Couples Swept Away, Negril Jamaica.
6/8/2012-6/18/2012
We decided to go to a new location to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. After a lot of research we chose Couples Swept Away on 7 Mile Beach in Negril, Jamaica. This is a resort review more than a detailed report on what we did from hour to hour. A little background on us will help you see how we look at a resort and what we compare it to. We are both 50 and have traveled to numerous All Inclusive resorts in the Caribbean before. A lot of comparisons that may come up in the report will be based on our previous stays at all inclusive resorts in the Riu Palace, Iberostar Quetzal and Barcelo Maya in Playa del Carmen Mexico and the Excellence Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. Just an FYI, our favorite for many reasons is the Excellence Punta Cana and consequently Swept Away will be compared to that location more than anything. I have been in the food business for 20 + years and we own a wedding photography business.
Fair warning. This will be long and extensive.
Flight and Customs:
Our departure flight was on United from Houston. Check in was uneventful. The one difference in going to Jamaica vs Mexico or DR was you have the baggage fees. We knew this ahead of time so it was no surprise but it may be for those who frequently go to Mexico. Our flight was delayed since they decided to wait for a flight from Chicago that was late arriving. 26 people were making the connection so I guess they justified that as a good reason to wait the 50 minutes for them to reach our plane. I would have wanted the same courtesy so it wasn’t a problem. I was on Jamaica time already. The flight down lasted about 3 hours. The Captain made up about 25 minutes of the delay so that was cool. The new United has decided it is better to charge for everything except a soft drink. If you are hungry for a snack you are much better off bringing it with you. You can carry on dry snacks like chips and candy. We saw people with bags of food from the airport. United will sell you a snack box but I have no clue what is included or the cost. I refuse to pay for something like that. We had a big bag of M&M’s and we had a big breakfast before getting to the airport so hunger wasn’t an issue.
During your flight the attendants will pass out a Jamaica Customs form. Make sure and get a form for each person in your party. They will tell you that you only need one per family but that is not the case in Jamaica. Each person will need to have the form filled out and you will present that form at Customs with your passport. Be sure to bring pens (black or Blue ink only) on the plane to fill out your form as the airline will not give you one. If you don’t get a form for each person you can get one at Customs but it will be a mad house since no one seems to know about this. Better to ask for them on the plane and save the hassle and time delay in going through Customs. Make sure to fill out all sections and the little check off spaces. There are 3 sections.
Customs in Jamaica is air conditioned so that is a bonus. DR was not when we were there 5 years ago. It is not a big deal. Find a line, wait until you get to the agent and hand them your passport and Customs form. The agent will hand the form back to you after checking you in. After that you will head to the right to exit the area and find your baggage carousel. Our bags were already sitting on the floor next to the Carousel so the hunting begins. Once you have retrieved your bags you will head to the exit. There will be 2 areas to go to. Red or Green. Red means you have checked a “yes” on the customs form. It could be anything like you are bringing in plants, animals or 10K or more in cash. Most people will go to the green line. Neither line is marked really well. The red lines will be the first ones you come to and beyond them you will find the green lines. Hand the agent your form and he will look you over and give you back your visitor card. Keep this card with you as you will need this when you leave. Once you have passed this area you will head left and out a large opening, Don’t let anyone grab your bags at this point because it just isn’t necessary. Pass the opening turn immediately left and you will see the Sandals welcome area on the left and the Couples lounge directly ahead of you. The walk is perhaps 25 yards and is the reason you don’t need a porter for your bags for that.
Welcome to Jamaica Maaan!
Head over to the Couples Lounge and you will check in at the desk. This is a very plain little area but there is a place to grab a Cold Red Stripe or Red Strip Light and go to the bathroom if you need to. The seating is comfortable but this is not a plush fancy area. The Sandals lounge is much more impressive looking from the outside. After checking in you will be told about how long it will be before you leave for your resort. We had just missed the van to SA so the wait was about 20 minutes. We had plenty of time to grab several Red Stripes and take a few photos. They will have someone that will take your bags and keep an eye on them. The time there is East Coast time zone, however they do not recognize any kind of time change. We are in the central time zone and were on the same time as they were which was awesome. Once you’re ready to leave you can either take you bags on your own or have a porter carry them to the van for you. We chose the Porter and they do work for Tips where the Couples employees are not. I tipped the guys 5 bucks because my wife packs a lot of stuff. They loaded us into a mini van with one other couple and we were off. An after thought here. If you pack yourself a larger mug you can fill it up and sip on a cold Red Stripe during the ride to the resort. We didn’t think about it. Becca took a cup of beer with her and promptly spilled it as she tried to get in the van. I read this tip after the fact and will not forget it next time.
From the Airport you will head through Montego Bay and then along the coast around the island to Negril. The road is actually good although it is just a 2 lane road. You will pass through several towns and the going may get pretty slow. We found out what a traffic Jam is in Lucea on the way. This road doesn’t even compare to the highway from Cancun to Playacar but it is MUCH better than the road that goes from Punta Cana to the Excellence. The drive will take about 1 ½ hours depending on the driver and how many jams you will encounter in the little towns along the way. They do drive on the left side of the road so be aware if you are renting a car. It is different if you aren’t used to it. Our driver wasn’t that talkative and he drove fairly slow trying to miss any bumps there may have been in the road. Others drivers during our stay weren’t so cautions. You do not see many motorcycles on the road which seems unusual. After watching the drivers on the road I can see why I wouldn’t want to be on a motorcycle. We commented that they seem to be professionals at playing Chicken when passing. The only thing I could compare this to was the driving in Italy. The drive to the resort is pretty and you get to see a lot of the “real” Jamaica in the towns you will pass through.
