Bill (Hedobill) - December, 2010
After more than 2 hrs of trying I am connected to Hedo's wifi. The
annt is only 10 ft from my window but it is a really bad connection.
Any way left Philly at 6 AM wheels touched down at 9:32 am. We were
the only plane there. Immigration was empty as was customs luggage
were the first ones off the plane. Tim Air had Curtis waiting for us
and I was sitting at the Hedo check in counter at 10:45 am. water on
a raft at 12 noon. Yes we are home..first PDA spotted in the A new
record for getting to the hotel. Weather is great, a few clouds and
temps around 80.There are more people here than past years due to
Hedo III closing. Every time we went anywhere some one on the staff
was calling out our name. It's amazing how they can remember peoples
names after being away for a year. Today is toga party night but
only about a dozen people dressed in togas. People were saying they
ran out of sheets to give out. Food at dinner time was OK. Fish was
great but the beef was chewy. Since we were up at 1:30 am to get to
air port we decided to make it an early night. Piano bar still has
curtains up around the pit area and piano is off to the right. I was
checking out the fans in the dinning room and the majority of them
were working. Walked out on the pier and fed the fish. The one
loading ramp is still broken and hanging down into the water. They
had a bad storm the other day and a lot of sea grass on the beach
but water sports was raking and burying.On the way over Curtis flew
us over the mountains instead of along the coast. We flew over where
the rains a few months ago had flooded one of the valleys and some
of the homes were still under water. Well time to head for the bed
and get some sleep.
Day two was mostly rain with some sun. Pool water was
really cold so most people were sitting along the edge.
Hot tub was the place to be even with the rain. Going to
head into Negril on Sat to get some goodies to keep in
the room for snacking on and some bottles of pepsi to
keep in the mini frig. Wifi is still hard to keep a
signal. I forgot to bring the suction cub hooks and had
to use black electrical tape to fasten the Christmas
lights and decorations to the room window. Lights do
look nice from the pool area at night.
OK day five lost track of things because of the bad
wifi. Any weather is perfect, temps are about 5 degrees
cooler than normal but the storm we were suppose to get
never showed up and the skies are perfect. Plenty of
PDA's in the nude area with no police. We did see a
couple on the prude beach in one of the gazebos next to
the bar nude and about to play. However one of the EC's
went over and told them to stop. So I guess as long as
you keep it on the nude beach its OK. Have had a problem
with A/C for two days they keep lying about it being
fixed. Going to change rooms Tue if it isn't fixed.
Their excuse right now is that no one was in the room
for maintenance to check it. The maid had told them the
whole row of rooms was out and I reported it twice. Fri
they had lobster and lots of them. If you didn't get one
it was your own fault. Entertainment can only be
described as sucks big time. Sat nite was 60 min of EC's
doing dance routines. Piano bar still has the pit area
closed off. Went in last night and the first song Dion
did was to get 2 females and 1 male on the piano doing
YMCA. We left right after it was done. Disco was playing
nice dance music but the smell was so bad people were
walking in and turning right around and leaving. Pool
water has really been cool. Very few people in the pool.
The ocean is actually warmer. I guess place is about 40%
right now. Talked with a few guests who were able to
take advantage of the 1/2 price sale. Prude rooms were
going for $80 a person. We are in 2279 and had no hot
water last night. Funny thing is the night before we had
no cold water. Hot water was coming out the cold faucet.
It seems that if there is a pressure drop on the cold
side the hot water is able to flow thru to the cold side
and back feed. I guess their plumbing rules lack a few
things like check valves.
Day 6. Sun, sun and more sun. This is why we go the
weather is now perfect.Lots more of our friends are
arriving every day. I found the problem with the wifi.
The block construction is stopping the signal in the
room. Took the lap top to the beach near the massage
shack. Was able to pick up 6 Hedo wifi hot spots and
also picked up the one at Sandals. So if you bring a lap
top take it out of the room if you are having problems.
Last night was dinner on the beach. Every one seemed to
be enjoying them selves. Didn't hear a single person say
anything about sand fleas so they must have found a way
to control them. We eat in the Italian restaurant and
didn't see the beach activities. Tonight is PJ night and
a fashion show by the EC's. Because of the low guest
attendance at the hotel the EC's were having a hard time
getting people involved in the lunch time spin. Only 12
couples were in the main dinning room every one else was
on the beach. I must say give the prude beach snack bar
a try a lot of good choices there. Any way EC's did have
a good group of people taking part in the trivia
questions. I guess people aren't really interested in
some of the games but enjoy the cut throat trivia. Now
that the sun is out the pool water has warmed up and a
lot of people in the pool having a good time. Plenty of
PDA's all times of the day and no sex police. What they
are cracking down on are the local sales people. When
some one comes down the beach a security guard is
normally about 10 ft behind them. So that removes the
pressure they put on guests some times. For those that
read all the negative things in my earlier posts, it
could be that like many of the newer guests I am
starting to want more bang for my buck. When spending
money becomes tight you want hot water in the shower
every time you want to take a shower. Hopefully SC will
start to spend some money of Hedo now that Hedo 3 has
closed. It does need a make over. However, one of the
things that needs fixing is due to the weather and not
SC. They have lost a lot of trees on the beach and those
of us who want to lay in the shade have a harder time
finding it. The summer storms knocked over a lot of
trees and to replant would take years to grow. I guess
some small canopies would be the fix.
