Interesting TripAdvisor CSA Review

[gopanthers]

Since planning my trip in January to CSA (arriving in 15 days!!!), I've become quite addicted to both the TripAdvisor reviews and these message boards. I can say without a doubt that people on these boards are VERY loyal to Couples. I've seen several posts where someone makes the comment that many of the bad reviews on TripAdvisor are "plants" from other resorts. Most of the time I roll my eyes at these comments. Let's face it, no resort is perfect and every once in a while guests will have legitimate negative experiences. You can't serve thousands and thousands of people each year and not have a few who have a legitimate negative experience. It will happen from time to time.

However even I have to say that the most recent VERY negative review from tripAdvisor (titled Horrible Experience at CSA, posted 3/17/10) does, at least on the surface, appear to be that way. Check it out and let me know what you think. Six LONG paragraphs of simply slamming the resort with even ONE specific. Not one employees name despite meeting with many different managers and asst. managers, not one restaurants name, doesn't mention the room type at all...just says "oceanfront". A big tree blocked her entire view of the ocean??? Are they growing Sequoia's now in Negril? It also blows quite a bit of Sunshine at another Jamaican resort, which after checking only has a 77% Recommend rating compared to CSAs 88%.

Paint me a skeptic but this one is simply too negative and too general for me to put any stock in it.

[Dawnie13]

If these people really did come into a room that looked like they described, they had a legitimate beef. Did they? Who knows. I certainly HOPE it was a phony review. Only the staff @ CSA knows the truth. We have been to Couples enough times to seriously doubt these comments are true!!

[gonegril]

I'm a CSA loyalist, but I also understand that nothing is perfect, and I really believe that negative reviews are not always "plants" by competing resorts....We're going for Trip #7 (CSA in November), and not every moment of every trip has been over the moon, but we truly wouldn't think of going to another Caribbean resort. That being said, I really had a good laugh from that recent TripAdvisor review. First of all - EVERYthing was negative....and the snaps for the other resort were just too obvious. Finally, (and I'm not really a spelling/grammar snob), but c'mon - this person just didn't sound "for real...."

My suggestion is to read all of the reviews as well as the Negril forum on TripAdvisor, this message board and any other .com boards you can find. I think you'll find that the majority are favorable towards CSA.

As I mentioned, we wouldn't go anywhere else for our "sun and fun" vacay, and look forward to our Thanksgiving getaway!!

[redinthehead]

I just had to email that reviewer after their review was taken down was put back up with a little different wording, and she responded to my email. I asked her if she worked for the other resort? NO she does not. And I asked her for pictures, 1000 words and all. She didn't have anything to say about that. Thinking some people just aren't going to be happy and CSA was just not for them. More room for us.

[WandA]

It is a real review - it was posted last week, then she pulled it and resposted it this week- but it's her OPINON, however much anyone disagrees with it. I know for certain that she was there - she just wants her money back. So she's being ugly and saying unecessary things...

I'm glad she didn't mention any Staff names - who wants to drag other people into her drama?

She was only there for a couple of hours,so they didn't eat in any of the restaurants.
I would ignore the review- and her.

[Bearso]

Some beach front rooms do have a semi-blocked view... Some people have their view blocked by their internal organs if you know what I mean.... If they simply removed their head from where it was placed, they may see better....

[london1817]

You are correct. completely negative review. I feel sorry for her husband............. she sounded HIGH maintenance!!

[Musicalrose]

Wow! I kept reading and thinking "did they actually stay at the same resort we did?" I don't remember any bad smells in our room and yes we had little bugs and ants but it IS the tropics and the bug spray provided in the room took care of it immediately. And why the heck did they just stay in the room the whole time (other than when they went to the front desk). If I truly had an issue with the room, I would have gone to the front desk first off and say hey - looks like our room may not have been cleaned before we got there. Sounds like she had no patience and immediately decided nothing could be done to fix her stay there. C'est la vie - more room for us!