We had to drop off the other couple at Couples Negril and then we were on our way to Swept Away. We arrived at the resort about an hour after we had expected. No problem Maaaan. The driver will expect a tip which is not unusual as these resorts contract out the drivers to get you there. You don’t have to tip them but we always do. After that you are not expected to tip at the resort unless you want to. I am not sure on the policy there but when we did tip a person it was kept discreet.
Arrival:
After arriving you will see the entrance. This entrance is no comparison to some of the ornate entrances you will find at the resorts in Mexico. It is very low key and seems to be geared to more a tropical feel. They will meet you at the van with a cool towel and brought us Champagne at the front desk. Here is the confusing part. As you walk in the front desk is actually to your right inside a separate room. If you look straight ahead you will see what appears to be the front desk but is actually the Concierge Desk. We headed to the Concierge desk before finding out we were going the wrong way.
Check in was easy. They called us by name and we filled out a form for the resort. They do have a policy that they will charge your credit card $300. dollars for incidentals incurred at the resort. If you don’t use it they credit your card when you leave. Just be aware of this. If I am not mistaken you can give them $300 in cash for this. Doesn’t seem like a good plan to me. We ended up using the $300 plus much more due to the Vow Renewal we did.(more on that later) Our room, a Beachfront Verandah Suite was ready. We were to be on the 2nd floor. Our hope had been to be on the first floor and we asked if that was possible. They checked and said we could move to the first floor the next day. We agreed and found out the room that would be available. Later we checked it out and decided we did not like the location so we opted to stay where we were. Room 3217 in Building 42. Our option for the first floor was next to the pool bar and Patois. After taking a look around we decided Building 42 was one of the best buildings we could have been in. It was about in the middle of the resort. More on the room later.
The Resort:
The resort is an all adult resort. We have decided that as we have grown older we like being at places that do not have children running around. This resort seems to be primarily American and Canadian couples. We did hear a few people from England and Italy but not very many. We found out that the Couples resorts are locally owned by a Jamaican family which we really liked. One of the owners was at the resort at one point during our stay. I would say that the majority of people at the resort are either there for an anniversary like us or on their Honeymoon. They have a wall of fame up on the second level at the entrance that has photos of couples that have been there multiple times. The one I remember was 33 visits. That’s a lot. The primary language spoken in Jamaica is English. The Jamaicans speak a separate language called Patois which was totally foreign to me. In general everyone spoke English and were very friendly so I would say that Jamaica would be a good place for someone’s first trip out of the States.
The Beach:
The resort is a pretty large resort that is laid out parallel to the beach unlike many of the resorts in Mexico that start at the beach and head inland. The restaurants are at each end of the resort with all the rooms in between. Couples SA is on the stretch of beach called 7 Mile Beach. It is actually only 4 miles and then the area called Bloody Bay makes up the additional 3 miles. For us, we go to locations in the Caribbean for one thing primarily and that is the beach. For years I thought that the beach at Playa Del Carmen was the best but I have now found its match. This beach is on the leeward side of the island so it does not get a big surf. The sand is white and powdery fine just like Playa Del Carmen. The water is crystal clear blue water. We did not find a rock anywhere along the areas we stayed at or walked to. One reason we would never return to the Barcelo Maya in Mexico was the rocky beach. The Playacar area in Mexico is really nice but I firmly believe that 7 mile beach is the better of the 2. At SA you can walk about 50 yards into the water and it will only be about 5-6 feet deep. In the morning the surf is minimal and the water reminds you of a lake. Around 10:30 almost each day we were there the surf would pick up but it was never rough. The beach at the Excellence Punta Cana was much rougher nearly every day in comparison. One thing we loved about SA is the mats that are on the loungers that can be used as floats. We never had a problem floating in the water. It is a very calm clean beach. There are some Palapas at SA but you will need to be up early to play the towel game with them. The resort is laid out so that there is a row of trees between the beach and the first section of rooms so there is plenty of shade if you cant get up in time to reserve a Palapa. As long as you were not worried about a Palapa then there was never an issue with getting a lounger on the beach. We usually had 2 in the shade and a float from another to use in the ocean and there would still be tons of loungers available. The only time you had to play the towel game was if you wanted to get a Palapa and you had to be out by 6am to do so. I am an early riser and would see what was available around 6:15-6:20 and most were taken by then. In general, this is the best beach I have ever been to and you don’t have to get all wound up with the towel game at Swept Away.
One interesting point about the beach, the water front is public and there will be a few vendors that will walk back and forth trying to sell there stuff. The resort has security all along the water so if you want something from these vendors you will have to go to them. When you do approach them, you can expect that a security person will head your way and stay about 10 feet away while you talk to them. I never saw any big issues during these times but it happened no matter what. You will see the same vendors every day there and some are very amusing especially the Shell guy. He has a very unique look with these big yellow sunglasses and his pitch is hilarious. One word. SHEEEEELLLLLLLLLLSSSSSSS. In a caveman sounding voice. Everyone talks about him. There will be wandering musicians and some are very good. A little tip and they will play a couple of songs for you. The musicians are the only ones that security allowed to come up towards your chairs after you contacted them. Even then it was only about half way between the water and your chair. We saw one incidence that was strange where the security stopped a vendor. They ended up wrestling him to the ground. The Police came and he was handcuffed and led away. Not sure what the circumstances were but it was interesting for sure.
