J & E - February, 2014
As we have on the last several trip “back home”, we decided to fly out of JFK to take advantage of the nonstop flights, rather than out of Hartford. As it is a 2 hour drive, and the flight is early in the morning, we go down the night before and stay at the Courtyard by Marriott. If you are in the area looking for a place to stay before a flight, I highly recommend this hotel. It has the best customer service of any courtyard that we have stayed at. Our flight with Caribbean Airlines was on Saturday morning, Feb. 22 at 5:40 am. We woke at 3 am so that we could get freshened up and take the hotel shuttle at 3:30 am. While getting ready, I noticed a message from a friend who would also be on our flight saying it was delayed until 8 am. It was too late to back to bed so we decided to go to the airport. Upon checking the flight on my phone, I noticed it said the flight was cancelled. I immediately checked Delta to see if they had seats on their nonstop. Upon arrival at the airport, a non-employee representative for Caribbean Airlines told us that the flight was not cancelled only delayed. I reiterated what the airlines web site was showing. He said he was printing luggage tags so the flight was not cancelled. After arriving at the gate, we began hearing rumors that the flight was going to Kingston, rather than Montego Bay. A check with the gate agent (also a non-employee) assured us that the flight crew said they were taking the aircraft to Montego Bay. It was not until we were in the air did the pilot tell us that we were indeed going to Kingston. He said another flight crew would get onboard and take the plane to MoBay. Little did we know that it was not going to be that easy. Upon arrival in Kingston, we had to gather up our carryon bags, deplane, clear Jamaican immigrations and wait till the plane was serviced before we were allowed back on board. Our arrival in MoBay was eventually four hours late. Upon writing to Caribbean Airlines after our return, they did offer a $200 credit voucher per person which was a little less than half what we originally paid for the tickets.
We had a full bus of anxious Hedo Fluffs and told the driver that we did not want to stop anywhere in between. He told us that he might have to stop to use the bathroom and we told him to go before we left the airport. We did make a straight shot to Hedo. Upon arrival, we were given the usual form to fill out. As I was doing that, a woman called our name and told us to follow her. Since we were booked into one of the new Nude Beach Jacuzzi Premium (NBJP) rooms, our check in would take place in our room where she would show us all the new features. As much as we love the “classic” rooms and all the changes that were made over the years (NOT), the new NBJP was a breath of fresh air. It contained all new furnishings, and fixtures in the bedroom as well as the glass enclosed bathroom. This new style room will give Desire RM a run for their money. Our only complaint was that there was less drawer space and no place to store our luggage. We loved the photo behind the bed with the control panel that could turn on the backlight in various colors and brightness. Our overhead mirror was one solid piece and also had backlights. Unfortunately, or ceiling mirror lights were not working. One of the owners tried to get them to work and eventually had to place a call into maintenance. The lights were not working the entire week but it was not a big deal. The slider to the deck is magnetic and you must push a button to release the magnet. From the outside, there is a keypad to allow you into the room. For evenings, there is a double lock on the door so that releasing the magnet or attempting to pry the door open will not work. Besides the normal daily housekeeping, we had nightly turndown service and delivery of clean towels. Unfortunately there were no mints left on our pillow. Our Jacuzzi was maintained every day by Damian. He stopped by a couple of times each day to clean, add chemicals and replenish any lost water and ask if we needed anything. He was fantastic! Several of us asked for a way to clean our feet off before going in the Jacuzzi so that we did not bring sand in there. We explained that it would keep the Jacuzzi cleaner and make his work easier. He later brought us a cut off gallon jug so that we could scoop out water to wash our feet. Prior to going, I had asked if there were room numbers on the beach side so that we would know which room was ours. They said no but would add it to their list of things to do. The cost would be no more than a few dollars per room. Instead, we went to the dollar store and bought a couple of strands of battery powered LED lights and some Mardi Gras decorations to make our deck stand out.
