GRAND LIDO BRACO--1999<br><br><br>Nine nights in paradise—that is how I will remember our second trip to Grand Lido Braco in late June/early July 1999. Our first trip to Grand Lido Braco (hereafter referred to as “GL Braco”) occurred almost precisely one year previously. The two GL Braco trips came after 8 trips to the first Grand Lido resort in Negril beginning in 1990.<br><br>A second trip provides the opportunity to make comparisons. 1998 was the resort’s first year as a Grand Lido and I was interested to see how things compared. Generally, things were better---and I would have been disappointed if had been otherwise. The foliage was much more mature and lush and the grounds generally had a much more “finished” look to them.<br><br>Our room showed little wear and tear---something we had noticed beginning to happen at GL Negril in 1997. The room colors and furnishing definitely put one in a tropical mood. Our room’s refrigerater was stocked daily with beer and soft drinks (all part of the all-inclusive price). This service was much more hit and miss last year. We again had an ocean front room on the second floor. Each day about 5:30 we would leave the pool area and spend an hour on the balcony waiting for the sun to set---often an awesome sight if the clouds and sun were interacting. The balcony is large with chairs and a little table provided. We would order nachos or some other light snack from room service and prepare ourselves for nature’s show.<br><br>The weather this year was just fine. We had rain one afternoon for about two hours and a few very short showers on two other afternoons. It would get windy sometimes but that would just help to cool things off. We stayed on the au naturel side again and usually would escape the sun by locating on the gazebo which is in the middle of the very large pool. <br><br>We were recognized by several staff members. Denton, the pool bartender, gave us a greeting when we first arrived. The first time we went to the bar to get something to drink he had two Pepsis waiting for us—now that is a good memory as that is all we ever drink!!! Cynthia, the fruit lady, was also present every day again and she too remembered us. She comes around every morning with a basket of fruit and offers you your pick of what she has. My wife would always pick a papaya and would eat it on the balcony late in the afternoon. Renard the social director who had been such a delight last year was also present but not quite so animated as last year. Generally, all the staff seemed very eager to please and we thought the service was improved from last year when almost everybody was newly hired.<br><br>If you have read other reviews I have written in the past, you know that food is not a particularly important feature of a vacation for me. Nevertheless, I found that the food was about the same as last year. We had dinner one night at Piacere (coat but no tie required) and found that the menu had not changed. The Friday night buffet (called the “Street Dance Buffet) was satisfactory—about the same last year. Since we were at GL Braco for two Fridays, on the second one we had dinner at the Pasta Restaurant which was enjoyable. The “Beach Party Buffet” which is normally held on Wednesdays on the beach was moved to the Victoria Market location due to rain in the afternoon and the fear it might return during the dinner hour. Victoria’s Market (GL Braco’s version of GL Negril’s Café Lido) remains my favorite place for dinner with a menu that changes daily. We did not have dinner this year at the Japanese restaurant which to judge by others comments remains a very good venue for dining.<br><br>The breakfast buffet remains top notch. The lunch buffet still strikes me as an after thought at GL Braco as it did at GL Negril. This year we tended to see what was on the lunch buffet and then either go to Nanny’s Jerk Pit which is nearby (and where this year one day I had a jerk hamburger that just about destroyed my taste buds) or order something at the grill near the pool. Actually, with breakfast at 8 a.m., we seldom were very hungry at lunch time.<br><br>Most of the nightly musical entertainment was the same as last year with several very talented performers. The disco this year, to judge from comments we heard, seems to have been more active than last year. Our usual night time routine, however, involved dinner at 7:30 and then a walk on the grounds and then to bed. For us, a Grand Lido vacation is more for relaxing than for non-stop action!! The nice thing about both GL Braco and GL Negril is that you can do both if you wish.<br><br>The crowd the first couple of days on the au naturel side was friendly but not intrusive. During the week when the resort’s occupancy was noticeably down (less that 2/3 full), things during the day were down right quiet which suited us just fine. In fact, I managed to read 3 books in 4 days while lounging around the pool. Occasionally, we would float around in the pool or walk to the beach for a stroll along the water’s edge. The second week-end was the 4th of July week-end and GL Braco got full very quickly. This crowd was much more lively and noisy---I liked the crowd the first week-end better.<br><br>Since this visit occurred almost the same time as our visit last year, we were not too surprised to see faces from last year. A place like GL Braco not only becomes a home away from home but you even seem to have the same neighbors!!! We also met some nice people who were visiting GL Braco for the first time.<br><br>The one thing that really has not improved is the shopping opportunities which is perfectly alright with me but not my wife. There are actually more shops at GL Braco than at GL Negril but the quality and quanity of merchanise is not good. With the village concept and the number of stores along the “street”, this is something that needs to be worked on. I saved money but did have to endure some grumbling from my wife.<br><br>Did we get our money’s worth---yes we did!! The nine night stay just whizzed by. We relaxed, had a good time, and generally decompressed from our usual busy life style. GL Braco is not perfect but it is very good and we were pleased to see that it continues to improve. We’ll be back!!!!!!<br><br><br><br>Gary in CA<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Administrator on 9/1/00 09:49 PM.</EM></FONT></P>