Activities:
The resort has a bunch of activities going on during the day if you want to participate. Soccer and volleyball on the beach, tie die classes and all kinds of other things. We did very little while there so I don’t have a lot to say about most of the activities. Here is a link to the activities schedule. http://couples.com/swept-away/activities-schedule.pdf
They will give you a copy of something similar when you check in along with a form you can fill out and give back to them that will set up reservations for things like massages, Salon treatments and dinner reservations. The resort does have a lot of watersports that you can do. Sailing the Hobie Cats is a blast and they do give you free lessons. Unlike the resorts in Mexico they did not limit us on time so we were able to sail all the way to Sandals one day and then another day we went down towards the town of Negril. It is one of our favorite things to do when we go to these resorts. We rarely had to await for a Cat. They also have free water skiing, kayaks, sail boards. The resort offers free snorkeling trips, a glass bottom boat tour, catamaran tour and a free resort course scuba dive.(more on this later) If you are a certified diver they give you one free dive per day and if you want to do a night dive there is a $50. fee. All fees at the resort where in US dollars. If you want to stay busy at this resort you can. We chose to relax and while away our time on the beach which was perfect for us on this trip.
The resort has the best athletic center of any place we have seen or stayed at. It is HUGE! It is located across the street from the main resort. They do have guards that stop traffic when you are crossing the road so it doesn’t have to make you nervous. At the Athletic complex they have 10 Tennis courts(5 clay and 5 hard courts), 2 Raquetball courts, 2 Squash Courts, Olympic sized lap pool a full gym and a separate fitness room for aerobics and Yoga, an outdoor jogging track, basketball court, steam rooms, sauna and a Jacuzzi. There is a seating area that has a pool table and ping pong table along with a large smoothie bar and a TV playing ESPN. I had the Mango smoothie and it was AWESOME! I suggest you try one when you go. In the same area is the Spa and Salon. If you have anything done at the Salon you will check in and pay in the Spa. Here is the link to the spa including their pricing. http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/354f12a3#/354f12a3/8
Pools:
Typically our routine at an All Inclusive is to hit the beach and stay there until about 5:00. Then we would head to the pool bar for a dip in the pool and a frosty beverage before heading to the room to get ready for the evening. This is the one resort that we didn’t do that very often and probably my one big ??? for the resort. If you are a pool person then you may be disappointed in Swept Away. We have a VERY nice pool in our yard so a pool is not a high point on out list when we go to resorts. Out of all the resorts we have stayed at, the pool here is the smallest and very plain. There are 2 pools on the resort side and each one is at the end of the resort near the restaurants. The pool bar was always crowded and the swim up area is very small. There was always a large crowd there having a great time so it didn’t seem to bother them. What I noticed is that there is some maintenance that needs to be done on the pools themselves. There are a lot of little tiles missing around the edge. It is only cosmetic and didn’t affect the pools structure but it was something that stuck out in my mind. The pools are not large and in my opinion fairly plain and simple for a resort of this caliber. We had a couple of drinks a couple of days there but most days we just skipped what is our normal routine. If your expectations are for a high end spectacular pool then you may be very disappointed in the pools at the resort. For us, the pool is way down on the list of our priorities so it just isn’t a factor.
Bars:
The beach bars are spread out along the beach. There are 2 in between the 2 restaurants on each end. Our preference was the one closest to Sea Grapes and The Palms. They just seemed to make the drinks better and were always just a little more outgoing than the other Beach bar. We didn’t spend much time at the pool bar just because the pool wasn’t our favorite place to be. However, I did hear a lot of positive things from the bartenders at the pool bar so you may want to check it out. Drinks were always good and some of our favorites were Pink Paradise, Big Bamboo, Girl Scout Cookie, Swept Away Special , Miami Vice, Cliff Hanger, Amazing Grace. I always asked for Appleton Rum in the drinks versus the inexpensive stuff. The bars are stocked with many premium liquors including Jack Daniels, Crown Royal, Barcadi, Baileys and others. For beer they have Carib, Red Stripe and Miller lite. (I just don’t get drinking Miller Lite in the Caribbean) When we get our photos up I will have images of the drink menus that they have. Here is my recommendation for everyone and we started this years ago. Go to Walmart and buy you a double walled plastic cup with a screw on lid and a straw. The 24 ounce ones are best. The resort had no problems filling those with your beverage of choice and the way they are made it keep the sand out and they stay colder longer. I don’t know how many I could have sold if I had extras with me, The large mugs mean you have more drink and fewer trips to the bar.
Swept Away does have their “green flag” service on the beach. They will lay out a small green flag on a stick at most of the loungers. Jam it in the ground and that is the signal for someone to stop by and take your drink order. We never did this but others did. It is a nice service that you do not get at a lot of resorts. They stop by your loungers in the mornings with fruit kabobs if you would like one as well. I would say if you want to use this service your best bet is to sit closer to the beach bars as the servers will be closer to you.
There are several other bars throughout the resort. One is the pool swim up bar, another is inside Patois, one is in The Palms, The Martini bar is upstairs at The Palms, and the piano bar inside Club Aura. It looks like there is a bar at Sea Grapes but it is a smoothie bar only. The bar inside The Palms and Patois is primarily there to serve those restaurants when they are open.
