 hour 40 minutes, with AC and a friendly driver who shared light‑hearted info along the way. Room – Ocean Veranda Suite (Block 15, 1st Floor – 3209) Our room was perfectly located between the beach and the road. One flight of stairs gave us privacy and stunning sea views and sunsets. Well equipped: balcony, mini bar, ironing board, umbrella (for shade/showers!), hair dryer, TV, walk‑in shower and a hot drinks machine. The bed was huge and comfortable with a variety of pillows, the aircon excellent, and Wi‑Fi was strong everywhere — even on the beach, although we didn’t use it for business purposes. Note: I took with me my own high powered hair dryer from uk but it wouldn’t work with the Jamaican power sockets, but the one provided was fine. They provide drinks bottles in your room and which you can keep. They can be filled up at water and ice stations conveniently positioned around the resort. The water and ice are drinkable and it was nice not to see one use plastic bottles. Beach & Atmosphere The beach is stunning: golden sand, spotless with warm shallow sea. Lounger reserving does happen, but we always found loungers in decent positions on way to breakfast (between 8am and 8.30am) even though peak season. By 9–10am beds were still available, though not in the best positions. All Palapas were taken very early (usually by the same couples, who not only took the palapas daily but would also take two loungers, two chairs and two tables - for one couple!!) The resort do ask people by leaflet not to reserve and leave beds for long periods. Vendors were respectful and easy to ignore if you didn’t want to engage. Buskers added to the relaxed beach vibe and we liked to tip them. Tree frogs at night were loud but magical. Resort cats were friendly — we loved seeing them and giving them treats on the way back. Sports & Activities The sports complex across the road was excellent with good gym equipment The lap pool was quiet and it was lovely to swim outside, whilst trying to avoid the odd palm leaf, frog or insect 😊 There was a pool table which we used daily when the sun was hot around midday. There were great fresh health shots – Pineapple and ginger being our favourite. Kayaking was fun and didn’t need booking The glass‑bottom boat, bookable one day in advance, couldn’t moor over the reef on the day we booked, due to choppy water, so it toured around Bloody Bay which was still enjoyable. The free snorkelling trip was a highlight — calm guidance, colourful fish, sea cucumbers, urchins and even a stingray. We skipped the catamaran as we thought it would be livelier than we prefer. Food & Restaurants/Bars Two non‑bookable restaurants (Palms buffet and Patois Patio) offered good quality food and choice. It probably didn’t have quite the range of food we have had at some other AI’s we’ve stayed in, but we found different things to eat over the 10 days and really enjoyed the breakfasts. In the evening the entertainment would start in Palms around 7.45pm and so people would stay following their meal. Tip: check the Egg Station area at dinner — occasionally extra dishes appear there. The two bookable restaurants were outstanding. We secured Lemongrass for my 60th birthday and Feathers for my partner’s birthday - as it wasn’t open on my 60th. It was Lobster Night and superb. You have to book the bookable restaurants 3 days before you want them and cannot rebook until you’ve been. We managed one more visit to Lemongrass before the end of our 10 days visit. For lunch, Scotch Bonnet and Sea Grapes were great — especially the sushi at Sea Grapes. Bars at both restaurants good but could do with cocktail menus as we would have liked to sample some other cocktails we hadn’t had before, and had no idea what to ask for. Martini bar good and tried a couple of different types. Other Services Two Gifts shops – one larger and both well stocked Business Computers above Reception which we used to print out some documents Staff – The Heart of CSA The staff made this holiday exceptional. Concierge arranged our birthday dinners and sent champagne. Bar staff remembered our drinks. Restaurant staff went out of their way to seat us where we preferred. Housekeeping, gardening and sports staff were consistently warm, hardworking and genuine ensuring everything from the room and towels, gardens and beach were spotless whilst being warm and polite. Special thanks to O’Shane (bar) who ensured my love of Pina Colada’s was sated and Christiana (Patois Restaurants) who helped us on our first day Overall We have previously stayed in (and not enjoyed) some polished, high‑end AI resorts where guests can be sometimes be rude, entitled and glued to Instagram. CSA is the opposite — relaxed, authentic, and full of heart. In our experience, if you don’t like it here, the issue isn’t CSA. Read less

We've visited this resort many times as the beach is one of the best in the Caribbean and the value for all you get is really hard to beat. The people who work there really make the resort a special place for us and we will be back. This review is going to center on a few areas I think the resort can greatly improve upon. First, they offer a pre check-in portal through their Romance Rewards program. We've utilized this before and every time, including on this trip, none of the information translates to the resort upon arrival. As repeat guests, we've earned points and were entitled to gifts for this trip. We elected our gift, gave the size and that, nor the other items we earned were ready for us upon arrival. Also, none of the reservations we made in advance for dinner/excursions nor our requests for the in-suite mini bar were on record. We had to visit the Guest Sevices desk to get our gifts and re-do all the reservations, plus fill out a new form, wait 24 hours, to receive our mini bar requests. This should be a really simple thing to fix and it's very frustrating to think you'll have these items taken care of so you don't have to do so upon arrival. We always book a couples massage and it generally has been a good value. Not any longer. The price has risen to $360/couple and our lead massuese recommended we try the CBD oil treatment and said if we didn't care for it, we didn't have to buy afterwards. Turns out, that spoonful or more of CBD oil cost us an additional $40/person. We didn't ask if the treatment costs more and should have, but if they want their associates to try to sell add-ons, it should be dislcosed up front that it is an additional cost. I didn't care for that. Really the first time we sort of fell like a "number". The main pool at the south end of the resort needs a lot of updating. It's really small and looks the same as it did on our first visit almost 20 years ago. There's a large area between buildings not too far away that could be a great spot to build a larger, updated main pool. I think the resort would do well to consider that. The beach is, of course, the crown jewel, but a killer pool also goes a long way on vacation. Best of both worlds! We noticed some pretty bad sections behind the Martini Bar that need repair and were pretty easy to spot for anyone visiting. There's probably other areas we didn't notice, but seeing those things while getting "taken" at the Spa didn't set well either. All in all, the focus on customer service from upper management needs a refresh in my opinion. in adidtion to the above, out of nowhere, the menu was completely changed at the martini bar and many items were taken off and puzzling ones were added. The bartenders had to re-learn many drinks on the fly and without prior notice. One martini called "Key Lime Pie" mixed a ctirus with a rum cream. Everyone I saw get one had their ingredients breaking apart not long after the drink was poured. The mix doesn't work and I'm shocked someone didn't check that first before rolling it out. Also, the font is half the size of the previous menu and was very hard to read. This just made no sense to us nor any of the other guests. If it ain't broke... As always, the stafff are largely wonderful. They do an excellent job, are very friendley and welcoming to all guests who choose to engage with them. Not all are like that and that's ok. The grounds are regularly kept pristine, our room was cleaned every day and we received turn down service on top of that. Food is ok to excellent and there is plenty of variety to keep things interesting througout your stay. Drinks include top shelf liquor, all the bartenders are very skilled, some are engaging some keep to themselves. A friendly "hello" and "thank you" go a long way. I don't think they get paid nearly enough for what they do. We will be back, do not hesitate to book a stay at this place! You will love it. Read less