Ray & Sue, Grand Lido Braco - 04/99

This was our third trip to Jamaica. Our first trip was in April 1996 to Jamaica-Jamaica, now called Breezes Golf and Tennis Resort, to celebrate our 25^th wedding anniversary. After that first trip we knew we would be returning. In April/May 1998 we did the Lido Sampler going from GL Negril to GL Sans Souci which I'll talk a little about at the end of this report.

We are in our mid to late 40s. Children grown and gone and time to travel. Two grandchildren but we don't feel that old. In Jamaica, you're definitely as young as you feel.

I had done enough research on the Internet I felt like I knew my way around. Check-in was a breeze. After filing out a few papers we were assigned room 814 on the textile side. While our intentions were to spend a lot of time on the au naturel side, we're not immediately comfortable with it, especially when we haven't visited a particular resort. I guess we could be classified as "nekkid conservatives". We found room 814 to be musty smelling, a long way from the center of the resort and au naturel end, and the air conditioner leaked badly. After talking to the front office, we were offered room 1134 which is in the second building from the main part of town. It was two double beds instead of a king size but for this week "sleepin' double in a single bed" was just fine.

It was drizzling when we arrived and continued for the next couple of hours. After that, it was sunshine and great weather the rest of the week. Since it was Thursday we knew we wanted to at least take a look at the P.J. party that night After a 2 hour nap and a walk around the resort, we ate at Victoria's Market and waited for the P.J. party. We arrived at the disco at 1030pm. We were the first ones there. By 1045pm people started showing up. Men mostly in boxers, women in teddies and then Victoria Secrets best. We didn't stay long. Wasn't quite ready for this. If the P.J. party would have been later in our trip we most likely would have stayed longer. (Conservative people at the beginning).

We tried the par 3 golf course twice. It's not a bad course but we just didn't play well so decided not to stress ourselves any more. Paid $4 for a pull cart one day and $10 for a riding cart the next. These charges are put on your tab to be paid when you leave. Avid golfers played the couse some but it wasn't used often. We went out at 3pm one afternoon and was the first to play that day.

After the first day, most were basically the same. I was up at 545 to 6am, made coffee in the room, and walked down to the au naturel clubhouse and had a cup of coffee. After that I walked along the beach and back to the room to make sure the sleepy wife was up and going. We normally made it to breakfast by 730am. Victoria's Market had most everything you wanted. Bacon, Eggs, Sausage, rolls,, omelets and about anything else you can imagine for breakfast. We learned after the first couple of days to pace ourselves and not overindulge.

By 8am we headed to the au naturel beach. Usually there were a few people there. Always plenty of chairs and loungers. It's a large area and you could meet people if you wanted or be by yourself. As the week went on, we met more people and had some good conversations while walking along the beach. People are quite friendly. Met some nice people from Connecticut and several from Canada. There were a lot of school teachers there during our week due to spring break. Laid around on the beach and also took the floaters from the chairs and floated in the Caribbean. Water was nice. The sand had quite a bit of rock so had to be a little careful. We didn't use water shoes but some may. While I've heard people talk about it being windy, while we were there it was fairly calm every day except one. That day most people moved to the pool.

Usually by 10 or 1030am we moved to the au naturel pool. Great pool. We pretty much kept to ourselves the first part of the week but before it was over we were enjoying nude volleyball and aquacize. There was a great pool bar you can swim up to and get a drink. There were two hot tubs. One faily large and one small secluded one. Except for two days the small one was too hot to use. They didn't get much business during the day but there seemed to be a lot of empty champaign bottles left over early the next morning so apparently it got some night use. Since the sun was shining brightly every day, we normally reached our limit on sun and left the pool sometime between 12 and 2pm. Not sure what went on after that.

The regular pool and beach are excellent also. We didn't spend much time there but it is a nice pool and beach. Another good pool/beach bar/hot tub.

The au naturel end is just that. Not clothing optional. While we seen one or two couples who didn't go au naturel, they normally didn't stay long. A few women left on their bottoms. No problem. The au naturel end also has an au naturel clubhouse where you can eat, play pool or ping pong, and get a drink. There was a bit of topless on the regular beach and pool but it wasn't really that common and no one seemed to care.

Eating was one of our favorite things to do. I mentioned Victoria's Market. This is the open air restaurant that overlooks the regular pool. Breakfast, lunch, and most dinners are served there. Casual except for dinner where most dress a little better. Great food.

Piacere is the French restaurant. You must have reservations and wear a jacket. Very elegant. Super restaurant. Great food. Very formal. It's a don't miss...make reservations early as it can be difficult to get reservations for.

La Pasta is the sidewalk caf. I've heard good reviews on this caf but we didn't particularly enjoy it. We had so-so pasta, came back to give it another try and had so-so pizza, and the service was probably the worst of anywhere we ate.

Nanny's Jerk Pit. Very spicy pork, chicken, and beef. Excellent cole slaw. We really liked their food. Service was good. Is definitely a place you gotta try. If you like spicy food, you'll like Nanny's Jerk Pit.

We have been to Breezes Golf and Tennis resort in 1996. In 1998 we tried GL Negril and GLSS on the Lido Sampler . We were asked numerous times which one we liked the best and it is difficult to answer. They are so different. For pampering, we liked GLSS. For the beach (textile), we enjoyed GL Negril. For food and au naturel facilities Braco is best by far. We are prone to trying different resorts each time. But, this is the first time we have talked about returning to a previously visited resort. The crowd was a little younger at Braco than at GLSS or GL Negril. More 30s than 40s and 50s. While the rooms on the textile side do not have refrigerators, apparently the au natural side rooms are much larger with refrigerators. If we do return to GL Braco, we definitely would want to try to au natural side. However, I don't believe we would spend a lot more to get them as we had no problem walking to that side.

We plan on returning to GL Braco. We probably won't bring our golf clubs but for relaxing, good service, and friendly staff, GL Braco was best for us.