CSA review

[ponyk]

Ok here is my reveiw of csa, we were there 2/25/2010 through 3/5/2010. ***I cant spell worth a crud so be warned***

I will be honest things did not start out the best at csa. We arived at csa around 2:30pm, and were informed that our room was not avail that first night. Ok not a huge deal, but then we were told that our backup room was not ready yet either. From talking to other guests and from reading the MB this is not an uncommom problem. Many people we spoke with had to switch rooms. Ok, so we were escorted to the cabana grill for lunch and were told our room would be ready in an hour. Well three hours and a crappy meal (more on that later on) later our room was still not ready. Then I witnesed the deal breaker, there was a couple showing some mild pda on the beach right infront of the grill, not an issue. Then comes along the husbands buddy who proceds to remove the wifes swimsuit top so the two guys could grope her. Iam not talking about a quick feel here either. For a second I though I was going to watch a three way on the beach. Now iam no prude, but I was expecting more out of csa that this. I kinda thought this type of behavior was confined to Hedo, but maybe I am just being overly sensistive. Anyway three hours later we finaly get into our room. Iam happy to say from this point on our vacation was almost perfect.

Room - we stayed in the beachfront veranda suit. The room was perfect, and the location was second to none. We loved sitting on the veranda watching the world go by. Being able to walk directly onto the beach was prob the best part of the whole room. I highly recomend this room type.

Food - As I eluded to before the cabana grill was not our favorite. We gave it two tries and did not care for either of the meals. Not a big deal since there are so many other options. By far our favorite was patios. Breakfast, lunch, and Dinner are all fantastic at patios. We found ourselvs going back over and over. Feathers was ok for us, but nothing special. Not really worth the hasle of getting a reservation. now lemongrass on the otherhand was fantastic! I could have gone back several times, but my wife found the food a bit spicy. To be fair she thinks Mac and Cheese is too spicy. :-) Seagrapes was another favorite of ours. I was hesitant to try it due to the vegitarian aspect, however I ended up loving the food.

Beach - The beach was fantastic. After walking up and down the beach I can say csa prob has the best beach in negril. The sand was cool and soft. The ocean was plenty warm, and the swimming area was free from coral. This was prob the best beach I have ever been on. The weather was windy most of the days, but I actually liked that. The only problem was not being able to enjoy the water sports. We did manage to go snorkeling one of the days. Both my wife and I enjoyed the snorkeling very much. We would have liked to try the catamaran but the weather just did not cooperate. Not a big deal, we will just go next time.

Fitness center - This was prob one of the best features of this resort. Both my wife and I are avid gym rats, so being able to stick with our workouts was so nice. The facilities were top notch and the equipment was in very good shape. It took a while to get used to working out in the open air, but after two days it was no big deal. The sports bar was very nice and relaxing. Its like a whole different world over there. We loved working out in the mornings and getting our days started off right.

Spa - my wife loved the spa, and spent quite a bit of time over there. I also got a mesage and loved it. I get them here in the states and will say csa was prob my favorite message ever. My wife could not stop raving about the girls over there.

grounds - Csa is very well maintained and groomed. The paths are very lush with vegitation and look great.

staff - top notch. We ran into maybe one or two staff members to seemed less than pleased to be there, but the rest were super friendly and helpfull. We were amazed at how many of the staff took the time to remember our names. I would rate the staff A+ . Any request we had was met with a smile.

Overall - I would say overall csa was everything we had hoped for and more. We would and will go back to csa without any hesitation. CSA won our hearts

[WandA]

"Then I witnesed the deal breaker, there was a couple showing some mild pda on the beach right infront of the grill, not an issue. Then comes along the husbands buddy who proceds to remove the wifes swimsuit top so the two guys could grope her. Iam not talking about a quick feel here either. For a second I though I was going to watch a three way on the beach. Now iam no prude, but I was expecting more out of csa that this. I kinda thought this type of behavior was confined to Hedo, but maybe I am just being overly sensistive"

No, you're not. That's innapropriate and pretty much unnacceptable there.

[goodygirl]

The pda thing is a little alarming. My only issue is that I have never heard another guest say anything about this, and I have been on the MB for more than 2 years. How Confident are you about what you saw?

[Ron & Rosa 25]

What a fascinating review considering that it couldn't have gotten off to a much worse start, yet by the time it concluded, you were completely won over. That's a huge credit to Couples in general and CSA in particular. Not to mention you demonstrating enough patience, that you didn't close your mind to the positive attributes, which some folks might have done under similar circumstances.

