My husband and I spent 4 nights at the San Souci. It was wonderful. Yes, we did have to walk up and down stairs, but after all the good food I ate, I needed the exercise.

We were in G15a, at the top of the hill, which had an absolutely beautiful and unobstructed view of the cove and the sunset. The room was basic...comfortable bed, walk in shower, no indoor seating...but we had a lovely balcony with table and 4 chairs, chaise lounge, sofa and coffee table. Sitting on the balcony, we could clearly hear the evening music from the Balloon Bar Terrace. That could be a problem if you are a light sleeper.

The sun came up at 5:30 am. If you wake to the sun, you might consider taking along an eye mask to block out the light. The windows had blackout curtains, but the door to the balcony let in alot of light.

The food was absolutely wonderful. We had a chance to dine at both the French (multiple times) and Italian restaurants. The service was exellent. They were attentive to our needs and ever ready to refill our glasses of water and wine. The food and service at the Beach Grill were good, but not up to the standards of the other restaurants.

The grounds were immaculately maintained and beautiful. And, they were using insecticide to keep down the mosquito and sand flea problem. We didn't get a single bite!

The hotel was 80% full, but we had no problem getting a beach lounger in the shade, a reservation for dinner, or access to the activities. We went snorkeling each day. The quality of the snorkeling was not what you would find in Grand Cayman or Cozumel, but it is not bad. The staff at the water center was very friendly and knowledgeable. Thanks, Shawn!

Kimberlee, the activities director, is a dear. She tries mightly to get people involved in the dfferent activities. And, she is a good dancer!

We really enjoyed the Silver Bird steel drum band and dancers who performed at the Tuesday night Beach Party.

We also had a great time on the included excursion to Dunn's River Falls. Bring along a pair of aquasocks or you can rent them for $5 a pair.

One thing to note, it IS a 2 hours ride from the Montego Bay airport and the resort. DO NOT book an early flight. Our return flight was at 12:30 pm and we had to leave the hotel by 8:30 am.
Our van driver was nice enough to stop at a grocery store on the way to the airport so that we could get some Blue Mountain coffee as a better price than what you can get at the airport.

All in all, we had a great time and wished that we could stay longer.

My Husband and I just returned from a weeks stay at Sans Souci. We had stayed there a few years ago when it was a Super Clubs property and we were interested to see if it was different. On whole, our experience was again excellent.

The transfers to and from the airport were efficient and comfortable. We did not have to wait at either end.

We had a lovely ocean view balcony room which was bright and airy. The rooms had a basic face lift since our last stay - they are now primarily white and blue. Our room had a nice sitting room with a couch and chair. There were two flat screen TV's in the room - one by the bed and one in the sitting room. The bathroom had a large shower unit but no tub.

The whole resort appeared consistently clean and well cared for.

We don't have very high expectations of food in the Carribbean but the food at Sans Souci was excellent at all three restaurants. We particularly appreciated the reasonable size of the portions (read: not too large) served at the a la carte restaurants. I would suggest that the hotel consider offering a larger selection of house wines at all of the restaurants (only Chardonnay was available outside the one a la carte restaurant).

I noted that some other people had complained about the need to make reservations at the restaurants. We made all of our reservations upon arrival and had no problems. We noted that the reservation restaurants were rarely full and we suspect that the reservation requirement is the resorts way of trying to keep a handle on how many people are dining where.

The staff were very friendly and helpful. The guys at the dive shop (Leon, Roger and Lloyd) made our daily dives fun. The reef is not as healthy as some other places but we managed to spot a nurse shark and a huge school of spade fish.

We always managed to find a good place in the shade to relax and read whether by the beach or pool; there seemed to be ample spots to sit and the resort was apparently at capacity during our stay. The resort is doling out beach towels (you are allocated two towels which have to be exchanged at the beach or pool throughout your stay; you have to get a receipt at the end of your stay to prove that you turned them in) which we found a bit annoying.

I would recommend this resort for a couple who want a quiet, relaxing get away in a beautiful setting.

Returning to Jamaica for our third trip in 9 years(we are late 40s-early 50s), we were first impressed by the new modern highway going to Ocho Rios. We previously stayed at Couples Negril in it's first season (1999) and Grand Lido Braco in 2004. Braco is about half way to Ocho Rios. Last time the road was windy and went thru many small towns. The 2004 trip to Braco was almost 2 hrs, about the same as the trip to Ocho rios this time!
We were greeted with Rum Punch and warm damp terry cloth towels at the reception area in the open air lobby. Our bags were delivered to our room and we made ourselves at home in room B34, B block 3rd floor, facing the main beach, overlooking the beach grill and beach bar. B block is not yet renovated, however the room was clean and comfortable. We were concerned that we got an old style room, having heard about the renovations to some of the room blocks. We thought we would miss the new plasma screen TVs that we heard about, (ours was big and old, with a sleep timer!) but we just did not spend many waking hours in the room. The bed was big and wonderful. We had a beachfront jacuzzi suite, booked with Apple Vacations in fall of 2007. One upside of Apple is the direct, hassle-free flight on Ryan out of snowy Milwaukee. Less than 4 hours to sand and sun!
We wandered the grounds that first afternoon. It took a few hours to discover the many levels and paths and countless stairways. There are many stairs that wind thru the cliff-side, thru the jungle foliage, shaded by the tall palms. It is paradise.
Along the way we discovered the mineral pool, the 7 massage huts perched on top of the rock seashore, Charlies Grotto (home of the 80+year old resident sea turtle) and the wedding gazebo perched above the blue carribean sea. There is also a Gift shop, Jewlery store, spa, and a hair salon. It was an adventure exploring the nearly 30 acres of property. The next morning we repeated this exercise wiith the orientation tour, which I would recommend.
The main beach was very nice, not crowded. Lots of chairs were available. Watersports is located on the beach with many free activities. The main pool and jacuzzi area were very clean and well maintained. We also spent time on Sunset beach which is au natural. Sunset has a seperate pool/bar and grille as well as a free standing 6 person jacuzzi.
Both beach areas were groomed daily and free of debris. Service was great, and the bartenders were fun.
The food was excellent, with many choices. Breakfast was at the italian resurant, buffet style, with eggs to order, a bread and fruit bar, and Mamosas in you desire!
Room service was a favorite at any time of day or night. You can order filet mignon, champagne, you name it!
There are two formal resturants that require reservations (make them upfront). There were special nights including a beach party, and a Friday night Gala. Entertainment was available however we didn't stay up late usually.
Dunns River Falls was a free trip and we enjoyed it!
We will definitely return. The staff was very accomadating. We attended a repeaters dinner, having stayed with Couples before. It was probably the best meal we had that week and made us feel that Couple appreciated our business. We also recieved a repeaters package including a Spa certificate, and Cetificate for the gift shop and two t-shirts.
We go on vacation to relax and we definitely accomplished the task. Sometimes touching base with work electronically helps
keep your mind at ease when you leave a demanding job behind for a week. There is an internet cafe with 5 work stations to check email or surf. There is also wireless in room B34, even though our tour guide was unaware of this.
Couples knows how to take care of people. We are very pleased with our experience. We will be planning our next trip shortly!

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!!!