Trip Report, May 29 - Jun 5, 1998
Grand Lido Braco
My wife and I just returned from GL Braco last week, and I thought I would add my opinion to the many reports that are out on the web, cause you can never have too much information.
We arrived at Sangster Int’l Airport on time via USAir at about 1:30 pm Jamaica time (which just so happened to be the same as Central DST, so I didn’t have to adjust my watch). We arrived at the same time as two other flights so going through customs was pretty slow. You would think that the Customs people would have more than three windows open with that many people arriving, but alas, I digress…After Customs, we walked around the corner and found the Superclubs desk. After about fifteen minutes, we were loaded into our Toyota mini van with some other folks who were going to Breezes, and a few other places in and around Ocho Rios. Braco was the first stop which is good because the Toyota’s a/c wasn’t working properly and we had to roll down the windows. But after about 50 minutes, we were turning into the front gate and were dropped off at the town square.
Checking in was relatively brief and the obligatory cool washcloth and drinks were offered. We had booked a 1 bedroom beachview suite on the textile side and were escorted to what appeared to be a gardenview suite. A quick phone call to the front desk, resulted in a choice of either a regular room on the textile beach or a 1 bedroom suite on the C/O side. After a brief conference with the wife we chose the C/O suite and were then escorted to a third floor suite in the first building (rm 3022). I won’t go into to much detail on the rooms as there are many descriptions available from other reports and they are all accurate. I will say that if you plan on using the hair dryer, you need to turn on a light switch located on the outside bathroom wall and then turn on the hair dryer. It took a call to maintenance for us to figure this one out, but the gentleman responded quickly and was polite.
Friday Night is the Street Party and the food was spread out along the entire circle of the town square served buffet style. There was prime rib, curried goat, and lots of seafood and a great baked bread table and dessert table. It was plentiful and pretty good, especially the spicy shrimp. Be prepared for spicy food, we live close to New Orleans, so this wasn’t a problem for us. We didn’t last long enough for the entertainment portion of the party as travel fatigue had set in and we called it a night..
We were awakened everyday by room service, (which was very prompt the entire week we were there). Breakfast every day for us consisted of the continental breakfast, with good coffee (I don’t think it was Blue Mountain, but it was still good), OJ, milk, fresh fruit and a basket of baked bread and croissants. It was nice to open up the French doors and have breakfast on the large balcony, looking out over the Caribbean Sea. After breakfast, we pack up and head down to the beach to claim what would become our cabana for the week. There were only two other couples on the beach. My wife sat down in her beach chair and dispensed with her top. A few minutes later, to my amazement, off came her bottoms. And this was our first time to a C/O beach! By the end of the day, we were old pro’s at this stuff. And I must admit, as I have read many times in various trip reports, the people on "our" side were a lot more friendly and outgoing. During the week we were there, the C/O side was never more than half full. There were times when we had the entire beach to ourselves and there were never more than 10 to 12 people at any given time. The age range was younger than I had expected also. I would say mostly 30 somethings, which is where we fit in, with a few forties and 3 or 4 fifties thrown in for good measure. The pool (which is huge) seemed more popular and we normally went there in the late afternoon. We did not need water shoes for walking on the beach. The sand was a tan color and more course than I am used to, but I live on the Gulf Coast with the sugar white beaches. Anyway, the sand was not a problem. There are rocks on the beach, but not enough to matter. There is also great snorkeling out by the large rock breakwater. We snorkeled twice a day and saw flounder, puffer fish, squid, starfish, large and small sea urchins and a variety of other colorful stuff. I even went snorkeling one night with a waterproof flashlight I had brought. Now that was interesting, lots more stuff with tentacles out at night, made me glad I wore a suit that time.
