What’s Happening At Couples Resorts
Happy New Year to all our guests, former or future, from your Couples Resorts family. 2005 was a phenomenal year of growth for us and we look forward exploring all our new projects further in 2006. We have continued the enhancement of Couples Swept Away with our Great House project. We are thrilled with our beautiful and luxurious new resort, Couples Sans Souci. Our longstanding traditions like the Tennis and Golf Tournaments continue and we have new programs in place such as the Issa Trust Foundation. Our anniversary celebrations this year will include Couples Ocho Rios’ 28th in January, where Couples Negril and Couples Swept Away will celebrate their 8th anniversary in October. Here’s more about what we have planned to kick off the year…

Couples Swept Away Growth Continues
Construction continues at Couples Swept Away on the expansion project (though you wouldn’t know it – it’s so quiet). This expansion project is slated to be completed in mid-April 2006.

Once completed the new “Great House” building will be a three-story structure with fantastic views of the sea and will include a 240-seat open air dining room, a new location for Feathers, a nightclub/jazz bar/disco, 4,500 square foot conference/wedding reception center, a game room and an Internet Café. An infinity pool with two large Jacuzzis and a swim-up bar will also be added to the area.

Name the Restaurant Contest
In September 2005 we announced the “Name the Restaurant” Contest for the new 240-seat open-air dining room that will be part of the Great House. The restaurant will feature a large open ‘show’ kitchen with a wood stone pizza oven and rotisserie as its central elements with a tapas focused menu.

We received an overwhelming response with 5,377 entries. The top five names were chosen in October and voted on by you, our guests…and the final tally was:


Patois Patio / 506 entries / 45.63%
Cabana Grill / 326 entries / 29.40%
Pon Di Beach / 121 entries / 10.91%
DemBelly Full / 102 entries / 9.20%
All Di While / 54 entries / 4.87%

Congratulations to Duane Forsberg who was the first to submit - Patois Patio. He will be flown with a guest for a complimentary four-night, five-day stay at Couples Swept Away.

Now, it just so happens that there will also be a new beach grill when phase II construction is complete. Due to its popularity in the contest, we have decided to name this new facility Cabana Grill. Congratulations, Caroline Yang who was the first to submit this name. Even though we did not mention anything about a second place prize, we have agreed to award Caroline with a complimentary three night stay as well. Thanks to everyone who submitted names and voted.

Issa Trust Foundation
The Issa Trust Foundation, a non-profit organization formed by Couples Resorts to help Jamaican citizens and communities in need, has completed their first successful medical mission. Ten volunteers from Blank Children's Hospital in Iowa (three physicians, one nurse practitioner and six nurses) visited Jamaica to provide healthcare services to children in the Ocho Rios area. The team visited the Retreat Health Center, Islington Health Center, Annotto Bay Health Center and the Swift-Purscell Boys Home. Plus, the volunteer team spent a day attending to the children of Couples Ocho Rios staff members.

Couples Resorts Public Relations Director Alex Ghisays took part in the medical mission as well. “I was honored to work with a group as dedicated and selfless as the doctors and nurses from Blank Children’s Hospital who donated their time and money to help those less fortunate in the communities of St. Mary, Jamaica,” Ghisays commented of her experience. “The obvious appreciation from the families that we were able to help was indescribable and the children in these rural districts benefited greatly from the visit. I feel privileged to be part of the launch of this extraordinary foundation.”

The organization, established in 2005, strives to provide a system of prevention, health promotion and education, community health improvement and other services to promote wellbeing and development to our neighbors in Jamaican communities. For additional information or to make donations please visit www.couples.com or contact Melissa Trench at 954.416.1290 or Melissa@couples.com.

Jamaican Rendezvous - Make yours “mild” or “wild”
SYou might have seen the link on the Ocho Rios homepage of Couples.com for Jamaican Rendezvous…if not, here’s what you’re missing: Couples Ocho Rios has teamed up with YourNovel.com to put you, our guests, in to the pages of a romance novel. What better memento of your visit to Couples than a book set at the resort – with you and your loved one as the main characters? It comes in two versions, mild or wild, and is available in time to give to your sweetheart as a memorable Valentine’s Day gift, anniversary gift, or just because. It’s a great read for those dreary, cold winter days when you long to be at your Couples home.

Simply visit www.yournovel.com, fill out a 26 question profile so that your personal information (eye color, hair color, favorite foods, etc) are incorporated in to the book and place your order. For additional information call toll free 1-800-444-3356. A portion of proceeds will go to the Issa Trust Foundation.

Fifth Annual Couples Ocho Rios Charity Golf Tournament
CJanuary 21, 2006 is the fifth anniversary of the Couples Ocho Rios Charity Golf Tournament. Join Golf Professional Kenny Clower from Lake Wales, FL, who will adjudicate the tournament, for a day of golf and prizes.

Organizers Gene & Jane Saks and Alan & Josie Kline have set their sights high and hope to exceed last year’s charitable collections of $20,000 by an additional $10,000 for a grand total of $30K this year. We’ll let you know in our Spring Newsletter how they did, but the effort and cooperation from the organizers, supporters and participants is appreciated regardless the final amount. Tournament proceeds will be donated to Port Maria Hospital and The Swift-Purscell Boys Home.

For more information please contact Gene Saks at (863) 678-1046 or jgsaks@comcast.net or Alan Kline (732) 921-5397 or alankline@mindspring.com.

Couples Ocho Rios will turn 28 in January 2006 and planning for the anniversary celebrations are underway. Make your reservations at Couples Ocho Rios now to be part of the celebration on January 20, 2006.

Personnel Announcements
Congratulations to Glenn Lawrence who has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Couples Resorts effective December 1, 2005. Mr. Lawrence comes with significant hotel experience with more then 16 years experience at the senior management level in the hotel industry. He has held several senior financial positions within the Group, having just recently completed his second year as Chief Financial Officer of The House of Issa. Glenn was also very instrumental in the Sans Souci acquisition and has a vision for the further growth of the group. We welcome Glenn in to his new role as CEO of Couples Resorts.

Also, congratulations to Leonard Henry who has recently been promoted to General Manager for Couples Ocho Rios. Mr. Henry served as Operations Manager at Couples Ocho Rios since 2003. He has extensive experience in the in the service industry, particularly in the area of hotel management, having served with a number of highly rated hotels and an international fast food company. We welcome Leonard in to his new role as General Manager of Couple Ocho Rios.

Ivonna Szelerska has been promoted to Director of Sales & E-Communications based in Florida.  She has been with Couples Resorts as the Sales Manager for Canada which she held for 4 years.  In her new role, Ivonna will be responsible for day-to-day management of the sales team and she will play an instrumental role in developing and implementing web-based programs and innovations.