[caviargal]

She was there for three hours and the VP of Couples responded that it was even less than that and that they no time mentioned of the issues she rants about. She booked a driver for a day trip so the speculation is that she never intended to stay there, just did not want no show penalties as she is trying to get her money back. I am glad she left and did not stay and make everyone as miserable as she is.

I have stayed at IG in Mexico and it is a luxury resort but the luxury is all superficial IMO. Food, staff and ambiance did not compare to my experiences at Couples. We personally would not return to an I as we do not look for cookie cutter resorts where one would have no idea which island they were on if they did not look at their boarding pass. That being said, resorts are not one size fits all and many like the Vegas like decor and feel of The Grand.

Different strokes...but I have reported her review three times and will continue to do so. It is bogus.

[cleversole]

I agree it looks planted. After we went to CN in November, I posted my review (VERY POSITIVE) on TA. I then went through some of the other reviews to try to find what people didn't like about it. After being there, I felt like I had something to compare. At that time, it took me 60 reviews to find a bad one...now that says something. But one of the ones I found was someone complaining that they couldn't sleep with the door open at night because of the tree frogs mating....REALLY NOW..be serious. The sound of the tree frogs is what you are complaining about...and the weather. As if either is the resort's fault. I read a couple other bad ones and after being there, I just don't know where they stayed. NOt at the same CN I did. I know it isn't perfect for everyone...and that leaves more room for us. But after being there....I don't even worry about reviews. We know we like it and will return. When I read about people loving the resort and the gushing reviews, it takes me back...when they complain, I ignore it. These people at CSA may just be the kind that can't be pleased no matter what. No problem. Good for those who love CSA/

[Vickyj]

I think she just wants the money back and wanted to go back and be with the family at the other place. I think this is the case as she didn't head to the MoBay resort they stayed at before that would be adults only. She admits she didn't do her research, although that wouldn't have helped. She has only made one contribution, and how many times have you walked the hall during the mid day of your resort to see a few drink glasses sitting outside rooms. It doesn't mean the place is filthy, it just means that someone didn't walk them down to the bar, yet. I have seen this practice at every hotel/resort that I/we have stayed at. We have stayed at 5 star Tropical resorts and there usually is mold somewhere, it's the tropics! I guess the exception would be a brand new resort that is more Spanish influenced than Jamaican influenced.

[melody]

I really enjoyed her spelling and grammar. Too bad it smelt so bad in her room. lol

[rastagal77]

I saw that same review and was wondering if anyone over here was talking about it...guess so =) She did say she didn't do much research about Couples, if she did she would have known not to expect the Ritz Carlton. Next week will be my first trip to CSA and I'm content with a bed, bathroom and mini bar...so anything more than that will just be extra's!

[beachsam]

I posted this on the Meet Up board the other day. Still have not heard back from poster

I just read the review, I thought that I was in an episode of "Lost" and this was some type of alternate reality!
While I did not really see it as a advertisement for the IB resort, I did see it as a person that did not do any research at all. They state they got married at IB and it was exactly what they wanted. So what we have is someone who wants a large, marble, glitzy, huge pool place with lots of people guiding them in different activities. So they get to CSA and do not see the glitz, marble or huge pool, they have left the honeymoon high and this is not the place they really want to be, they are longing for glitz.
So if they saw a beer can it became a pile of garbage. They could not see the ocean because a palm tree was in the way---well for goodness sake, Couples should have just clear cut all those pesky tress down!
There really are quite a few reviews on TA that are really quite descriptive and if she had done any research or had at least talked to a travel agent, instead of online booking agent she might have saved alot of grief.
I did send her a message and will be curious as to what her response will be.
I did also object to the content to TA, let's see how long they leave it up there. I think she reposted just to add fuel to her quest to get her money back.

[Paul & Sue from NY]

Boy we are leaving for CSA in 7 days and I just hope the sand that the waters edge is damp!!!!!

[Ron & Rosa 25]

As one who somewhat honors the basic tenets of statistical probability, if I were to read other similar reviews for CSA such as what this gal pasted on TA, even scattered ones, then I might give her opinions slight consideration. But one horric experience (and all three hours of it at that) in more than a hundred doesn't quite make it on my legitimacy scale.