The Martini Bar is above The Palms and next to Lemon Grass. The Martinis we had there were good. We are not Martini people so Becca ordered the Chocolate Martini and loveeeeed it. I had something fruity and it was tasty. A lot of people rave about the Martini Bar. I thought it was is in a strange location. It is located right next to the kitchen area that services Lemon Grass. To me it just seemed strange to have it there without any partition that would separate it from the bright glaring light in the kitchen. My restaurant background popped out and I kept thinking how much ambiance is lost with the placement where it is. Regardless, the drinks were good and the bartenders were friendly.
The bar in Patois (pronounced Pa’twah) is very large and it primarily serves the restaurant. We sat there one evening as we waited for our reservation at Feathers. The drinks and service were good. Nothing out of the ordinary but we didn’t spend a lot of time there either. This bar truly seems to be a bar for the restaurant and not much else happens here.
The Piano bar is fun. The actual bar is the same for the Night Club Aura. The piano has seats surrounding it and there is a lot of comfortable seating in the area. Drinks here were about the same as everywhere else. The piano bar itself is more of a Karaoke Bar than anything. The guy plays the piano while someone will sing. He sings some. It is a fun atmosphere. We didn’t hang out there a lot primarily because Becca is a trained pianist and it was hard for here to listen to how he played. She said he banged the keys and it was pretty hard sounding. Never the less, it was fun and I know a lot of people enjoy it. It is definitely worth checking out. They run between 9:00-11:00 and then the piano bar shuts down and Aura kicks on. The hard part is there are other “don’t miss” shows going on at the same time.
Night Club Aura:
The Night club is called Aura and is in the same area as the Piano Bar. They share the same bar area. That bar is essentially what separates the piano bar from the Night Club. We were there several nights and seating was never an issue. It wasn’t very crowded but we always enjoyed our time there. The dance floor isn’t huge and frankly I think it is about the right size since the club doesn’t get a lot of people there. Anything larger and it would be a waste of space. The music varies depending on the night but seems fairly trendy. They play a lot of the music we hear at weddings we photograph so it tends to be popular music with the younger age groups. In comparison to other night clubs it is about normal in the participation it gets. The only exception was when we went to the Riu Tequila in Mexico one evening. That place was cranking like a super popular club in the big cities. Other than that Aura seems to be a relaxed place that you can do some dancing and it wont be to crowded. Don’t expect it to be wall to wall people on the floor.
Restaurants:
The restaurants at SA were some of the best that we have eaten at during our stays at all inclusive resorts. This is an area that I try to be less critical than I would be if I were eating at a 5 star place in Houston, Dallas or New York. I understand that it is the Caribbean and things are done differently than what the typical foodie in the States is going to expect. What I did notice is that there is a decent amount of training that they do with their servers. One little thing that I picked up on but Becca missed until I pointed it out was the staff was always placing food on the left and picking up on the right. This is a little detail that told me someone was paying attention and trying to create a more upscale environment. In general the service was very friendly and at a Caribbean pace. There isn’t normally a rush for anything. There were a few quirks that would have been nice to know ahead of time. In all of the restaurants for dinner you will have a food waiter and a bar server. They are not always the best a communicating that but it helps to know what to expect. Any drink from the bar will be better ordered from the bar server. If you order it from the food server you may not get it. This is just something to keep in mind at dinner. Another little tidbit is they will want to seat you at any of the restaurants regardless if it is a buffet or not. The trouble is there are signs saying that your not at the entrance which is confusing since most of what seems like the main entrances are not the entrance where you would get sat from. This applies to Patois and The Palms. Just so you know the main entrance to both of these restaurants is at the area the farthest away from the beach. It is pretty easy to find if you know that you need to look for a hostess stand. Another thing is most of the restaurants are seated, 4-6 course service in the evening. The portions are not huge but we always seemed stuffed when dinner was over. If you are a big eater feel free to order 2 of whatever excites you on the menu. I usually ordered 2 appetizers and they never ever made an issue of it. I know there were people there that would order 2 entrees and it was not a problem. Overall, the service is on Caribbean time so just relax and enjoy the time you will spend with your partner.
The Palms:
The Palms is the main restaurant that will have a buffet on some nights and table service on others. It is located on the far left side of the beach if you were to have your back to the ocean. It is an open air restaurant. The food was always very good there and we had some real standouts during our stay. One was the Nut Crusted Grouper. This was AWESOME. Breakfast was always a buffet and had the standard all inclusive items. They open a little early with Continental breakfast only and at 8:00 am the hot food is available. The omelet station is popular and the items to choose from are fairly routine. You will not see a lot of dishes like you would see in Mexico. The breakfast is typically North American but there are some options that would be make the Europeans happy. Cappuccino and Espresso are available here as well as a self serve Mimosa and Bloody Mary Bar. We never ate lunch here so I have no clue what they served. After we looked back at it we only ate dinner when it was table service so I don’t have much that I can add about the buffet nights. We didn’t do this on purpose; it just worked out that way. All of our dinners here were very good with only one small exception. One evening Becca ordered a Blackened Mahi Mahi and it was over cooked and very dry. We mentioned it to the waiter who told us to wait just a minute. The next thing we know the head chef is at our table asking about the fish. We weren’t expecting that. We told him the issue and he apologized and asked if he could personally prepare another entrée for her. She declined since she wasn’t that hungry after eating the pasta. I felt like it was just that one extra touch that we have never seen at an all inclusive before. Every evening they had a pasta station that was more filler than a standout but it was something that you could get in addition to the 4 course meal that was served. One thing to note, try not to sit in the back near the side stage. The one time we did we sat about 2 tables away from the side of the stage and it was VERY warm there. We felt like it was at least 10 degrees cooler when you went to the area closer to the pool or ocean. If they try to seat you there then ask if you can sit at another location. Dress code in the evening was not that strict. Nice shorts and a shirt with sandals for guys is acceptable.
