Click here for pictures from this trip.
This was our first trip to Grand Lido Braco (GLB) and our
second trip to Jamaica. We were
at Couples Ocho Rios in April of 1998. We
had very high expectations for GLB since we loved Couples and GLB was
considerably more expensive and offered no excursions in the price. To
give you a quick summary, we loved the resort and plan to return next
November.
We arrived in Jamaica after an uneventful 3˝ hour
flight. We were greeted by singers at the airport. Immigration was a breeze!
The hour-long bus ride was not bad at all. Check in took about 30 minutes and
was a little disorganized. We were booked for a Jr. Suite A/N. We gave them a
voucher for a free upgrade. They took us to our room #3029 on the ground floor
of the second building. It was a 1 bedroom suite. The view was wonderful!!!
And the convenience outstanding!!! The room was very simple but very clean. It
remained that way all week. The maid service was outstanding. We got clean
towels twice a day. Later in the week we received a beautiful bouquet of
flowers and a fruit bowl and Champaign from our travel agent, Zoom travel.
Some days the bed was turned down at night with a towel sculpture on the foot
of the bed and radio turned on but not every day. We were totally pleased with
our room with the exception of the shower. It varied from burning hot to
freezing cold the whole length of the shower no matter what time of day.
Bring your own hairdryer; the one in the room is almost useless!!
The beach was beautiful! The wind varied from day to day.
It was never too windy to enjoy the beautiful water. We found it to be a very
quiet place. People tended to stay to themselves. There were some rocks at the
waters edge but not enough to wear our water shoes. There were plenty of
floats if you wanted to use them. Beach towels were in short supply. You had
to grab them as soon as they brought them around 10 am and they were not
restocked the rest of the day. So late arrivals were out of luck. We also
found that we needed to reserve our chairs early in the morning to get the
spot we wanted. Snorkeling right off the beach was ok. A lady did find an
octopus and took it to the Japanese restaurant to put it in the aquarium there
but not before it bit her on the hand. Baby turtles began hatching our last
night and we helped to collect them to take them to the marine lab. Security
was certainly present but was very relaxed about clothing and cameras.
The pool was fabulous! Very pristine. We found most
people hung out there and were much more social than at the beach. The pool
bar was the center of activity. Keecha, Shy, Carleen, Michael, Boyd, Tamika,
and of course Chester, kept things going. A lot of the old staff has been
hired away by the new Ritz Carlton, so there were a lot of new trainees. Ate
lunch here several times. Small portions, but very good. The lunch Buffet on
Thursday was very good. And Cynthia, the fruit lady was always there to sing
for you. There were several kitty cats to keep you entertained.
The main hot tub was kind of greenish all week. The
temperature was good. It was a pretty quiet week, not a lot of activity. The
little secluded hot tub was very nice and certainly saw its share of ….activity.
The gym was under total reconstruction so it was
temporarily located over the main bar. It looks like when it is completed it
will be very nice.
We ate here twice. The first night was better than the
second….your cook makes a big difference, Tyrone the first time, Luke, a
trainee from Cuba the second. Tyrone
even had Cathy help with the cooking! The
food was wonderful, the service very good. An enjoyable 2 hour
experience!!!
The food was mediocre, the service TERRIBLE!!!
Good food, all times of day and good service. The band
during and after dinner was very good.
Very prompt and good.
Very nice. Service excellent, food very good. Harpist was
wonderful!
Good food, good service.
Food was good, although small portions. Service was worse
than terrible!!! The incompetence was unbelievable!!! There were always staff
members sitting around doing nothing and when you asked for something they
looked at you like they did not know what you were talking about. We went
there once for breakfast, got so frustrated we went back to our room and
ordered room service and got it in 10 minutes. Never could figure this out
since room service comes from the Club House.
Steve was the male model for the toga tying demonstration
in the afternoon. Toga party was poorly attended.
Food was plentiful, entertainment good.
Well attended, mostly by A/N side. Very entertaining, to
say the least!
Unbelievable amount of food! Beautiful
presentation!!!
Much better than expected. We saw a ray, lots of sea
urchins, an eel, several brightly colored fish and even glimpses of some
colorful reef. We saw a guy spear fishing and snapped a picture of his catch
for the morning. The water was really rough on Thursday. Unfortunately, Cathy
got seasick. The captain was very kind and helpful.
Plenty of stores, prices comparable to other Jamaican
shopping. Really enjoyed the tables set up by locals to sell their wares
around the textile pool every day.
Excellent resort, great facilities and the right amount of activities. Service on this trip was definitely sub-par for a resort of this caliber. Definitely had a feel of two resorts sharing a common hub of activity. There are a few things that could improve: the shortage of beach towels, serving beverages in glass containers around the pool, service in the club house and La Pasta, picking up trash and used glasses both around the pool and the beach , and providing bar service both at the beach and pool. These things certainly would not keep us from staying here again. We are counting the days until we can return!