Trip Report: Hedo III (WWW) and Hedo II: May 14 2005 May 23 2005
This was our fourth trip to Jamaica and we decided to mix things up a bit by going to Hedo3 with the WWW (Wet, Wild and Wicked) group (our first time to Hedo3) for three nights, followed by six nights at our tried and true Hedo2. We had several people request that we compare and contrast the two resorts even though weve seen several trip reports doing that in the past. We came to realize that many trip reports give you a list of whats different (or similar) between the two resorts, or give a subjective I just liked Hedo x better than the other, but rarely give something definitive to differentiate the two resorts. Well, well do a bit of the typical comparison but will endeavor to give a definite choice of one resort over the other including a solid reason why (at least for us!). We realize that people whove visited one resort before the other typically choose the first one as their favorite perhaps the familiar feel or something. Anyway, we embarked on this trip with the intention of being as unbiased and objective as possible, trying not to let our previous trips to Hedo2 prejudice us in any way. So, first well give the general run-down of our trip, followed by a brief comparison of the two, followed by our pick for which resort will get our repeat business in the future This will probably be long, so read on if you dare!
First, we had a non-stop, redeye flight from Los Angeles to Montego Bay on Friday the 13th, arriving in MoBay on the 14th. That sounds like a lousy flight, but getting the chance to sleep for a few hours (well, one of us) and arriving fresh first thing in the morning actually works well for us as you dont feel robbed of a day due to travel. The flight was uneventful (departing Los Angeles a bit after 11:00pm), arriving in MoBay a bit after 6:00am (yawn). Customs and baggage claim were non-events (nobody else there but our flight at that time of day), the new Super Clubs check-in/waiting area is an exceptional step up from the simple counter they had last time, and we were on our bus less than 15 minutes after we arrived. For some reason, we thought the bus ride to Hedo3 would be smoother than the one to Hedo2. We were wrong. Its not terrible, and certainly better than the ride to Hedo2 was years ago (before the road improvement project), but its rough in places and fairly long (including the obligatory beer stop at 7:15 in the morning!). But, even with that, we arrived at the front desk by 8:30am, ready for the typical check-in shuffle we've become accustomed to at Hedo2. We gave the front desk our completed check-in card (fill it out in advance to save some time) and were very confused when we were handed a room safe key and an envelope with our room keys in it. What? Its ready? Yeah, mon. The bellhop grabbed our bags and we were off to our room. Amazing!
We were put in room 823, a nice room with a good view over the naked volleyball court (that we never saw anyone use) and over-sized chess board. Everything was in very good order, the room was well air conditioned, and we wasted no time unpacking choosing to simply change into something much cooler and head off to tour the grounds for ourselves. After wandering around a bit, we opted for the official orientation. While we didnt really see anything new, it was fun to walk around and chat with the EC (entertainment coordinator) who led us around the grounds and explained things to us as though we were complete newbies. The grounds were very nice, with everything generally well maintained, freshly painted in bright colors, etc. The only thing we really noticed as odd was the large patio area between the dining room and the building we were in. The dining room is small (compared with Hedo2), so they have this outdoor dining area (weather permitting) setup as a large, tiled area in a square bordered by the dining room on one side, prude pool complex on the other, our building opposite the dining room, and the prude beach. Its a lot of open area that feels unfinished like something was missing (more on that later). Its not bad or ugly, but felt odd. The prude pool was very nice (though rarely occupied), and water slide was cool (and fast). The prude beach was nice, though again, rarely used. The only vegetation (for shade) was palm trees though, so it got fairly hot during the day (not that we were there much). We liked the oceanfront walkway that stretched from the dock (at the prude beach) all the way to the nude pool. Not as pretty as a beach would be, but still a nice touch.
Tour done, we stripped down and headed off to the nude pool to see who all was there. One minor note about the room even though we were overlooking the nude side, our door opened up to the prude side, so we felt compelled to at least wear towels out of our room. While we admit we dropped that habit within a day (who cares if someone sees you dashing down the stairs in the buff?), but thought it was odd to situate the rooms such that you felt compelled to wear something out of your room on the way to the nude facilities (lest you offend someone on the prude side).