Patois:
Pronounced Pa’twah is located on the far right of the resort if you were facing the resort with your back to the ocean. It is in between the Cabana grill and Feathers. Patois is seated service at breakfast, lunch and dinner. This is where you will find the much talked about Stuffed French Toast for breakfast. What you don’t normally hear about is the Tropical Fruit Cosmopolitan with Honey Lime Yogurt. Both are excellent for breakfast. We typically ordered the Cosmopolitan everyday we were there and then tried something in addition to it. Becca’s fav was the Griddle Cakes. I enjoyed the Stuffed French toast and anything else we tried there. The eggs Benedict looked really good but I don’t eat runny eggs so I never got it. The biggest issue I have with Patois at breakfast was they do not offer cappuccino or espresso. Seems very odd. I asked one morning and they said they could do it but it would take about 30 minutes to get the machine running inside Feathers. I passed. The other thing that is odd during breakfast here is if you want a Mimosa. They are available but as you can see the juice and sparkling wine sitting out. However, it was hit or miss if you ordered one whether you actually got it or not. I didn’t make a big deal about it but it was a service glitch that just doesn’t match what you get at the resort. We never ate lunch here but we did see people with Pizza’s at the pool bar. I asked and they said you had to go into Patois and order them and then bring them outside. We didn’t bother. Dinner was really good each night we dined there. Service was about the same as The Palms with the waiter and cocktail waiter. If you are in a rush you may get annoyed as they tend to be fairly methodical here. Overall the food was very good and we did not have a bad item at all. The dinner menu changes once a week on Thursday so you can go there and see some different items. I had the lamb one evening and it was excellent. 2 other evenings I had a dish that had shrimp and scallops in a sauce over rice. It is called Vodka-Eskovitch Shrimp and Scallops. This was served in a fried rice paper shell. Becca woudnt taste it the first time I had it but got it the last night we were there. Her comment was she thought it was the best entrée she had eaten all week. It is very good but I wouldn’t say the best thing I had eaten. Here is a link to a photo of the evening menu. https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/vn-fFqJ01eIqFyCKulCUeI6hz3YI7mFP9pKvIO0O4RQ?feat=directlink
Cabana Grill.
The Cabana Grill is located close to the beach on the side of the beach closest to Patois. It is near the main pool and pool bar. It is primarily a snack bar grill and they say that it is open from 11:00am till 5:00am the next morning. We never ate there except at lunch and it looked pretty slow in the evening. They primarily server burgers, jerk chicken, fish sandwiches, meat pies, fries and onion rings. The service here is a little unusual. You will find menus at the bar area of the grill. There is an employee there that will take your order and hand you a number. You find a seat and they will bring the food to you with the exception of the chips and salsa/cheese. That is self service and you will see it near the fountain drink machine. The food was always good and an easy place to go for a lunch. The dress code allows swim suits so it is pretty relaxed. The item we enjoyed the most were the meat pies. They have 2 kinds, beef and chicken. For those that do not know what a meat pie is, they have a cooked chopped meat that is wrapped in a pastry dough and deep fried. They are really tasty. If you want to take them to the next level then ask the cook for a cup of Jerk sauce. Then go to the nachos area and drizzle the jerk sauce on the meat pie and then squirt some sour cream and guacamole on top of them. IT will be a little bit messy and not even close to healthy but it will be GOOD!
Seagrapes Café.
This is essentially the health food snack bar. It is located close to The Palms and right next to the watersports hut. The place has a cooking area that you are not supposed to go to. There is another section that looks like it is another beach bar but that is part of Seagrapes. In between those 2 spots there is seating and that is where you will go when you want to eat there. This is another place that is table service only. You can sit in the section that looks like the beach bar but we only did that the day it rained. The best bet is to take a seat and wait for someone to take your order. The menu will inside a picture frame that sits at each table. If you want a drink from a bar then you have to either go to the beach bar that is down the beach or to the bar in The Palms if it is open. Seagrapes only serves smoothies to drink. There is a fountain soda machine that is self-service that you can use. Here is a tip. Next to the fountain drink machine is an ice bin. Everyone thinks it is for the drink machine. However, the drink machine dispenses its own ice. This spot had canned beer under the ice for you to grab. So don’t get the ice for your coke there as it will not be clean. If you want a cold beer then dig around in that place for one. There are a couple of items that are a must here. One is the sweet potato chips and dip. They are addicting. Do yourself a favor and just order 2 orders of them. You will want more if you only order one. The Mediterranean sampler is good as well. Everyone raves about the fish tacos here but we never saw them on the menu. Probably just bad timing. For us it wasn’t a big deal since we can get AWESOME fish tacos around Houston. Try them if they are there. The fish sandwich was good with fresh fish. Also, the sushi was tasty. I am NOT a sushi lover so I couldn’t tell you if it was amazing or not. I enjoyed it and it seemed pretty harmless. We spent our lunch times between Seagrapes and the Cabana Grill each day. It would be perfect if you could get your meat pie at Seagrapes to go with the Sweet Potato Chips. But we cant have everything right? Here is photo of the menu at Seagrapes. https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/o4nqhCbZC_mUSFxYdxdiOo6hz3YI7mFP9pKvIO0O4RQ?feat=directlink
Lemon Grass.
