Let me begin by saying that my husband, Tom, and I have been to Grand Lido Negril 5 times and Grand Lido Braco 3 times. We travel with a group called the Hot Tub Patrol. There are approximately 40+ people in our group. We have been going to the Lido’s for the past 3 years with the group in October and again in February/March. Not everyone from the group goes at the same time. We have a pretty large group in Feb./March and a smaller contingent that goes in October. It’s a great group of friends we’ve made!
Tom and I began our trip on February 27, 2001 and stayed our first time at Hedonism III for 4 nights. With us at Hedo III were 3 other couples from our group. One couple, arrived the same day as us and the other two couples arrived the following day for 3 nights. The eight of us left Hedo III on Saturday, March 3, 2001 and headed over to Grand Lido Negril for 7-8 nights.
Hedonism
III:
I
will say right from the beginning that we really enjoyed Hedonism III.
There were plenty of activities to keep us busy and out of trouble!
(I think it’s pretty hard to get in trouble at Hedo III—some of us
had a problem at Braco on our last trip because people complained that our
togas were too revealing—lighten up people!)
Rooms:
We
were all in the 700 block of rooms on the nude side of the resort. Tom & I
had Room 722. Our room looked out
on the beach volley ball court (never saw anyone playing).
The rooms were comfortable and we really didn’t spend too much time
there aside from showering, sleeping, extra curricular activities, and
storage. I must say, though, that
we just loved the mirrors—over the king-size bed, behind and on an angle to
the headboard of bed, and, last but not least, over the jacuzzi tub.
The jacuzzi tub was great too! One
bad thing about the rooms—there are no balconies.
All windows are rather large and open up.
Food:
The
food was better than we expected!
Breakfast
wasn’t much different from the Lido’s.
There was plenty of fresh fruit (Hedo III actually had a much better
selection than GLN did), an omelet station, bacon, ham, potatoes, french
toast, etc.
Lunch
was buffet-style in the main dining area.
They had plenty to eat, also not much different from the Lido’s.
We had a delicious shrimp bisque soup one afternoon.
Also, there is usually some kind of contest or activity taking place in
the main dining area at lunch time. One
day we went to watch the wet T-shirt contest to cheer for a new friend from
the nude side. If you didn’t feel like putting on clothes to go have lunch
you can also order from the grill at the nude pool bar. One day I had a chicken ceasar salad that was fine.
Another day Tom and I had a grilled chicken burger with french fries
and that was fine too. No there weren’t any lamb chops but we didn’t really miss
them (probably because we knew we’d be able to have them in a couple of
days)! Also, another choice for
lunch was Hedo III’s Scotch Bonnet Jamaican restaurant.
The Scotch Bonnet is a two story open air building on the edge of the
ocean with great views. It’s a
great place to watch the sunset in the evening!
We only ate there once and the food was okay…we still like Nanny’s
Jerk Pit at Braco the best! (GLN’s
new Jamaican restaurant wasn’t very good at all.
Food is presented as “family-style” with bowls of each dish offered
placed on the table. Service was
also quite slow.)
For
dinner there are a couple of choices.
On
our first night we ate in the main dining area.
It was buffet-style and there were a lot of choices but we didn’t
find the food that terrific. It
could be the fact that we arrived pretty late and the food had been sitting
out for a while.
On
Thursday night (we made reservations at the main desk on Wednesday morning
with no problem) the eight of us went to the Italian restaurant, Pastafari. We had a choice of appetizers and entrees and they offered an
antipasta bar. Tom and I really enjoyed our dinner at Pastafari and felt that
it was actually better than the Italian restaurant at Braco.
(Also seemed to take much less time than GLN or GLB.)
On
Friday night six of us went to the Japanese restaurant, Munahana.
Friday night is Hedo’s Masquerade night so we all went to dinner
dressed as cowboys/girls and there was also Mel, the Hot Tub Patrol’s trip
coordinator (and leader) as the Indian “Chief”.
The wait staff got a kick out of us!
Our Japanese cook was wonderful and the food was terrific.
We had soup, salad, sushi, shrimp & veggie tempura, rice, a choice
of beef, chicken or fish (I had a combo of all three).
The cook sang Bob Marley songs with us throughout the whole dinner and
we had a great time! We actually
felt that Hedo’s Munahana was better than Braco’s!
Hedo doesn’t have a Sushi Bar like Braco does—only hibachi style
cooking.