All I can say on that story with the PDA couple is yikes! And I have to agree with you, I'm about as laissez faire as they come, but it does seem like H would have been the resort more suited to their "needs".

[dirtleg]

Wow. Those first few hours sounded like the CSA version of the Twilight Zone. Glad it was short lived and did not spoil your vacation. I have to say I have never encountered anything even close to that on the beach in our previous three trips.

The food at CSA is amazing. Not just in the preparation but also, as you noted, the variety. Truly there is something for every taste.

Welcome to the CSA family! Glad you had a great time.

[IACouple]

Did the menu at patois change frequently while you were there or did it stay the same for a few days before changing? We LOVE patois, but I got tired of the same food for every meal.

[kbrennan1018]

My only question for you is, what did you get to eat at the Cabana Grill? We think the jerk chicken is absolutely wonderful! Also the nachos are super tasty. I also liked the snapper sandwich and the conch fritters.

[Margi]

It won ours too. We go back for our second time the fall. Great review. Except for the groping threesome :P

[ponyk]

The pda thing is a little alarming. My only issue is that I have never heard another guest say anything about this, and I have been on the MB for more than 2 years. How Confident are you about what you saw?

Well I was about 15 feet away, and Iam 100% sure of what we saw. The women was about a 34 B and she had a mole just above her left nipple. :-) Ok I might have made that part up, but trust me it was out there. I am happy to report that this must have been an isolated case, for we never encountered it again.

[ponyk]

My only question for you is, what did you get to eat at the Cabana Grill? We think the jerk chicken is absolutely wonderful! Also the nachos are super tasty. I also liked the snapper sandwich and the conch fritters.

Let me star off my saying these are only MY opinions. I am sure that many many people enjoy the grill. My intent is not to offend anyone. To answer your question though, I had the pulled pork sandwich and the jerk chicken. I also tried my wifes burger as well as the blackend fish sandwich. I did not care for any of it. They do however have some rocking onion rings!!

[ponyk]

[QUOTE=IACouple;57806]Did the menu at patois change frequently while you were there or did it stay the same for a few days before changing? We LOVE patois, but I got tired of the same food for every meal.[/QUOTE

The menue did change. Iam note sure how often they change though.

[tooteep]

This is my worst nightmare, paying for a specific room cat and it not being available. Before we started actually booking rooms with better views we kept rooms overlooking the garbage area to avoid having to move the next day, didn't seem worth a day of our holidays to not unpack and move. We started upgrading when we book to avoid bad views and changing rooms. We have paid for a beachfront verandah and I would be upset if it was not available on the day we arrive. Does Couples do this fairly often? Did you have to move the next day? Did they compensate you for your trouble? Was the room the first night a better room than you booked?

[goodygirl]

wow so shocked about the pda thing. Glad to hear that it was isolated. maybe alcohol was to blame, or maybe that is what I want to think so that I dont get to freaked out. ha ha

[ponyk]

[QUOTE Did you have to move the next day? Did they compensate you for your trouble? Was the room the first night a better room than you booked?[/QUOTE]


The room they put us in for the first night was ok, but not what we wanted. We also like to upgrade rooms and are willing to pay a higher price for the nicer room. I cannot speak for the entire CSA but I did speak with more then one couple who had to switch rooms after the first night. Its more common that I haad expected I will say that. They did compensate us $100 spa credit and the diffence in the room price. Which in my opinion did not cover the hassle of changing rooms.

[IACouple]

Let me star off my saying these are only MY opinions. I am sure that many many people enjoy the grill. My intent is not to offend anyone. To answer your question though, I had the pulled pork sandwich and the jerk chicken. I also tried my wifes burger as well as the blackend fish sandwich. I did not care for any of it. They do however have some rocking onion rings!!

The pulled pork is hit and miss. My wife had it a few times, one day it was so spicy, and the next day it had no spice. The jerk chicken was perfect every day though.

[topspin]

...any chance the couple/triple you observed might have just been passing through CSA from one of the other resorts down the beach? Honestly in over half-a-dozen trips to SweptAway I have never witnessed anything like that. Thanks for your review. I agree...Lemongrass is great. We tried it for the first time last week and fell in love!