Lemon Grass is Thai Style food and is located above The Palms restaurant. It is open air and partially outside on the balcony. This is where you will want to sit when you see it. There are large Tiki torches around the balcony that really give the place an awesome ambiance. This is one of the 2 restaurants that you will have to have reservations at. Those are made at the concierge booth at the main entrance. When you go, get there about 30 minutes early. Their seating is based on clearing the restaurant from the previous seating before seating the next group. Arrive about 30 minutes before your reservation and hang out at the Martini bar for a drink. About 10-15 minutes before your reservation get in line at the Hostess stand. If you are one of the first 4-5 couples you should get a table at the edge of the balcony with a view of the pool and the resort. When you go you will see what I am talking about. There is a dress code here but it is not as strict as Feathers. I choose to wear dress pants and shoes just to make sure but I could have gotten away with dress sandals. The food here is good. Nothing that really stands out but it is a nice change of pace. The best part of Lemon Grass is the ambiance so enjoy it. Here is a photo of the menu: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/7DhJ_QSDzVfSGqiduu_Hso6hz3YI7mFP9pKvIO0O4RQ?feat=directlink
Feathers.
Feathers is considered their most upscale restaurant and I would agree with that. It is located on the side of the resort next to Patois. It is the farthest from the beach and is in between the gift shop and Patois. This is a reservation only restaurant and just like Lemon Grass you will make your reservation at the Concierge Desk. The dress code here is the most stringent of any of the restaurants. There is very little reason to arrive early to Feathers since there is very little waiting area. You would be better off waiting at the bar in Patois until it is time for your reservation. Just like The Palms and Patois you will have a waiter and a beverage server. Drinks were good here. In my opinion, Feathers is the best of all of the restaurant’s on property. All the food was really good and well worth the trouble of abiding with the dress code. We ate there twice and like Patois they change their menu on Thursday. Some standouts that I enjoyed were the Seared Tuna appetizer, a roast duck appetizer and the filet mignon. They have a separate wine list that you can purchase bottles of wine from. In general it is an average wine list but there are a couple of bottles that are worth drinking for a special occasion. Overall the service is very good and the food is equally as good. If you have the time, try to eat there more than once. It is a do not miss in my book. Here is a photo of the dinner menu from one evening and the desert menu. https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/NcRrEDGz5D5TPBXMwpGSHI6hz3YI7mFP9pKvIO0O4RQ?feat=directlink
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/U705yvSGplIMYlFrfIeBH46hz3YI7mFP9pKvIO0O4RQ?feat=directlink
Be sure to try the Irish Coffee during the desert. It is fun.
Overall the food at Couples Swept Away is the best we have had at any of the all-inclusive resorts we have stayed at.
Wine
The wine at the resort is a label from Chili. Keep in mind, I am an admitted wine snob and keep a collection of around 100 bottles in my cellar. That is only limited by the money I have to spend on wine. The best I can say about the house wine is it is average. I didn’t choke on it when I drank it but after 2 days I could not drink it anymore. If I had one issue with CSA this would be it. The wine list they have is ok but it is fairly pricy for what I know is average wine in the states. We only bought a bottle on our anniversary dinner and the rest of the time I stuck to rum. (hard to go wrong with Appleton) Surprisingly, the sparkling wine (champagne) was reasonably drinkable. We saved the bottle that was left for us in our room and had it at Sunset on our last evening there.
Room
Our room was a Beachfront Verandah Suite. All of these rooms are on the beachfront and have some sort of view of the ocean. Typically the obstruction will be palm trees between your room and the beach. Our room was on the second floor in Building 42 room number 3217. We wanted a first floor room and the resort was willing to move us to the first available first floor suite the day after we arrived. However, we elected to stay where we were due to not liking the location of new room. The new room would have been right next to the main pool and pool bar and did not have as nice of a view as the room we were in. Our room was close to being halfway between The Palms and Patois so it was always about the same distance to the restaurants. The first floor rooms have a walk out access directly to the beach from their verandah. If you had a first floor room then your walk to the beach would have been about 20 feet. The second and third floor rooms have to go out the back and walk around to the front but it is very close to the beach.
The building is set up as independent groups of 12 rooms on 3 floors. They have 4 rooms per floor and all face the ocean. Ours happened to be on the end of the building so we had an extra set of windows which was really nice. The rooms that have the extra windows all have louvered wood shutters and it creates a nicer ambiance than the rooms that did not have them. The décor is very Caribbean island and not very fancy. All of the Beachfront Verandah Suits have air-conditioning and glass enclosed windows. (The beachfront suites do not have the glass enclosed windows but have a HUGE patio which would have been very cool.) All of the rooms have a verandah or balcony with a built in sofa, a rocking chair and a small table. This was my starting point each morning with a cup of coffee and some quiet time reading my bible. The room has double French doors that lead from the balcony to the room itself and is just one more feature that adds that island feel to the room. Inside the rooms are equipped with a flat screen TV, fridge, King bed, a wardrobe, desk and a chair, iron and ironing board and a small drawer/storage area. They had coffee makers and the in room coffee was actually pretty good if you made it with only 3 cups of water. (we like our coffee a lot stronger than many people do) The room itself is clean and comfortable and we had ample storage. If you know my wife you know we pack HEAVY for any trip we take and we had no trouble with the space. The a/c worked VERY well. Overall the room could use a little bit of a facelift. I little paint here and there would fix this. The bathroom is functional but not impressive. It features a standard size bath and a sink with a large lighted mirror. There are blow dryers in the room that worked from what I heard. If you are looking for a room that is ornate and very fancy then you will be disappointed in this resort. We liked the room and thought it was the best room we have ever stayed in due to its location which is a much higher priority than a fancy bathroom for us.
