Air Trip

Departure was from George Bush Intercontinental in Houston on Sun Country airlines. With the exception of the 4:00 a.m. arrival time in order to check in at the airport for the 6:00 a.m. flight, all was well. As always, Sun Country Airlines was fast and efficient.

Montego Bay Arrival

We arrived at Montego Bay around 9:00 a.m. Friday, July 2^nd. Customs sucked. Just like at the supermarket, I picked the wrong line to get in and quickly became accustomed to the two Jamaican speeds of extremely slow and reverse. I can truly say I have never been anywhere in which people moved so slow. I know some people joke about this but in some cases, it is just out and out ridiculous. Oh well, you just have to live with it. Finally got through customs and it is onward to catch Tim Air for our quick flight over to Hedo. I had never flown in a small plane before but Tim Air did a fine job and the company representatives were wonderful. Flying with Tim Air was one of the best parts of the trip. After a 15-minute flight we are finally at Hedo.

Hedo Arrival

This was our first trip to Hedo and we had read lots of trip reports and kinda knew when we got there at around 11:00 a.m. that a room would not be waiting for us. We checked in with the front desk and our travel agent, Castaways, who escorted our group down to Hedo, grabbed a Land Shark from the bar and we were off to the nude beach. We stayed on nude beach until about 2:00, went back to lobby and got keys to the room and we were off to find room #2229 upstair on the nude side. Once found, the key didn’t work so my better half was on his way back to the front desk. During this time, I went to a friends room to crash on their bed until the key issue was resolved. About 30 minutes later, we HAVE a key that WILL work. Now it is nap time; we have been in transit of various sorts since 2:00 a.m. and now with a few Land Sharks under our belts, we need some sleep. A two-hour nap proves to be just the thing we needed and now it is up and back to the nude hot tub. Here is where I have my first experience with the jerk chicken (excellent). My nose ran for an hour after eating all those hot spices. We stayed in tub for a while and then decide to go back to the room to change for dinner. Now the Land Sharks have really kicked in and I feel like crap. Too much sun and alcohol can be a bad thing. The food in the dining area was wonderful I am sure but I didn’t try it because I couldn’t stand to smell it. The Land Shark had definitely bitten me and our first night was an early one. My poor husband nursed me back to health all through the night and the next day I new I was going to take it a little slower.

Days of Sun and Fun

Most of our days are pretty much the same, we would get up and go to breakfast, go back to our rooms, shed our clothes and off to the nude beach where we enjoyed conversations with friends we had traveled with and new friends we made since arrival. Floats are essential, so pack them. Floating in the roped off area was wonderful. You tend to meet a lot of friends while out floating on the rafts so don’t miss that part of your trip. A normal day would be to go out and float and then head back to the nude pool where we would hang out and drink and visit with friends and enjoy the temptations of the beach grill. The grill on the nude beach is fantastic and some of our better meals were from the grill. The cooks were always very pleasant and made the best turkey and cheese sandwiches around. The bartenders however could learn a few things about being pleasant. I have never seen such sullen, slow and downright rude folks in my life. They acted as if just moving in your direction was a burden of their total being. For a resort that prides itself on free flowing alcohol, someone better tell the bartenders to smile, be happy and just plain loosen up and maybe really put some liquor in those drinks. I had read so many reports in which Delroy was described as the King of Bartenders. That is the farthest from the truth. He was worse than any of the other bartenders. I think Delroy could use a vacation himself and stand on the other side of the bar and be completely ignored and have to wait 30 minutes for a drink. I will say that Veronica of Veronica’s Piano Bar was a delight and always courteous. Maybe she could hold a class for the others and teach them a thing or two about being NICE.

FOOD

The food served was actually pretty good. The salads and soups were wonderful. The fresh fruit was great too. Pastafari’s was slow but the food was wonderful. Breakfast by far is the best meal. Dinner time always produced a ton of desserts to appease any palate. Unfortunately, my hubby is a meat and potatoes kinda guy and he doesn’t stray too far from that diet. I would say at least two out of seven nights he was in trouble. One night was Chinese and the other was fish. If you don’t like either of those, you could be in trouble. But all in all, he did fine and the food was much better than most all-inclusive resorts.

ENTERTAINMENT

A few nights we went to the disco. The music played was good but it was LOUD. We never stayed into the wee hours but the time we spent there was fun. We even missed out on PJ night. All the day partying takes it toll on you. We played ping-pong and pool a few times and stopped by the TV room a couple of times. If you are looking for big variety in the TV room.... DON’T. They staff puts the TV on the sports channel and that is where it stays. So if you are looking for a break from the heat and looking to maybe catch a movie, forget it. Movies are only played on certain days and it is the same movie played over and over.

Veronica’s Piano Bar is fun. The pianist is great and there is a lot of cooperation by the guests when it comes to singing along. Karoke night proved to be the best. It was a lot of fun to watch folks sing after a few drinks.

Shaka is great at keeping the place hoping and getting everyone in the spirit of having fun. I hope Hedo recognizes what a great asset they have in Shaka.

On our trip to Hedo HBO’s Real Sex was filming a bondage type episode. Of course, they had imported talent and the talent stayed as guests. Ms. Nude World was there as well as Ms. Nude Atlanta. There were several other girls in attendance that were Ms. Nude wannabes. I thought it was hilarious to see the Ms. Nudes on the prude side. The only answer to that query was they must have been traveling on the company bill and the company didn’t want to spring for the nude side. The Ms. Nudes held a lingerie fashion show and a couple of times we saw them filming bondage footage and the girls were tied to trees and the likes. You would have thought they would have added some spice to the place but really, they didn’t.

WOULD I GO BACK???

Probably not to the Hedo in Negril. I would like to try the new location at Runaway Bay when it opens in Sept/Oct of 1999. Why? The accommodations at the Negril location were just o.k. Of course, the water ran hot and cold and you had to be careful not to scald yourself during the fluctuation. The air conditioners just suck. While there we received a note under the door stating they were working on the air conditioners and appreciated our patience. We heard from folks that have been there several times over the past years that a note of that sort is very common. They are always "working" on the air. So hopefully, the new location will have working air. I think this particular resort is overworked and with the new location about to open, maybe it will get a much-needed rest and the work crews will have a chance to make much needed improvements.

We did have a good time, don’t get me wrong. But if luxury is something you are looking for. Go to Grand Lido. It isn’t at Hedo. For that kind of money, I expect water at the right temperature and air conditioning that has a temperature rating other than 90 degrees.

FLIGHT HOME

We flew the Jamaica Air turbo prop to Montego Bay. It was a quick flight and I have absolutely no complaints. Once in Montego Bay we visited the duty free shops where we stocked up on a few of our favorite liquors (prices were cheaper than in the States) and we caught the Sun Country flight back home to Houston.

TRIP SUMMAZTION