This was my third trip to Jamaica, but my first trip to
Hedonism II.
I arrived in Montego Bay on Tuesday afternoon, February
1. Customs went smoothly, and
then had to wait about twenty minutes at the Superclubs desk before boarding
the bus to Negril. As is to be
expected, someone in the airport tried to sell me drugs during the wait.
The same man also offered to arrange a flight to Negril for me –
tempting, but I stuck with the bus. The
man that was to load our luggage into the bus said to me, “are you going to
the zoo?”. I had heard that this was a nickname that the locals used for
Hedo, but was still surprised to hear it.
The bus ride went as well as possible on that road.
It appears that the road is being widened in places and rebuilt in
others, but not very quickly. We didn’t stop on the way for refreshments, which was OK
with me. I was excited about
seeing Hedonism II for the first time.
Upon arrival, we were greeted with “welcome home!” by
one of the hotel staff. The check
in process took forever but my impatience was tempered by the attention of one
of the entertainment coordinators (Jendy), the champagne that she offered us,
and the fact that I was in Jamaica. After
all, six hours ago I had been in snow country – things could be worse than
waiting in the lobby of Hedonism II with a glass of champagne.
I got checked in and escorted to my room, in the ocean
view nude section. Even though I
hadn’t paid for a single room I was put in one, which ended up staying that
way for five days. I didn’t
have the water problems in the room that I had heard so much about either.
I got unpacked in time to look around a little and to
spend a few minutes on the beach before dark.
Then it was to Veronica’s for orientation and, after a couple of
drinks, to dinner. I was
pleasantly surprised – I had heard some terrible things about the food here,
but I thought it was great. The
‘battle of the sexes’ show after dinner was hilarious, and gave me hint of
just how crazy the place was.
I missed the pajama party that night because I was a
little tired from traveling all day. I
did see many of the costumes, though, at dinner and later outside as the disco
was opening.
The next few days were spent eating, drinking, paddling
kayaks, drinking, reading on the beach, and drinking. I also attended one tennis clinic. I learned quickly that most of the resort’s staff does an
amazing job, especially the bar staff. I
also learned that the entertainment coordinators are insane, and I can’t
imagine the place without them. Toga
night was a lot of fun, but I was disappointed to find that they didn’t
enforce the “no sheet, no eat” policy.
I thought that everyone should have to look as foolish as I looked!
I went to the disco two or three times, but really
preferred Veronica’s piano bar. It’s
more laid back, and hearing the singers in the sing-a-long was an experience.
Actually, some were quite talented.
I was surprised to see prostitutes working in the resort,
allegedly as guests. There were a
pair of them working the first couple of days that I was there, and a
different one was there the last two or three days of my stay. I was told that management knows about them but looks the
other way. I was also told that
one condition of them being allowed there is that they cannot make the first
move, which isn’t followed because one propositioned me.
I am quite shy, so I have to admit that I didn’t meet
many other guests (according to Chris Santilli’s book I could be mistaken
for a “Wally”, though I tried not to stare too much). The people that I did meet were great people though, and one
of them told me about Denny’s web site and Chris’ book, “The Naked Truth
About Hedonism II”. I wish I
had seen them before the trip.
This was going to be my last trip to Jamaica – I was going to try some different Caribbean countries. In the two weeks since I returned, however, I have thought of little else except next year’s trip back to Hedonism II.