Day 7 1/2. Weather continues to be really nice. Some wives
said it was a bit chilly at night and put on shows. For me
it was just right. We have been here 7 nights now. They had
a steel drum band for the beach party and Georgia Henry for
one night. The other 5 nights was the EC's performing dance
routines. I miss the real shows they use to have. Wifi
problem was strictly in the room. I guess the concrete walls
blocks the signal. Right now I am sitting on the beach in
front of the massage shack and can pick up 6 Hedo hot spots
and one from Sandals. Last night was one of those nights
where the moon and the stars aligned and the piano bar was
the place to be. Great guest singers. Have to give pat on
the back to Jeff from Chicago. He filled in for a few songs
behind the piano while Dion took a rest room break. He had
the place really going. A lot of us would have liked for him
to play longer. For those complaining about Dion singing
over people I have found that he only does it when the
singer is having a hard time and adding the harmonizer helps
them sound better. Staff has really been great. I cant
believe how they can remember our names every trip. Sophia
the guest relations person is the person to go to when you
have a question or a problem. She has a desk in the main
lobby and is there to make your stay enjoyable. We had an
A/C problem and she took care of it. The office staff also
followed up with two phone calls to the room to make sure
everything was fixed to our satisfaction. Last night the A/C
was on in the disco but no one was there at midnight. I
guess every one feels that its going to be hot in there and
don't bother to go in. It the past the A/C was on 24/7. Now
they wait till the disco starts to fill up before turning
the A/C on. Lots of small fish at night off the end of the
pier. We stop there every night to feed the fish. Saw two
really large black rays swimming by and also two grey ones.
One of the grey ones buried itself about 15 feet off the
pier. Never saw grey ones before. Wife just took a walk down
the beach past Sandals and saw some rays along the shore
line.
Day what ever, have started to lose count of the days. Last
night was Toga night. With the increase in the number of
guests there were more people in togas. I counted about 30
compared to 12 last week. One of the things that surprised
me was when they did the toga tying demo at lunch time they
actually told the guests to tear the sheets for making three
of the togas. Weather has been perfect. No rain in 5 days.
Some people have been having a hard time finding a shady
place to sit with the number of trees that were lost to
storms last summer. Security is still following local
salesmen down the beach which is a good sign. My wife wanted
to take a picture of the snowman that is at the end of the
hook and a security person came over and said cameras were
not allowed on the beach. She explained what she was doing
and the security person let her take a few photos plus a
short video of it. Toga entertainment was mostly EC's doing
dance routines. We have been here 7 nights and only two
nights had outside entertainment. I can only watch the EC's
doing dance routines so many times before it gets tiring and
boring. If there isn't going to be outside talent brought in
that they need to shorten show time to 30 minutes. I
remember when they use to do something like a scavenger hunt
one night and it was always fun. Maybe they need to bring it
back. Once again the piano bar was rocking. Last year I got
tricked into doing YMCA. This year it was my wife. The way
Dion did it you had no idea that it was coming till after
you had already been talked into being on the piano. Once
again the wifi on the beach works great. I am sitting at one
of the picnic tables by the massage shack. I can pick up
Sandals wifi but haven't tried logging in on it. I doubt if
it is open. Going to head down to the shacks by the airfield
later today. Wife wants to get some things for friends back
home. We didn't make it into Negril this trip like we
normally do.
Toss out day. Weather is still great. Place is really
filling up. I had been asking when will they have shepherd
pie and they said soon. Finally talked with the chef on
Christmas day and he said he would make it on Monday. I told
him I am living Sun. He said to come up at 1 PM and he would
make enough for my wife and self. Did what he said and they
brought out two overflowing plates of it. It's one of the
pluses of Hedo. Called Air J and they said my 6:30 pm flight
was being delayed to 2:30 AM but we still have to check in
at the regular time. Called Tim Air and arranged to get the
last flight out of Negril. Ended up sitting in the airport
for 9 hours. Got home at 7 AM and found 4 foot snow drifts
in the front yard. Total of 2 foot of snow on the ground.
Looks like I am back to reality.