Grand Lido Braco Trip Report - November 1999  

This is a quick trip report from our visit to GLB in November of 1999. This was our third visit to a Grand Lido; the previous two were to Negril in 1995 and 1997. I will spend more time contrasting the two resorts, since other reports do a great job of describing Braco. Naturally, these are opinions and some folk may feel differently.  

Getting There  

We used Go Classy tours for the first time and were pleased with their service and prices. We got quote and corresponded using E-mail and phone. We made a last minute change to add an additional day and they handled it just fine and got us our travel documents in just a couple of days. I'd use them again.  

As reported in other trip reports, it's a almost exactly a one hour bus ride from Montego Bay to Braco. It was bearable and interesting to see the center of a few towns. Bus was in good shape and air-conditioned and not a fraught with peril as you might have heard.  

Braco First Impressions  

We were expecting the royal treatment we received twice at Negril. The town hall was cute but the reception was more like a regular hotel. We had faxed our room preferences and anniversary reservations at Piacere a couple of days ahead of time. Wanted a ground floor room and had indicated so both in the fax and when we made the reservation.  

We got a business-like lady who handed us a safe deposit and 2nd floor room key. The envelope for the room key had a ground floor room number on it scratched-out! Asked about a ground floor room and she said they were totally filled; check back later. Our extra day wasn't recorded on our reservation card; but fortunately the coupon from Go Classy did have the eight nights noted.  

She escorted us to the taxi stand in front of the resort and introduced us to the baggage guy, who escorted us to the room. He was very nice and friendly. Our second floor room turned out fine; ground floor would have been nicer to get directly to the beach. We tried for the first three days to get moved to a ground floor room but had no luck and felt we had to push too much. Got the same answer, all booked. However, we watched people come and go on the ground floor rooms below us for the whole week! Never got a call from the desk.  

The resort is more folksy compared to Negril being elegant, posh. So initially, we were disappointed and wished we had done Negril again. But after we got the feel of the place. The choice between the two resorts became much harder.  

Restaurants  

Braco has Negril beat because there are two additional eating options; Japanese and Nanny's Jerk Pit. Other than that the food quality was very good at both.  

The Japanese restaurant provides a nice alternative meal choice. There are two areas in the Japanese restaurant; Sushi Bar and Benihana-like tables. If you make reservations through the concierge, it's only for the Benihana tables. If you want the Sushi Bar, you make the reservations at the restaurant directly. The Benihana part was very good with the added feature of being able to have any or all of chicken, beef, fish and prawns AND they had sake!  

The jerk pit is nicely placed in the resort, and had good quality food and service. It's more of an park, outdoor setting and was a pleasant surprise.  

The room service menu was bigger than I remember at Negril, but I bet they are the same. Lamb Chops were my favorite at both resorts.  

Room service tip! We love papaya. We asked for it on the room service breakfast card and got it on the days they had it! Toward the end of the trip, we just asked for banana bread, papaya, orange juice and coffee. We used room service a lot at the pool and for breakfast.  

Piacere had a better wine selection than I remember from before. The Glen Ellen cabernet was good but I couldn't get it anywhere else in the resort. Do not miss Piacere and the Japanese restaurant; get your reservations and if all else fails show up at the door and hope for a no show. The nights we were there, there were a several empty tables available.  

Street Party on Friday nights and Beach Party on Wednesday were both very nice and more interesting than the Gala Buffet and Beach Party at Negril. Food was similar, except they had crayfish (Beach Party) or lobster tails (Street Party). Plan your trip to catch the Friday night street party, it was well done.  

Water Sports - Scuba  

Negril wins easily. Braco is right on the sea and there is a reef/breaker that spans the width of the resort. Makes for great wave watching and ambient sea noise.  You can swim and float and it's pretty nice but it's not like Bloody Bay.  If you wanted to do the Sunfish, etc. Bloody Bay is much nicer, calmer and requires less skill. At Braco, it appeared you had to go outside the reef, way beyond my level of skill and comfort.  