The
Resort:
The
Japanese and Italian restaurants, main bar, and main dining area are all
located just inside the reception area/entry.
At the moment Hedo III is located on 16 acres.
(Someone at the resort told us of plans to enlarge the resort, but we
don’t really expect that to happen anytime in the near future.)
There is a main pool area.
The
disco is great! It definitely
puts GLN and Braco’s disco to shame! (GLN’s
disco is stuffy and moldy, although there are couches and chairs to sit on.
Braco’s disco doesn’t have much seating at all and, God forbid, if
you sit on your honey’s lap someone might think you’re up to something!)
Hedo III’s disco is located on the second floor so you do have to navigate
some steps. It is arranged very
nicely though with plenty of bench seating against the walls, a large bar
(with a great big fish tank on the wall behind the bar).
Sound system was fabulous (again, put GLN and Braco to shame) and they
actually played decent and current music (if I heard “Celebration” one
more time at GLN I was going to scream!)
If you feel like you need fresh air you can go out onto a deck area
outside of the disco and there is also a bar out there.
If you’re up for some fun you can climb the spiral staircase to take
a ride on the waterslide. Part of
the waterslide tube goes right through the disco!
The waterslide was awesome—a nightly must for Tom and our friend
Trish! I believe Trish went 10+ times one night!
Some other great features in the disco were the cage to dance in
(friend, Inga, Tom & I had a blast dancing in there) and the pole on the
bar to dance on!
The
piano bar is also located on the second floor.
I have heard a lot of good things about it, however, we never made it
to the piano bar. (It HAD to be
better than the Amici Piano Bar at GLN. It
has gotten quite stagnant in there—they could use a wee bit more energy!)
Highlights:
·
Tuesday
– Pajama Party
Tom and I and our friends, Sven and Inga, went to the Pajama Party. It was well attended. We had a great time dancing, that is, until “The Accident”. Thankfully, before “The Accident” the dance floor had cleared out a bit. We were dancing when all of a sudden there was what appeared to be special affects—like fireworks. These firework sparks were pouring down onto the dance floor from the top of the waterslide tube and bouncing on the floor. Inga, Tom and I were hit in the legs (and back) by these sparks. After a few minutes the sparks stopped and a ball of fire appeared on top of the waterslide tube. A few bar patrons threw their drinks on the fire to put it out. After what seemed like an eternity a bartender came and threw a pitcher of water on the fire. I know—what a genius—water on an electrical fire! The next day we found out what had actually taken place. Hedo’s brand-spanking-new smoke machine caught on fire and had proceeded to melt the aluminum heat shield inside it. What had splashed down on us was actually molten aluminum. I had a number of holes burnt through my thigh high stockings and the molten aluminum was clinging to the edges of the holes. Well we ended up with nasty little burns (like blisters but they actually went quite deep) and they bothered us for the whole vacation. We filled out accident reports and when we were checking out we were comped with 2 free nights for our troubles. Woohoo!!!
·
Wednesday
– Beach Party
Mel,
Trish, and another couple from our group arrived.
We all dressed in our grass skirts (girls in coconut bras) and silk
leis. The beach party was really
very nice. Hedo serves lobster at
their beach party. It was great
and they weren’t stingy with it! There
was a big selection of food. Much,
much better than GLN’s beach party (which is more like a picnic with hot
dogs, hamburgers, salads, etc.) Well,
with the grass skirts, coconut bras and leis everyone thought we were the
entertainment for the evening! While
we were eating dinner Hedo’s resident trapeze acrobats put on a show.
After dinner the beach games began.
They were a blast. Everyone was divided into 3 teams. The Hot Tub Patrol stayed
together on a team along with some other couples. Boy—our team was AWFUL!
(I won’t mention how many glasses of wine we had during dinner—I
really don’t think that it’s applicable!)
Those grass skirts really were a hindrance when doing some of the
events. Our team came in lastL!
But each couple or individual on our team did receive a bottle of Tia
Maria
After the Beach Party we ran back to our rooms and changed into risque outfits for “Dare to be Bare” night at the disco. We had a blast dancing the night away!
·
Thursday
– Toga Night
Woke up Thursday morning with bruises covering my legs. Finally figured out that they were from doing acrobatic stunts in the cage at the disco ;-) !!!! Before our dinner reservations at Pastafari we had a “Survivor” Party in the game room at Hedo III. They have a large screen TV and it was perfect for us to view “Survivor” on! (We didn’t want to miss who got injured on the Kucha Tribe!) During commercial breaks we made our togas out of the material we brought. The material was sheer and brightly colored. Togas turned out GREAT! Tom even won 2nd place in the “Best Male Body” (it probably helped that he “lost” his toga while he danced on the bar)!!! Danced in the cage again—I have to get one of those! (Along with the mirrors in the room!) Ended the night with a ride on the slide!
