Mark & Julie - September, 2011

So, Mrs. Woof and I were Hedo3 veterans, having made a dozen trips there over the last decade. We were actually there for the very end, being some of the last to leave the resort on the final day they were open. Sad, I know, but as they say “You can’t go home again”, so we now begin our journey to find a new home. Naturally the first place we chose to try is Hedo2. Where else?

First the mundane travel portion… There are no direct flights to Jamaica from Tampa. Over the past few years we have experimented with different airlines from various other airports and have pretty much settled upon Orlando as our best option. We’ve tried several airlines and this time we flew Jet Blue. Overall we were very happy with them and had no troubles whatsoever. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to someone. One of the cool things about them is they let each traveler have one free checked bag. We barely manage to come up with enough clothes for one checked bag between us, so this was an opportunity to take a guitar along. (More on that later)

One of the travel tips we have picked up over the years is this, and it’s an important one! Do not fly into Mobay on a Saturday! Every time we have ever done that we have wound up standing in line at immigration and customs for over an hour with three hundred other weary travelers.

This time we flew in on Friday. I timed it, from the time we stepped off the plane until we were sitting on the shuttle bus for the resort was just over fifteen minutes! Walking around the corner into the immigration area and seeing that folks on our flight were THE ONLY PEOPLE THERE! was such a happy feeling!

The bus ride to Hedo2 took just about an hour and a half including the compulsory “pit stop”. It wasn’t a bad ride at all but it seemed like we spent as much time winding through little city streets as on the open road. I guess we were spoiled by the highway to Runaway Bay. Hopefully there’s a plan to build a highway to Negril, but this being Jamaica I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Upon our arrival at our new Jamaican “home-away-from-home” we encountered what was pretty much the only real negative of our entire visit to the resort, and it was the type of thing that might have set a bad tone for somebody’s entire trip. Fortunately we aren’t the type to dwell on the negative, choosing instead to laugh it off and enjoy the good things in life instead….

After checking in, the bellman asked which bags were ours, then asked us our room number. He loaded our bags on his little gator-type truck, I started to follow him to the truck saying, “are we riding with you?” And he said “No man, you walk to your room, I’ll bring your bags!” With that, they just shoved us out of the lobby, with no clue or instruction as to how to find our room!

WTF???

We had never been to Hedo2 and had no idea where to go or how to find our room. So we wound up wandering around what seemed like a huge, sprawling, confusing resort for fifteen minutes looking for it. (The resort did get smaller as we familiarized ourselves with it.) Our bags didn’t arrive for another fifteen minutes after that. Not a terribly warm welcome at all! Not to mention, I don’t know about you, but I am NOT at all in favor of some stranger having possession of my suitcases for over a half hour outside of my line of sight!

But still, we’re Hedonists, We shook it off, undressed, and headed out to the nude pool (Just a couple of feet from our door! We totally scored a primo room!!!!!!)

And there we were, surrounded by the exact same wonderful people as Hedo3, just a slightly different setting! We immediately felt at home!

Before I go into the day-to day, rehash of our stay, let me give you a few “first timer” impressions of the differences between the two resorts… I know, I know… It’s completely moot now that there is no Hedo3. But still it’s hard not to make comparisons. And besides, this might help other Hedo3 refugees ease into the transition.

First, the nude pool bar. WAY better than Hedo3’s nude bar!!! We loved that you could actually walk up to the bar from outside the pool! At Hedo3 if you wanted a drink and were not in the pool you had to do that awkward “Lean over and hope you don’t slip and break your neck” dance.. It was a terrible design. But Hedo2’s bar was designed perfectly!

We also liked the self-serve patties. At Hedo3 you had to go over to the Scotch Bonnet to get a patty. Having them right there for the taking was nice and convenient. (A bit too convenient, according to my waistline)

I was disappointed by the “jerk chicken” which was actually just roasted chicken with jerk sauce poured over it just before they served it to you. Hopefully that was just an aberration this week, and it’s not always done like that.

The pool itself was ok, but it would have been nice if they had designed it with volleyball in mind. The only place to play pool volleyball is the prude pool. We did manage to get a group of people to make the trek and play most every day in the afternoon. But it’s a looooong way to walk for a game of volleyball. And as we all know organizing Hedonists is akin to herding cats….

We liked the big hot tub, and they seemed to do a good job of regulating the temperature. It was just about perfect all week. That always seemed to be a problem at Hedo3. This was also nice since as far as we could tell it was the only functioning hot tub on the resort .

The resort itself is a LOT bigger than Hedo3. A LOT! This came to a head one night when it was pouring down rain just as we needed to walk up to the dining area for dinner. Here’s a hint if you’re going to Hedo2: BRING AN UMBRELLA!!!! We didn’t. (there’s nowhere at Hedo3 where you are out in the open for long enough to get soaked during a storm) Still, being the resourceful hedonists that we are, we came up with a clever “workaround”..

