I just recently visited Couples Swept Away in Negril and I was totally satisfied with this establishment. First off alot of my friends said oh don't go to Jamaica because you won't be able to leave the hotel. I found it just to be the opposite. From the moment I arrived in the airport till the time I boarded the plane to leave the people were so friendly and never felt threatened in any way.

Everything about CSA was top notch from the food to the hotel grounds and the staff was amazing. There is so much to do and I recommend if you do nothing else your whole trip go to Rick's Cafe. Imagine yourself on a Cliffside, reagge band playing in the background, people from all over the world, sun setting on the horizon in the backdrop.

The water is amazing and the people very friendly. I will definatley return to this hotel and highly recommend it to anyone looking to go to Jamaica.

Flight
If you are flying with Thomson from the UK, don't bother with the Upgraded seats. We didn’t bother when we booked the holiday, but when we checked in they had a buy one get one free. Cost us £160, and we thought why not as it was a special trip. Free alcohol, more leg room etc… sounds fab! Free alcohol = everyone is half cut and a little more rowdy (I was with them, when in Rome!), and those few more inches don’t make much difference when the person in front of you reclines their seat, those seats recline a long way! When we flew back we had normal seats which were just fine but they charge you for more entertainment, on a long haul flight you’d expect this to be included but lots of people have Iphones and tablets now.
Flight was good though, but not worth the extra money.

Arrival
When we arrived it was lovely, the airport is so quiet and we had a drink in the Couples Airport bar which was a nice touch. The baggage was then put on the bus for us and they do like a little tip so take lots of small $ notes.

The transfer is about an hour and a half and you do get a toilet break and this is when I want to point out you may get offered “smoke” a lot of the time. This was the first time I got offered it, didn’t bother me but it might bother others. A simple no thanks, that’s not for me and they’ll leave you to it.

Arrived at the hotel and welcomed with a drink, nice easy check in. The layout of the hotel is what I liked. It wasn’t a complex full of rooms, there are blocks of rooms scattered around separated by ponds full of Koi, palm trees and lovely plants. It’s so easy to get lost but that’s half the fun!

You have to put $300 on the room. We didn’t know this when we got there and had no credit cards but they take cash. It’s for the no cash policy in the hotel shops etc. It comes off your room account and you get what’s left at check out.

Rooms
The rooms do need upgrading, I didn’t mind though but my wife did. The room was clean and cleaned everyday but it’s just the general finish around the room let it down. Mini bar is awesome and having a fridge full of Ting is amazing! I saw a lot of people moaning about road noise but it didn’t bother us and we were quite close to the road.

Beach
The beach is amazing! As we were getting married out there we had family in other hotels including the other Couples Negril resort and we walked the beaches and saw the hotels and the beach at CSA is amazing and much nicer than the others. Couples Negril was nice but I was use to CSA and preferred it where our family preferred Couples Negril, so don’t worry about which one is nicer because everyone has different opinions. Some of people walking the beach selling gifts and “smoke” can be a little pushy but everyone is safe, lots of security and if you say no enough they will leave you alone. You won’t get it anywhere else, only the beach.

Pools
The pools are really nice as well, didn’t use the deeper pool next to Palms, more the pool by the pool bar and Patois. The sun loungers were a bit of a pain though. They have lovely sun loungers but the “wake up at the crack of dawn and put your towel on a lounger but not show up till 2pm” was very prevalent! I know lots of people do this and without being xenophobic, blame it on the Germans, but its not! Everyone does it, but it’s not really our style, so be warned, get practicing for marking your territory.
The sports complex across the road is amazing though. We headed over there most days as the lap pool is so quiet, and lots of “unmarked” loungers, nice place to chill out. Definitely worth checking it out! They have a pool table, table tennis, gym, tennis courts, TV for sports etc over there, something for everyone!

Food
Food was good where ever you go. Palms was buffet / al la carte and they have something for everyone. Patois is al la carte and all very nice but we preferred Palms. Lemon Grass and Feathers you have to book into. Lemon Grass isThai and is ok but we only went once but Feathers is Continental and we went a few times as it is really nice. The Cabana Grill is good as well, go get your Jerk chicken and burgers etc and Sea Grapes had Fish and Vegetarian. The Sweet Potato Chips (crisps) are so good in Sea Grapes and the Snapper Fish tacos and sandwiches are the best! There is always at least one place open for food though, even at 4am!