· Friday – Masquarade Night
Well let me start by saying
that we had been planning for months for this event.
We even had some conference calls to iron out the details.
For this scheduled event we decided on a “Coyote Ugly” or cowboy
and Indian theme. Well we had
dinner reservations at the Japanese restaurant this night so we went in
costume (we made the costumes tamer for dinner though).
The wait staff at the restaurant was terrific and they kept calling our
friend Sven “Clint Eastwood”! Well
we would pull out our guns during dinner and they would duck behind the
hibachi grill. Let’s see,
between us we also had furry handcuffs, whips, 32 ft. of lasso rope, holsters,
and we all had cowboy boots and hats, Sven had a sheriff’s badge too.
Then there was Mel—what a sight!
He looked regal in his Indian headdress, leggings, loin, tomahawk, etc.
Disco was terrific. Actually, not too many people were dressed in
costumes. (A little side note
here—the more you participate the more fun it will be for everyone.)
What a BLAST!!!! We ended
the evening with a ride on the water slide.
Actually Trish and Tom went about 10 times since this was our last
night at Hedo III L
!
Tom and I were up until
about 4:30 a.m. Went to the hot
tub for a while. There were a few
interesting hedonistic activities going on.
There seemed to be a pretty mellow crowd at Hedo while we were there
though. Noticed a few discreet
encounters but nothing like you hear people complaining about!
Overall Opinion:
We really enjoyed our 4 nights at Hedonism III.
Since the resort is new it is much more appealing to us than Hedo II!
One main problem is the size of the main and nude beaches—definitely
nothing to write home about. However,
on the nude beach there are two wooden piers that can accommodate quite a few
people and the small beach is tiered—never felt too crowded.
Also, on the nude beach the way the jetties are set up keeps the water
pretty calm (unlike Braco which can get pretty rough).
And if you’re not happy with the beach the pool isn’t bad and that’s
where all of the activities take place (such as oil wrestling, drinking games,
pool volleyball, body painting, etc.). Textile
part of resort was pretty quiet for the most part while we were there.
We will definitely return to Hedo III again! We think Hedo III is a wonderful party place with plenty of
activities. We also found it to
be somewhat sensual—there seems to be a sexual current charging the place.
We had a wonderful time relaxing with one another—something that is
sometimes difficult in our hectic lives at home.
Grand Lido Negril:
Left Hedo III at 1 p.m.
It was approx. a 1 ½ hour trip back to Sangster.
Short wait at TimAir and then on to Negril. We checked into GLN with our cowboy hats on (not sure why
everyone kept looking at us—maybe it was the galloping)!
Walked onto c/o beach between 3:30 and 4 p.m.
We were greeted by the troops! Let
the fun begin!!!!!
Sunday we had a great day hanging out on the float with
everyone. Thanks to those that
made the bar runs—don’t know what we would have done without you!
Another thank-you to Mel & Trish for breaking out the floating
drink island—was very helpful! They
come prepared for everything!
Monday was to be our last day to hang-out on the beach L!
There was a weather system that blew in Monday evening.
For the next 3 days there was very strong wind (steady 45 mph) and very
rough and turbulent sea. The M/Y
Zein was moved to the far side of Bloody Bay and other boats came in seeking
refuge too. The floating dock off
the c/o beach was washed up on shore. The
volleyball net in Bloody Bay was totally ripped up and is leaning now.
The end of the Zein loading pier was ripped up.
There was a good 2 feet of seaweed on the c/o beach, and the water in
the bay was full of seaweed. Also,
a good bit of sand on the c/o beach was washed away.
For the rest of the week everyone sat in lounges up on the grass
outside their rooms. Tom and I
were only able to water kayak once before we went home.
Highlights:
·
Beach Party on Monday night was great with
just about everyone in the group wearing grass hula skirts, coconut bras and
leis! People in grass skirts just
seem to be able to get the conga line going!
·
Tuesday was Toga Night.
We showed up at disco around 11:30 in our own homemade togas.
There was not another soul in the disco in a toga.
Bummer! Social Directors
were in a bad mood and weren’t doing their jobs.