I won’t describe our day to day activities, because it was all the same - breakfast, beach, lunch, nap, beach/pool, dinner, bed. I was a little concerned about the number of places and choices of food we would have, however, It soon became clear that one would need at least two weeks to take in all of the restaurants and menu changes. The food, on average, was pretty good. The Japanese restaurant was excellent (get the seafood combo) with the Jamaican hibachi guy doing a good job. Nanny’s Jerk Pit was also very good with the jerk pork being the best. The jerk chicken was good also, and the jerk burger was interesting. This was our favorite lunch time stop. We never had a chance to try any of the pasta dishes, but I did manage to grab a pizza one night and it was excellent, much better than a Pizza Hut or Papa John’s. Everything that came out of that bakery was good, from the pizzas to the breads to the desserts. And the ice cream wasn’t bad either! Piacere was okay, with the appetizer, soup, salad and dessert tasting very good but the entre’s were not that good. I had a beef tenderloin that looked and tasted like a $5 Winn Dixie New York Strip. But the highlight of the evening was the wine list. They actually had some California wines, albeit Glen Ellen Cab and Chardonney, but after drinking the house stuff all week it was a welcome relief. Speaking of the wine and liquor, this for me anyway was a major disappointment. Mr. Benz, in an earlier report, was correct on the quality (or lack thereof) of wine. There were two choices of white wine, a very light and flat Italian and a French wine called CC&J (I think) that was a little better. The champagne was also Italian, Longview (or Long something) that tasted like an aluminum can. Mixed with OJ in the morning made it tolerable. The red I had with my pizza wasn’t bad, it was a light Chilean wine whose name escapes me. This is an area which GL seriously needs to work on. I know there has to be better quality wine for reasonable prices out there somewhere. Maybe if they made the buyers taste some of this stuff they would do a little better, but again, I digress…Another major disappointment was not having my absolute favorite rum in the world. Myers Dark Rum was nowhere to be found. I thought for sure since Myers is made in Jamaica, that they would have it. Nope, I had to put up with some stuff called Caruba which was okay, but definitely not the same. The Red Stripe and Heineken turned out to be main staples of my liquid diet. My wife, who is not near as picky as me except with the wine, was satisfied with all the tutti-fruity concoctions the staff at the C/O pool bar is famous for.
The beach party was well attended with the same type food as the Street Party. Again we didn’t see the entertainment portion because we retired to the hot tub with all of our new C/O friends for some aluminum champagne. We did eat at Victoria’s Market for lunch once and it was good, Chinese type food that day with really good fried rice. We ate dinner there twice at Victoria’s and it was also good, just as good as Piacere without the white glove service. Presentation of the food was professionally done and I liked the menu changes every day. That’s why I need at least two weeks to try everything. I also liked eating outdoors as the breeze made it a very comfortable dining experience.
Service ranged from totally indifferent to strained politeness. Most of the staff were polite, but as I have read elsewhere, they don’t appear to enjoy what they are doing for whatever reason. The staff at the watersports hut took top honors as thorough assholes, nuff said.
The PJ party was fun, it was the only time we went to the disco. I know there have been a lot of questions about what do they wear at the PJ party, and my wife was struggling with the same question. I had my preference for what she should wear and she had her own. So to help in the decision making process, our new friends talked her into giving a fashion show that afternoon at the C/O pool bar. After the results were tallied, my choice, which was an emerald green lace babydoll with matching lace jacket and g-string, won the popular vote. She would go on to win "Most Risque" that night. Other ladies were wearing teddy’s, baby doll gowns, men’s type pj’s, bathrobes, etc. Men mostly wore the traditional boxers, with a few tighty whitey’s making an appearance. another of our new found friends wore a beach towel. He would go on to win "Bare as you Dare", and he did. It was all good fun and the C/O side won 4 of the 5 prizes!
There was never a need to leave the resort as they had craft people set up in the village most days and even a fortune teller, "Mr. Majestic" , came one day. For $10 he would read your palm and for another $10 more read the tarot cards. He was a big hit and some of the returnees swear by him. He told my wife she would be going to Paris, so the jury is still out as far as I’m concerned. They have trips to Dunn’s River Falls which everyone said we should do, but we just couldn’t get motivated to get dressed and leave. Maybe next year. Didn’t play golf either for the reasons stated above. The course was never crowded and the fairways were pretty dried out. The greens were Bermuda and were in good shape. The beauty salon was not in operation while we were there. Don’t know why, but if you needed services, they would bus you over to Breezes at an additional cost. The small hot tub on the C/O side was also out of operation, no explanation given.
The weather for late May and early June was fabulous. Every morning was clear, a 10 to 15 mph seabreeze would kick in about 2 pm with partly cloudy shies, and in the evening low clouds on the horizon for the sunset. Only two days did the clouds from the mountain range overtake the beach in the late afternoon and it sprinkled for about five minutes one day then cleared up. You can see the sunset over the water from the beach, provided those clouds on the horizon don’t obscure the view. Our last sunset was picture perfect, as the sun sank peacefully into the Caribbean. Wind was not a problem and actually provided welcome relieve from the 90 degree heat.
Now the big question, was it worth it? Well , the staff could use a semester at charm school, the wine can’t get any worse and they could stock Myers in their liquor inventory. But how can you put a price on romantic experience. Answer: you can’t! It was seven of the most romantic, relaxing days/nights that my wife and I have had in 15 years of marriage. It was exactly what we needed at exactly the right time. She is already saying "You are taking me back there, AREN’T YOU" ? Hey, she’ll get no argument from me. Book it, Danno!
Mike and Lisa Benfield
Thanks for the great report! - Denny