I put our clothes and a towel in the plastic dry cleaning bag and we walked up to the dining area nekkid. We stopped into the gym, toweled off, got dressed, and went in to dinner! Problem solved!

Mrs. Woof really likes Martino’s and I prefer Munasan. So we tended to alternate between the two every night. Both were good! We did eat at the buffet a couple of times and it was always good as well. I do owe her a nice Italian dinner due to yanking our meal at Martino’s away from her on our final night, but more on that later…

It was really nice to see that they had hired Joseph from Hedo3 as the executive chef. He had made many positive changes to Hedo3 during his tenure there and I am certain he will have the same positive impact on Hedo2 !

We have always been piano bar people, and are not fans of the disco, so we spent our late evenings in the piano bar. Deon is loads of fun, and an amazing musician!

If any of you were there that week, Yes, I was the mic hog who sat next to Deon and sang a lot. Several people started calling me “Elvis”, and seemed to enjoy my off key warbling for the most part. (I guess it helped that Deon was doing a heroic job of matching his playing to whatever arbitrary key I happened to sing in…)

I have been attempting to learn to play guitar and brought one along with me so I could fiddle with it during off times. Every morning I would get up long before Mrs. Woof was ready to, so I’d grab it, tiptoe out of the room and go up to that patio area outside the gym where I’d sip on hot chocolate and pick away at it. There were the same few of us that always seemed to be early risers and we’d all see each other every morning.

In the late afternoon, during that awkward time after they kick you out of the pool, but before dinner, I would grab the guitar and go sit outside our window on the beach with it. (insert postcard photo here)

One night in the piano bar Winston had me singing a medley of Motown songs with him. Afterward he insisted that I participate in the talent show. I tried to decline, but he was pretty insistent. (If you know Winston, you know it’s not easy to say no to the guy!) So I thought, “what the heck”, and the next day I took my guitar down to the stage for rehearsal…

I cannot say enough about how fantastic and talented those guys in the house band are!!!!!! The song I did (Can’t you See, by the Marshall Tucker Band) was one that they had never heard before. (They don’t get a whole lot of American music in Jamaica) I played 4 chords on my guitar and they took off running with it! Within five minutes we had the song dialed in, and it was like they had been playing it for years! Real musicians amaze me!

We discovered that the talent show was at the same time as our dinner reservation, and when we attempted to change it they told us that we couldn’t. So sadly Mrs. Woof missed her dinner at Martino’s on our last night. (Have I mentioned lately how wonderful my lovely wife is?) She agreed to eat at the buffet so I could do my “ make a fool of myself onstage” thing. My guitar didn’t have an electric pickup, so they had to mic it as well as me, and the way the guy set up the mics I pretty much had my back to most people, which was probably just as well since I was scared witless! I’d never done something like that with a guitar before!

Ok, back to the people… After all, the people are what make Hedo “Hedo” !

This week, there was one large group there with us. “ The Jamaican Waterslide team”.

Now we have been to Hedo3 many times, and have interacted with several groups. Some better than others. These people were without a doubt the best group we have ever encountered! They were fun without being boorish. They were all friendly and welcoming to “outsiders”. Every one of them that we met were individually just about the epitome of “Hedo folks” . Mrs. Woof and I have never been “joiners” per se, but I can say without a doubt that if you are the type who prefers to go with a group, this is the group to join !!!! Unles you’re a jerk, in which case you probably won’t fit in… hee hee

The people really are the reason everyone goes to Hedo, and there is a reason for it. Think back on the times you’ve gone… Now remember all of the wonderful people you’ve met. Recall all of the other couples you chatted with and thought “wow, these people are so cool! We’ve got so much in common !!” Now think of all the jerks you’ve met there. Really not very many at all were there? In fact compared to the number of cool people, the amount of uncool people was just about negligible , wasn’t it?

This is always the case at Hedo. It’s impossible to explain it to your non-hedo friends and family in such a way that they will ever understand, but Hedo people are just a better class of human than what you regularly encounter in real life.

Between the two of us, Mrs. Woof is the social creature, while I am by nature actually quite shy. I can’t tell you how many times she has come to find me hiding out on my lounge chair, saying “Come here, you have to meet these people! They’re so cool!” And they always were. We met so many wonderful people this trip. Isn’t it wonderful how you can meet someone for the first time, and within seconds you are engaged in a conversation with them feeling as if you’ve known them for years? Only at Hedo!

Anyway… In conclusion, These Hedo3 Refugees have most definitely found themselves a new home in Hedo2 !!! We may go ahead and try Desire, but we will definitely be returning to Hedo2. A lot!