This December 2026 will mark the 50th anniversary of the resort’s opening (as Negril Beach Village).
Those 50 years have taken their toll on the old gal, but I saw lots of perking up during my Hedo trip at the end of February.
I also learned of more to come after talking with David Graham, Hedo’s general manager who joined the resort February 2024.
The final repairs to the leaky dining room roof will end shortly.
Workers changed the roof profile by reducing the dips where water gathered and changed the water off-flow.
So far, so good—heavy rains and no leaks these last two weeks.
The resort resolved that same roof’s termite infestation by removing the soft wood the insects were chomping on and replaced it with non-wood and hard wood products. No bugs or bug dust seen! No more white tenting!
Drywall arches now decorate the lobby. I like it, but I am also a big fan of medieval architecture. I’ve no idea what the final look will be.
Fans in the dining room will be refurbished this year. Some haven’t worked for more than a year. But February was on the cool side: guests even wrapped in towels at night on the pool deck.
The long-awaited ceiling mirrors have arrived for the spa rooms, but they likely won’t be fully installed until sometime in August.
(The first batch delivered last year from China were of an incorrect material.)
In the next few weeks the resort will upgrade the Playroom and nude-side Happening Hut by the hot tub with paint and art.
Hedo’s beach sand keeps falling toward the sea with all the rain, but in the last two years the resort hasn’t had to buy sand, unlike Sandals, which has spent $1 million for sand from the Bahamas for its beach.
David Graham suspects some sand from Sandals ends up at Hedo.
Bulldozers pulled sand back up on the higher part of the beach into great mounds for later spreading.
They cannot legally pull it from the water line. Once the ocean gets it, it’s gone.
The hard surface below the sand is clay, though it feels like concrete.
For snorkelers, one site now has a 300-year-old canon and anchor taken from an old wreck in Bloody Bay.
Fewer guests are stashing their leftover weed in the rooms (housekeeping always finds it), but they are finding secret niches in more public areas to hide it (often in plastic medicine bottles). So look around!
No plans exist for a new dive boat, but a new glass bottom boat is due within weeks.
To reset the new room clocks, unscrew (by hand) the back panel to find the buttons.
In the next weeks, I’ll add more parts to my trip report!
Chris
For more information: https://chrissantilli.com
|