Paradise honeymoon at Couples, Ochos Rios

Advantages: No kids, loads to do
Disadvantages: American tourists, strange booking system for activites

..., and you should eat here at least once in the evenings to get a true taste of Jamaica. Mmmmm, jerk chicken, hot and spicy! Continental restaurant - standard European fare, nicely served in a pleasant atmosphere. Thankfully air-conditioned. (You may tell by now that I am fair skinned and wilt easily lol). French restaurant: this is formal dining at 2 sittings; you have to book and can only dine once per week (the only restriction we found on food and drink). Excellent 5 course banquet and piano music to accompany! The food is not exceptional in any of the restaurants - genuine foodie gourmets would be disappointed, but we found it good enough (my husband is a trained chef). There are two main bars: one next to the pool and main restaurant, and a piano bar where you can relax with a drink before dining in the Continental or French...

Ali1000 19.12.2004 (15.04.2007) · Read review
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Review of Couples Ocho Rios Resort (Jamaica)

Couples Ocho Rios

Advantages: Total Luxury, Watersports, NO KIDS
Disadvantages: Shopping Trip - Not worth the grief

...Last month my wife and I spent a most memorable week at Couples, Ocho Rios. The whole resort was totally amazing, the staff were attentive, helpful and just couldn't do enough to make our holiday the most amazing experience! The resort itself had 5 restaurants ranging from a beach bar that served all sorts of snacks from nachos to jerk chicken to what were the strangest hot dogs my wife ever had in her life! Other choices of eateries were a very fancy french restaurant to the fantastic pasta eatery on a small pier over the sea, very romantic, especially by candlelight! The choice of watersports was fabulous, from Scuba diving (at no extra charge!), to waterskiing, snorkelling, even a sunset cruise and it was all included in the price! There were extras, but you aren't pushed into opting for any of these! The atmosphere was totally...

Pookiebear 05.11.2000 · Read review
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Review of Couples Ocho Rios Resort (Jamaica)

Jamaica Grande

Advantages: Lots of different restaurants and bars
Disadvantages: hassle to buy ganja from the locals

...My husband and I got married at the jamaica Grande in Ocho Rios. This is a fantastic resort with lots of restaurants and bars. The chinese restaurant in particular is vey good although they do change the menu quite a lot so if you find something you really like it doesn't mean it will be on the menu again! The hotel rooms are nicely furnished but one of the best things is that you get free bath & body works toiletries ( shampoo, conditioner, body lotion etc )The only problem with All Inclusive hotels in Ocho Rios is that when the cruise ships come in, the american paying guests stay over and they will always get priority in the queue for the bar ( because they give big tips ) Other than that, you will be waited on hand and foot. Dunns river falls is an excellent trip from this resort as it is quite close by. You get to climb up...

poppet 09.08.2000 · Read review
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Review of Ochos Rios (Jamaica)

Grand facilities at the 'Grande'

Advantages: Lots of facilities and good choice of restaurants
Disadvantages: Rooms are more basic than you'd probably expected

...When I travelled to Jamaica with work we stayed in a few hotels in different locations and the one we stayed in whilst in Ocho Rios was this one. I have to admit that although I was looking forward to it I was a little disappointed to be moving from the hotel we had stayed at in Negril as it was a luxury hotel. So I was hoping that this one would be nice in its own way! The hotel: The Sunset Jamaica Grande is a hotel in the 'Sunset' group of hotels. The hotel is the largest of the three in the group and is rated as a 4 star standard. The hotel is made up of one main building and two tower blocks which are very easy to spot from a distance due to their bright yellow colour! Location: The hotel sits on the edge of the bay and in a prime position directly on the beach which is also private to hotel guests. The hotel is...

frankiecesca 13.01.2009 (14.01.2009) · Read review
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Review of Sunset Jamaica Grande Resort, Ocho Rios

New Old Jamaica

Advantages: A good combination of flavours
Disadvantages: Quite sweet

...Cadbury Bournville Old Jamaica (180g bar) Look what I found on the shelves at Morrisons! Well, I checked with Ciao that I could review this bar. They replied that I must point out at the beginning of this review that it is about the new bar and not the old one as this is the general topic for the product. Cadbury discontinued Old Jamaica a few years ago but now it is back by popular demand. Hooray!!! The details on the back of the wrapper say that, like the original bar, they are still using cocoa beans shipped from Ghana and the much loved raisin and rum flavours. It then goes on to say that Bournville are proud to unveil a new twist on an old favourite. I am going to have to delve deep into my memory to try and establish what this ?new twist? is. As with all my other reviews, I write about my experiences as I sample...

bryspy 06.07.2009 · Read review
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Review of Cadbury Old Jamaica

