CSS- Distance to beach from Ocean Suite???

[melissa412]

My husband and I are considering booking a week stay at CSS and this would be our first time. When we first started looking into where we wanted to go, we wanted right on the beach. As nice as the Beachfront Suites are, they do not give the "walk out onto sand" feeling that we were looking for. We are now thinking about the Ocean Suites as long as they have the comfy lounger with the big patio and the nice big shower.

Is it possible to request all of those things? Do all rooms have Tv carts on wheels? Do all ocean suites have the amazing ocean views in the pictures?

MY MAIN QUESTION- Everything we read talks about all of the stairs on the resort. If we stay in an Ocean Suite, how many stairs are we talking? Like 3 flights down to pool and then another 3 to beach? How big of a hassle is it?

Thanks for all of your help and advice!

[Nudeinthesun]

We always book the Beachfront Suites you will either walk across the main lawn or around the main pool to get to the beach. The views are great depending on what you like. We stay in Block A and have been on all 3 floors. Our preference is ground floor so that we could walk out our back patio doors to go to the main bar and breakfast. The drawback to the main floor is that the view is not as good, but how can you go wrong with any view in Jamaica.

The rooms in BlockA do have TV's on carts which is nice because you can either be in bed and watch or move it and sit on the couch in the living room.

The showers are walk in showers that are big enough for two.

As far as the stairs go they aren't horrible. You get used to them, but usually we only go up the stairs at night to go to the Ballon Bar and for entertainment.

[kflateau]

We stayed at CSS in Nov 2010. It is a beautiful resort with an incredible old world feel. The people, the food, everything we fell in love with.....but if you don't want to deal with stairs, pick another resort, some of the rooms are located lower down at beach level, but it's not roll out of bed onto the beach-you would still have to cross the lawns. We had a beautiful garden room and a nice ocean view, and we did have to walk up and down stairs to get anywhere we wanted to go. We didn't mind-we loved the entire trip. It was also our first trip to Jamaica. We are going back at the end of this year and I would be happy returning to CSS again and again, but we are to see what CTI has to offer and probably end up bopping around to all the Couples locations eventually.

[rckbert]

Here is the view from our Beachfront Suite. You are not on the beach but across the great lawn from it. These are the only rooms on the same level as the water, main pool, and the Palazzina Restaurant which is the buffet location for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The rest of them are going to involve a lot of steps to get to the sand.

[Dawn]

Melissa - the Ocean Suites are in C Block and do not have a balcony or verandah - the One Bedroom Ocean Suites do have outside space. We had one of the latter in D Block and it had two TV's fixed to the wall I think (we're not TV people so didnt use them). We also had an enormous walk in shower.

The balconies in D Block are as small as those in A and B Block and just have a table and two chairs. There are also One Bedroom Ocean Suites in E, F and G Blocks and these have bigger balconies. D Block just has one flight of steps down to beach level, but really we had no problem with the steps, and my husband had injured his ankle only days befrore we went there.

[rrallen]

It truly depends on which room you book but it is my understanding that all of the beachfront suites are in buildings A & B just like Nudeinthesun said. The one thing about CSS is that every room in the resort has a beautiful view. There are a lot of stairs unless you stay beachfront but I figure its good for me since the pina coladas and other cocktails do actually have calories in them no matter how much I wish they didn't! We've stayed in a penthouse suite the last couple of times and that makes for a LOT of stairs but the views are worth every step. All of the other buildings do require you to take quite a bit of stairs to get to the beach area but remember the resort is built into the side of a cliff which makes for breathtaking views. If you want more of the feel of walking out of your room and directly on the beach I know CN has those options. The resorts have a different feel to them. CSS is more tropical with the lush gardens and meandering walkways whereas I feel CN has more of a beach oriented feel. Of course the CN beach is much larger too so maybe keep that in mind. No matter which resort you go to you'll have an experience of a lifetime! They're both wonderful.

[RubiGal04]

rrallen, it is NOT true that "every room in the resort has a beautiful view".... there are some one bedroom ocean suites in Block D that have no view at all, other than the side of the next building. These are really terrific rooms for the room and the location, but the view and balcony leave much to be desired when you keep hearing that "every room has a beautiful view". We always thought that too because every time we went to CSS we got a gorgeous view of the ocean or a partial view of the ocean. But then we got D11 and although the room itself is really nice (we did not ask to be moved because it was a great location as well) the balcony is teensy with two metal chairs and a teensy metal table, and the only "view" you get is the back of the next bldg and a tree trunk... no view of ocean at all. We have also seen room D9 and it is the same as D11 as far as non-existent view and tiny balcony. We weren't so disappointed with the view as we were with the actual balcony itself... it was so small that it wasn't fun to be out there, and the chairs were very uncomfortable, you couldn't sit in them for very long. So just a word to the wise... NOT all rooms at CSS have a beautiful view... and definitely not all rooms have nice loungers ... if these rooms had a bigger balcony with a couple loungers, you could forgive the lack of any view. We did inquire to be sure we were in a one bedroom ocean suite and were assured we were, I politely asked where the "ocean" part of the suite was?!

