Vast lawns provide views of the mountains, sea, and sky. Flowering gardens and palm trees dot the grounds. Couples and families come for the relaxing Caribbean ambience, golf and water sports, spa rejuvenation, and exemplary service.

What to expect: Set between the Blue Mountains and the blue waters of the Caribbean Sea, the Rose Hall Resort & Country Club caters to couples and families. The resort occupies what was once an 18th-century sugar plantation. More than $40 million in renovations from top-to-bottom have been made to the resort, including the guestrooms, reception area, meeting spaces, and restaurants. There is also a new spa and renovations have also been made to the pool area.

Insider tip: In addition to the resort's golf course (surcharges), guests can also play the Ironshore Golf Course located 5 km (3 mi) away.

Couples Swept Away is located at the western tip of Jamaica. A 457-meter (1,500-foot) beachfront offers access to a beach with water that remains calm in most weather. The resort welcomes guests who are age 18 and older.

Set among ponds, natural foliage, and sand, this 7-hectare (18-acre) environmental-friendly resort includes seafoam-green paint allowed to acquire a weathered patina, unfinished-wood sunning decks and walkways, natural-rattan furniture, and naturalistic gardens. The Couples Negril welcomes couples age 18 or older.

"Coyaba," an Arawak word for a place of ease and rest, aptly captures the resort's appeal. A small lobby with mahogany accents, ceiling fans, and wicker chairs exemplifies its Colonial style. (Note: From December 22 through January 6, the resort does not accept children under 12 years of age.)

Queen Elizabeth II stays here when visiting Jamaica. Fidel Castro slept here. The Jamaican prime minister brings visiting dignitaries to lunch. Since 1954 when it opened as a cluster of cottages, the resort has welcomed luminaries, celebrities, and not-so-famous couples and families from around the world seeking relaxation in a plantation-style resort redolent with Jamaica's English-colonial past.

Begun in 1953 as a collection of villas on a 110-acre pineapple/allspice/coconut plantation, Round Hill Hotel and Villas has long served socialites and celebrities. Villa owners have included writer/producer Noel Coward, Viscount and Viscountess Rothermere, and, currently, designer Ralph Lauren. Accustomed to opulence, owners come here for the restful rusticity, which also attracts celebrity and non-celebrity couples and families.

With origins dating to the 1940s, the Couples Ocho Rios' tall trees and tropical foliage, expansive lawns, and flowering plants create a tranquil ambience for relaxation and romance. As the name signifies, the resort accepts only couples age 18 or older. Registration, accompanied by champagne and chilled towels, takes place while guests are seated in a breezy, marble-floor lobby with potted plants and banana-yellow walls.

Designed for uninhibited singles and couples age 18 or older, the Hedonism III draws a youthful clientele seeking lively holidays among like-minded people.

Replicating the town of Falmouth's central square--including a "Town Hall" reception area, "Court House" conference center, fountain, and cobblestone streets--Grand Lido Braco Resort & Spa All Inclusive invites adults (minimum age 16) into a gingerbread village with a strolling band, vendors, and a "fruit lady" dispensing exotic fruits. Even at full occupancy, the 85-acre resort offers ample relaxation room.