Hedonism II & III: Carl & Anne - April/May, 2009
Anne & Carl - Trip #5
Trip Report
Hedo 3 - April 24th to May 1st
Hedo 2 - May 1st to May 8th
Well I won't bother to bore you with the travel details, we got there safe and sound, no delays or any problems. After getting to the Super Clubs Lounge we waited about 10 minutes for the bus and we were on our way. It's always so much fun trying to figure out who's going to Hedo and who's not.
We made our usual stop for a few beers and of course, we were offered a little weed. Carl told the guy that we'd wait until we got to the resort, but he insisted he have a look at what he had to offer, so Carl goes off with him to investigate, then he sent for me. When I got to the back of the bar/restaurant to where they were I was glad he sent for me. It was the most impressive bag of weed I've ever seen. I guess it's not that impressive in Jamaican standards, but I've never seen that much weed in a bag before. Needless to say we bought $50. It lasted the whole two weeks and was very good quality. If I bought that much here it would easily have cost me over $200. The holiday was starting off very good!
Got to the resort and checked in with no problems, we got out towel cards which was new since last year. It worked out pretty good at Hedo 3 there was no problem exchanging them, Security looks after them on the nude side. There was one day when there were no towels for most of the day. Not sure what the problem was, but we just kept the ones we had, no problem.
The towel program at H2 doesn't seem to run as smooth however. I think it would be better if like at H3 you can exchange your towels with the guard on the nude side at any time. Even before we left I tried to give her our two towels in exchange for our towel cards and she told me to turn them in at the front desk. Not a big deal, I know, but why she can't hand out towels all day or exchange them for cards is beyond me, they're not doing very much anyway. It just seemed much more convenient at H3.
Can't really go into the day by day account, cause I don't really remember what happened in what order (See previous paragraph about the weed) so I'll just give a general overview of the resorts.
Our Room
Hedo 3 (614) - Everything worked, the AC was a little off I think but it cooled the room so all was good. The room did smell a little damp, since I'm allergic to mould I did end up with the sniffles. Shower/tub drained well, good water pressure, TV remote worked, never had any trouble with hot water. They have new alarm clocks in the room since last year, took me a minute to figure it out. I think you can hook your ipod up to it, it has an AUX plug on it. I never tried it since I had my own speakers but I'm pretty sure it can be done. We had coffee our first morning but we never did get any more creamers, I never asked either. Very few ants in the washroom this year. I'm happy to report that I didn't slip at all this year getting in and out of the tub, I've finally figured it out. I usually slip at some point and end up with a lovely bruise on my thigh, but not this year. The fan in the bathroom can be a little annoying so we usually take one of the lamps off the headboard and put it in the bathroom.
Hedo 2 (2176) - Room was good, seemed very clean, no damp smell at all. We didn't have a blanket on the bed for a few days so we slept with only a sheet. Not a big deal, just turned down the AC. Had hot water for all of the week except on our last day, I can't say the water was cold, just not hot, we managed to get clean. That's all that really matters. I'm not too fussy about the washrooms at H2 compared to H3. Their smaller and I'm just the right height that when I'm in the shower I ALWAYS bang my elbows off those damn shower knobs. I usually hang a face cloth over them to lessen the impact on my elbows. There's also no fan so it does get a little steamy.
Food
H3 - I was a little surprised and disappointed with the food this time. We didn't get to eat at the restaurants because we just can't seem to get our act together enough to make a reservation (again, see paragraph about weed) and when we do we usually end up missing it because we're drunk in the pool! :) But I'll assume that the restaurant food was good from reports that we had from other people. As for the buffet, there didn't seem to be as much of a selection as there has been in previous years. What they did have was good, just seemed to be the same thing all the time. We didn't starve. Scotch Bonnet was good, as usual. Nude Grill, well, what's not to like about the Nude Grill. John is a sweetheart and prepares every order with love. I can't say enough about John, he really makes our vacation every year.
