Roy - December, 2009
Hedonism II - December 27, 2009 - January
2, 2010
For Perspective: We are an monogamous married couple in our
early 50’s. We have been fortunate enough to have been able to
vacation at a lot of different places over the years. Some with
our kids and some as a couple without them. We have been to Hedo
II many times, but have also been to just about all of the SC
resorts in Jamaica as well as Beaches Family resorts, some Club
Med Resorts, a couple of way too large and impersonal
Mega-Resorts south of Cancun. Hedo II is the place we have the
most fun and is the resort we have visited the most times but we
are not so addicted that we don’t go other places too.
Travel to Jamaica: We flew from Washington-Dulles and connected
through Charlotte. With enhanced security and struggling
airlines slowing things down travel has gotten to be less and
less fun for us. We always used to fly AirJamaybe out of BWI for
years but stopped because we live so much closer to Dulles.
We will likely make the drive to BWI again just to go back the
the non-stop flight. It is becoming too stressful to have to
connect because it just gives us twice the chances to get
delayed.
MBJ (Sangster) is more efficient by far than it used to be. This
is an airport that has come a long way since our first
experience there in 1989. The investment Jamaica has made in the
airport, like the investment they have made in the past to
provide safe, tasty drinking water right from the taps has
helped Jamaica to be a success. And a far better vacation choice
for us than anywhere we have been in Mexico.
Shuttle to the resort: It is nice to get a bottle of water at
the SuperClubs desk while waiting for our bus, but I have long
wished they would put in a Red Stripe tap like they have over in
the Sandals area. I have really enjoyed a frosty beer there in
the past while waiting with my family of our bus to one of the
Beaches resorts. Get with it SC!
After only a very short wait we were in our shuttle and on our
way. No one pushed for a bathroom stop so even with the very
slow pace near MoBay due to continued road construction we were
at the resort within about 90 min.
Check-In and Room: Warm welcome at Hedo even with Tony gone,
still, a very nice welcome. Our room was ready when we arrived
at 3:00PM (RM 1205, Ocean View Prude) and we were in it in no
time at all. The room was great. There were only small problems
in the room. We found the safe already locked and coded so we
could not begin using it ourselves. The desk sent someone
quickly to open in, replace the batteries, and get it working
for us very quickly. The only other thing that did not work was
the remote control but when I put my own AAA batteries in it and
reprogrammed it myself it was all good. I left the batteries in
it for the next guest. The room was clean and in good shape. The
bed was great, but not for everyone. I love a firm mattress! The
shower worked better than the last one we had at Hedo. My
problem is that when I get in the shower I never have my glasses
on and can’t read the instructions as to how to switch to
different shower heads. I seemed like trial and error to me but
I was able to get water from all off the shower heads at one
time or another. We had hot water every day, better than in
previous trips it seemed.
We will take some shampoo with us next time. We have always been
‘okay’ with what was in the shower but this time it seemed to be
a generic brand soap/shampoo and neither my wife nor I cared for
it. The body soap gel was Lever 2000 and was fine.
Food: This is an area that I am unsure about over the years. I
feel that the food is not as good as it used to be years ago,
but that could also be that we have been there a lot and are
tired of some of it. This time is was slightly better than I
expected though.
Breakfast: Good Oatmeal every day. Bacon was plentiful and
well-cooked. There was a second egg station set up besides
Charlie’s to help keep the lines down. Most still went to
Charlie for awesome omelet’s but over to the other when we just
wanted scrambled or fried eggs. This was a big help and made the
lines faster.
Lunch: This is when the main buffet struggles the most IMO. We
tend to go there for a salad at lunch time and then have Jerk
Chicken at the nude grill later in the day. This works well for
us since we tend to eat dinner late when on vacation. The
expanded menu at the nude grill is nice. I love having Jerk
Chicken all day rather than in a late afternoon rush that used
to result in a swarm of people all trying to get some before it
was all gone. This is a very nice improvement!
Dinner: Pastafari - still very good, though portions very small
on the entrée. I did not care for their Caesar Salad dressing
but all was very nice. We ate there twice. The first time was
not as nice because there was a fairly large group making a
tremendous amount of noise. They seemed to be screaming at each
other from just a few feet away. I am glad they were having a
good time, I just wish folks (usually in groups) could have a
bit more respect for others. I think this is more of a problem
than it used to be. I liked Pastafari better when it stood out
as a more romantic place to have a quiet dinner and a
conversation, and background music as a change from the noise in
the main dining room. Now there seems to be no dress code and
large groups have screaming matches there. I imagine there are
many who prefer it this way, but I am not one of them. Our
second meal there was much nicer and even though there was a
large group there that night too, they were talking instead of
yelling.
Munasan: Lenroy was our chef (as he was on our last visit a year
before) and all was very good. We shared the table with 3 other
couples, some new to Hedo and some multiple repeaters like us.
It was very good. The only real problem is that there are no
walls around Munasan and the evening entertainment is so loud
that it is very difficult to talk to the people at your table. I
would love to see walls and some A/C added to Munasan! Food and
service was very good.
Buffet at dinner was okay , good but not great by any means. The
exception to this was New Years Eve when they turned out a great
meal with lots of excellent sushi, roast beef, and grilled
lobster tails! It was excellent! We did the mignight buffet one
night at it was much better than I remembered with no scary red
hot dogs, no cold sandwiches, but instead good chicken and
several other choices.
Bar Service: Excellent all around! I think I got a drink from
every bar on the resort and all were good and the waits were
minimal considering the crowds they were dealing with sometimes.
Delroy and Scumba still shine and in spite of how overwhelmed
they get at times with people 3 deep waiting for drinks they get
it done with a smile as long as the folks waiting are patient.
Bananas were hit and miss. I drank more Bloody Mary’s than
anything else this week and they were great!
Entertainment: Probably far better for a new guest than a
repeater. We have seen it all and it needs to be freshened up a
bit. More Winston singing is always a good thing! He is a real
talent and the highlight of every show he participates in! I
would also love to see more reggae bands performing at Hedo and
perhaps fewer appearances of the cabaret singers like Georgia
Henry singing older American top 40 songs. Please….. More reggae
and more Winston.
Leaving the Resort: Due to enhanced security after an incident
on an airline at Christmas we were told to allow extra time to
get through security. Fortunately I checked with the front desk
and got us changed to an earlier bus to the airport! They had us
on the 10AM bus and that would have been far too late! Think
ahead on this to make sure you have the time you need., but deal
with it early on or you might find the bus you want leaving the
resort is full without you.
The Resort in General:
The Grounds were beautiful and kept spotless and the Pools and
Hot Tubs were clean and comfortable every day. Agustus kept the
beach as nice as usual though still down a bit after the passing
of his mother.
The Towel Exchange system is great. I like it and can’t imagine
why it upsets people so much. There are folks I have heard
threaten to never go to Hedo again because of it…. Hard to
understand since it is so great to be able to have a fresh clean
towel and be able to exchange for a clean one all day long. This
is a Huge improvement to spending days without a towel at all as
greedy gut selfish people take and hoard as many as they can
find for themselves even as other end up having to do without
altogether.
Beach chairs were plentiful and in good shape but more small
tables are still needed to set drinks on next to the beach
chairs.
We look forward to our next chance to get back to Hedo! It is
more fun than any other resort we have visited!
Roy in VA