Booked All-Inclusive Vacation through WestJet. We flew out of Toronto on Friday the 13th. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 10:15 a.m.. We awoke around 4:30 a.m., looked out the window and said “let’s go” as it was snowing and extremely wind. The normal 1.25 hour drive to Pearson Airport took 2.5 hours due to extremely bad roads and accidents. However, we arrived safely and well in time for our flight. We boarded on time but there was a 1 hour delay in departure as the plane had to be de-iced.
Flight was uneventful and when we arrived in Montego Bay things started looking up. Short line at Customs, our luggage was waiting for us in the baggage area, checked in at Super Clubs and had just enough time to get a beer at the outdoor Margarittaville before boarding the bus for the 1.5 hour ride to Hedo.
When we arrived at Hedo we were told that we had been “bumped” and we would be given another room and to come back to the desk tomorrow at 11:00 and we would be transferred our Ocean View room. We were offered “compensation” of either the difference in the price of the room or two half hour massages. All the rooms are identical but some locations are better than others. BTW, Herladyship opted for a 1 hour massage for her!
This was our second trip to Hedonism II in as many years and knew what to expect. Hedo is not for the faint of heart and we were there during Lifestyle Month with two groups in attendance, Dream Pleasure Vacations and Tom’s Trips. The “vibe” at Hedo very much depends on who is there and this time it was really party central! PDAs were common and the staff just let things go...probably because of what month it was, so rules can be inconsistent.
Weather
Perfect weather, not a drop of rain and sunny every day (rare for us)
Food
Main Restaurant - The food was very good although after 3 days or so there can be a sameness to any buffet.
Nude Side BBQ (by Delroy’s bar on the nude side) - great bbq chicken, fish, burgers, grilled cheese, etc. just don’t be in a hurry as it can take some time in line...but it is also a great way to meet people!
There are two restaurants, one Japanese and one Italian, but you must make a reservation. Didn’t go this year but did go to the Italian one last year and it was very good.
Prude Beach Bar - didn’t actually get there but heard it is the same as Delroy’s.
Staff
The staff are extremely friendly and courteous, from the busboys, wait staff, maintenance crews up to the EC’s and the Managers.We were asked so many times if we were enjoying ourselves!
Theme Nights
We love the theme nights and participated in about 4 (we were only there 5 full days). The lowest participation seemed to be Maskparade night and the highest was Fetish night. The common denominator for any night was what I respectfully call “skank wear”, the smaller the better, with shoes, the higher the better, loosely adhering to the theme of course! ;-) Only a small percentage of the guys dress up as it is really all about the ladies! We were disappointed there was no Toga Night, we brought our togas but there was no appropriate theme night to wear them. On the bright side, I did win a bottle of rum for male pirate, but sadly I was the only entry!
Rooms
As previously stated, all the rooms at Hedo are identical, it is just a question of location. The rooms are large with a King Size bed (and yes, there is a large mirror above the bed ;-0). Lots of drawer space, coffee maker, large TV that can receive about 120 channels. The bathrooms are small but completely adequate, there is a regular shower and then there is a five head shower, our five head shower did not work well which was a disappointment, sometimes it is a great to just stand there if you are to wasted to wash yourself, kind of like going through a car wash! It seems to be common at Hedo for at least one thing not to work so our problem was minimal. Other issues we heard of was the air conditioning did not work, no hot water, etc. but managment does take care of it quickly...by Caribbean standards!
People
As usual, this is the BEST PART! Although we are not in the lifestyle we made many friends and were fully accepted, some of whom were 30 years younger than us. Hedo is ageless! We actually met people who we had mutual acquaintances with back home, which can be a bit dodgey....so we met at “Breezes”. It is a small world. At Hedo it is so easy to just go up and talk to someone or ask “where’s home” to start the conversation. The toughest part is remembering everyone’s name after a couple of days!
Off the Resort
This year we vowed to leave the resort at least once, but that was just minimal. We took a walk down the beach past Sandals! Negril Beach is very nice but in our view does not compare to Orient. Next time we must actually go to Negril Village, but sand gravity is powerful at Hedo.
A Hedo vacation is what you make it or want it to be, you can party like a Rock Star or just find a quiet place (there are plenty of them) to chill along the beach, it’s all up to you!
When it was time to leave we found we were the only ones on the bus. Probably because we did not leave the resort until 4:00. We did have to check out of our room at 12 but our bags were looked after in the lobby and we could use the shower in the spa area to get cleaned up and changed. A tradition at Hedo is that as you are leaving on the bus, a group of people may “moon” you as you leave from an area across from the lobby known as “Moon Hill”. What nice farewell! ;-)
Once at Montego Bay Airport we found out our plane was delayed 45 minutes because of weather in Toronto. Did some shopping for grandkids, duty free, and of course hung out at Margarittaville until our plane arrived. Quiet flight home, customs lines were short and off to our car...damn it’s cold in Canada!
Although we were late going both ways the WestJet flight crews were great...right up to their usual standard!
John and Herladyship (Toddy) <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Cheers.gif" alt="" />