We were told that they (Social Directors) could not make people dress
in togas and they couldn’t ask them to leave either. Well a few of us grabbed the garbage bag full of toga sheets
and got to work. By the end of
the night, with the exception of 3 people, we had everyone in some kind of
toga.
·
One night was Talent Night (Wed.?).
One of the gentlemen in the Hot Tub Patrol is a wonderful singer and
was definitely the star of the show!!!!!
·
We held our annual tattooing.
(We have a diversified selection of temporary tattooes.)
Another gentleman in the Hot Tub Patrol is our Master Tattooer, appling many tattoos to friends and staff.
I think just about everyone in the group had a Hot Tub Patrol logo
tattoo on the whole week too.
·
One afternoon six of us actually lived up to
our name the “Hot Tub Patrol” and completed the “Hot Tub Circuit”.
We started nude with the Timberhouse hot tub.
Then we proceeded on to the sauna and plunge pool in the spa area (nude
of course). Next we hit the
Stonehouse where we plotted our next strategic move.
We knew management could catch us at any moment so we decided to hit
the Beachhouse hot tub on the textile side first.
(Mind you—we stayed long enough at each hot tub to have a drink.)
After the Beachhouse it was on to the Main hot tub and pool.
Well…it was quite exhilarating knowing we had almost completed the
circuit! We made a quick run to
the Timberhouse for a bottle of champagne and cups to celebrate our
achievement. After celebrating in
the hot tub for a bit we swam a few laps back and forth in the main pool
before heading back to the c/o hot tub for a soak.
We were definitely on the lam and couldn’t believe our good fortune
in not being caught—even at the main hot tub and pool as it WAS dinnertime
and there was a lot of pedestrian traffic!
We decided that the main hot tub was the best with the Beachhouse hot
tub a close second!
·
Tom and I missed the PJ Party on Thursday
night. The fun and late nights
finally caught up with us! It
sounded like there was quite a crowd at the disco.
We heard the next day about a fight, and a young guy who was grabbing
all of the women and taking their pictures with a throw-away camera.
Heard he was sent to another resort the next day.
(Can’t say for certain what occurred though because we weren’t
there.)
·
We had a large group of people signed up for
Tuesday’s catamaran cruise out of Hedo, but, unfortunately, due to the rough
water the cruise was cancelled. However,
they managed to reschedule it for Friday morning.
We had fun, and as usual, too many rum punches!
(They make one stop to snorkel at a sand bar and then go to the Pickled
Parrot where you can snorkel, take a ride on the water slide, rope swing or
cliff dive.)
·
The Repeater’s Cocktail Party was held in
one of the conference rooms behind Café Lido.
Not much different from last year.
Informed us of all the plans they have for the resort…new jacuzzi
tubs in rooms, Japanese Restaurant, moving Jamaican restaurant to the
Timberhouse, etc.)
·
Some of the staff at GLN are just wonderful!
Omroy is our man—he ALWAYS is smiling that big smile that lights his
whole face! Sherrice at the c/o
bar is great! It was good to see
Mario (one of the Social Directors) again, as he had just returned from a trip
to England. Another Social
Director, Orlando, was helpful too. Unfortunately,
we were told it was his last week. Kevin
the bartender and Philipia the cocktail waitress in the Amici Piano Bar are
also terrific. A big “thank you”
to them all for making our vacation special.
Negatives:
·
Way too many clothed people on c/o side.
I know it’s “clothing optional” but it sure seemed like most
people optioned for the clothing. Seemed
to be quite a bit of gawking going on too!
We witnessed one man in a second floor room video taping people by the
bar and hot tub area. Someone
else in the group witnessed a woman hiding behind some bushes popping up with
a camera every few minutes and clicking photos of nude people. One large group
of clothed people arrived on the beach one afternoon and took over our lounge
chairs as we floated in Bloody Bay. They
just sat their on our own personal towels (“Hot Tub Patrol” logo beach
towels) with our books, shoes, suntan lotion, etc.
Very rude! Then there also
was the group of textilers who came over to the c/o hot tub and just took it
over (they never removed a stitch of clothing).
Well six of us decided we weren’t up to joining them so we quietly
went up to the Stonehouse hot tub for a quick soak before bed.
We were just chilling, not even talking, but the bartender called
management on us and we ended up having an argument with the night manager.