Wedding

Wedding had a shaky start when we were told that our documents had not arrived soon enough, but the wedding team sorted it all out for us, ones of the benefits of getting married abroad as that it’s all taken care of for you! One thing you can’t guarantee is the weather; it didn’t rain all day until the minute we were due to get married. Didn’t bother us to much after it calmed down. Our meal on the beach was postponed but we had it the next day, very romantic! Wedding pics are sooo expensive, and they were a little bit cheesy for what we wanted but we ordered 7 pictures @ $20 a picture. Their photo packages start from $700 for not many pics! But! This is a must! They have a trash the dress package, its $300 and they take you out on a boat to Ricks Café on your own and get you to jump off into the sea in your wedding attire! It was scary but so worth it! The pictures are sooo cool, you get 25 of them and it just helped to make our wedding so amazing! Its also worth adding the dress actually might get damaged!! My partners dress had a slight tear down the zip but it’s easily fixed and was so worth it!

There is loads to do in the hotel as its ultra all inclusive. We didn’t do everything but what we did do was take a free trip into the shops in Negril (wait to do this before you buy any souvenirs in the hotel) and the catamaran tour to Ricks Café is definitely worth doing. You could also snorkel, take boats out, and take tennis lessons.

Be warned though there are some groups at the hotel and sometimes can be a bit rowdy. It didn’t bother me to much as everyone’s on holiday making the most of all inclusive which everyone’s paid a lot for, but for some people it might be a little loud.

Little tips – Don’t take Jamaican Dollars, everyone wants American Dollars. Take smaller notes $1, $5, $10 etc (handy to have and makes your wallet look fatter), if someone asks if you want drugs just reply “We’ve got some thanks”, it’s easier than saying no, no, no thanks. This is the most important. On a Thursday they do Banoffee Pie in Palms! It is amazing! It’s so good that I asked for it to be added on to our meal of the beach, and it was, and it was amazing!

We were worried before we went about the wedding pics and everything wedding related so if you have any questions just contact us and ill try my best to answer them.

Its difficult to find anything to make a negative comment about.
From the moment you arrive, check-in is so smooth. The rooms are so comfortable and the verandas are larger than most apartments c/w lounge settees, hammock and chairs.The staff cannot do enough for you at any time, We must say staff are so friendly and helpfull
The entire complex is enveloped in truly tropical grounds which sets Swept Away in a class of its own. You really notice this if you take the Catermaran or numerous other Boat cruises and look back to view Swept Away from out on the Ocean.
The sports centre is capable of accommodating the most demanding of visitor, the coaches are of excellent standard, as are the range of equipment and facilities
My wife thoroughly enjoyed, treatments offered in the health salon.
Swept Away Beach is probably the best you will place your feet onto anywhere, the range of watersports available gives plenty of options for the active members of any party during the daytime. For the evening the choice of food and resteraunt's is excellent.
Would we go again? Absolutely

We stayed at Couples Swept Away for 4 nights and our room was in the Garden Verandah Suites. The room was nice, we were on the bottom floor so we could walk out on the porch and out for the day/night. The room was simple and provided everything we needed - spacious, a refrigerator with drinks, wi-fi, tv (although we never watched it), plenty of towels, turn-down service at night. The resort is big and has a lot to offer from the beach, to water activities, to bars and nightlife, food and pools and a complete fitness center. There's something there for everyone. The beach is nice, although it can get a bit annoying with the photographers coming up to ask to take your picture and the locals trying to sell their goods, but if you can look past that, then it is nice and relaxing. The drinks are yummy and the food is good. Definitely make reservations for Lemon Grass and Feathers. The dinner buffet is so so, but the breakfasts and the lunch buffet is good. Patios is by far our favorite though. All three meals are great and it was never crowded. The night entertainment is okay - try and see the Steel Drums on Wednesday night. That was the best show we saw. If you can, go out on the Catamaran (you need to make a reservation). It's a fun trip and something enjoyable to do. I don't snorkel or scuba dive, but my husband does and did and he enjoyed it. Just make sure you make the reservation for scuba diving as soon as possible! They book up fast and space is limited. Everyone that works there is friendly and accommodating. It really was a fun and relaxing, not to mention, romantic get away and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We hope to go back again!