WandA said the gal was for real, so we can't say it's a plant, at least in the made up sense of the review. But it's more likely that she went there with an agenda or at the least with an expectation level that had no chance of being met.

Or she was simply a kook.

[razzldazzlme]

Frankly, I'm happy to read they left after 3 hours and the world is a better place for that. Talk about someone 'sucking the life from the room'. Happily they will never return to spoil the vibe or to put our beloved folks @ CSA through the ringer. IMHO the whole 'ordeal' as she's written is crapola but hey that's just me. 10 more sleeps 'til paradise baby!!! Razzl

[Kegger]

After reading her review it looks like Bravo has found another candidate for their Bridezilla TV show on cable

[zaraforty]

I am pretty picky and have never experienced the issues she complained about. Rooms are always very clean.

Plus there is no "Oceanfront" Room cat?

[sndtrevino]

I look at reviews like I look at wine.. How many people have gotten a bad bottle probably everyone who drinks wine. Does it happen yes something are uncontrollable. I think that is what happened here. If every bottle of xyz wine I opened were bad I probaly would not drink it same applies to Couples thousand of positive remarks and a few bad. I think we all know how well couples does and it becomes somewhat insulting if someone posts something about our home. Take it with a grain of salt whether they are a kook, a person from another AI or just a gruppy person who no one can please do what I do with the bad wine put the cork in it and send it back!!!

[Lapsters]

I really enjoyed her spelling and grammar. Too bad it smelt so bad in her room. lol

I don't want to get involved in the debate about whether or not this is a true post, but I have to comment on the thing about the room smelling. We were at CSA in late Jan and the room we were given for the first night did indeed stink. Everything in it including all the bedding reeked of really bad damp. Not a little 'it's the Caribbean, what do you expect' smell - it was an all pervading stink that hit us when we walked in the door. When we complained the following morning (we had arrived late at night after a long trip from the UK so we just wanted to sleep when we arrived) we were moved without a murmer and the staff seemed to just know that that room had a problem. I pity the next folk who were allocated that room!

Not everything at Couples is perfect, and I don't believe it helps people to just cover up the problems and pretend they couldn't possibly exist because "it's Couples and nothing bad about it could possibly be true."

[EinWI]

I e-mailed her and I got a response back. I was the one who got slammed for liking a resort like couples, that I had obviously never been to a real 5 star resort. Yes her spelling and gramatical errors were comical.

[Tom & Erin]

A very sharp CEO once said, "there are some customers you can afford to fire." This individual is apparently one of them.

22 days and counting. Soon to be 16X CSA repeaters.

Cheers,

[glenalk]

Our first visit to Couples was to CN last year and we absolutely loved it, but I have to admit that if I hadn't done lots and lots of research before our visit I would have been VERY disappointed with our room and this would have been due to staying at a hotel in Greece and hotels in Mexico.
I knew before booking that the rooms were not going to be anything special and we had looked at lots of photos, so we knew exactly what the room would be like.
CN was absolutely fabulous, with the staff and food second to none and this made up for the fact that the rooms are indeed very basic. This year we went to CTI and even with the renovation we still found the room basic, but once again we had a great time even though we actually by far preferred CN.
What i am therefore trying to say is that if no research had been done beforehand, and vacations had been at some resorts then yes i can understand being disappointed with rooms.
Although both myself and my hubby now absolutely love Couples and we will be returning to CN once again next year, we both feel that the rooms could do with being renovated and made a bit more special. But for now as long as they are kept to the high cleanliness that we found on both visits we will be happy.

[Vickyj]

I e-mailed her and I got a response back. I was the one who got slammed for liking a resort like couples, that I had obviously never been to a real 5 star resort. Yes her spelling and gramatical errors were comical.

Just because someone can afford a 5 Star resort/hotel doesn't mean they received a decent education. Somewhere along the line, they just got incredibly lucky.