Kathleen - April, 2014
Let me preface this by saying that we love Hedo, and plan to return every year, if possible. We don't go there for the rooms or the food, but for the people (guests and staff), the nude beach, and the fun & sexy vibe that can be found no where else on earth.
While many had traveling woes this time, we did not, once we replaced our lost passports less than two weeks before the trip! Everything went smoothly from our flights to immigration to the bus transfers. We learned to book the earlier flight leaving to avoid longer lines, and to get to Hedo faster. We made that mistake last year. We didn't book Mobay, and that was a good thing since we didn't need it this year. Some years we have! We never had to wait long for anything involving travel this time. But I have heard more horror stories than ever before with delays, and mix ups, and canceled flights. We got lucky apparently.
Check in with Sandy from Tom's Trips was smooth also, even though we had to wait almost an hour for our room. That was a first, but not a problem since we were hungry and just ate lunch while waiting.
I do have to say that while it might not be a popular opinion I did not really see the expected and hyped improvements. But like I said we love Hedo anyway. We actually had our worst room assignment ever. It was as far away from everything as possible and the second to the last room before Sandals!! I would have complained more but they stuck many in our group out there in Siberia with a grand view of the busy and noisy highway!! Not only that but it was the first time we have ever not had hot water. So much for nicer rooms!! It may have been painted, and there was an umbrella in the room. But I always bring my own umbrella. Some liked the big flat screen TV's, but thankfully we are never bored enough on vacation to turn the TV on! So it was wasted on us. And we have plenty of those at home. The curtains were actually worse than the old ones because they did not open in the middle only being one piece. And they were heavy and it took effort to let the sunlight into the room. The color may have been better, but that was it. And the beds are much harder. I heard this from many! And the bedspreads are now all white. Really? How impractical is that? We never even caught a glimpse of the new and improved high dollar $$$ rooms except on You Tube. They exist for a steep price, but there are only a handful of them. The majority are basically the same old Hedo rooms. And ours was very disappointing. I have never said that before, although I have always questioned the person they hired to decorate the rooms, and I still do. So if you are expecting nicer rooms as promised, you will be disappointed if you don't pay for the top of the line nude ocean view premier rooms with hot tubs. The rest simply got a paint job. So all that hoopla was just hoopla, so they could charge the people who want the best more money for their rooms, if you ask me. I wouldn't mind all this is they were more honest about it, and really I just want a comfortable bed and a hot shower within easy enough access to either the food or the beach. We had NONE of that this time, although we always did in the past. We did have a wonderful housekeeper though!
I heard people in our section of Siberia/Sandals say they needed golf carts or helicopters to shuttle them to the beach. That should tell you something!
The best and only real improvement I saw were the hot tub steps. I appreciated that until my boyfriend pointed out to me that they were already corroding since they used cheap aluminum instead of stainless steel. So they won't last very long unfortunately.
The beach seemed cleaner and nicer, although it was harder to find a lounge chair. They are NICER than the old ones if you can find one after 10 AM. Many leave their towels on them and then go up and spend the entire day at the nude pool instead of on the beach which doesn't seem right. I saw many lounge chairs claimed but not used all day. And the hot tub was hot, and I did appreciate and use the new small hot tub behind our room. So that makes two improvements. Some days it was cold, but we would turn it up in the AM, and it was usually hot by evening.
The DJ for our group was great (Mark) and the pool
games sounded amusing. I didn't see any EC's out of the beach getting
people involved though. Some think that's an improvement and some
don't. We like to be out on our floats and are not big on joining
in games, so it didn't matter to me. I would like to see Augustus
back on the nude beach side. He is always friendly to us.
The nude grill is great as always, and there are more choices for late
night snacks and food. I thought the food was about the same, but
lover boy though it was better than in the past. I will say that
Shanakay at the pasta bar went out of her way to always have my cold
pasta ready for me! She was the best!
The entertainment in the dining room was very good, and we had lots of opportunities to dance. I prefer more Reggae but there was some at least. Not enough but a little. The piano bar used to be a favorite but has gotten tiresome. It's still hard to find a seat although there seems to be a little more seating. There is just not enough variety in there after the first night. The same old, same old. We used to go there every night, but this time we skipped it several times because it was yawn inducing. Someone needs to change it up from year to year. I am surprised the piano player can stand the daily monotony. So that has gone the way of the disco if you ask me.
We love the staff, and Lorna was great, as well as others. There was one at the front desk who was cold as ice on Friday night and gave us very wrong and worrisome information about our transfer to the airport in the morning. She was rude and worst than unhelpful. Thankfully that is an extremely rare thing.
The party room for our group was another disappointment unfortunately, due to lack of communication and information. It was a shame because the room was set up for us, unlike last year. And it's a fun and romantic and sexy space! But due to poor communication no one showed up!! No one knew about it and everyone thought it was on a different night. I heard at least 3 different dates! It was announced one time, but not the time or place or date. So when we showed up and waited for hours it was empty, and it stayed empty. The room WAS set up for our group too. That's the real pity. But no one was there to staff it, and the lights were BRIGHTLY lit, the candles were missing, and the champagne was still in a cooler. We did not feel comfortable just barging in without checking in, and no one else was around. We waited and waited. Another couple and the owner wandered by and wondered what was up with that too. And then we told others in our group who checked it out and were confused as well. By that time it was too late, and a lost opportunity due to no one being invited. So basically they thew a party and no one came because they forgot to list the time and date or to announce it to anyone. So someone needs to get their act together. I'm not sure who dropped the ball.
Biff's Bunch was great, and several helped us out countless times in ways that would never happen elsewhere! They went above and beyond. That was priceless. And we enjoyed seeing old friends and meeting new ones. The guests were all great.
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