Room service is available for breakfast only and is included for free. There will be a door hanger on your door that is a menu. Just check off what you want and hang it on the outside of your door before 1:00 am and they will deliver it to you the next day. We did not have any issue with the maid service as they always had the room spotless and left towel art that we all find so fun. There is soap and shampoo in the bathroom for you to use. I have no clue if it is any good due to my hair issue.J They do have a turn down service that comes around 8:30 – 9:00. They will turn down the bed and leave a little card with a Jamaican saying on it. Pretty interesting. They provide towels for the beach in your room. If you want a clean towel during the day you can get one at the watersports hut. Bring them back to your room and they will be replaced during the turn down service.
Vow Renewal
This trip was for our 30th wedding anniversary and we celebrated it by renewing our wedding vows on the beach. The wedding coordinator was very nice and had everything set for us. Becca had upgraded her flower bouquet to a fancier one. You get a free bouquet but it was not what Becca liked. The cost for her to upgrade the flowers was $180. The cost for the ceremony is $250.00 and you get a choice of locations. We had made a mess of things and ended up having to book the “sunset” package for $500 more. It was totally our fault. We had booked our vow renewal at the wrong resort and by the time we figured it out our only option to have it on our actual anniversary was to do the sunset ceremony. The time for the normal ceremony is 4:00 in the afternoon and the Sunset ceremony is 5:00. My advice is not to waste your money on the sunset time as it is not really at sunset. There are options for photography and receptions and other things. We did not need all that. The ceremony came with the coordinator, music played from an ipod, the minister, a free bouquet, boutonniere, small wedding cake and champagne. Since we are wedding photographers we opted to find our own photographer for the event instead of using the resort photographers. By doing this the resort charges you a fee of $500.00 to bring in an outside photographer. It was well worth it after I saw the quality of the images that the resort produced. More on the photography below. Anyway, if you need a wedding photographer while in Jamaica and would like to pay for us to go we will happily photograph your destination wedding. If you want to find a local photographer then we highly recommend Stacey Clarke Photography. She did an awesome job and the quality of her work compared to the resort photographers is huge.
Shows and Don’t miss:
The shows in general are entertaining and similar to what you would see in other all-inclusive resorts. There are several that really stood out and generally those had bands that were not part of the entertainment staff on site.
The following are several shows and events that I would say they are don’t miss events.
Beach Bon Fire on Wednesday. The schedule says it starts around 10:30 but get there early to get a lounger. This is an absolute DON’T MISS when you are there. They set up a large bon fire on the beach near the Palms restaurant. Then they take a bunch of lounge chairs and set the in a huge circle that surrounds the fire. The chairs are covered with blankets and they are set next to each other for couples to snuggle up. While the fire is going there is a singer serenading everyone. It is very romantic. Grab some champagne or your favorite beverage and sit back and enjoy it.
Silverbirds Steel Drum Band. They played on Wednesday evenings where the show takes place at The Palms between 9-10:00. They are VERY entertaining. Get there early to get a decent seat. A lot of people eat there then just stick around until the show starts.
Friday Night Shipwreck Beach party starting around 8:30-9:00ish. If the weather is nice they will convert the beach close to The Palms into the beach party. They have a number of different buffet and carving stations and various bars. Around 10:00 they have a live show with dancers and fire breathers. It is fun and a nice atmosphere. The only thing we had a tough time was it was kind of hard to see what you were eating. Be sure to sit under a light so you will have some light to see what you are eating.
Reggae Night on Saturday at The Palms. This was a band performing that was really good. Dance to the music as this is what I always thought reggae in Jamaica would be like. The Palms is pretty big and there wasn’t a huge group there but the ones who stayed definitely enjoyed the music and dancing.
The Piano bar is generally considered a must do. Check it out and see how you like it. I am sure there is a bunch more but this is what stood out the most for us.
Excursions:
Catamaran: The catamaran ride is free but you need to sign up for it at the concierge desk. The cruise leaves around 3:30 and will last a couple of hours. They take you up the coast and around to the Lighthouse. Then they double back and pull into the cove at Ricks so you can see the place and see some of the jumpers. After that they head back and stop at a cave to let you swim for a bit. Be careful in the cave as the waves will tend to wash you into rocks. It is pretty shallow in the cave. By the time you return to Swept Away it will be around sunset and was very dramatic the day we went.
Snorkeling. They do offer a free snorkeling excursion but we chose not to go. We have snorkeled/scuba a lot mostly in Cozumel. Frankly it doesn’t get much better than that. I have read that a lot of people love it and I would say go and check it out. We just spent the time relaxing on the beach.
Zip Line: We took the Chukka zip line tour. It was back in the mountains near Montego Bay. The tour was $100 per person and lasted about 5 hours and most of that is the travel time. They pick you up in a small bus and there are a couple of stops along the way. The downside is it came a torrential thunderstorm when we arrived and we had to wait till the worst of it passed over. What was a huge disappointment is we started the tour in the rain so I had to leave my camera in a locker. I was really bummed about this as I had planned to take a lot of photos as well as video on the zips. Ce La vie. The tour was fun and the guides were funny. There were 11 zips at this location. They will tell you that there is a 270 pound weight limit but no one actually weighed anyone while we were there. The longest line is 1100 feet across a river canyon. It was a BLAST. This is the one time we actually used our bug spray and it was absolutely necessary. Don’t go without it.
