This was our 3rd visit to a Couples Resort - the previous 2 being Couples Ocho Rios. At this point we'd have a hard time deciding where to go back to! We had chosen to try San Souci just for something different - as it turned out with the renovations going on at Ocho Rios - it was a good decision anyway.

Arrival: USAir flight was fine, airport/immigration/customs was typical - no issues. We got to the Couples lounge and were warmly greeted - our bags were taken and we were assured that a person was assigned to watch over them till we got on our bus to the resort. One quick drink later we were off. We were the only ones traveling to San Souci that day so we had our own bus. Our driver, Archer was a great tour guide and gave us lots of history and told us about all the construction and such going on along the way. The new road to Ocho Rios is finished and made it an excellent trip.

Upon arrival at the resort we were greeted by the Check-in staff who quickly got everything taken care of over a glass of sparkling wine. Our room was not quite ready (we were there well before check in time) so we went to guest services to set up our private beach dinner (more about that later) and then off to lunch.

Our room was ready by the time we were done and we were extremely pleased. We had Ocean View with balcony. They had offered to upgrade us to a beachfront jacuzzi suite - but I really wanted the bigger balcony and we aren't really jacuzzi people. The room was enormous and beautiful as was the view. It was kept spotless daily by Tricia from housekeeping who always had a great smile for us! The air in the living room and bedroom worked flawlessly, the bathroom was huge, the water pressure was great and the bar/fridge were stocked. The balcony was great for romantic room service dinners as well - can't beat the sound of waves and tree frogs at night!

Food: Can't say enough good about it. There is literally always food available. We never had anything we didn't like and I'm a picky eater. I don't eat beef, pork or anything greasy. I was not only fine, but had a hard time choosing! Breakfast at Pallazina was a huge buffet that I can't imagine not finding something on. Lunch was either a buffet there, a variety of choices at the beach grills or you could order room service. Dinner was at either Pallazina (French), Casanova (Italian), Bella Vista (Jamaican) or room service. You could get late night goodies till 6am at the beach grills. Somehow I only gained 3 lbs. I attribute that to a lot of walking - well worth it!

The spa: You can't beat it! Lots of little huts near the water but still close to the foliage...the tranquility can't be reproduced in a modern built facility. We had 2 couples massages and I tried the peppermint twist wrap - amazing!

Vow Renewal: Nadia the wedding coordinator is excellent and very friendly and efficient! We did something very simple but it all went off without a hitch. I wasn't overly thrilled with their photographer...but he gives you a CD of the pictures he took and a photo release..I fixed the pics myself at home and reprinted for $10. Very worth doing.

Management: Pierre Battaglia the GM is amazing. He was at the repeaters dinner and a very charming host. He seemed to be everywhere all week. He is very personable and has great command of his ship. He is a great credit to Couples as is the rest of his staff!

Bars/Wine: OK, I may not be a wine critic...but I thought the wine was good as was the sparkling wine (loved the mimosa station at breakfast!). I also thought the drinks were good (they have house brands as well as premium) and of course there is always Red Stripe available.

Entertainment staff: Kimberlee and Fluffy were always up for fun, but I have to admit we didn't see a whole lot of the night time entertainment.... we were pretty lame and retired early much of the time. All reports from everyone else we saw there were good!

Overall it was an excellent trip, we can't wait to go back and we would have stayed if we could!!! I'd recommend it to anyone!!!

I am going to start this review by quoting myself on my last review which was of Couples Negril.

"I must start this review by saying Jamaica is not for everyone, nor is Couples, but for my husband and I it is paradise found, and as much as I do not like returning to the same place again and again, the country and the resort have a pull for us I find difficult to describe.

Jamaica is a beautiful island, extremly lush, everything and anything seem to grow wild here. As beautiful as the island is there is much poverty. There are many vendors on the beaches selling a variety of things, including drugs, a simple no thank you will suffice, realize this is the way many of these people make their living, respect that and them, and all will be fine. One of the things about the people of Jamaica that I envy is that material things are not important to them. The Jamaican people do not have much in the way of material things, but they could teach us here in the U.S. a thing or two about the things in life that really are important. Maybe this is a part of the draw that keeps me wanting to return there. It reminds me when I visit of those things we tend to take for granted and in our frantic lives we tend to forget until sometimes it is too late. The Jamaican's live it everyday."

Hence our third trip to Jamaica and our third trip to a Couples Resort, but this time to Couples Sans Souci! After two trips to Couples Negril, my expectations were very high of this resort.

Couples resorts are a smaller chain, right now exclusive to JA, and not at all the "big mega resort" Couples are known to be more of a "boutique" type resort. You will not see the glitz of marble and the true 5 star rooms you may see in Mexico or other places, a true Caribbean flare and feel is what you will see, This resort is small only 150'ish rooms. We were at this resort when it was at full capacity and you would never have known it.

This resort has a Wow factor! You are greeted at Couples with a glass of Champagne and a cool towel and escorted to your room where your bellman will give you a brief tour of the room and show you how to use the thermostats etc. From the minute you enter the lobby you are saying Wow!

We were thrilled with our room, we booked a One Bedroom Oceanview with Balcony. Our room was located in G block at the very top! Sans Souci is built into a cliff, therefore there are many many steps, so if that is an issue for you then you may not want to book this hotel! The rooms have recently been refurbished and are decorated in blues and whites. The bedroom in our category was separate we got lucky and had a huge bathroom with two sinks and a very large shower. Others in our group in the same category had a normal sized bathroom, and were in bathroom envy! Our living room area had a mini bar, refrigerator stocked with soft drinks, juices, water and beer. Wine and Champagne were only a phone call away. Our view was over the ocean to the right and the mineral pool to the left. The balconies are quite large, they have either a two person chaise, or two chaise lounge chairs and a table and chairs. Very nice to sit with coffee in the morning or wine in the evening.

