Couples Swept Away

Cons Toiletries - the shampoo/conditioner supplied isn’t very good, which is disappointing for a five star hotel. Nevertheless, this is the only true complaint I have which is easily resolved if you bring your own. Entertainment - what they need is a bar where everyone can hang out after dinner if they want. Martini bar doesn’t have much seating, piano bar is fun but not on every night. Aura is loud. Somewhere where guests can mingle would be ideal. That’s all I can think of really! Pros Service and Staff - they were brilliant! Service was impeccable. Yes we met a few grumpy ones - the woman at check in was particularly rude which didn’t start us off on the right foot, but when I mentioned it to her she was quickly changed her attitude. We all have off days, it’s a hard job. Also we witnessed some of the guests being really rude to them, those entitled ones who go and expect to be waited on hand and foot. This isn’t that kind of hotel, reflected in the price. They do their best and it’s very good. The Beach Beyond stunning. Enough said. The water sports were great, staff were brilliant, well maintained equipment all great fun. The glass bottom boat was brilliant fun and the staff were so funny, constantly cracking jokes and went above and beyond to try and find sea turtles! Which we did. We didn’t do snorkeling or diving but heard great reports! Loungers - people suck. They did get up early and reserve the best spots - some couples would even reserve four loungers - two in the shade and two in the sun which I thought was a new level of selfishness! But on the whole they were readily available - we were usually on the beach for 10 and always found some. Although not in the shade. The hotel could do with offering more parasols so people can choose as the sun is very intense! Food Food at the buffet was good, they don’t cater to the American market with a lot of pizza and chips and burgers but they are available. A lot of Jamaican food available, fresh fish, meat and well catered for Veggies. Great salad choices. I liked that it was much smaller than a lot of buffets at all inclusives which I thought was great, less food wasted and more attention to the cooking. Always had live cooking demos too. The a la carte restaurants were good - we didn’t have an issue booking feathers and lemongrass - but others did. Although there were some people showing up on the off chance there was a cancellation and they got in. Rooms - they were great. We didn’t have a refurbished one but it was fine. We had Garden verandah room which was near the road and we did hear traffic but it didn’t bother us. The grounds were amazingly beautiful. Activities - so much to do! We did tie dye, sail and paint and made bracelets. There was a huge activity programme so no chance of getting bored. The sand gravity did hit us though and we tended to just chill on the beach and relax. We did the catamaran trip which was fun but the day we went out there was a problem with the boat and we ended up getting exposed to a huge amount of toxic smoke, and also had to swim through water with diesel which left our swimming costumes stinking of diesel. It kinda ruined the experience. But others went out on other days and loved it. Tips - bring your own toiletries. Be polite to the staff and understand how hard they work for low pay. The staff were telling us the resort is very understaffed. So they have to work even harder! And they do! They also said they have a hard time with staff retention because if the hotel down the road offers to pay more then they go there as the average salary is so low! So treat them with respect the deserve. Prices in the hotel shop were ridiculous but if you go out of the hotel and turn right and walk for 5 minutes you will come to a outlet shop which has lots of souvenirs and then just beyond that is the hi-lo supermarket where you can get things like sun lotion and mozzie repellant at normal prices. Oh and mozzies love me but didn’t get one bite! Used Avon skin so soft! Would I go back? Absolutely! This was the best all inclusive I’ve ever stayed at. It was almost perfect! Read less