It was great to use Dennys WWW attendee list, message boards, and such to get to know people before the trip. We had instant friends at the nude pool and felt welcomed in right away. Regardless of whether you go to Hedo2 or Hedo3, or Desire for that matter, take the time to take advantage of the attendee lists and get to know people it makes the acclimation process much faster
The nude pool area is very nice similar to Hedo2 in some ways, but different in others. While the swim up bar is very similar to Delroys at H2, it doesnt have the same walk-up accommodations which is odd. The pool is great, having ample room to socialize, as well as room for water volleyball (reduced court, but it works). The Jacuzzi is right off the pool and close to the bar, which is nice compared to H2. There is no beach at all near the pool, but the view off the rocks is beautiful and you are right next to the water. Visitors to H3 often say H3 has no nude beach or the beach sucks. That isnt quite true, or fair. There is definitely a beach and it isnt bad at all. Its just a ways off from the nude pool/bar area and is small. While the beach itself is comparable to Hedo2, its simply not as pretty (the crescent shape at Hedo2 is nice) and is too far from the pool/bar area making it feel like separate accommodations. The sand is okay and you can walk out into the shallow water (its well protected by a breakwater). That said, however, we never ended up spending any time on the nude beach its just too far from the pool/bar where all the socializing and activity is.
We had lunch with friends at the Scotch Bonnet. Good food in general, but the jerked chicken wasnt as good as we remembered at Roberts Shack at Hedo2. Too bad, though that encouraged us to try other food there. After lunch we headed back to the nude pool to play too much water volleyball and generally wind down the day. We were disappointed that they don't serve jerked chicken in the afternoon at the nude pool grill. Not sure why that is, but we missed it! Dinner theme was Bare as you Dare, which was fun. The food was good about the same as we remembered from Hedo2 which is no surprise since they follow the same general idea. We were in bed shortly after midnight (after hanging out at the nude pool/Jacuzzi again for a while), which is when we noticed our king-sized bed wasnt really a king. It was two full-sized (or twins, or whatever) beds pushed together and made up with kind-sized sheets. That doesnt sound bad until you try to meet up in the middle. The sides of mattresses are firmer than the rest of the mattress, leaving a stiff ridge in the middle of the bed made worse in this case since one bed was noticeably higher than the other. The only way to get together was on one mattress or the other. Oh well. We were dead tired (remember, redeye flight the night before) so we just shut up and dozed off. Until 2:00am. Thats when the employee outside our door fired up the gasoline engine powered pressure washer to clean off the large patio outside our room. Two main points to note: 1) the pressure washer was VERY load, and 2) it was 2:00 in the fn morning! After about 10 minutes we came to the conclusion that this was going to last a while, so I called the front desk to complain. While I was chatting with them (Its 2:00 in the morning, what are you thinking?), the noise suddenly stopped. No problem. I hung up and was about to go back to bed when I noticed Kellie was missing in action. Hmmm, the door was open. Look outside and there she is chewing out the poor maintenance guy! Haha. He wisely came to the conclusion that 2:00am wasnt the best time to pressure wash the patio and we were off to bed again. Nice to sleep
After a refreshing conclusion to our nights sleep, we were up at 9:00am to stake our claim for lounge chairs by the nude pool, then off to breakfast at the main dining room. The food was good (were hounds for the omelet bar) very comparable to Hedo 2. One nice feature was the smoothie bar, though we didnt take advantage of it ourselves. Loved the fresh fruit and good, thick Jamaican coffee! After breakfast it was back to the nude pool, more water volleyball, and lunch at the Scotch Bonnet. We tried checking in at the front desk to figure out how our transfer to Hedo2 would work, but they didnt have the bus schedule arranged yet and told us to come back the next day. No problem.
We didn't find the food to our liking at the nude pool grill and ended up putting on clothes to head to Scotch Bonnet (and ate way too much). We did the body painting contest (though not enough people joined in) and generally had fun around the nude pool until Dennys WWW reception on the roof of the Scotch Bonnet that night. We did do the "take over" of the water slide in the afternoon, but there really weren't many prudes at the pool (perhaps four prudes versus several dozen nudes), so it wasn't as much fun as it could have been. Dinner at Pastafari with friends was very good (just like at Hedo2), though small portions. It was nice to get dressed up a bit (dress shorts? Haha). We stayed up until 2:00am partying at the nude pool, the disco, going down the water slide (naked, of course) and generally having fun. Good atmosphere for that!
