Room ? for CSA -- relying on you all to help!

Hi! I have been obsessively reading the message boards for days now, and am ready to book my CSA vacation for July. My final decision is which room.

I love the look of both the Atrium room and the Garden Verandah suite, but can't decide. I am going with a group, who are all staying in GVS. My question is: should I choose a GVS so I could (hopefully) be near my friends, or is the Atrium room worth being away from everyone?

Also, I have read about smoke drifting from balconies -- is that more or less likely with either of these rooms? I am a little concerned that with the atrium room, being that there is no glass, we might get a smoke smell in our room if someone was smoking on their balcony.

TV isn't important to me. I would love the biggest balcony possible, but from the pics both look pretty large.

Any thoughts would be *much* appreciated!

Thanks!!

The Atrium Suites are our favorite. I have never stayed in a GVS. So, I can't really say. The Atriums do not have TVs, and they have hammocks. There is no glass in the windows which means you get some noise from outside. You can hear the tree frogs chirping away at night. I happen to love this sound. There is a smoke smell that comes into your room during certain times of the year. It is not from people smoking on their balconies nor does it smell like cigarette smoke. It smells like someone is burning sugar cane. On our first trip, we asked some employees at the resort what the smell was, and one said there had been a fire and sometimes in the morning it smoldered, and the other said they were burning something in the early morning hours. Anyway, I really don't know what the smoke smell is, but I've grown used to it, and I love the smells and sounds that I get in the Atrium Suites! :O)

In a word as to why the Atrium are the best : HAMMOCK!!!!! We didn’t hear anyone, just the fountain during the day and tree frogs at night. Never smelt any smoke either. either way your going to love CSA and not that much time is spent in your room.

The GVS span the length of the property so there is no guarantee that everyone will be close to each other at all. We like the Atriums the best and don't ever have a smoke smell in the room, sometimes you can smell it on the balcony though. I think since there are only four balconies to a building with the Atriums you are less likely to get a heavy smoker than you are with a GVS where you have many more rooms. The balconies on the Atriums are bigger and the rooms are generally nicer in my opinion. Many of the Atriums are right near the older GVS so you have as good of a chance being near your friends either way.

We traveled with another couple in October our rooms were two buildings apart...this is not a complaint and it didn't bother us, just a statement of fact. The location of your rooms will just depend on the folks checking out the day you arrive, you could end up together but you could end up pretty spread out. My point is, book the type of room you really want and don't give it a second thought as it may not matter in the end anyway regarding your friends and how close the rooms are...if you book a different room type none of you will ever know how close you might have been anyway. :)

I love the older section, and the no glass was never a problem for me. You shut the shutters and with the AC which I am SURE you will have on in July and the tree frogs you wont hear anything. It stayed cool in there too, just shut your shutters in day when you leave for beach and you will come in to coolness. If you want a bigger room and balcony then go for the Beachfront suites or Atrium in the older section, older doesnt mean the room is bad by the way. When your in that section I like it because you feel away from everybody and your not right next to someone in your room. But its only my own opinion. That is why Couples is so nice it fits so many and we LIKE not having a TV, makes us come together more on balcony and reading and such. Its kind of a force of being together than turning on the news and such. Either way you will love it! Bring bug spray in July!

Thanks everyone! We booked the atrium suite and are so excited! My guess is that the other couples we are going with are going to be jealous when they see our room -- LOL! I am excited to not have a TV, I think that is a real bonus. Now, if the time would just pass quicker...

:)

You can have any room but the one I'm staying in... my wife and I like our privacy...