This is our second trip to CSA; our first trip was in December 2016 and after nine years we decided to revisit CSA. The seven-mile beach is beautiful, and the water is calm and clear crystal blue. What a pleasure it was to float on the ocean and feel that Caribbean breeze. The resort offers vast water sport activities from catamaran ride to Rick’ s café and snorkeling, hobie cat ride, kayaking to name a few. The CSA staff members offer excellent service with a smile. Kudos to the drivers: Mr. T and Antonio for driving us to/from the airport/resort. Kudos to Chamarley for helping us with our hotel reservation and ensuring that our dinner reservations were taken care of. Kudos to Nancy at the check-in service desk that provided premier service and accommodated our birthday dinner reservations at the Lemon Grass (Asian fusion cuisine) and Feathers (Continental cuisine with Caribbean flavors). The food was excellent, we highly enjoyed CSA because when we visit the Caribbean, we want to experience the Caribbean culture and taste their local fare. We are not fans of the unimaginative and sterile Sandals since they cater to serving cuisines like: Italian, Japanese rather than Jamaican food. I can stay home and eat Italian/ Japanese and burgers! We prefer to taste the local fare: oxtails, goat stew, beef patties, fresh red snapper, jerk chicken, and pork, fried bammies, escoveitch fish, ackee and saltfish, coco bread to name a few of the local dishes that you will enjoy while visiting CSA. What I truly enjoyed this time at CSA is that they are marketing to a younger demographic (young couples in their 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, 50’s) and we loved seeing more interracial couples and people of color this time at the resort. Ten years ago, when we last visited I felt like it was a geriatric crowd (much older couples in their late 70’s – 80’s the old baby-boomer hippie crowd). My advice to CSA is to renovate some of the property, the outer area of the Palms restaurant requires a paint job. The pool located by the Palms needs renovation. The jacuzzi on the left side of the pool bar needs to be renovated: not warm but rather lukewarm/cold. The piano bar karaoke music selection needs to be updated to get the young crowd interested, offer b’way musical selections or different genres of music that appeals to the young/middle-aged couples. Kudos to the entertainment crew at the piano bar: Ultimate Chocolate, a wonderful pianist and Princess is an amazing singer, absolutely fabulous and loved her rendition of Alicia Keyes “If I Ain’t Got You”, my two-cents is to change the music trivia quiz selections and offer new fresh songs rather than the stale corny selections like “Sweet Caroline”. Kudos to DJ Wi-Fi for accommodating our request to play more reggae music rather than the mainstream pop selections. My advice to DJ Wi-Fi is to lower the volume just a tad bit to accommodate the older crowd so they can join the dance floor. Kudos to the CSA staff that arranged the bonfire on the beach and the singer that played the acoustic guitar and sang beautiful love songs while watching the blazing bonfire. Kudos to the entertainment crew: Kayla and Shania, Carlos, and the young gentleman with the glasses (unfortunately did not get your name) This crew is non-stop energetic; they are working from early morning until the late evening and all the time with so much enthusiasm. Thank you to Kayla, Shania and the young man with glasses for opening the dance floor and starting your dance groove. My advice to the CSA guests that are at the Palms listening to the live band: Exodus playing reggae music or at the Aura lounge is to DANCE LIKE NO ONE IS WATCHING! And if they are watching so what! have fun and enjoy the moment: YOLO (you only live once)!! We enjoyed the Cocktail Party and the repeat Guest Dinner at Patois. We missed the Silent Disco…looked interesting and weird but looks like a fun, unique experience if you are open-minded to try new things. Kudos to Shereen the cleaning staff member for the excellent service provided while we stayed at the Beach Front Verandah suite; to Collins for bringing our luggage to our room. Kudos especially to the staff members from the Palms: Kashana; Osheia from Feathers and Gleneisha from the Lemon Grass for your excellent guidance on food selections and premiere service with a beautiful smile! Kudos to the bartenders from the Martini bar: Akeme for making a chocolate supreme cocktail for my b’day and either Sherica or Keneisha (apologies if the name is wrong) but she made an exceptional cocktail: The Island so delicious! Kudos to Wayne for teaching us beginner’s pickle ball. Kudos to the landscaping team for maintaining the grounds stunning on the CSA property. Kudos to all the bartenders at the Bamboo Bar & Sunset Beach Bar and the swim-up pool bar consistently providing excellent drink service with a smile. Kudos to Wanda for rejuvenating my spirit with that excellent first -class massage, you are magnificent. Overall, the second trip to CSA was a glorious experience; the breathtaking views of the sunset from our room are unforgettable. We met lovely couples from the UK, Canada, Boston, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, NY and Texas. We love that CSA is catering to a younger demographic and interracial couples and people of color; nothing against the older couples, but the first time we visited it was not a fun experience like this time. As the saying goes: “When in Jamaica, Do as the Jamaicans Do” in other words try to be adventurous and adapt to the customs of Jamaica and the local music and food. If you don’t like the sound of nature: tree frogs, then don’t go to the Caribbean. If you don’t like to the local food, then stick to the unremarkable resort conglomerates like Sandals and RIU. The last time I visited Sandals at St. Lucia the entertainment was lackluster, why would I want to see a local sing country music! I want to see the steel band or listen to their music and taste the local food. My advice to the CSA couples, have fun and enjoy the moment! Read less

Visited in early march 2025. We came specifically for scuba diving and to get our certification. Could not have asked for a better experience. Anthony and the team made our whole experience safe, enjoyable, memorable and we will visit again for our next certification because we know we are in great hands. We spend the cold days in Canada daydreaming about being back on the dive boat. The beach is stunning. The best I’ve ever been to at an all inclusive. Warm. No big waves. Clear water. The floaties make it a much better experience because you get to enjoy the sunset and float around when you don’t feel like swimming. Easy to get around, beautiful grounds. The only negative would be the noise of the tree frogs at night, so make sure you bring ear plugs or white noise if you are a light sleeper. We switched our room to a 2nd floor and a partial ocean view and after that quick change, no issues with the noise. I would want to stay in a recently renovated room and on a 2nd or 3rd floor for next time. Food is great, drinks great. Could honestly not ask for a better experience overall. Will 100% return as soon as possible! Read less

My husband and I absolutely loved this resort! You cannot beat the beautiful beach, the delicious food and friendly people. Don’t listen to the naysayers. This resort is amazing! Shout out to a few of the awesome waitresses, Cean, Dalling, Shellica, and so many others that helped make our vacation even more special. The people that work here are so lovely and friendly. It’s the cherry on top of the ice cream! Hope to come back someday. Read less

Overall, good and really wanted to like it, but food poisoning was the big reason we won’t be back. Service was great - friendly staff, housekeeping was attentive and sports crew were helpful! Food wa not good (even before the food poisoning). Tennis facilities are excellent, beach is stunning, accommodations are private and nice. Lots of fun activities each day to participate in (exercise classes, crafts, sports) and entertainment at night was local artists and phenomenal! Read less