[scorpiogal]

We had a one bedroom ocean suite in F Block. Yes, there were lots of stairs but they were broken up by different flat areas, pools, etc. We loved our location and have rebooked the 1 bedroom ocean suite for our next visit with the goal of getting a room in G, F, or E. Our view was amazing. The room and balcony were huge. Our bathroom was small but some aren't... just depends. We had the awesome double lounger and we used our balcony everyday for afternoon cocktails before dinner and sometimes to sit out and listen to music from the band outside the balloon bar. We felt that the feeling or romance and intimacy up in the cliffs was better. It seems most prefer the beachfront rooms... not for us but to each their own. You will love the resort!

[rrallen]

rrallen, it is not true that "every room in the resort has a beautiful view".... There are some one bedroom ocean suites in block d that have no view at all, other than the side of the next building. These are really terrific rooms for the room and the location, but the view and balcony leave much to be desired when you keep hearing that "every room has a beautiful view". We always thought that too because every time we went to css we got a gorgeous view of the ocean or a partial view of the ocean. But then we got d11 and although the room itself is really nice (we did not ask to be moved because it was a great location as well) the balcony is teensy with two metal chairs and a teensy metal table, and the only "view" you get is the back of the next bldg and a tree trunk... No view of ocean at all. We have also seen room d9 and it is the same as d11 as far as non-existent view and tiny balcony. We weren't so disappointed with the view as we were with the actual balcony itself... It was so small that it wasn't fun to be out there, and the chairs were very uncomfortable, you couldn't sit in them for very long. So just a word to the wise... Not all rooms at css have a beautiful view... And definitely not all rooms have nice loungers ... If these rooms had a bigger balcony with a couple loungers, you could forgive the lack of any view. We did inquire to be sure we were in a one bedroom ocean suite and were assured we were, i politely asked where the "ocean" part of the suite was?!

oh my!

[rrallen]

OH MY! I did not realize that. My bad! What a disappointment to hear that they consider that an "ocean suite" with no view at all. Thanks for setting the record straight. We spend all of our room time (for the most part anyway ) on our balconey. I'd be very upset with that situation.

[RubiGal04]

rrallen - yes it was disappointing to not have any sight of the ocean from our tiny balcony. Enjoying the balcony is not something you can do from D11 or D9... I think they should change those rooms to a different category since the one bedroom ocean suite category boasts beautiful ocean views and large balconies... these two rooms (that I know of) have neither. Again though, the room itself was lovely and the location is perfect... just disappointing not being able to enjoy our balcony as we had in the past trips. So just an FYI on these two rooms for future reference to travellers.

[poppychal]

Our seem at was amazing. The place and balcony are already huge. Our bathing room was small but some aren't... just depends. We experienced the excellent double lounger and we utilized our balcony daily for afternoon cocktails before dinner and occasionally to sit out and pay attention to new music by way of the strap outdoors the balloon bar. We felt that this experience or romance and intimacy up within cliffs was better. It appears most select the beachfront rooms... not for all of us but to every single their own.

[kiki23]

As much as I LOVE CSS and the 1BR Ocean view Suites, I too have had the unfortunate experience of being placed in D Block. Yes, it is closer to the beach, restaurants, etc, but I reserve the 1BROS for the spacious rooms and balcony, which I feel most of the rooms in that category in D do not adequately provide. We were fortunately moved to E block, which was a bit better, but still not as fantastic as G Block.

I would be surprised if these comments were acted upon given all the marketing was just redone, but I do agree that these D block rooms should be a "Garden Suite" since the differences are quite obvious. I do think they still have a lovely view, but it is of the foliage and natural beauty of CSS, not the ocean! I feel badly that I may have advised people to reserve this category not knowing that the rooms in D were so insufficient.

Back to the main question on the thread - if you do get a fabulous 1BROS in G block, there will be steps. I counted over 75 steps, so yes, we do usually prepare a bit more for the day because going back and forth to the room is a bit of a hike. I like that part and will often take the long way back through the spa past Rolly's Salon to the top entrance of Gardenia. Bring a good sized beach bag and enjoy the view!

[Jamerican_we-are]

we just got back the 28 of march. we stayed in g blk. our favorite. its 29 steps to beach from g 2 beach. just go out g turn left to to beauty shop go to elavator, go down to spa, turn left go past mineral pool , past weeding gizabo uo 29 steps then down 31 to main beach. pc of cake. 70 yrs old with 5 trips to css no problem. lets bury the step .

[melissa412]

That was all so helpful! Thank you!

[Jamerican_we-are]

we were in g block this past march and loved it. it was our third stay in this block and always request it. as for the steps if you will take the steps on ocean side thert are 32 steps up then 29 down to the wedding gazbo then a short walk past mineral pool to the elevator at the spa. take a left out of elevator, go past beauty shop, turn left at hibcus cottage, your home. 32up-29 down. however if you go right at beach it will be close to a 100 to g.