He told us we were not allowed to be nude any place other than the
clothing optional area and that it didn’t matter if the c/o hot tub was full
of clothed people. They could go
wherever they pleased (because it is “clothing optional”). It didn’t
make a difference that it was 2 a.m. and only the bartender and a few cats
were about. We finally gave up
and went back to our rooms, but we feel that GLN needs to make up their mind
what they want to be. There
should be some set rules of conduct for the c/o beach—they really need to
assist in protecting the privacy of their nude clientele.
I AM NOT trying to stir up trouble here.
We don’t have a problem with people who are friendly and courteous—whether
they are clothed or nude—and we certainly don’t want to make anyone else
feel uncomfortable. Believe me…we
were once new to “the nude thing” and it was a little overwhelming
beforehand and then “no big deal” after 10 minutes!
Oh well, a few of us in the
group decided that we won’t be back to GLN for a while…hopefully they will
change some of their policies (but I’m not holding my breath)!
(Another contingent of the Hot Tub Patrol prefers only Braco and will
not vacation at GLN anymore, for one reason or another.)
·
One other negative was the fact that one
evening the Social Directors announced there would be karaoke in Amici (there
hadn’t been karaoke all week because we were told the machine was broken).
About 50 people headed to Amici and sat and sat and sat.
Not one Social Director showed up.
(Also didn’t help that there was a problem with the air conditioning
there all week.) Finally, a few
of us went looking for a Social Director.
We found them all in the disco dancing amongst themselves having a good
ol’ time. When we asked them
about Karaoke they said, “Oh, no, the karaoke machine is broken.”
We then told them that there were at least 50 people waiting for it and
someone should go break the bad news to everybody. Well, thanks again to the Hot Tub Patrol’s #1 singer!
He managed to straighten up a little of the mayhem of laser disks and
after some fiddling finally got the karaoke going.
Well of course there is no microphone (they probably only have one for
the whole resort) so everyone just sang along without the microphone.
It was fun and our friend saved the day!
One last little peeve about
the Amici Piano Bar. Is Ike still
breathing? Maybe he has been
stuffed or freeze-dried or something? It’s
just awful to go in there—he really never plays anything and just when you
think he’s starting to heat up, he’ll take a break and leave the bar!
Go figure! The best thing
in Amici is Kevin the bartender and the waitress Philipia!
They just keep refilling your drinks—you don’t have to ask!
Kudos to them!
Summary:
Have had better trips to GLN.
Between the rough water and wind, the abundance of clothed people on
c/o beach, and the rude behavior of management towards the nude clientele who
are just trying to relax I think we’ll be visiting Hedo III and Braco next
time! It’s really a shame
because Bloody Bay and Negril hold a place in our hearts!
It was great to see our friends in the Hot Tub Patrol
again!
In summary…
Tom & I feel that Grand Lido Negril is the best
resort if you’re looking for a lot of water activities.
The water in Bloody Bay is much calmer than at Braco and Hedo III.
Also, it is wonderful to take a walk on the beach at Negril.
You can take a short walk down the beach on the main side of the
resort, past Couples and the new RIU Resort, or you can run across the road to
Hedo II and then wander down 7 mile beach.
It truly is a beautiful area. No
there aren’t as many restaurant choices as Braco and Hedo III but the
restaurants GLN does have are good (need to work on Jamaican restaurant
though). Aside from our problems on the c/o beach the week we were
there, things fluctuate weekly.
What we like about Braco is the privacy and freedom on
the au natural side of the resort. The
pool and the hot tub are huge! It’s
great having the roof over the a/n bar (can get out of a rain shower or the
sun when you’ve had enough). The
convenience of the clubhouse is great also.
Braco’s Social Directors are more lively and energetic than Negril’s.
Braco has a great selection of restaurants and the food and
presentation is excellent. It
does tend to get windy on the beach at Braco but if that’s a problem just
head over to the pool and the a/n rooms block the wind.
Last, but not least, Hedo III is excellent for those
looking for more more night life and participation in activities. So many times at GLN and Braco activities get cancelled due
to lack of participation. Most of
the time that isn’t a problem at Hedo III.
Hedo III has a nice assortment of restaurants and, no they don’t have
24 hour room service, but food and/or snacks are always available 24 hours a
day. I must say, the staff and
Social Directors at Hedo III go above and beyond those at the two Lido’s.
They work hard and are very friendly and helpful.
Oh…and did I mention how awsome the waterslide is????
Sorry—this is more like a novel than a trip report.
I thought the details may help others trying to decide at which
Superclub resort to vacation.