Ray & Barb - November, 2009
November 13th – November 21st
This was our third trip to Hedo
II but our first trip to LoveVoodooFest. The trip was amazing.
The grounds were well kept, Augustus did a great job on the
beach as well as just fun to have around. Great to see a lot of
old faces on staff. Winston, Sunshine, Mega, Dean as well as the
newbies Dwight, Dale, and Crystal Lee were all upbeat and kept
us all very well entertained. With Tavis running the show
everything was a blast. He made sure that there was someone at
the Rock Wall when we needed and was never far away when you
were looking for him. He did a fantastic job MC’ing the Ms.
LoveVoodooFest Contest. Kevin Levee was at most of the events
and was always willing to talk to people. He recognized our
group from previous years and made a point of asking what we
thought about the club and how things were going with LoveVoodoo
being there. We told him that we were somewhat hesitant at first
being down there with such a large group and were afraid of what
kind of changes were going to take place (there were a lot of
rumors about it being ALL clothing optional, that the guards
were stopping all PDAs and PDPs, etc.). Other than a higher of
guests and some very special events, it was the same great Hedo
II we love so much.
Here are some of the details:
The food was pretty much the same as
the previous years. We did end up having lobster tails both
Friday nights we were there which has only happened once before.
The meal and bonfire on the beach was great. It was the first
time they had a bonfire since we started going and we really
enjoyed it.
The room was great as always. No
problem with hot water, AC, etc. Cleaning staff did an excellent
job.
The new towel policy I really liked.
When we checked in we were given 2 tickets for beach towels and
we took them to the Water Sports desk and picked them up. Any
time they got wet or dirty we just swapped them out. The really
cool part was there were always lounge chairs available. In
previous years people would get up at the crack of dawn (or
never go to bed) and as soon as the towels were delivered would
spread dozens of them on all the chairs they could find. I found
this very frustrating because by 3:00PM there were probably 20
to 30 chairs that had never been used and no free chairs to use.
That didn’t happen this year. Any time we went to the beach
(either) we always found open chairs.
EC staff as I mentioned did a great
job. Winston has to be one of the most talented people I have
ever met. Dale was always making us laugh and really kept the
party going.
Delroy, Scumba and the rest of the
bartending staff were fantastic as always. It always amazes me
how they remember what you’re drinking and almost have it ready
by the time you get to the bar. My only complaint as far as the
bars are concerned is they had a real problem keeping them
stocked. The piano bar being the worst seconded only by the
disco. On 5 of the 8 nights we were there they ran out of
Coconut Rum and on two of those nights were unable to locate
any. There were several other liquors they ran out of as well
but come on we’re in
The weather was out of this world.
Only one day of morning clouds and the rest perfect.
The LoveVoodooFest people set up music
and events at the main pool and it was really nice to hear music
and hang out. Usually we don’t spend much time at the main pool
but with everything they had set up it was really fun for a
change. The LoveVoodooFest people were always great to hang out
with and Todd was always hanging around making sure everyone had
a great time and fix any little problems. All of the hosts were
very frindly and helpful. Rick, Vicki, and Gary from Tabu were a
blast. As I mentioned I wasn't exactly sure how LoveVoodoo would
fit in with the Hedo we've come to love and all we have to say
is they definitely made it even better than before. The special
events and the extra care were really amazing.
Overall it was one of the best trips
we’ve ever had. We will definitely be going back again next
year.
The only thing we will change though
is our travel agent. As I mentioned we booked through LoveVoodoo
this year instead of the always wonderful CharTravel people.
Castaways travel handed all of the arrangements and we were
definitely not pleased. It took 6 emails and 2 calls just to get
a quote for the days we wanted to travel. It appears that adding
a day to the beginning was asking way too much. Once we got that
straight we ended up having to call them about a week out to
find out where our vouchers and info were. The woman I spoke
with told me that they were sending them out alphabetically and
just hadn’t gotten to us yet. I found this very odd since our
friends had received theirs a week before and they only had to
go from E to K. “Amazingly” we got the info by COB that day.
When we arrived at the club on Friday (the day before the
scheduled 7 day LoveVoodooFest) they were just setting up the
information desk and we were told to come back tomorrow and get
all our stuff. When we went back to ask for our beads (which we
had seen several of our friends who arrived that day wearing)
and our bags we were treated like crap. We got the third degree
by being told that for one we had to book through LoveVoodoo to
get beads (which we did) and we had to have booked through
Castaways to get the bag (which we did). After going round and
round with the owner of Castaway’s we finally got our stuff and
vowed to never use them again.
I really hope everyone gets a chance
to visit Hedo II and create some of the amazing memories we’ve
had. The club is great, the staff and guests really make the
trip special. If you’re not having fun there it’s because you
just aren’t trying. We really hope to be one of the people you
read about that have been to Hedo II 30 or 40 times. It is just
that good.