H2 - The food seemed to be about the same as last year. Again, we didn't get to eat at the restaurants so I can't comment. The buffet lacked variety. It takes forever to get an egg in the morning but they did seem to have a nice pancake/waffle station that a lot of people enjoyed. In my opinion the best place to eat at H2 is the Nude Grill, which is where most of my meals came from. The grilled cheese and chicken got me through. There are 2 egrets that show up every afternoon around 4:30 looking for chicken, it cracked me up. One guy is really smart and checks out the beach and if there's none there he makes his way to the pool. They love chicken, can't say I blame them. :)
Hot Tubs
H3 - The temperature was good all week. I personally witnessed them drain, clean and refill the hot tub every morning. The quad hot tub was also a good temperature and seemed very clean all week. The hot tub by the disco was extremely hot on the night I was going to get in it. We came out of the disco, I stripped off and stepped in and just as quickly got back out, it was too hot to even stand it. I guess they fixed that at some point because I did see people in it later in the week.
H2 - The temperature fluctuated all week, some days it was comfortable and some days you could only sit in it for a little while before it became overwhelming. It seemed clean most of the week except for one day there was a fair amount of scum on the top, but it was obvious that it was sun screen.
Disco
H3 - This is one area where H3 beats H2 hands down! The disco was rocking every night with good attendance. Everyone was dancing and having a great time. I would like to see them bring back the pole. Not on the bar, but somewhere in the disco. The cage is always fun. The use of glass seems to much less at H3 than H2. The only place you really see glass is at the main bar but at H2 it was not uncommon to find glass on the nude side which is a little scary considering everyone is barefoot most of the time. I felt much safer walking around barefoot at H3.
H2 - Well, what is there to say about the disco at H2 other than that they have one. On both trips the disco was not really where the party was. On PJ night there was a good attendance for about an hour and a half but then everyone cleared out and it was us and one other couple. I love to dance so the disco is a big factor for me. We did go to the disco every night but most nights we had to make our own party.
Because H2 is much larger than H3 there is more walking, that's not necessarily a good thing when you in 4" or 5" heels. To save my feet a little, I would wear my flip flops to walk up to the disco and poke them in the bushes and change into my heels. I did help a little.
Staff
The staff is great at both resorts. Everyone is always very friendly and helpful. We have no complaints about anyone at either place. Both have great people working for them and we appreciate everyone of them.
Theme Nights
The theme nights at H3 were so much better than at H2. At H3 people still participate in the all the theme nights and seem to get into it more. At H2 we found theme night participation very low. I dress up anyway because that's what I like to do but it's certainly more fun when there is a lot more people participating as well. I think a lot of the difference between the two resorts is the EC's. During our week at H3, they would show up throughout the whole day, getting people involved in games and interacting with the guests. At H2 they didn't seem that interested. On toga night for example, the EC's at H3 showed up to do a toga demonstration at the nude pool during the afternoon, that didn't happen at H2. They may have done it in the dining room, but let's face it, all the party people are in the nude pool. That's where they should be directing their attention.
Piano Bar
We're not real big piano bar people, but that may be because most of our experience with the piano bar is karaoke. The new piano player at H3 is ok, we only saw him one night and he did seem to have the crowd going and everyone was having a good time, but he is not that great compared to Dion at H2, he's FANTASTIC! We got to chat with him one night and not only is he a great entertainer but he's a real nice guy. He is genuinely concerned about guests having a good time. He is a super piano play, I really can't say enough about him. He certainly had the piano bar rocking the 2 nights we seen him.
Groups/Guests
Of course the people is what really makes Hedo so special. Once again this year we met some amazing people and got a chance to see people we've met on past trips. We didn't join a group for our week at H3 and the occupancy did seem a bit low but that did not deter the great people that were there that week. We met some of the most friendly people that week and I think of them often since our return. Hopefully we'll meet again on our next visit.
On our 2nd week at H2 we once again joined the Zoo Krew. This was our second year with this group and I'm sure it won't be our last. They are a great bunch of people, can't wait to see them again. We overlapped with Biff's Bunch for a day, and I have to say that they were a very warm and welcoming group. All the people that we met with them seemed very nice and were quite eager to introduce us to more of the group. Very welcoming.
Going the same weeks as last year we did see a lot of familiar faces, it was almost as if the last 50 weeks didn't happen and we just took up where we left off last year. It's a very nice familiar feeling to be surrounded by like minded naked party people. Your all fucking nuts! But we love you!