Shopping. There is a free shopping excursion that you can take. It picks you up and drops you off at the entrance near the Photo Booth. You will need to sign up at that location before you go. They take you to the new shopping mall and spend about 2 hours there. It is not a bad place to go if you are looking for some different shirts. Most of the stuff there is standard souvenir junk and most of the shops have the same stuff. What I was told is there is a craft market down the road just before the bridge into Negril that has mostly locally produced items and art. Sadly we did not make it there but the next trip down we will go and see what is available. If you are going look for the market on the right side as you approach the Negril Bridge. It will look like a bunch of shacks. We also were told that you can go to Ricks and down the road from Ricks will be some shops that have some artists offering there stuff. Maybe on the next trip we will check that out as well.
There are some shops just down from the resort that have a lot of what you will see at the shopping mall. They are just past the Cabana Grill. Worth a short walk to see what is available. Just don’t expect a lot of unique stuff here.
There will be some people setting up stuff to sell on property that you can look at. The ones we saw are always by Seagrapes and The Palms. We generally don’t buy from vendors on site so I don’t know what kind of deals or prices they had. There was a lot of carved wood that I would say is more than likely mass produced, jewelry, leather sandals and some art work.
We were told there was a good place to shop on the other side of Beaches that had nice wood bowls. We walked up there and found a single shop that wasn’t that much different from the rest so I don’t know if we found the right place. We did not go out to the road so it may have been there. From what I saw I wouldn’t spend the time going there as you can see the same stuff right next to The Cabana Grill.
Photo People. The resort has photographers everywhere. They do not charge you to take your photo and they will be around from morning till night. They always ask if they can take your picture and then they have them available to view and purchase at the photo desk near Feathers. Typically they will do some normal poses and then something silly. The prices are not cheap to buy the photos but more of the image cost tends to cover labor.(I understand that) I have a unique perspective on this and after receiving a print done by who ever prints their work in the states I would strongly suggest NOT buying anything that will be printed. The 11×14 we bought was shipped in a box that was to small so part of it wrinkled. The print was actually longer than box so they taped the box closed in a point. It did nothing to protect the image. The image itself is VERY average as far as the print quality. Keep in mind that I am a professional wedding photographer and know quality work when I see it. What they give you will be average at best. If you really want some of the images that they do of you during the week only get the digital copy of them and print them yourselves or just have friends take them with your own camera. I hate to say that as I like to promote people in the business but I wont do so when they are supplying inferior products at a professional photographer price. After watching them work a wedding and seeing what they capture I would NEVER use them for a wedding. That is to big of an event to get photos that look like crap. The albums they had to choose from were lower quality than what our company provides for a parent or engagement book. Again, my critique here is coming from a unique perspective from being in the business. Here is a photo of the pricing for the photos there. It is not a price list for the wedding photos. I didn’t feel comfortable taking that picture during our meeting with the wedding coordinator. https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/vhYwghp-Vm3fvH3QUWcSs46hz3YI7mFP9pKvIO0O4RQ?feat=directlink
Tips: Some random thoughts on what we would suggest to a first timer.
Spend the extra money for the Beach Front Verandah Suite. Overall it is the best located room we have ever had.
Don’t fall for anyone saying you need to change your currency to Jamaican Dollars. We talked to a couple that fell for that and had to find a way to spend it. Everywhere we went they accepted American dollars and made change in American dollars. If anyone tells you otherwise just ignore it and save your money.
Take your insulated mug with you. No one gives you any grief about it and they keep your drink cold and you make fewer trips to the bar.
Try as much of the food as you can. Don’t be afraid to order 2 entrees or appetizers.
Get a Meat pie at The Cabana Grill.
Get 2 orders of Sweet Potato Chips at Seagrapes.
Do the zipline tour if you have never done one before. They are fun.
Don’t forget to get 2 customs forms on the plane or one for each person in your group.
Pack several pens in your carry on to use during the flight to fill out your customs forms.
Pack a couple of ziplock bags to keep your camera in or whatever you want to keep dry and clean.
Get ready to hear a chorus of Tree Frogs. I have never heard anything like it and I have lived in the country before. Very Unique.
Don’t bother bring a blow up float. The mats on the chairs double as floats and work perfectly.
Pack plenty of sunscreen since it is expensive to buy on site. They have it but you will pay.
If you have hair then bring your own conditioner. The resort does not provide it for you. Becca brought shampoo, conditioner and liquid soap. I just used the stuff on the wall.
There are people that bring twinkle lights and string them up on the balcony. I said that next time we went I was bringing my own. It just seemed really cool at night.
Bring sweet n low if that is all you will use. Otherwise it is Equal or Splenda.
Don’t drink the Ting. You will get hooked on it and you cant find it back home.
We took our iphones and used them to check email via the in room wifi. It worked good and bad depending on the time of day. The nice part is the Iphone doesn’t take up much room.
DO NOT wear new shoes on the zipline tour. They will get messy.
If you are going to go horseback riding bring pants for sure. Tennis shoes are a plus for this as well.
Have your insulated mug handy in your carryon. Use it to fill up with beer or soda at the airport Couples Lounge on arrival for the trip to the resort.
If you leave any food in the room be sure to keep it in the icebox to keep the ants from finding it. The only time we saw any ants was when we left a piece of cake outside overnight.
To sum it all up, we loved our stay at Couples Swept Away and plan to return there again. It is without a doubt our new favorite all inclusive. I can definitely see why someone would make 33 trips there.