No pressure washer that night, it was nice to get a full night's sleep!
Our final full day was pretty much the same as the previous one. Stake out lounges, good breakfast and coffee in the dining room, water volleyball, socializing and fun at the nude pool, etc. We had lunch at the nude grill this time (cheeseburgers and fries keep it simple), so no need to put on clothes to head to Scotch Bonnet. Before dinner we headed to the front desk again to find out about our transfer the next day to Hedo2. We had received written notice to have our bags outside our room at 8:00am for a 2:00pm bus... The front desk said they still didn't know the bus schedule, but that we were confirmed for the 2:00pm bus (not sure how they booked us if they didn't know the schedule). They said if that time didn't work for us, we'd have to reschedule in the morning. 2:00pm was okay with us, so we just stuck with it. But, that bags out the door at 8:00am thing didn't cut it. They agreed we could check out at noon and leave our bags out then instead. Much better. Dinner was out on the beach this evening which presented two problems; 1) bug bites, and 2) it rained. Oh well. Entertainment was canceled, so we headed off to the piano bar. The piano bar is nice, but a little small and cold. We were driven out by all the cigarette smoke though, so we didn't stay to enjoy it for very long. We tried the disco, but even well after midnight, it was dead (literally, fewer than a half dozen people loitering on the dance floor and a couple dozen people outside on the patio). In bed by 1:00am, we got a good night's rest...
The day of our transfer to Hedo2 started out uneventful enough. Got up a little early and wandered around the nude side to get some pictures before people showed up. Security shooed us away from the nude beach even though there were no people there. Even after pointing out there were no guests to offend with our camera, they insisted on enforcing the no camera rule and sent us on our way. We totally understand (and agree with) the policy about no cameras on the nude side when people are there! But, when nobody is around, it seems unreasonable. Oh well. Had another good breakfast, tanked up on good, thick coffee, then headed down to the nude pool for a bit. After a final lunch at Scotch Bonnet, we packed our stuff, put our bags out, then headed down to the nude pool again for some final floating and chatting, then goodbyes to our new and old friends. Sad to leave when it seemed we were just settling in... Oh well, off to Hedo2!
The bus left pretty close to on-time (2:00pm) with a handful of passengers for the airport. We stopped to pick up a couple other people at another resort, stopped for 10 minutes (no discernable reason) at another SuperClubs affiliated resort (Starfish), then finally made it to the airport. The driver dropped off the departing passengers, then took us to where our next bus was waiting for us. After standing around for another 10 minutes or so the new driver got us, loaded our stuff into the bus, then headed off again presumably to get more passengers. Nope, about 20 minutes later he came back and we were off. Dunno why we had the extra 20 minute wait, but we were happy to finally be heading to Hedo2. The drive was uneventful (we didn't even stop for beer), the road very smooth and well maintained (except in the various small towns) and we got there is just over an hour. No worries.
Check-in at Hedo2 wasn't quite as smooth as at Hedo3 -- they changed our room three times before finally handing us our keys and sending us off to room 2175 to unload our stuff. Still, it only took about 10 minutes much improved over previous trips. We were in the last building before the one overlooking the nude pool/bar perfect for us. Close to the nude pool/Jacuzzi and bar, but far enough away not to be disturbed by the potential noise. Our first floor room looked right out over the prime part of the nude beach and was well updated since our last visit (new curtains, new paint, etc.). No Jacuzzi bathtub, but the shower had five shower-heads! We prefer showers anyway, so that was fine with us.