Scuba was disappointing. We did have windy weather and swells. Negril used staff within the resort and had a good dive boat. Braco uses an outside company, Resort Divers. You get one dive a day at Braco, you carry your gear to the boat, the boat is vintage and crowded and not as easy to exit from. The dive team was very professional, inspected my classic gear, did safety stops, etc. They followed very safe practices.  

Because of the weather, I only got one dive on an overcast day at the Braco Wall. It's a wall dive, 60 feet, was okay but not spectacular. Water was cloudy on the exit because a river empties into the sea at that location. The river passes a bauxite mine and picks up silt. I got some seawater in my eye and it burned like sun block (and I was wearing the non-stinging kind). The wave action got me woozy in the boat. The following day, I heard several people were feeding the fish from the dive boat.  

I had to make several visits to the beach hut to find someone to make reservations. Later, I discovered that Resort Divers had a shop in the Braco Village and I think you could make dive reservations there and check if the dives were cancelled. The 9 o'clock dive was the deeper diver for certified people. Contrast to Negril where the dive gang were there almost all the time.  

Negril had more dive site options and opportunities and you could do two and occasionally three dives a day. The boat was loaded with dive gear. Safety wise, they were the same. Negril also had the MY Zein yacht, very nice, very different. If you want to be in the water, or on the water Negril was better.  

Interestingly, I liked the beaches better at Braco. They were longer and the resort is much wider than Negril. Braco had thatched umbrellas-like structures to get out of the sun. Lot's of lounges. If you want to bask in the sun and just take a dip of two in the sea or pool, Braco was better (but not by much, shade makes a difference to my paste-white skin).  

Night Life  

We thought there was more evening things to do at Braco, Vegas night, crab races, sax, piano bar sing-a-long. Negril was very quiet in the evenings when we were there.  

Rooms  

Braco and Negril each are two resorts (textile and non-textile) with a core facility in the middle. Braco has different building styles between the two sides making the distinction more obvious.  

The textile side has really cute looking two story units in two rows, one beachfront and one behind it (garden view). The end units have turrets, visually very attractive and the grounds were very lush with a cactus garden every now and then.  Room strategies for the textile side are several, go cheap get garden, go beach front, go near the village core or go to the far edge and exploit the beach bar/grill and Jacuzzi at the end of the resort. I'd be tempted to go beachfront either near the village or near the beach bar/grill.  

A/N side has two newer buildings, three stories and a very large, spectacular pool complex with a bar/grill, club house (with bar, room service through here), two Jacuzzis (one huge). Both buildings are beachfront, with a very nice beach and swimming area. The A/N side is huge compared to Negril. If you want to be in the buff, this is the place. Room strategies, Block 2 was better placed with the pool directly in front, bar/grill on one side and the club house on the other.  

Phone Calls to the States  

I fortunately got an AT&T Phone Card before the trip. At Braco, you just dial 872 and you get AT&T long distance! The price was about $6 for a reasonable call to the states.  

Conclusion  

It's hard to split the difference between two well-run resorts. Both offer a relaxing and fun vacation with staff that do an excellent job. Superclubs offers a good vacation in either resort.  

I missed the water sports and yacht of Negril. Reception was better in Negril (but you only do that once). I missed the plane ride into Negril (Fantasy Island-like).  

I liked the food options and nightlife better in Braco. The beaches and pools (with the swim-up bars) better in Braco. Friday night Street Party was fun.  

If you have done Negril and haven't done Braco, it's worth a visit. If you haven't done either, the IMHO choice really centers on food, water sports and A/N. If you want water sports, it's Negril. Food is a push with an edge to Braco. A/N is clearly Braco; but Negril offers clothing optional versus "naked-please".  

Client and staff wise, we found many more people we liked than didn't. Most were friendly and were there to have or give a good time. It didn't matter whether you were in the A/N or textile side.

If (when) I go again to Braco, I'd try the golf and tennis to replace water sports. I don't do either but they had lessons and that might be fun.

John