Review: Couples Ocho Rios All-Inclusive Resort

Recently, my husband and I celebrated our 10^th anniversary at an All-Inclusive (AI) Resort. There is nothing else like it! Once you book and pay for your trip, everything on the resort in included in the price. Depending on the AI resort you choose, there may be additional excursions included. We went to Couples Ocho Rios in Jamaica and had a fantastic vacation. It is known as the first AI in Jamaica and Couples sure has perfected it over the years. The resort has such charm and even though it is one of the older ones, they have done quite well with the upkeep. Couples Ocho Rios is a beautiful resort and as the name suggests, it is for couples only - no children allowed.

Hotel Lobby
The lobby is very pleasant and open to the ocean. The décor is what I imagined it to be - very Caribbean with lots of bright colors. Upon arrival, we were greeted, given a cool towel, and offered a drink of our choosing. You can feel the cool breeze from the ocean and smell the Jamaican air.

Hotel Room
The rooms are very nice. We stayed in a recently renovated Deluxe Garden Room. Although we did not have an ocean view room, our view was beautiful. The plush garden with lovely trees and flowers is amazing. I think we will opt for the ocean view on our next trip though. The floor is tiled, there are double doors that open to the balcony, and the air conditioner worked great. The bathroom was small, but in good condition. There is also a small safe in the room to keep your valuables such as passport and jewelry.

Food
There are four restaurants to dine in for dinner: Bayside, Le Gourmet, Calabash, and Verandah. Not all of these are open every night and some take reservations. The food was wonderful and plentiful. We enjoyed the steak, lobster, pumpkin soup, chocolate croissants, delicious desserts, and so many other things. The drinks are plentiful too. You can get almost any drink you want any time of the day. Just ask and they will make it for you. The only room service available is a continental breakfast. You should definitely try this at least once. We had fresh fruit, yogurt, cereal, chocolate croissants, fresh juice, and the famous Blue Mountain coffee. We enjoyed breakfast in our room every day except the one time we ate at the buffet.

Excursions and Activities
One of the great benefits of choosing Couples is that there are several off-site excursions included in the cost of your trip. We enjoyed horseback riding and climbing the waterfall at Dunn's River Falls. You can also go on one of the shopping tours to Ocho Rios. Everything was included for these off-site excursions except for tipping the driver and the guides. Some of the water sport activities included in your stay are snorkeling, kayaking, glass bottom boat ride, hobby bikes, water skiing, wind surfing and of course the beach and pool. The beach is small, but very nice. The resort is built into a cove so there are rocks and a cliff on each side of the beach area. There was always a chair available and the water was amazing. There were not too many shells though. The pool was just okay. I was actually disappointed that it was not bigger and that there was only one. It was clean and cool and when I needed a break from the salt water it was refreshing.

Service
What impressed us the most was the amazing service we received. It was out-of-this-world. Not once did an employee seem annoyed or bothered that we were asking for something. In fact, they usually asked us before we had the chance to make a request. They were extremely friendly and there to serve you, really serve you. The service was impeccable!

What an amazing trip! We will be returning some day. All-Inclusive is the way to go.