Carolyn - August, 2012
My report is from a first time Hedo visitor, a single female who traveled with a married couple of friends who have visited Hedo more than 10 times. My friends were able to introduce me to a lot of their Hedo friends/family, which helped a lot. I'll go chronologically, since that makes the most sense (to me!).
Arrival was easy - partially because I met my friends in Miami and continued on to Jamaica and the Superclubs lounge with them. It helped to have people who knew the ropes to navigate the process. Transfers were fine, but not to have to do that alone was even more stress free. Or maybe it was the Red Sripe they procured for the bus ride?? ;-)
The bus ride was nice, we were on with two honeymooning couples who were staying at another resort. We chatted and drank our beers and I mostly watched the local scenery the whole way there.
Upon arrival, we were greeted with an offer of champagne, which turned into wine because they seemed to be out. No problem here, I prefer wine! The front desk took care of us immediately and placed us in adjoining rooms in H-Block. I guess (not having been before) this was a nice little upgrade due to the low occupancy. A quick stop a the rooms to drop our bags, and off to the nude pool. As a Hedo virgin, my plan all along was to strip as quickly as possible and dive in, both figuratively and literally. This is the only way to go! I got right in, got a drink and started talking to people. Everyone was friendly and welcoming and the pool was busy (to me).
I'll add in here a caveat for travel day. I was up at 3am to catch my flight, arrived sometime around 1pm. I was right in the thick of things meeting people and having drinks. I think this was a good plan, but when it came time to get ready for dinner I crashed. Hard! I slept through dinner and woke up starving around midnight. I took a quick shower and threw on my fancy-dress and went up to the midnight buffed. There seemed to be NO ONE around. It was kind of lonely. I grabbed a grilled cheese and some fries, ate and had a glass of wine. I then wandered around. No one was in the disco, and the nude pool appeared to be closed. I know now it was just really quiet due to the low occupancy. I soon returned to my room and grabbed some more shut-eye.
The next day included diving, which was a huge motivator for me taking the trip. The 11:30 am standard dive was nice. The boat was full, even though there weren't many people on resort. We went to 60 feet, and saw some pretty reefs and even a sleeping nurse shark. The full boat was a bit of a drag - a large dive group leads to getting a fin in the face more than once, but overall everyone was nice.
Keeping with the diving theme, my friend and I decided to do our advanced cert while at Hedo, and Ritchie was AMAZING. The 9:30 dives were also far superior to the 11:30 dives. Many fewer people, more attention, and deeper dives. I saw a plane wreck and we got to follow a swimming nurse shark one day. If you love to dive, I highly recommend the early dive if you can get up for it. It was more like a private dive. So beautiful.
One night in particular deserves note. My friends went to bed after dinner, and I decided to stay out a bit by myself. I headed to the piano bar. It was fun, lots of eye roll-worthy singsongs (but in a good way). Since most Hedo people are friendly, I had no trouble finding people to hang out with and laugh with. When I went to the bar at one point, a man approached me and encouraged me to dance on the bar. Not my scene, and I laughed and said no way. He continued to ask me and tell me how beautiful I was. I was firm that I was flattered but no interested. He continued flirting. I decided to leave. He continued to pester me, and I admitted to him that I wasn't interested (I'm into women). Then I left.
I took off for the hot tub and met a nice couple there and we talked about animals for a good amount of time (I work at a humane society, so it was easy conversation). After a bit, I decided to return to my room for some sleep. Once back at my room, no more than 10 minutes later, my room phone rang. It was probably 2am. I answered, and a man said he was from the front desk and asked if I had enjoyed myself at the pool. I hesitantly said yes, and then he asked if I wanted company. I said NO and hung up. Then bolted my door.
I didn't feel at risk, but it was kind of awkward. I decided at that moment not to venture out alone again. This may not be typical for Hedo, but I thought it important to report.
Occupancy for the week I was there was very low, according to my friends. The staff claimed somewhere around 30%, but one day we talked to one of the managers who admitted there were probably only 120 people onsite total. This was good in that you got to know everyone easily, but it made for very empty venues. The disco never seemed to have critical mass the whole time I was there. It seemed like there weren't enough people to sustain both the disco and the piano bar at the same time.
The ECs worked hard to get things going, but often they seemed to be reaching. People were happily chatting and drinking at the nude pool, and it seems sometimes they interrupted to play their games. It might just be that I'm not really into games, but sometimes it seemed like an interruption.
I won't spend a lot of time talking about Isaac and the four return flights that got cancelled on me, because that isn't Hedo's fault. I will mention that American Airlines ONLY connects through Miami, so they were completely ineffective in getting me off the island when the Miami airport closed. I was forced to stay 2 extra days, and that was only because I got really ugly on the phone with AA making them get me home. People who flew other airlines had no problem returning. Hedo gave me a pretty good deal for the two extra days, which was important because I had budgeted only for my trip not for extra time! I did hear on the bus back to the airport that Breezes gave crazy-good deals to people who got delayed (1/3 what I paid) but still, Hedo made it possible for me to be stuck without completely going broke.
The last couple of days were a bit draggy - low occupancy, no dive boats, no water sports, all contributed. Plus vacation fatigue! Hedo really takes it out of you like no other place.
One more comment about the food, mostly because there is a lot of discussion on the boards here. I'm a vegetarian, and was a bit skeptical that I could find enough good food to eat. I had no problems. The buffets had good salad bars, the staff was accommodating, and both restaurants went above and beyond to make sure I had excellent meals. The Japanese place even brought out tofu just for me! And cleaned the grill in between meat dishes and mine. I wouldn't' say it was always gourmet food, but at the restaurants it definitely was. The buffets are absolutely serviceable, and the pasta bar was a great option. I can't imagine anyone going hungry at Hedo.
In summary, it was a wonderful vacation where I met lots of new friends. I wouldn't recommend it to a lone single female unless you are really looking for hookup action or you are very assertive. Other than that? I had a great time. I hope it doesn't close so I can go back.=