After unpacking (what little we did) and changing into swimwear, we headed off to wander around the grounds and see what had changed since our last visit (way back in 2001). While the general grounds on the nude side bore very little change (other than storm damage and repairs), the prude side received numerous improvements. The terracing and landscaping were great, though some of the layout on various levels was a bit odd but fun (like the small pools). The water-slide and tower were nice not integrated into the disco like at Hedo3, but fun nonetheless (with the slash-down pool right outside the windows of the disco). Even the walkway to the beach tower works out well. The new pool down on the beach level is very nice, though as with Hedo3, seldom used. It's a shame they put so much money into improving the part of the resort that guests use the least. They really did a beautiful job, and the improvements/upgrades/new features are really ice and generally fit well, but we hope they'll put some money into the nude side now. Seriously, during most of the day 80% or more (conservatively) of the guests are on the nude side put some effort into upgrading there!
We'll go more into this later, but overall, the grounds were great. All the vegetation was well maintained, workers were constantly keeping things clean and trimmed, there's a huge variety of plants and flowers making you feel like you're in a botanical garden or something. We ran into Hedley Smith (one of the main groundskeepers, if not the head guy) several times and had some great chats about his efforts to keep things beautiful, deal with storm damage, balance various grounds keeping needs, etc. Wonderful guy to chat with and always a pleasure to run into. We liked how the buildings blended into the surroundings (instead of sticking out as a main attraction), etc. Overall, very pleasing.
On top of the landscaping improvements, the management is putting some effort into improving some of the rooms (at least on the nude side, we didn't check the prude side). Most of the first floor oceanfront rooms were under construction to add small outside patios with private jacuzzi's and covers. It seems like a lot of work and we can imagine that keeping up on all those jacuzzi's will be a pain (though they are putting in some sort of centralized plumbing/filtering system to make it easier), but if done right, they will be nice improvements we just hope they don't jack up the price of the rooms too much! We didn't see any of the rooms finished while there, but got a good feel for how it will work, and it seems like it will work well.
Anyway, after wandering around and taking in all the new features, we spent some time at the nude pool and beach (again, meeting up with people we'd previously corresponded with through Denny's attendee list and a Yahoo Group established just for May visitors), got to say hi again to Scumba and Robert (Delroy was apparently off) and generally let sand gravity re-establish it's hold on us. Loved Robert's jerked chicken in the afternoon (late snack). Being Tuesday night, it was PJ night, which was a lot of fun and generated the most attendance we'd see at the disco for our entire stay. Other nights it was simply deserted. After partying for a bit at the disco, it was off to the nude Jacuzzi for some sight-seeing (the water temperature was actually good, not too hot), then off to bed.
The next day, we pretty much re-established our normal routine. Down to the beach to grab lounges (which was easy due to the low occupancy at the resort), then off to breakfast which was pretty much identical to Hedo3, but Charlie's omelets are just a bit better than Hedo3. Same buffet food, fruit, etc. After breakfast we'd get some sun on the beach, soak in the pool, observe and/or participate in some of the activities (ring toss, scavenger hunt, bocce ball, etc.), then have lunch at Robert's grill. Actually, we prefer Robert's grill over the lunch buffet, so we ate there every day! We did swing buy the dining room after lunch for desert and to watch the wet t-shirt contest though. Hehe. We did the body painting thing (again), and got to play nude volleyball in the afternoon, followed by jerked chicken in the jacuzzi again. Dinner was Marti Gras themed, and the food was good in the dining room. After dinner, we headed off to the piano bar and were pleasantly surprised to find it had gone non-smoking (for a variety of reasons we won't go into here). Bottom line, the smokers seemed okay with simply stepping outside to smoke now and then, and we all got to enjoy the environment and singing (well, some of the singing). Much better than Hedo3. Later that night we tried the disco, but it was dead, so we headed off to bed and got another good night of rest.
The next couple of days went pretty much the same. Reserve lounge chairs (Augustus was great about figuring out where we liked and holding chairs for us), breakfast buffet (love those omelets), hang out at the beach/pool, lunch at Robert's, play some games for Hedo bucks and rum (ring toss, volleyball, Bocce, etc.), more laying around in the sun, drinking rum drinks with good friends and generally having the time of our lives. Friday night was Carnival night, but it rained forcing cancellation of the circus and bonfire/party on the beach. On Saturday we did the catamaran cruise to snorkel on the reef and swim around by the Pickled Parrot (sorry, Pirate's Cave now) a must do, in our opinion. Of course, we made the trip clothing optional, haha Saturday night we had dinner with friends at Pastafari (great food, as always) and did the normal pool, piano bar, disco (deserted), Jacuzzi thing before bed...
