What’s Happening At Couples Resorts

Spring is in the air at Couples Resorts, the ice is melting, the pool is thawing out and the heat lamps are being put in storage…wait a minute, who are we kidding? Winter doesn’t exist at Couples Resorts where our gorgeous Jamaica weather keeps it sunny year round. But now that the weather might be warming up a bit where you live, you need a new reason to visit Couples Resorts in the coming months other than “to escape the cold,” so let us give you a few….here’s what’s new for Spring.

Issa Trust Foundation
The Issa Trust Foundation, a non-profit organization formed by Couples Resorts to help Jamaican citizens and communities in need, completed their first successful medical mission and are now planning trip number two. Fifteen volunteers from Blank Children's Hospital in Iowa will be visiting Jamaica for the 2nd consecutive year, this September, to provide healthcare services to children in the Ocho Rios area.

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. Approximately $5,000 has been raised since the Foundation was created.  For additional information or to make donations please visit www.issatrustfoundation.com or contact Melissa Trench at 954.416.1290 or Melissa@couples.com.

Couples Swept Away Growth Continues
Our $14 million expansion at Couples Swept Away is on track to be completed this Spring. We’ll have 76 brand new rooms added to the 96 completed last year in Phase I, the newly named Patois Patio restaurant is looking good, the pool is being tiled and finished (with the swim-up pool bar, of course) and the “Great House” is looking, well, great. Stay tuned for news of ribbon cutting and opening celebrations over the next few months.

Fifth Annual Couples Ocho Rios Charity Golf Tournament
In our Winter newsletter we gave you an update on plans for the fifth annual Couples Ocho Rios Charity Golf Tournament, which took place January 21st. Organizers Gene & Jane Saks and Alan & Josie Kline hard work paid off, and due to their love and commitment to Couples Resorts and Jamaica, and the kind charitable donations of participants, a USD$20,000 check was presented to be equally split between the Swift-Purscell Boys Home, Port Maria Hospital & The Three Hills Primary School.

Gene & Jane Saks have also worked diligently with the Rotary Club of Lake Wales and got a grant for USD$40,000 which will go toward the purchase of state of the art x-ray equipment for the Port Maria Hospital to help bring their facilities up-to-date.

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.

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.

Tennis Fantasy Camp is Back…Sign Up Early and Save
Plans are already in motion for Couples Resorts 3rd Annual Tennis Fantasy Camp at Couples Swept Away in Negril, Jamaica, January 11 – 14, 2007. It may seem a long time off – but it will be here before you know it, so make plans now.

Four day/three night packages at Couples Swept Away start at $1,410 per person including all taxes and gratuities. The cost to participate in the Tennis Fantasy Camp, which includes all instructions, clinics and private functions with the pros is $500 per person additional.

Serving as the guest instructors for this exciting weekend will be tennis stars Luke Jensen, Brenda Schultz-McCarthy, Kathy Rinaldi & Tom Gullikson. Couples Resorts Tennis Fantasy Camp features world-class tennis instruction, clinics, an exciting pro-am where you play with and against former top ten players and the opportunity to watch these tennis stars compete in a tennis exhibition. All the tennis events will take place on clay surface courts at Couples Swept Away’s first class tennis facility.

Tennis Fantasy Camp reservations offered exclusively through C&H Events at (561) 394-9190.

And The Award Goes To…
On March 10th Oscars were awarded to the best of the best in showbiz. Well, TripAdvisor, in similar fashion, recently awarded the best of the best in hospitality. “Travelers’ Choice Awards” were awarded to Couples Negril and Couples Sans Souci, ranked among the best on consumers’ lists for luxury.

Only three hotels in Jamaica made the “Top 100 Luxury - World” list, and two of them are Couples Resorts. Also, in a ranking of all hotels in the Caribbean, Couples Negril and Couples Sans Souci rank #5 and #8 respectively on the “Top 10 Luxury – Caribbean” list.

There’s more, Couples Negril was not only ranked for luxury, but among the top 10 best bargains in the Caribbean as well.

Recipients are chosen based on the opinions of real travelers - millions of reviews and opinions posted online are used to determine the winners and their ranking. So if any of you out there reading this voted, we don’t thank the academy, we THANK YOU, and promise to continue to strive to live up to and exceed your expectations.

Mmm, Mmmm, Good…
It’s not unusual to walk in to one of Couples’ gourmet dining restaurants and hear nothing but the clank of silverware and the occasional sigh of satisfaction – and that’s because the food is just that good …that there’s no conversation, just eating and enjoyment. That has a lot to do with the culinary talents and expertise of Chef Stefan Spath, Regional Executive Chef for Couples Resorts. Throughout the seven years he has been in Jamaica, he has developed a distinctive Jamaican flair with his cuisine, inspired by the many exotic flavors and ingredients for which the Caribbean is famous.

Guests at the resorts aren’t the only ones who’ve noticed the great taste, as Chef Spath has received the prestigious honor of an invitation from Johnson & Wales University to visit the school as a Distinguished Visiting Chef® (DVC) to share his talent. The program honors outstanding culinarians while providing first person experience to culinary arts students at the university. The program also raises scholarship funds for students pursuing degrees from the school’s College of Culinary Arts

Spath will visit the North Miami campus from March 30 to April 1 during which time he will prepare a special four-course menu for approximately 60 – 80 guests and present three demonstrations to the school’s culinary arts students. If you’re up for it, the entrée featured in our recipes section is the main dish he’ll be preparing at his Johnson & Wales dinner…give it a try yourself, if you dare.

Personnel Announcements
A big congratulations goes out to our Director of Marketing, Melissa Trench, who got engaged on March 3, 2006 to Sean Williams! Melissa, now a resident of Miami, is a Jamaican native, and Williams popped the question during their recent visit to Negril. Preparations have begun for their October wedding in Jamaica. The Couples family wishes Melissa and Sean all the best. Wonder where they’ll choose to honeymoon?