John - April, 2011

Hedo 2 Trip Report April 2-9

 

I haven’t written or read a trip report in more than a year, so excuse me if I repeat things written in other reports.

We had been in Key West the week before and around mid-week I decided I didn’t want to go home on schedule.  I didn’t have to get right home and probably wasn’t going to have the opportunity for another trip till Burning Man, so I called the travel agent and made reservations for a week at Hedo.  I got in late on a Saturday night (well after dinner) and was pleased that the front desk already had my paperwork and room assignment ready.  No waiting in the well.  I was assigned to Room 2108, a room, behind the Dive Shack, that I have stayed in before.

The Resort:

The resort had the highest capacity I have seen in several years.  Both food service lines were open at almost every meal, and at dinner, almost every table was taken by 8pm.  I did not eat at Munasan or Martino’s Italian.

I stopped in the Piano bar and the Disco for a bit each night.  The Piano bar was usually crowded.  One night that they had karaoke it was more crowded than I have seen in a long time.  The karaoke ranged from quite good to downright painful – but that is just my opinion.  I am sure people were enjoying themselves.  The Disco was grossly under-utilized.

-The Disco has improved lighting effects.  I asked one of the Entertainment Coordinators when the new lights were put in and she replied that she had only been there three months and the effects had been there since she started.

-I saw no sign or heard any talk of repairing the elevated walkway.

The People:

-There was a large contingent of French speaking Canadians and many who spoke English were friendly and welcoming.

-With capacity being so high there was always a good crowd of people in the hot tub at night.

-This crew was not shy!!!

-There was a talented crew of guitar players and singers that made for interesting gatherings on the pier late at night.

Diving:

I did seven dives on my six non-travel days.  As always the dive staff is friendly, helpful, and professional.  On the first day I did the shallow dive and the boat was full.  For my tastes there were too many sloppy, discourteous divers.  On the ski slopes we call these people Ski Pigs, so for lack of a better term I will call them Scuba Pigs.  Some were cutting others off and bumping into others.  I swore off going out when the boat was full.  So for the rest of the week I basically stuck to the early, deep dives.  Visibility is down a bit from past dives but was still 50-60 feet in most cases.  Water temperature, at depth, was consistently 81 degrees F.  We saw sea turtles, small and large rays, morays, and numerous other fish.  On one dive I saw the largest spiny puffer fish I have ever seen.  Unfortunately, the Lionfish are everywhere on the reef.  We saw two Lionfish that had gotten in a fish trap and had killed several other fish in the trap.  Pulling that trap up was probably going to kill most of the rest of the fish in the trap making them useless.

The Good:

-The grounds have recovered nicely since the last storm.

-There were boobies and full nudity in the disco.

-There were boobies in the dining room almost every night.

-Love, love, love the Hedo showers – plenty of room for you and two of your closest, newest friends.

The Bad:

-I saw broken glass every day in the disco, around the main pool deck, on the walkways, and around the splash pools.  I would have no objection if they went to all plastic everywhere but the dining room and specialty restaraunts.

-I heard people complaining about the food, but I almost always found something tasty, with one exception – every piece of beef I tried was as chewy as day old bubble gum.

-At the PJ party (Lingerie party) they no longer ask your name and where you are from when you enter.  Instead they ask your name and your room number. Winners are called out by room number.  I am not sure that I would want everyone in the disco knowing my room number, especially if I was a single female.

-The PJ party was not as well attended as I have seen in past visits.

-I took a foot-full of sea urchin spines on Wed.  This hindered my mobility so I didn’t get around the resort as much as I usually would.  Also, no crazy dancing or volleyball (one of my favorite things) for me on this trip.

-I did see hookers in the disco and hot tub area, still….

-I heard people complaining about the point system used to reward people for participating in different activities.  The number of points needed to win a bottle of rum is too high for anyone to really collect based on a one week stay.  Also, the recording of points is not reliable or consistent.  As a result people don’t participate and the role of the Entertainment Coordinators is minimized.  The old Hedo Bucks and coins didn’t work, but it seems that some other system is needed.

-While I saw many Entertainment Coordinators out and about, few were really interacting with the guests.  Many would walk right by without even saying, “Hi”.

Random thoughts:

-Oh, those crazy Canadians!

-At the Repeater Party the 5 free nights went to someone with 17 previous trips – a pretty high number.  Two other prizes of 3 free nights went to the persons with the highest number of trips having already won, and to a person who was randomly pulled from a lot.

-The cable TV now has 3 porn channels:  channels 113, 115, and 116.

-Because I spent the week at Hedo by myself I basically played Wally.  Still many people were friendly, I tried not to be creepy, and I really enjoyed talking to people while I lounged on the beach or hung out in the pool.

-After my incident with the sea urchin I went out into the swimming area with my mask, snorkel, gloves, and fins and collected a bag of urchins.  They are everywhere in the swimming area.  If you go out please wear water shoes.

-There were abandoned rafts of every type everwhere on the beach.  In some cases people are tripping on them.  If you are going down soon there is no need to take a raft down.  If you do take one down, please plan on taking it back home with you.

-If you plan on going in the pool or ocean (and who doesn’t?) plan on taking 2x the normal amount of hair conditioner you usually use in a week.

-Love the flavored whipped cream cans that someone brought down and passed around the hot tub.

-I was 1 of 3 or 4 unattached males there that week.  There was 1 unattached female (on the nude side anyhow).

-Someone on the first floor rooms near the pool clearly had a video camera set up focused on their bed that was visible from the window.  Good for them…

 

John