Jamaica Inn - Not Hitchcock's Finest Hour

Advantages: Interesting concepts in the film about olden days and smuggling?
Disadvantages: Poor acting from all main characters, poor direction from Hitchchcock

...Jamaica Inn was Alfred Hitchcock?s last film he directed in the UK before leaving us for the US and it seems his mind wasn?t really in it as you might be able to tell from my review below. The film was an adaptation of the Daphne du Maurier novel (which had the same name) and starred Maureen O?Hara, Charles Laughton, Robert Newton, Leslie Banks and Marie Ney. In the 1800s Bodmin Moor in Cornwall was rife with smugglers, Jamaica Inn was famous for being a base for smugglers and smugglers would deliberately lure ships in order to wreck them so they could plunder them for the goods on board. This film is set in a time before British Coast Guards existed. Mary (O?Hara) turns up at the home and inn of her aunt Patience (Ney), Jamaica Inn as she has been orphaned. Patience is married to the brutish Joss (Banks) who is not happy to see...

anonymili 10.03.2009 · Read review
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Review of Jamaica Inn (DVD)

Probably Best sunsets in Jamaica

Advantages: Sun, sunsets, rum, beaches
Disadvantages: Hassle from vendors, not a lot of attractions

...Intro Negril is a tourist town on the NW of the island of Jamaica. Numerous hotels of all sizes and budgets are located along this, essentially one street town. You'll also find a never ending assortment of bars, cafes and restaurants, many located right on the beach. Getting Here Chances are if you fly into Jamaica, you'll land in Montego Bay. Negril is located about and hour and a half to the West. Your choices are transport are light aircraft, taxi or hire car. You can also get a bus but it doesn't go directly from the airport. A one way 15 minute flight with TimAir will cost you around $70 each. A private taxi can be bargained with, it'll probably cost you $50 or so. The journey by road is somewhat hair-raising, by comparison the flight is pretty tranquil if slightly cramped. Getting Around Once you're here, you...

Kingseany 28.02.2006 · Read review
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Review of Negril (Jamaica)

Couples Resort, heaven on earth - Honeymoon week 1

Advantages: No kids, excellent value for money
Disadvantages: small beach (albeit private)

...Well, here we are. Where are we? Oh, sorry, you're not all with us are you as my hubby and I embark on the first week of our honeymoon. We are in Jamaica and will be spending the first week at Couples, Ochos Rios. Having booked our transfers at the Couples desk on Montego Bay airport (there'll be an op on the airport shortly) we are whisked to a waiting minibus (via two porters and two expensive tips…. (tipping can be a bit of a problem in Jamaica - see my general op for details if you are interested)) for onward transport to Ochos Rios. We are the only people in the bus. Ohos Rios lies less than 50 miles from Montego Bay and so I was interested to find out why the transfer was due to take 2 hours. I wish I had remained in blissful ignorance of the reasons. The roads in Jamaica are not good and indeed many are hard to...

CareBear 15.05.2001 · Read review
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Review of Couples Ocho Rios Resort (Jamaica)

Smugglers' haven - Jamaica Inn

Advantages: Experience it in half a day, interesting
Disadvantages: Can be costly

...On a cold, grey, wet, blustery morning, the dark building loomed on the peak of Bodmin Moor. It stood isolated and bleak; a true haven for smugglers past. Streams of water fell down our faces despite the hoods and hats. Rain soaked our clothes and the occasionally groaning could be heard as someone stepped into deep puddles or was splashed by passing cars. Thus began our exploration of Jamaica Inn... Jamaica Inn Jamaica Inn was originally built in 1750 as a coaching inn and acted as a staging post for people to change horses for the long journey across the moor. A coach house, stables and a tack room were added to the Inn towards the end of the eighteenth century. It was built at a time of heavy smuggling and, indeed, it has been estimated that around half of the brandy and a quarter of all tea being smuggled into...

Loopylooploo 17.08.2009 · Read review
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Review of Jamaica Inn, Cornwall

Riu Club Hotel Negril (JAMAICA)

Advantages: The Sun, The People, The Life
Disadvantages: Let Me Know If You Find Any

...This place is simply the best hotel and holiday I have ever, ever had. Now I could leave it at that but I expect you want a bit more information to as why? The Riu Club Hotel Negril (also refferred to as Riu Negril) is all inclusive so you don't need to worry about paying while away. Please remember if you go to Jamaica they charge you to leave the country at the airport. The cheapest way to do this is to take Jamaican dollars. It works out about £10 stirling each. However if you pay in US dollars it equates to about £15 stirling or if you pay stirling it works out around £13. We took the Jamaican dollars and just kept them to one side. Oh go on then.... My wife and I decided to go to Jamaica for our honeymoon, originally we were booked to another hotel and had to change late due to renovation work, but boy were we glad...

penguin1052 17.09.2004 · Read review
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Review of Negril (Jamaica)