Lance & Michelle - February, 2008

1st Trip to Braco, 5th to Jamaica (others to H2)

<<Warning for the sarcasmically-challenged: we had a great time and there are some not-so-subtle references to problems that we have seen in other trip reports, particularly those on Trip Advisor but, admittedly, also here and other Braco-specific board. Since this is a virgin Braco trip, this is untainted by personal history of the resort but is tainted from reading complaints by others about how bad the place is.>>

We have a *very* long voyage to get to Jamaica so by the time we pull into Mobay we’re pretty burnt out. Lots of changes to Sangster Airport in the last 3 years but got through and had a short wait (enough for a couple of Red Stripes) for the bus to GLB. Getting on the bus was hindered by the pestering for tips for bringing our luggage over...........but since we already slipped some to the 1st guy all was fine. Hey, the red-hat dudes don’t work for SuperClubs. They have to feed their kids too.

We got there quickly as nobody got out for a beer break along the way and the road was great.

Check-in:

We waited and waited.......it must have been MINUTES..........to get checked in. Then, we find out the bad news.......NO A/N side room for us!! Darn it, we paid for a prude room but they were full on the AN side so we had to accept one in the closest building to the AN side (on the 2nd floor, exactly where we asked). More moments of waiting until we actually got in the room.

The Room:

It wasn’t one of the upgraded ones but it was fine. Fridge always stocked with what we wanted, great view, close to everything. The hot water situation was terrible. Oh wait........only until we adjusted it to perfection.

The AN side:

Headed over to the AN side to the bar for a cold one. Wait.........where’s Merle??? Aaargh!! Even though we have never met her, how can we have a holiday here with only the other extremely pleasant, helpful, polite staff?? Somehow we made it through but only after being pestered by these folks with constant badgering of things like "How’s your vacation?" and "Would you like a drink?" at the pool or the beach. Oh, and don’t get me started on the agony of being bothered by the fruit lady or the water-spritzer lady or the 3 musical dudes.

This was a bit of a "split" vacation for us. I (he) specifically wanted a quieter vacation without having to meet every person on the property........I deal with people every moment of my life otherwise and at H2 we found the extremes of constant socializing.....this wasn’t what I was after and it was simply an "us" vacation for me. Of course that forces the other half to adapt but she was able to get her social fix in with the daily volleyball and chatting with other folks. Essentially you get what you give so it worked for both. I managed to park my increasingly tanned butt at the pool and beach for the day and went through a billion books which was exactly what I was after. The people are great and it is immediately obvious that there is a huge repeater contingent on the AN side but they are very welcoming.

Getting back to the big issues.........the hot tub temperature was unlivable for more than an hour or two (or 3 or 4 presumably). Similarly, the pool was far too big and clean with this insane temperature that you could only stay in for as long as you wanted.

Prude side:

Don’t know much about it other than walking to the end bar a couple of times to check it out. It looked like people were having fun.

Food & Drink:

We managed to forage enough to barely survive. We went to Piacere twice & Munasan twice. Both were excellent. The AN side dinner on Monday was a great touch. However, waiting minutes for room service at all hours was getting a bit much. And those lamb chops that everyone raves about..............I had to order them over and over for lunch at the AN grill and through room service to ensure that they were acceptable. One serious flaw was when we had lunch at the Reggae cafe and they actually screwed up by bringing fries instead of rice with my jerk chicken and a salad that was out in the heat all morning........we then went over to Victoria’s and got booted out for not wearing a shirt at lunch. Had to walk back to the AN side for fresh salad, jerk chicken etc. Trip Advisor, here I come!!!

Drinks were great except for..........you guessed it.........no bananas in the Dirty Bananas. Somehow we survived.

Right now we are taking a wide berth around the scale and not daring to step on it.

Tipping:

Now this really makes my blood boil. How come other people get hassled for tips and not us? Just good old friendly efficient service when one is friendly and respectful to the staff. It is pretty obvious that rude, snotty people get their service quickly knocked down to the "Soon come, mon" level and we saw that happen to a few. You know, I would want to get paid extra to serve some of those people too!!

Towels and loungers:

Towels were there in the morning and evening and sometimes in the afternoon. Reserve your lounger at the pool or beach either late at night or early in the morning by putting something on it. No biggie.

Most annoying thing:

We didn’t know, or forgot, that there was a large spa credit which was only partially used for massages that we assumed we were paying for. Sort of a good/bad surprise.

Demographics:

A pronounced blip in the 40-65 range. The few children of guests that I saw there did not look overly happy and I think it would make for a lonely or boring vacation for them. We also saw a couple of younger (20's) guests wanting to transfer out as it was evidently a bit too "old" for them. Conspicuously, they did not venture over to the nude side. There were probably 3 or 4 weddings there and it looked like everyone was having a good time.

Coolest marketing name:

Has to be the "Likkle Wata". What a great name for a little bottle of Jamaican water.

Summary:

The reality is, if someone allows themselves to get pissed off about every little thing, you can have a lousy vacation anywhere. If you want a good quality Jamaican vacation that will adapt to a wide variety of people, tastes, needs etc., then GLB fits the bill and would be highly recommended. If you want the Four Seasons in Wailea then that is precisely where you should go.

HedoCanucks