Room service is available for Continental breakfast, lunch and full dinner. This was very nice as only Continental breakfast is offered at Couples Negril. The Filet Minon for dinner was excellent! We also tried various appetizers to tide us over until dinner. All were quite good.

It always amazes me when I read reviews about food at Couples. The food at the two I have stayed at has been incredible! It is a wonderful opportunity to try things you may not try otherwise because quite simply if you do not like it, you order something else or go someplace else or go to your room and order room service.. The presentation of the food at this resort was 5 star all the way! We ate at Cassanova twice, and Pallazina once for dinner. We had the Repeaters dinner one night and did Room Service for dinner as well. The Beach Party and Starlight Gala are the buffet nights, but again if you are not into buffets, go to your room and order Room Service. This is not a resort where you are limited to the ala carte restaurants by the number of nights you stay. We ran out of time and never ate at Bella Vista for dinner. I have no complaints about food here at all, only rants and raves, and I don't think I ever took so many "food pictures" anywhere, again because of the beautiful presentation. There are 40 chef's at this resort and they do a wonderful job!

The staff.

Another Wow! I will admit I am an avid follower of Tripadvisor and this site has helped me plan many a trip. I realize you can only take opinions as just that opinions, but you tend to go with the majority of reviews and trust in that. I personally have found that to be very true.

Well the staff here is outstanding! When you take into account this is a non tipping resort (although you will see people tipping)
and you realize how little the Jamaican's make. It amazes me to see so many of them really enjoying their jobs so much, and going so out of their way to make your stay enjoyable. Will you see an occasional unhappy person yes, but again you must go with the majority, and that majority amazed me all week.

We had 3 days of pretty solid rain in fact there was flooding in Ocho Rios which from what we were told was pretty bad. In spite of that, the staff went out of their way to make sure the guests were having fun. We were sitting in the rain under a palapa and Simone aka "Fluffy" comes walking over to play Dirty Minds with us, that turned into some dancing lessons, some cultural information, the water sports guys were close to where we were sitting and since the red flags were out to shut down watersports they came over and joined in our fun and what turned out to be an around nice afternoon minus any sun!

We had scheduled an "included" trip to Dunns River, but unfortunately because of the weather cancelled it. There are many inclusions at Sans Souci, aside from Dunns River Falls, Water Skiing, Boat Snorkel trips, Golf Greens fee's to name a few.

Friends of ours got married while we were there, and we were very honored to be there for their special day. Well it was pouring that morning! We felt so bad for them. The staff kept telling her that in their country and in their culture it is considered a "blessing" if it rains on your wedding day, well they were blessed twice then that day, because the sun came out long enough for the ceremony. The General Manager was also concerned about the weddings scheduled that day, and we saw him checking the sky and trying to decide which way they were going to go if need be, his presence was felt everywhere throughout our entire stay. The staff were using leaf blowers to clear and try to dry the walkway for her. Now again that made me say Wow! She did not see any of this, but we did!

Can you find little things to complain about? Yes, I'm sure I could if I tried, but instead I choose to look at this resort for what we saw. An absolutely beautiful romantic resort with hidden surprises around every corner, from Mineral Springs which hold Charlie the resident sea turtle who was injured during Hurricane Charlie and was placed in the Springs to recover. Charlie who turned out to be a girl has lived there ever since. There is a healing Mineral Grotto on the grounds as well as a Mineral Pool. The next turn you find a hidden hot tub up in the cliff. Turn around again you will find the Parrot saying hello to you. Beauty and lushness everywhere with beautiful pathways along the way.. Romantic strolling musicians....... Yes surprises everywhere. How can you nitpick here? Let me tell you we found it near impossible.

The Spa.
The Massage huts are built up the cliff, some of them over the ocean. It does not get much better than this in my opinion. We had two massages while there and both of them were among the best I have had. The sound of the ocean crashing below and the wind blowing puts you in a state almost trancelike.

There are two beaches and 4 pools at CSS. The Lobby pool, Mineral pool, Main pool with swimup bar and the pool at Sunset Beach the AuNatural area which becomes clothed at 5 for the sunsets for all to enjoy. The SSB pool has a waterfall, cove and swim up bar. There is also a grill here.

The main beach and Sunset Beach are both private cove beaches.

The steps can cause your calves to burn if you are in the upper buildings like we were, but sometimes you have to pay a price for the views.

We knew when we decided to go to CSS instead of CN this year that there were many steps, we knew we were giving up Negril's beaches........ and we quite frankly were a little nervous. Were we dissapointed? Not at all. Were our expectations exceeded? In a word Wow!

WOW.
This is a late review, but my hubby and I went to Sans Souci jan 4th for one week. Our room first of all was unreal! Our VIEW was straight out of my dreams. We would walk around the resort , or sit out on our huge balcony and go on and on about how amazing and romantic this resort is. The food was great. Service too. We love quiet , romantic, not crowded places and this was it for us. The ONLY complaint, as most people have said, is the beach. If I could take the Negril sand and water and put it with Sans Souci, I would come back there every year . But honestly, we had the most wonderful time there, and will go back ( and we NEVER do places twice, and have been to some VERY nice, expensive places).
Go!!!!

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.