Trip Report
September 7 thru 16
Hedo III
This trip report is offered as information for repeat
travelers to Hedo III, and not necessarily as a guide for first timers.
This was our third trip to Hedo III and we traveled as members of the
Jamaican Waterslide Team. We won’t address travel except to say we traveled on Air
Jamaica and it was no better or worse than any other airlines.
Bus ride was the same as always, but no stop for Red Stripe in either
direction because the folks on the bus asked the driver not to stop.
To begin with, if you really like people, and you like
having fun, the only way to go to Hedo III is to hook up with or create a
group of some sort. By meeting
online in advance, you arrive at the resort already knowing some people and
are well on your way to becoming friends.
That way you have people to talk with, friends to go to dinner with and
people with whom you have some relationship before you arrive.
Although you will meet lots of people once you get there, this
eliminates lots of the “getting to know” people time.
We formed the Waterslide Team last year from a core group
who had been at Hedo III during opening month.
Last year we named the group and developed our own logo for T shirts
etc. This year, more of the core
group began recruiting from friends and from Denny’s visitors list and the
group grew to almost 50. We even
drafted a few members once we arrived. We
also opened a chat room and site at Yahoo Clubs and one of our members started
our own web site with lots of photos and helpful information.
We developed a new logo for this year through a contest
much like Denny’s WWW group, and borrowed some of his other ideas as well.
We had T shirts, tattoos, personalized cards for the doors of our
rooms, and one of our members even made bead necklaces for everyone with their
name on them. This greatly added
a lot to recognition and even helped the staff remember us better too.
We made such a big impression that our tattoos became a status symbol
many staff members were wearing during the week as well.
We also organized our own theme night, (this idea
borrowed from Diane), and held a “Wear Mesh and Glow” party in the disco
as an “Ice Breaker” for our group. It
was a lot of fun and everyone at the resort quickly realized we were there
with all of our “Glow” jewelry. It
sort of set the stage for our antics throughout the week.
Members of the team also brought lots of fun things like rafts, “noodle”
type floats, lots of extra glow stuff, bottles of bubbles to blow at the
wedding of two of our members, body paints and much more.
One of our more interesting “toys” was a blow up drink caddy that
resembled a turtle and quickly became our mascot.
“JWST” became the Jamaican Waterslide Turtle and he accompanied us
on many trips down the waterslide. One
of our members who is a mixologist, came up with our own team drink
(The Jamaican Waterslide), that was really fun to drink from “Turtle’s”
drink holder cavities with long straws.
The resort has matured quite nicely in the past year. Most
of the vegetation has grown up and they have made a few changes in the
grounds. Despite the fact that
the waterfall and the water wheel still aren’t working, we found maintenance
to be at a very high level. Everywhere
you looked, there were people pruning, trimming, cleaning or painting every
day. There have been some nice
improvements to the nude beach access and they added a fence on the far side
to keep intruders out. The beach is still not much to write home about, but it looks
a lot nicer than before.
Food is good to excellent.
Although not exactly a 5 star cuisine, the selection and presentations
were outstanding. No matter what
your taste happened to be, you could always find something.
Pastafari and Munuhana continue as excellent alternative dining choices
and they have fixed the reservation problem.
Reservations are only taken one day in advance now, so the
inconsiderate people who used to book a reservation for every night when they
first arrived, and then fail to show up, can no longer do that.
We found reservations easy to come by if you went by the front desk
early in the day. They also now
serve dinner one night each week (besides the beach party), on the deck by the
prude pool. On that night,
choices are excellent and there were plenty of serving stations.
While there, we also attended the 25th Super Clubs
Anniversary party and the food selections were fantastic, including grilled
lobster, steamer rounds of beef and so much more you couldn’t sample it all.
Rooms and housekeeping were excellent.
We were on the third floor of Bldg
600 and everything worked. Had a
minor problem with ants and called housekeeping.
They were there to spray within an hour and the ants never returned.
Staff continues to be great. Anne-Marie, Suzette, Serena are holding court at the nude
pool bar, and keep things going all the time.
Nola has been promoted to manager at the Scotch Bonnet and service has
improved considerably there. Antoinette moved from the nude pool bar to the
Scotch Bonnet, but she still came by to visit when she could.
Of course all of the restaurant and bar staff continue to be typically
happy Jamaicans and seem eager to serve.
We were there during the disaster and can’t say enough
great things about this resort and our Jamaican friends. Everyone was very concerned and sympathetic, and although we
Americans and Canadians all pulled closer together, the staff let us know how
they felt at every chance. Flags
were lowered to half staff by the hotel, and management sent a letter of
condolence to every room expressing concern.
Many of us got bumped from flights that did not go, and
so rebooking was required. It was
impossible to get through to anyone on the telephone for a couple of days, but
Simone Sutherland and her staff kept trying and trying and were successful at
getting flights coordinated and people moving when the flight ban was finally
lifted. We can’t say enough
about Simone’s efforts. Paulette
Lewis and her front desk team also did a super job of helping us during the
crisis. Rooms were discounted for
those of us who had to stay extra days. We
had purchased trip insurance however and the insurance company is going to
cover the extra cost. Paulette
also was able to help us with a minor room request problem when we arrived
with no question whatsoever.
There is now Internet service at the resort.
You can purchase cards for $20 per hour at the front desk to access the
Internet. The two kiosks are
located near the pingpong tables in the sports and fitness center. For
some of us who needed to get emergency messages out when the crisis struck,
the sales staff was happy to send email messages for us as well.
Security at Sangster is much tougher than ever before.
Bags are searched at check-in randomly, then again at security and
finally, before you board the plane. One
good addition however is that there is now a Margaritaville Restaurant and bar
near Gate 1 on the concourse. Food
and drinks are great. We didn’t
know it was there and so wasted a couple of hours downstairs just killing
time. After we found it, we also
found lots of friends from Hedo already there.
Check in for Air Jamaica can be accomplished at the resort and they
even have a computer terminal there (located outside the fitness center, next
to the lady who sells photographs). Our
reservations were lost, so we couldn’t take advantage of it, but those who
did were able to check their bags at the resort and then bypass the long lines
for check- in at the airport.
Bottom line was that this disaster brought lots of people
closer together than we ever would have imagined. The bonding between our fellow guests, our own group and the
staff was something to remember for a long time. During the first hours, people who had rooms close to the
pool would run in every few minutes to get the latest reports then run out and
announce them to everyone at the pool.
This trip would not have been nearly as much fun, had we
not gone with the Jamaican Waterslide Team.
This diverse group of people from all walks of life and from several
Nations turned out to be the best group anyone could ever ask to be stranded
with anyplace. We hope that we
all meet again next year and the fun and enjoyment continues, but hopefully
under less trying and tragic circumstances.
Respectfully,
Bill and Nancy
JWST 9/7 to 9/16