Hedonism II Trip Report - J & D: June, 2022
June 2022
Due to the pandemic we hadn’t been to Hedo in 3 years, which was very painful to us, considering we’ve gone at least once a year since the early 90s. But after careful consideration about the fact that most everything we do there is outdoors, not to mention having received our vaccinations and all the boosters, we felt good about going, and didn’t regret the decision for even a second. For the trip down we were double masked from the moment we entered the airport terminal at home until we got out of the taxi at Hedo. And as soon as we got out of that taxi, we were immediately reminded of what we love about Hedo when we were greeted by Odell, who we were amazed to see not only remembered us after 3 years but recognized us with our masks on. So as usual, we felt like we were home.
For our past couple of visits we enjoyed having a jacuzzi room on what was formerly known as the prude side, now the clothing optional side – having a door leading to the beach was great, and having a jacuzzi to sit in during thunderstorms was also great, and we like that we can get away from the intensity of the nude pool and go to the quiet side once in a while. But this time none were available, so we had a room in H block on the nude side, which had the great advantage of not being a long walk from where we spend most of our time, which is to say the nude pool/beach/hot tub. Plus we didn’t have to take a long walk if we forgot something in our room. In any case, there’s advantages to wherever you stay. I don’t think It’s possible to go wrong.
Some changes we really enjoyed when we were there were some little things. The room key bracelets were great – much better than a key card, which used to inevitably stop working several times during the week, making us have to trudge down to the front desk. The bracelets never failed, and they’re easy to deal with. The room now has a red night light, which was great for finding our way to the bathroom in the middle of the night. And we loved the personalized water bottle you’re given when you check in. Refilling stations are everywhere, and the fact that your name is on it means you never lose it. It’s a nice touch, and much better than the disposable plastic bottles they used to have.
We would have liked to have gone to the cannabis dispensary that came into being since we were last there, but didn’t. They call it a “medical dispensary”, meaning you have to have a medical referral in order to purchase anything. I’m guessing that’s either the legal requirement or a way to get $!5 for the card they’ll provide you – admittedly not a huge amount, but we come from a state with legal dispensaries all over the place that don’t require referrals, so we’re used to not having to jump through that hoop. And they don’t have edibles, which is our preferred method of consumption. So no ganja for us – we’re too chicken to buy it from the guy who walks down the beach, and anyway it’s not a big deal – there’s plenty of alcohol if we want to get wasted.
Food was great. In our efforts to avoid being in covid-risky situations, we sadly didn’t go to Pastafari this trip, but tried to have all our meals either completely outdoors or outdoor-adjacent. Whenever we ate in the dining room we wore masks when we were getting our food, and took a table right as close to the edge as possible. The Flame was great – the tables were set up outdoors by the pool deck, so we ate there a few times. We always ate lunch at the nude pool grill, which is delightful, especially since we didn’t have to go anywhere to eat. Plus they’re making onion rings now, and the jerk chicken remains fantastic. And there’s an ice cream machine down there too. Back at the dining room, at breakfast there’s something new to us – the burrito bar, which was great (and the woman who runs it, Camilia, could not have been sweeter).
One night we went over to the playroom, which the sign calls the Romping Shop – a pretty weird name, but whatever. It felt covid-safe since it has an open roof. Problem was that it had been raining, and many of the mattresses were put away to avoid the rain that came through that open roof. So it was standing room only – no mattresses to be had. There were some in the adjoining dungeon, but that’s not in the open air part, so we left and never wound up coming back. Maybe next time. There’s also a similar room down by the nude hot tub (which they call the Happening Hut – also a weird name). Didn’t use that this time, since it felt a little closed off (although there's no door, so there’s ventilation).
Of course the important thing is Hedo still felt like Hedo – still the same great people everywhere you look, same sexy vibe, still plenty of public sex, still great outfits on the women at dinner, still friendly, attentive, and generally fantastic staff. As you can tell, we’re always obsessively thinking about avoiding covid, but we never really felt as if we put ourselves in an unsafe situation. We felt like all the double masking during travel was worth the precaution. We avoided what we felt may be covid-unsafe activities – the foam party, the car wash, Pastafari. And it all paid off – we got home, tested ourselves, and never got sick. Some people may think we sound overcautious, but being a little on the north side of age 65 makes us more vulnerable. And if we’re worried about getting sick on vacation, especially in a place not really known for the quality and availability of health care, we’re not going to relax much, which defeats the purpose of going on vacation. But hopefully next time covid will have gone away to the point where we don’t have to think about it. Although it sounds like Hedo might be a good place to catch Monkeypox, so maybe that’ll be next year’s worry. But in any case – it was great to be back at Hedo. We missed it terribly, and still feel like it’s the greatest place on Earth.