There were several things that were notably different than our previous visit. The check-in this time took all of 15 minutes & we were off to our room (truly amazing). There was plenty of hot water for showers (equally amazing), and the burgers at Robert's grill have morphed into real, good-tasting beef since last November.
Overall, this was our best vacation yet - it almost seemed like a 'normal' resort due to the quick check-in & plentiful hot water.... plus all the nice comaraderie that we've come to appreciate at the beach made for a great stay.
So, first the check in.... Amazing as it may seem, Crazy Antoine was working at the front desk. Liz nearly died upon hearing her tell some other new guests "have a drink & your room will be ready soon". Yeah.... right. Sound familiar anyone? I suspect that this is the standard response that front desk folks practice for their qualification test.
In any case, we were astounded to hear "oh yes - your room is ready". What...?? Excuse me....? Did you say 'our room is ready'???!!?! Once we got over the shock, we went to our new home - only to find that it was the same room the Jim & Terri had last November. J&T - The place is still nice and jeez, we were glad to finally get a room with a mirror that didn't distort things like a funhouse. Ya gotta hate it when some parts of your reflection are huge & others dinky. lol.
We did see several (very) large "beatles" (aka: roaches) though, which reminded us to bring Raid next time. It was (ahem) "fun" hunting them down in the wee hours though.... brought back those primal hunting instincts that we boys have locked deep in our DNA. It also turned out conveniently that we were right above Rasta Bill's room. This would've been great fun raising hell late at night, except that the Rasta Man was imbibing freely & likely didn't hear much after midnight.... (chuckle!) :) Oh - Kudos again to Bill for organizing the school donations. What an excellent thing to do - thanks RB!! We're game to help organize & pack in November.
The hot water was remarkable as well. We heard from other guests that not everyone was blessed with plenty of hot shower time, so this seemed like a lucky fluke for us this time. We'll have to compare notes in November to see if things have changed.... or if we were just out of synch with everyone else's shower schedule this trip.
Finally - the burgers..... They were mighty good. Previously, they tasted like veggie burgers (apologies to herbivores). They must've switched meat vendors, because this time they were downright GOOD. They've gone from a "poor" rating to "very good".... they can now be eaten without fear.
Otherwise, it's still the same dear old place. The staff is essentially the same, except for the entertainment coordinators. We only recognized Chubby, Patrick & Antoine this time. (Yes - Chubby still sells CDs.) The other EC's seemed less energetic & professional. No biggie, but the rate of turnover was a bit surprising.
The beach bar & Veronica's staff is the same.... good old Delroy, Scumba, Michelle, Veronica and Alicia. We did find that Matta (a new bartender to us) at Veronica's makes a great Margarita. No other bartenders at H2 made them decently, so Matta was a rare find. I believe he was the best overall bartender I've seen anywhere - fast, personable & consistent. Very impressive indeed.
Augustus was on vacation, so we chatted with Karl - another able beach groundskeeper. I was surprised at first to hear that the employees at Hedo work during their vacations (duhhh - been in white bread America too long I guess). :) It was nice to hear that the Superclubs resorts are good to their employees - for example they loan $ to employees when needed for family medical expenses. Incidentally, we stumbled upon a good method to tip workers surrepticiously - folding cash up in a paper napkin. Works like a charm & much appreciated by the employees.
Pastafari's food was excellent as before. Next time, we'll omit appetizers & just order entres - cutting the dinner time down to an hour, instead of 2.
Major food recommendations: French toast & carved ham for breakfast. Any of the Pastafari entres for dinner.
Drink recommendations: Matta's margaritas, and sex on the beach with dark rum floated on the top. Ya mon. : )
The beach walk toward Negril was lovely. Nice opportunity to see the other resorts & check out the sunset over Hedo.
We tried our first joint activity - body painting, which was a hoot. We've got photos - both front & back (much like Picasso??).
The water taxi guys seem to have multiplied. Now there are 2-3 guys in kayaks, and 3-4 guys on jet skis, in addition to the 'regular' boat guys. We chatted w/ one & were surprised to hear that he'd been working the negril beaches for over 20 years. Business must be good. : )
No FBM's this trip - saving that for the Bosom Buddies' reunion in Nov.
Thanks so much to the nice folks we met this trip.... "Geoff the Porn Star" for his hospitallity on checkout day (...and his excellent raft display), our volleyball pals Jesse, Debbie, Rob, Molly, Ron (aka: Iron Man) & Sue (aka: Latex Girl), the beach guys Art, John & Joe, our arrival pals Mike & Teresa (who we'll see in Nov - Hey Gary - we'll have to initiate them with the 'Eldon Welcome'!!!), as well as Carlos, Yvonne, "Dr. Dive" Kahlid, DJ, Robert "I'm gonna stay up all nite" from Canada, Dean, Meri, Rasta Bill (aka: Coruba Man) & of course Pat & Trish.... Thanks to you all for contributing your wonderful fun & good cheer.
Looking forward to seeing the old BB crew (plus Cindy, & other welcome additions) in November. Hope you're all well & happy. 4.5 months to go! :)
Respect,