Couples Sans Souci Resort; 2012

We returned to Ocho Rios, Jamaica and the beautiful Couples Sans Souci Resort. When we were there 2 years ago we absolutely loved it. We stayed for 7 days back then but this time we decided to increase our stay to 10 days. I'm so glad we did. The weather was perfect. Again we requested the Begonia Building, or B block. Our room was B12, which was on the far right end as you look at the building from the beach. We had a great location for the Friday night gala, main pool, beach bar, and of course, the beach.

On this trip I decided to make a video of the entire resort instead of taking a bunch of pictures. Of course, I did take a lot of pictures also but the video came out pretty good...I think. Check it out!

We arrived on Thursday, August 30th. This meant that we would have 2 Friday night Galas! We intentionally planned the trip so that we would have the 2 Gala nights. I'm still amazed at the work they put in every Friday to put on the Gala. They start setting up around 9:30 AM and work all day long until around 5:30 PM. The Gala starts at 7:30 PM. It's a huge buffet spread with entertainment afterwards. This is a highlight of your visit.

They also have a beach party every Tuesday. It's a smaller version of the outdoor buffet set on the sand of the beach but it's not that much smaller. It's another great event to attend during your stay. The other nights are up to you. You can choose to eat at the Casanova Restaurant, which is a semi-formal restaurant. You will need reservations for this restaurant. Resort casual is the dress. Slacks and collared shirts for guys. Or, you can choose the Pallazina Restaurant. You can wear dress shorts in this open air restaurant. You could also choose the Bella Vista restaurant where you can dress down. It's open air where you eat on the beach. (during the day it's the Beach Grill)

HERE is an aerial view of the entire site by Jeff Brint. It shows the various buildings and other sites. You can see how spread out the property really is!

Of course, I took plenty of my own cigars. I took around 50 cigars which would average 5 cigars per day. I thought that would be enough and it was...barely! I did buy 4 cigars from the on site shop but sadly I do not believe they are real Cuban cigars. They tasted pretty good but they did not taste like the Cubans I've had before. Here are some pics of a sampling of cigars I had on the beach.

Ashton VSG

Fuente Sungrown

My Father

Pepin JJ Series Salamone
(with Connie in the background)

Vegas de Santiago D8



Fake Cohiba EL 2011
(picked up in downtown Ocho Rios)

San Lotano Habano



Real Cohiba Siglo VI



Fuente Don Carlos



Real PSD4



Opus X Chili Pepper



Opus X Princess "D" (for Connie)



Our 2 Opus X cigars with our drinks

 Now for some shots around the property.

Begonia Building (B Block)

 

 

 

 

 

Sonya and Connie floating on the water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These large spiders are all over the higher elevations of the property. Several were seen with webs spread between the tree branches where they feed on passing moths and other insects. I estimated them at around 4 inches across the legs. We did not see many of them on the beach level which was ok with me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Carnival Freedom sails off the north side of the resort. Ocho Rios is one of their stops.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Mineral Pool at night.

 

This is the Cotton Tree. It's massive and is located adjacent to "A" Building and the pond.

 

 

Connie is dwarfed by this massive tree!

 

 

The roots are much larger than Connie's legs!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We left the "reservation" for only one day during our stay. We booked a river tubing adventure. All 10 of us in the group went. We had a great time. The water was quite cold! The river was class 1 and 2 rapids so they weren't too bad but you had to really pay close attention if you wanted to smoke your cigar and tube at the same time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The whole gang!

 

 

 

Here are some shots of Connie and I around the property.

 



Here are some shots of us in the evening.

The video will give you a good idea of what the entire site looks like. It's absolutely beautiful. As you will see in the video Connie loved walking the beach everyday. On our last night at the resort she walked the beach for one last time.

We're already looking forward to our next visit tentatively scheduled for 2014. I could easily visit this resort every year!