Our last full day saw good friends departing (drag), and the appearance of our Eviction Notice (double drag). Same daily routine, though a bit slower (savor the moment). Took time to wander the grounds taking pictures again, managed to win another bottle of rum (ring toss), grabbed a whole jerked chicken from Robert's grill in the afternoon, and had dinner at Munasan (Japanese restaurant) which was very good.
Weather in general was very good at both resorts. We had a little rain a couple of nights, and a heavy downpour one evening at Hedo 2, but it didn't last long and was usually sunny in the morning. Overall, no complaints there...
Some other observations common to both resorts (not a comparison...): Jet Skis were a significant nuisance at both resorts. Whether ferrying tourists from other resorts over to look at the nude people at Hedo, or trying to sell ganja, it was a source of constant irritation. We didn't use to mind the Sandal's boats that would come by ('cause they were further out in the water), or the "Blue Taxi" selling dope ('cause it was at least quiet), but the noise, smell, and bother of the Jet Skis was a real nuisance that management needs to do more about. Service at both resorts was good and about equal. Bug bites were about even at both resorts as well. We know to stay off the sand at night, but we got bitten on the patios at night too. No particular edge for either resort.
We've heard some people say the crowd at one resort is younger than the other, or sexier, or has more or less singles, more sedate or more active, etc. All we can say is that it changes week to week and either resort will have different mixes depending on who's there. It's not the resort, it's the people. Don't assume you'll get a particular mix based on the property there's just no guarantee. Sex police were essentially non-existent at both resorts.
So, we promised some direct comparisons of the resorts (before we pick our favorite). Here's our observations. You pick what you think is most important to you...
Bus ride to resort: No contest, much better ride to Hedo2, better road, better scenery, shorter drive.
Rooms: Hedo3 gets a slight edge here, but not a deal-breaker either way. H3's rooms are a bit larger and have more storage room, but also have minor nuisances, like the a/c blowing directly on the bed, the toilet being too close to a pillar (couldn't sit straight), and the TV being at an odd angle to view from bed (though we admit, we never turned the damn thing on!). The bathroom was larger at H3, and the jacuzzi tub was nice, though we were partial to H2's five-head showers! Cleanliness was about the same (they both had small bugs), and H3s dcor was more colorful. Overall, they are just average rooms and do the job. Contrary to complaints we've heard recently, we had no difficulties with the lighting at either resort and didn't feel the urge to bring our own light bulbs or anything. The split bed was annoying at H3, H2's was much more comfortable. It may sound trivial, but we like the room keys at Hedo2 better (standard metal keys on elastic wrist/ankle bands) than Hedo3 (plastic punch cards) as they are easier to keep track of when naked. We didn't know to bring a lanyard at H3 and they didn't supply anything to keep your key with you when naked. Oh well.
Security: Overall, very good at both resorts. It never felt especially intrusive, but you always felt someone was around should there be any problems. H2's security could have been a bit better about shooing off people in clothes from the nude beach, and H3's security could have been a bit friendlier about taking pictures of the area when NOBODY is there!
Nude Jacuzzi/pool/beach/grill/lounge area: Hedo3's facilities were great, but we still give Hedo2 the nod here due to the proximity of the beach and ease of access to the bar when you're not in the pool. Hedo3's Jacuzzi was always too hot, H2's was more tolerable more often than not.
Nude grill: Hedo2 has the definite edge here. Not only does Robert's shack have more "personality," but Robert himself is part of the draw. The food was better at 2 and jerked chicken in the afternoon was great. We liked the food enough at Hedo2/Robert's that we ate there every day (not having to get dressed to go somewhere else), we had to put on clothes to find food at Hedo3...
Volleyball: If you like water volleyball, Hedo3 is the place to go. If you like beach volleyball, Hedo2 has it over Hedo3. H3's "beach" court was really raked dirt and was so hard-packed that they never actually had a game any day we were there. Nobody wanted to play. Hedo2 has nice soft sand and a good location.
