DennyP Travel Forums Resorts Hedonism II First trip to Hedo in 10 years, and beer

Got back last Sunday morning from my 18th trip to Jamaica and my 14th trip to Hedo (last trip April 2009). It was my new spouse's first trip to Hedo.


First off, the new décor in the main building is a bit of a shock to someone who is used to the "old" pastel décor of the old Hedo. Now it's darker woods, and has a bit of an English pub feel to it. I liked it. The number and quality of the food stations was better than I remember it, particularly for breakfast. We stayed oceanfront nude (room 2215). Nice bathroom remodel, and the room is in generally better condition than I remember them being. The grounds were nice and tidy as always, and I found the bar service, particularly at the nude pool, better than I recall.

I love the resort being clothing optional now, especially the prude pool at the bottom of the hill. I always envied that pool, and now that it is heated, you can actually stay in it for a good deal of time. The nude pool had been taken over by a couple of groups with a DJ, and while they were having a hoot of a time, we chose to avoid the noise and crowds of the pool. There was a lot of construction going on in the two next to last buildings near the nude pool. They had plywood up to block the view, but you can certainly be aware of the construction workers doing more than their fair share of staring. And no doubt some clandestine photos may have been secured. I can only hope that wasn't the case, but oh well.

The disco, as I had been told, was a flop. You might find 8 or 10 people in there, what I speculate were mostly locals? They seemed to be having a good time, but it wasn't the disco of old where you had to wait in line to shake a tail feather. Not sure the cure, but it just was not happening.

I didn't see the ice skating rink open even once. :-)

Lots of towels. Lots of floats. We even had a waitress come and ask us if we wanted drinks while setting under the trees next to the beach one morning. THAT was a first. I also liked the nude grill. Surprised at how good the food coming out of there was. Didn't try any of the late night pizza, so no opinion on that.
M
LOVED the Monday night beach party thing they set up on the prude beach. Outdoor live entertainment. Large selection of Jamaican food. A really good vibe. The glow party was OK. They don't have enough UV lights to really make glow paint pop, so I recommend you just take glow sticks. I used a bunch of glow sticks and duct tape to fashion a native American styled loin cloth, and I had a number of guys tell me they wish they had thought of that. And it was stupid easy.

BEER

My largest disappointment though was the beer. I tried the beer out of every tap I could find, so it wasn't a matter of dirty taps. And the beer was not skunked. It was soured. It all had this funky sour taste you could even smell when you pulled a beer. I'll drink fru fru liquor drinks during the day, but I sure missed having a beer with dinner. And no, it wasn't my taste buds. Soon as I left I had the driver stop for a red stripe in a bottle, and it tasted fine. Later that week I had a red stripe draft at a bar, and it too was fine. Hedo, at least from 10/5 through 10/9, was serving nasty soured beer. That was disappointing.

But all said, it was a great trip. And the new wife liked it to, and said she'd like to go back. A win.

How would you describe any changes in guests and ambiance (aka funny shit vs sexuality vs openness/friendliness vs ages, etc.)

So glad you had a great time!

Thanks for the post. Please consider emailing me a trip report which more people will see. Thanks.

They sometimes use the old rink for a foam party (that reminds me - need to pack a snorkle). Did you wander by late at night?

I like the idea with the glow sticks: Makes it a peek-a-boo thing.

Definitely an older crowd than I remember. But at the same time, I'm 10 years older, plus one of the groups there was called Sexy Silver or something like that, and they were all 50's, 60's, maybe even some 70's. And things are definitely more sexy than before, but things are so much more relaxed than they used to be with regards to PDA's and where you can have your willie/cooter exposed.

On the flip side, I did see two different groups of late 20's, maybe early 30's single females. And very few young single males. That was a change from before as well.

We went into the disco a couple of times, mainly to hit the bar. Both times were probably shortly after midnight, maybe later.

Oddly, I wasn't carrying my watch.

HI DaveInApril. Glad you are back and you and your new partner had fun. I share your disappointment with the disco. They did a great rehab but I did not draw the guests back. I have suggested theme music nights; disco, country, motown, 80's, 90's and reggae but we shall see if they make any effort to revive that venue.