Lyle - December, 2013
I visited Hedo 15 – 25 December 2013 and there have been some significant changes since my previous visit in July 2013. Following is a brief description of my observations and experiences during this visit.
Arrival at the airport in Montego Bay involved VERY long lines at Immigration. The people working in Immigration, however, were right on task and efficiently moved people through the process, so the long lines weren’t really a problem or that much of a delay. Customs was absolutely no delay and they were also very efficiently processing people, so the time to clear Customs was minimal.
I used Rocky’s Tours for my ground transportation and had made a reservation with them online prior to my arrival. Once I cleared Immigration and Customs, Rocky was waiting for me right outside the door of the airport, as promised, and quickly called in one of his drivers that was waiting nearby. The driver was friendly, very professional, had a cooler of ice cold Red Stripe and bottled water for the trip to Negril, and we were quickly on our way.
Arrival at the hotel went as planned and the Front Desk was fully prepared for my arrival and had all the paperwork and room key ready & waiting for me. That process could not have gone smoother or more efficiently.
My room was on the ground floor in the building nearest Delroy’s and was one of the “Classic” rooms that has been refreshed, but not remodeled. The interior was freshly painted, the bed & linens were new and very comfortable, and the room generally appeared and smelled very clean. The air conditioner and everything else in the room worked fine and I had no complaints with any of it. The Air Conditioner in my room worked better than I remember it being ……….. ever.
Overall, I think the food has been improved. I’ve never been very critical of the food in the past and I’m not particularly fussy about it, but I do think the food is better now than in the past few years (including earlier this year).
It looked to me like the Bar, Dining Room, and Food Service staff was doing an outstanding job and I felt like the service was excellent. The bar tenders were all doing a great job and keeping everyone entertained and supplied with fresh drinks. The dining room staff were also very attentive and right on top of things and I rarely had to wait for them to refill water, clear plates, etc. The food service staff in general, also seemed more attentive than in the past and were doing a great job, including measuring and logging the temperature of the food on the serving line.
It appeared to me that Lorna Brammer (Customer Service Manager), Donna Grant (Hotel Manager), and Kevin Levee (General Manager) were all working very hard to make things work. To me, they looked like they were really focused, ‘on task’, and doing everything they could to make stuff work and keep people happy. Even when there were some problems (noted below), they looked like they were on top of things, working the problems very diligently, and doing everything they could to get the problems resolved.
Early in my visit attendance was fairly light and the hotel said they were at about 40% capacity, which looked about right to me. After a few days, attendance dropped somewhat, then started to increase rapidly just before Christmas as the hotel started to fill up in preparation for New Year’s.
The weather during my entire visit was very good and quite enjoyable. The Watersports staff all looked like they were doing an excellent job of taking care of the beach, pools, hot tubs, etc. and seemed more motivated and attentive than in the past. I never had a complaint about them in the past and always thought they were doing a pretty good job, but they’re now doing things I haven’t seen them doing in the past and they seemed to be on the move and busy all the time. (For example, I’d see them inspecting the beach furniture during the day and scrubbing anything that didn’t look clean.)
I originally doubted the value of the new beach huts until I used one & now I think it’s worth having a few spread around. I do think they take up too much valuable real estate for the value they provide, but having a few of them is probably OK.
A few days into my visit is when the problems began. At first, we lost hot water throughout the resort. The initial story was that they needed a part to fix it and they would have it fixed “very soon”. By the next day, we still didn’t have hot water and the story was that they were working on it very hard and it would be fixed as soon as possible. One of the new owners and his wife were staying in a ground floor room in the building next to mine, and I confirmed they also did not have hot water. They didn’t look any happier about it than the rest of the hotel guests. By the third day, the hot water situation became a common topic of conversation and there was a promise it would be fixed by a certain date / time.
Somewhere in this process, we also lost water pressure, so the toilets wouldn’t flush. That would sometimes last an hour or two, then we’d get water pressure back and the toilets would work. A day or two later, the toilets were non-functional for an entire afternoon.
The evening we were promised hot water, after giving it a substantial chance to warm up, my shower only got to “warm” and that lasted just long enough for me to get soaped up, the water temperature started to fluctuate, and then returned to full cold.
The bottom line is that I didn’t have hot water in my room for 6 of the 10 days I was there and there were some significant issues with how the toilets were working. I talked with a couple of the new owners about this while I was there, and they indicate they have spent a significant amount of money trying to upgrade the water system, but more effort and money is clearly required.
I tried to use the phone in my room for a wake-up call on my departure day, but the phone doesn’t work. I was in the same room, or one next to it, last July and it didn’t work then either. (My hearing is compromised, so the little alarm on my watch or phone just isn’t loud enough and the right pitch to wake me up.) The Front Desk indicated they’re having problems with the phone system and it needs to be replaced. They offered to have Security come give me a wake-up call in the morning. I advised them that last July, Security was 20 minutes late with my wake-up call, and they assured me Security would be on time the next morning. The next morning Security arrived promptly at the time promised and I was happy with that.
The morning of my departure, a representative from Rocky’s arrived promptly as promised and we had a very smooth and efficient return to Montego Bay. All things considered, even with a bit more cost than some of the other ground transportation options, I’m very happy with the service provided by Rocky’ and plan to continue using their service for future visits.
When I was at the resort, and since I’ve left, I have heard nothing official from Hotel Management regarding any type of compensation for the inconveniences or problems during my stay. Since I booked an Ocean View Nude room with a Single Guarantee fee added to the basic room fee, it’s certainly not cheap to stay there. To have no hot water for 6 of the 10 days I was there, and prolonged periods of problems with the toilets, nobody would think that was OK at ANY hotel anywhere else.
I did complete a guest comment card upon my departure from the hotel and clearly documented the problems I encountered. I also discussed the situation with management while I was there and they indicated they were considering some sort of compensation, but a decision hadn’t been finalized yet regarding that matter and I haven’t heard anything from them since my departure.
All in all, I think the staff is more effective and attentive than in the past, and there have been some significant improvements in the resort. Considering past conditions, nobody could realistically expect that ALL of the problems would be corrected by now and it’s obvious they are still working hard to improve conditions within the resort. What’s a bit frustrating is that all the new paint, seat cushions, etc. are all very nice, but they’re meaning less if there’s no hot water, the toilets don’t flush, and the basic infrastructure isn’t working correctly. I do hope the new ownership have heard that message clearly, and they’ll focus their energy and funding on making sure the basic infrastructure and food & bar service are working VERY well, then work on the remaining upgrade items as time and budget permit. Anyway, that’s just my input……… It’s not my hotel and it’s not my money that needs to get spent on upgrades. It IS, however, my money that paid premium rates for accommodations, and only had hot water for 4 of the 10 days I was there, so I really hope the hotel management and ownership adjust their priorities a bit.