Overall service at the resort, in my opinion, is way up. Granted I had a hat with my name on it, but the first time I went to the bar for a drink, I heard “What can I get you to drink Joe?” When I received what I asked for, I heard “Thank you Joe.” Even walking down a pathway, staff would greet me by name even if they only saw me once or twice. The entire staff has always been friendly but I think it was kicked up a notch this year. Dining room staff was very pleasant and willing to gout of their way. If you were to ask for something, they were right there with it, not 10 minutes later. If they say you trying to do something on your own that was part of their responsibility, they would come over and take care of you. When asked of several staff members how things were going at the resort since the new ownership, they said it is better than it has ever been. They are very happy with the new owners and really enjoy working there. They are treated well and are the highest paid of any resort on the island. They also share in the gross proceeds every week as tipping is not allowed. On a very full week, this could mean an extra 2 ½ times their weekly salary. Finding this out did not deter us from discretely making a few tips to some various people. We do bring down bags of good chocolate miniatures which we gave to the morning and evening housekeeper, dining room staff and also Damian our Jacuzzi guy.
We remember the days when one would go to Hedo and lose weight because of the food offerings and tasteless desserts. I am happy to say that the food has improved so much. Besides the two egg stations where you can get eggs any way you like, there are made to order waffles and pancakes next to the ham carving station. Along with the usual offerings, there was a quiche offering every day. Beside the preformed hash browns, there was a potato hash. Fresh fruit was in abundance and was very delicious. For the first time ever, I saw soursop on the fruit station. Dinner was out of this world! Last year, I was at the Pasta Station most of the nights. This year, the choices were so varied. One night at the carving station there was Roast Suckling Pig as well as Herb Rubbed Duck. The Lasagna al Forno one night was delicious while another night the Citrus Jerk Pork was to die for. As some have complained that the starch every night had been limited to rice and beans, this year saw Parmesan Roasted Potatoes, Mushroom Risotto and Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges among the starch offerings. Several times I was tempted to go back to my room and get a ziplock bag so that I could fill it with items from the dessert area. In the past, it seemed they made desserts without sugar and were tasteless. This year, they were decadent and I am sure they contributed to an extra pound or two.
Not much has changed with the beach. There is still a lot of sea grass on the bottom and unless they improve the flow of the current by removing the jetty, it will always be a problem. There are new lounge chairs that we thought were very nice. One big improvement over the old chairs is that the new ones can go completely flat so that once can lie on their stomach without having their legs elevated. The new lounge chairs has arms on the side. Being Hedo, we did hear a complaint or two that the new chairs with the arms make it more difficult to have sex in them. It seems that there were fewer blue floats around and the ones we did see were on people’s lounge chairs. Normally, mornings would see a lot of people floating around but there was none of that this year. The pool was kept clean while the nude hot tub still had issues a couple of times with too high of a temperature or too much chlorine to the point where it was affecting people’s eyes. The resort added stairs to two “leafs” of the nude hot tub and they are an eyesore and take up too much space. As the bases of the stairs are no longer anchored to the bottom of the hot tub, it makes a dangerous situation and several people did get cut on them.
The bars were well stocked with a lot of premium liquors than in the past. We heard someone comment that they were pleased to be able to get Crown Royal at the pool every day. There was also a variety of flavored vodkas which made for some interesting and new drinks. Bananas were available every day.
Hedonism II has improved in the past year with the new ownership. They are one year into a five year plan and if the next four years are just as good as their first, they will have a lot of happy people coming back year after year. We have always told people that we didn’t go to Hedo for the accommodations or the food. We go for the people and the camaraderie among old friends and new friends that we have not met yet. The people we go with every February are like family to us. Our family becomes larger and larger every February. If I tried to thank all the wonderful people we knew or met on this trip, it would take a page of its own. If you met Hedo Joe or Yellin’ Ellen, you know that we were grateful to meet you and are so happy that you are no part of our lives.
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