[steveg52]

Thanks for your review it was very honest and enjoyable. We too had to spend our first night at CSA in a Garden Suite when our Ocean Verandah Suite wasn't available back in December of 2008. It was the week of the Negril Marathon and the place was packed. We didn't have a problem with changing rooms the next day. We just put on our swim suits grabbed towels and hit the Palms for breakfast and the beach. When we checked around lunch time our bags were in the new room so it wasn't a big deal. From what I remember we also got a resort credit which my wife quickly used for a massage at the spa. She also said that she felt like she was in heaven.
As far as the beach boob incident goes, I'll bet it was probably a younger couple and the free booze from the pool bar got to them. Young adults today do not have the same issues with nudity that we baby boomers grew up with. The only thing we saw on the beach were two women who sun bathed topless but they never stood up unless they had their tops on.
We also didn't care for the Cabana Grill. The yellow jackets flying around the soda machine was freaking my wife out too. We ate a lot of meals during the day either at Patois or Seagrapes. Wow I have fond memories of the sweet potato chips and dip washed down by a few Hummingbirds...MMMMM.
We've been to CTI and CSA and can't wait to return to CSA...ASAP!

[diamond-girl]

I agree with topspin, They were passing through CSA..
Glad everything else worked out for you and your wife.
I will also agree that the massages were awesome!..best ever!!
~~Swept Away soon come!.... Greta.

[Ashley]

I think that kinda of "group" pda can happen anywhere (albeit very infrequent). We were at CTI in 2005 and there were 2 girls making out in the piano bar with their boyfriends cheering them on. They were the same 2 girls that flashed the crowd to get applause during a "reagge queen" dance competetion on the beach 1 afternoon.
No big deal, just wanted to say it is more about the people and not the place.

Liquor does funny things to people.

[Jsdragonfly]

@steveg52...your comment about the nudity issues and baby boomers made me giggle! I'm a young'un (well, my parents say I am, I'm almost 30 so I feel "old" haha)...but I will gladly put myself in the same category as the baby boomers. I may be young, but "eewwwwwwww", I wouldn't want to see that kind of groping PDA shenanigans goin on. Those kids need to take that crazyiness elsewhere. lol

[columbo]

I very very rarely try a Hamburger while on vacation, but at my stay at CN they looked so big and delicious especially with the fries, so I succumbed one afternoon and I tried it. The fries were actually delicious the burger ...well it was not the taste I was expecting kind of like the type I had in Catholic grammar school but hey its Jamaica and to expect it to taste like home on my part was probably pushing it, and I broke my own rule of not having burgers on vacation. So what does a intelligent person like me do..... order some great jerk chicken and have it with a beef pattie!!!!!!! alas an excellent lunch!! OHHHH and a draft style Red Stripe

Let me star off my saying these are only MY opinions. I am sure that many many people enjoy the grill. My intent is not to offend anyone. To answer your question though, I had the pulled pork sandwich and the jerk chicken. I also tried my wifes burger as well as the blackend fish sandwich. I did not care for any of it. They do however have some rocking onion rings!!

[Sublimebrad]

I thought the cabana grill was great. Good burgers. Good fries and onion rings. Great jerk chicken sandwich. But my favorite is the beef patty. How can you not try it and love it??

I noticed some PDA too but it dent bother me. Most people are there for two first time and don't get on here before or after ther trip. They probably don't know or care about rules. It will happen anywhere.

[beachsam]

I'm wondering if part of the reason you did not get the room you booked for the first night was due to people having to extend their stay due to all the bad weather and flight cancellations we had the end of Feb.??
I'm so glad to hear the onion rings were back at the grill, the last time we were there they had stopped serving them. I too love the jerk chicken, patties and fish sandwich.
Unfortunatley I have found there isn't too much I DON'T LIKE at Couples. Seems there is always a 5-6 pound weight gain when i return home.

[WandA]

" I agree with topspin, They were passing through CSA.."

Diamondgirl

If they were passing through CSA, they would not have been allowed to stop there and lay on lounges in front of the Grill.
Let's just write it off to booze and tacky behavior

[ponyk]

" I agree with topspin, They were passing through CSA.."

Diamondgirl

If they were passing through CSA, they would not have been allowed to stop there and lay on lounges in front of the Grill.
Let's juse write it off to booze and tacky behavior

Your the first to pick up on that. No they were not just passing through. They were guests at csa, I watched them head up into the grounds. Yes they were drunk though. Also they were not a young couple, they were well into thier 40's poss early 50's.
In my opinion the actions of one couple DO NOT reflect the attitude of the entire resort. CSA is class act even if one or two of its guests are not.