Piano Bar: Both piano bars have fun potential and are laid out nicely, though H2's is probably a bit roomier and better appointed. Our main pick for H2 over H3 was the fact that H2 went non-smoking in the piano bar. Some people don't care about the smoke (the employees might), but we know more non-smokers who appreciated the change than any smokers complaining about stepping outside. It's a solid improvement.
Food: Overall, the food is very similar, though Hedo2 has an edge. The new chef has made some changes and improved things overall. Not so noticeable at the restaurants (Pastafari and Munasan), but definitely at the buffet. As mentioned above, the nude beach grill is better at Hedo2 as well. Deserts at both resorts were a step up from our last visit to Hedo2 a nice change.
Fitness center: Hedo2's is larger and better equipped, and the SPA is beautiful. We're not big fans of working out at either Hedo (just doesn't seem natural), but if the fitness facilities were of any importance to us, Hedo2 would be the choice.
Sunsets: Most of the year, Hedo3 has the edge over Hedo2 due primarily to it's location. Hedo2's sunsets improve as the sun moves to the south, but otherwise, you'll enjoy the sunsets at Hedo3 more.
Entertainment Coordinators and activities: The ECs were very similar at both resorts, though Hedo2's seemed to put in more of an effort to get to know you. They were definitely more active at Hedo2 trying to get guests involved in daytime activities (scavenger hunt, ring toss, bocce, volleyball, etc.,) though that may be good or bad, depending on your perspective and interest level.
We didn't spend much time at Hedo3's quad area (pool surrounded on for sides by room buildings), but thought it was a neat idea. It wasn't as nice to hang out there as the ocean-side facilities, but the idea of having a clothing optional area to act as a buffer between the prude and nude sides was a good one. It gave people an opportunity to go nude or topless without feeling compelled to take it all off like they would at the nude pool/Jacuzzi area. Hedo2 might want to consider this (especially at the lower prude pool and beach) if they don't simply go clothing optional through the whole resort (which would seem to make sense since the vast majority of guests are on the nude side most of the time).
Bottom line: We don't think any of the above considerations were make-or-break considerations if trying to choose between resorts. There are some minor pros and cons to each, and generally the attitude, environment, services, entertainment, etc., are very similar at both resorts. So, which one would we choose and why? Without a doubt, we would choose Hedo2, and not simply because we've been there before and might be more comfortable. We think we managed to be objective and give Hedo3 an honest chance. So why pick Hedo2? In short, the grounds. Hedo3 was nice and stands on it's own, but it could have been in Palm Springs, or Phoenix, or Mexico, or any other warm spot. There wasn't really anything special about it. There was too much concrete and tile, too few plants, and no elevation changes or other landscaping features to make the grounds interesting. Hedo2, on the other hand, has lots of plants and vegetation (you almost feel like you're in a botanical garden), terraces, multiple levels, etc. Hedo2 has patios and small concrete areas, but nothing like Hedo3's expanse of concrete and tile. The vegetation (including incredible old banyan trees and lush flowers) are an integral part of the landscape and make the place feel tropical, or even Jamaican, if you will. When we were at Hedo3, we couldn't put our finger on what seemed to be missing, but the moment we stepped out of the lobby and started walking the grounds at Hedo2, we realized what Hedo3 was lacking the environment. We heard someone complain that Hedo2 was too overgrown and the buildings weren't painted in nice, bright colors (like Sandals). Well, we like that. We like the plants and flowers and subdued paint on the buildings that allow them to become part of the landscape, instead of overpowering it. Don't get us wrong, Hedo3 definitely has some nice landscaping and they put the effort into making some key areas very nice, but it's nowhere near as much as at Hedo2. At Hedo3 you generally walk around on pathways with little vegetation around them, at Hedo2, you're walking with lush plants and flowers around you, trees overhead, etc. The features (like the waterslide and walkway towers) are integrated into the landscape at Hedo2, while they stand out as prominent stand-alone features at Hedo3. If you don't enjoy the vegetation at Hedo2 or place a premium on the grounds, then Hedo3 is a strong contender. But, if you like the tropical feel of Hedo2, you can't match it at Hedo3. That's what made the difference for us...
Brian & Kellie