Couples Negril: Scott & Debbie - March, 2015
Couples Negril
There is a lot to like about Couples Negril, but there were some major
problems in execution that dragged my rating down, almost to three
stars.
The resort is nice if getting a little
dated. The rooms are on the smaller side and oriented such that there
are few good beach views, but I knew that going in. Each room has a
balcony or porch and it was nice to sit on the balcony in the morning
and watch the resort "come alive" while sipping on the our juice. Some
of the rooms in Building 6 (and the end rooms in Building 9) overlooked
the Nude Beach, but that did not seem to be a big problem on either
side.
The resort was completely full while we were there but at no time did it
seem crowded and we did not have to wait for anything other than
watersports.
We arrived on Thursday night which
should have been the beach gala. Unfortunately it was raining so it was
moved to the normal buffet restaurant. It was fine and the ice sculpture
looked nice.
On many of the meals they had signs for
vegetarian and gluten free items in the buffet line. Unfortunately they
did not do this for all of the meals. Similarly the salads and deserts
were usually named, but the salads were not labeled as to their
vegetarian/vegan/gluten free status.
We ate in the two main "sit down"
restaurants and had a private dinner.
Otaheite, the dressier of the
restaurants, requires reservations but we had no problem getting those.
The food and the service were both good but not great. I did like the
"love seats" that the couples had. Anyone in a group of four or more had
traditional tables.
Lychee is the Asian restaurant. I liked
the food much better than Otaheite. Unfortunately my wife did not care
for her entree and no effort was made to fix the problem and she did not
want to press it. I thought the waiter should have at least inquired why
she did not eat it.
Now comes the main problem... three
weeks in advance I purchased a package that included a private dinner. I
made sure the Tree House was available and reserved that. Or so I
thought. Unfortunately they did not inform the Spa of that and when we
checked in it was discovered that the Tree House was not available since
someone was getting a massage at that time. They tried to juggle the
times some to accommodate everything, but In the end they moved us to
the massage hut on the beach (it was raining again) and gave us a resort
credit to compensate. That was nice, but they should have reserved the
space three weeks before so the double booking would not be a problem.
The actual dinner was fine although they
could have used a second waiter. I don't know if it was due to the rain,
the distance on the beach, or what, but there were long gaps while the
waiter was off getting stuff and simple things like refilling water
glasses did not get done. When you pay $179 for a romantic dinner you
don't really want to have to get up and refill your glasses. I felt the
dinner was nice, but badly overpriced.
We spent most of each day lounging on
the beach and the resort worked very well for that! The beach chairs
were fine and I liked the "floats" for use in the water.
We spent all our time on the nude beach. The only time we went on the
main beach was during our beach strolls and to go to the watersports.
The nude beach is small with three rows of about ten to twelve lounges,
with the bar off to one side, horseshoe and boules pitches at the back
and a hot tub behind that. There are a couple of large trees in the
front left near the guard shack (beware of the branches – I ran my head
into one of those twice, with near fatal consequences – there was a
metal hook in the branch about two inches from where I hit the second
time). A small restrooms is by the trail leading off the back of the
area.
The nude beach bar was never crowded and when it rained really hard
everyone just gathered under the roof of the bar until it stopped. That
was the only time there was a group of people around the bar. Usually it
was just a single person getting drinks for them and their partner. The
bartender also went around asking if people wanted drinks and picking up
the cups. The hot tub was almost never used and never by more than two
people.
The nude beach is for nude couples only. There were a couple of times
that dressed people ordered drinks from the bar, consumed them and then
left. I thought that should not be allowed “Shirt? Shorts? No Service!”
should be the sign. Most people go into the ocean just nude, while
others wrap the “floaties” around them. My wife would put on her suit
and go out. The day we were leaving the security guard came over to my
wife after we got back from wading and reminded her that this was a nude
beach (my wife was nude by that time), so I guess she was not supposed
to go into the ocean with her bikini on.
The nude beach is directly next to (the soon to be ex-) Grand Lido
Negril. It will be very interesting to see how the construction at that
site impacts Couples Negril in general and the nude beach in particular.
Also it sounds like that portion of the new Royalton Resort will be a
“family resort” so it will be interesting to see how that might change
things on the nude beach. It’s not like Royalton doesn’t know the Nude
Beach is there, but I wonder how they will handle the inevitable
complaints!
I went sailing one day on the Hobie
cats. They had three small hobies in use plus one with no sail along
with a larger Hobie and a Sunfish (with no sail). I would have loved to
have taken out the larger Hobie but no one was available for a lesson
and I have never used a hobie with a jib before. So I had to wait 45
minutes (first come - first served) for one to be available. I would
have preferred to be able to make a reservation or something where I
could come back in a little bit, but I was afraid that if I left I would
lose my place in line and have to wait longer. They could really use
some cold water or something by the watersports hut as the "red flag"
waitress did not come down that far.
My wife tried to go kayaking but was
told they only had two person kayaks so she could not go by herself.
There was a one person kayak there but it "had to be certified" before
it could be used. How do you certify a kayak and how long does that
that? Not being able to kayak was her biggest complaint about the stay.
We had a Couples Massage in the Tree Hut. It was neat to listen to the waves during the massage, but you are either face down or have your face covered the entire time, so the ambiance of the Tree House was not that big a deal. There is also a massage hut on the beach where people would be walking by all the time during your massage. I thought that would bother my wife (so I had gone for the Tree House instead) but she said it was no big deal. The massage was nicely done and relaxing.
