C & B - 03/01

First, some background on us. We are married "empty nesters" in our mid 40's, live near Indianapolis, IN, and worked quite a few hours of overtime the last few months to pay for our 6 nights at "The Zoo". We have visited several nude beaches/resorts in the past (including Paradise Lakes near Tampa, FL), but this was our first trip to Hedo. I would describe our attitude as playful and open minded, we have experimented with swinging as a diversion but we are not in "The Lifestyle."

I'm glad we decided to take the bus from MoBay to Hedo II rather than fly. The bus trip was not nearly as bad as some had led me to believe. I recommend you get some Red Stripe (before leaving the airport because our driver did not stop along the way for any), relax and enjoy the scenery, let the driver worry about road, and before you know it you will be thinking, "No Problem, Mon." Let the sights, sounds, and smells fill your senses along the way and remind yourself, "We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto!"....and that, my friend, ain't a bad thing.

Check-in was a breeze. Within 30 minutes of our arrival we were unpacking in our room. We were originally assigned room 2131 (au natural, gardenview, lower level).The man who brought our luggage to the room discovered that the air conditioner was leaking water on the floor and immediately had us moved to 2238 on the upper floor of the same building. Although showing some age, our room was immaculately clean. We had plenty of hot water for showers and noticed only minor fluctuations in pressure/temperature that was never uncomfortable.

The cuisine at Hedo receives a lot of criticism in many of the trip reports I have read. IMHO, a pleasing variety of well prepared dishes was offered at each meal. It appeared to me that the staff took great pride in the preparation and presentation of the meals they offered. We were very well pleased with our meal at Pastafari's as well as the buffet in the main dining area. We didn't try the Scotch Bonnet. You have to get naked to get a good cheeseburger 'n fries though...Robert's on the nude side was far better than the grill on the prude beach.

I was really looking forward to Toga night and had prepared our togas before the trip (which was a good thing because no sheets were left in our room for the purpose). We were tired from our trip so we decided to take a "short" nap that afternoon but didn't wake up until nearly midnight. We dressed in our togas and headed for the disco. I guess we missed the party because the only evidence we saw of there having been a toga party is that a small minority of the people in the disco were dressed in togas.

We like to dance and party. I like about any kind of music, from Merle Haggard and George Strait to Madonna, Shaggy and Slim Shady, etc...BUT...the endless, head-banging, alternative rock and unrecognizable rap that they played in the disco all week was unbearable. I like loud music but the disco is surprisingly small (I'm guessing the room is no more than about 25 x 35 ft.) and they cranked the volume up to nearly intolerable levels.
Overall, the disco was a total dissapointment.

I'm not a heavy drinker but the truth is I actually like to get drunk occasionally. Three shots in an hour will get me about as drunk as I ever want to be but, despite my efforts, I had a hard time accomplishing this at Hedo. Oh, I drank plenty...the trouble was getting them to put any alcohol in the drinks. It may sound silly but my theory is that since there was such a large number of young college spring breakers at the resort that week, they were holding back on the alcohol for fear of trouble with over-indulgence. I switched from mixed drinks to straight shots but still couldn't get them to pour enough alcohol to more than barely cover the bottom of the glass. No matter how politely I begged for something resembling a full 1 oz. shot, they would either ignore my request and walk away or give me a dirty look. I dunno....maybe I just look like a troublemaker or something. I did manage a good buzz one afternoon thanks to a nice young lady working at Delroy's who was a little bit more free with the rum. Thankfully, alcohol was not the only way to get high at Hedo ;-)

Many of the activities that were planned during the day at the nude beach simply did not happen. The only events I witnessed that drew enough attention to get off the ground were nude twister and body painting. For example, on our first full day at the beach, a very beautiful, energetic, young staff member tried to round up enough people on the nude beach for an "invasion" of the prude side. Myself, my wife, and two single guys were the only volunteers so the invasion was called off due to lack of interest...what a bunch of duds.

The Bottom Line....I have to believe, due to the reports so many other have made on these pages, that Hedo II is a better party than my report would indicate. I think Hedo is whatever the people there at the time make it. I was there during a week when the majority of the people were college students on a first time visit and the atmosphere of the place was far different than expected. I may return, but definetly not during spring break!