Posted By: tiger79
Hidden Beach Trip report - 12/08/2018 02:36 PM
We recently returned from Hidden Beach after a 10-night stay. The resort is very clean, with an army of people who are constantly sweeping and cleaning. The staff are, virtually without exception, absolutely brilliant - friendly, smiling, helpful.
The "beach" is a narrow strip of sand next to the sea wall (the real beach washed away some years ago). The beach has a row of double-sized palapas at the rear, and a row of ordinary sunbeds next to the sea wall. It was quite windy when we were there, and the spray from the sea crashing against the sea wall rendered most of the sunbeds unusable on several days. The sea isn't suitable for swimming.
There are sunbeds around the pool, but not really sufficient for the number of guests in the resort. As a result, it was necessary to get up at 6.30am to put towels on sunbeds if you wanted to be sure of getting one! There's an endless supply of clean towels by the pool, in the restaurant, in reception and in the nightclub.
We're keen sunbathers, but we found that there were very few sunbed locations which had sunshine most of the day. Shading from the beach palapas and palm trees blocked the sun from many of the sunbeds.
The rooms are getting a bit tired and dated, with dark furniture. Every room has a jacuzzi bath, but we didn't meet anyone who'd actually used it! The swim-up rooms are a good choice, because they're much easier to pop back to (the upstairs rooms are accessed from the rear of the buildings). The swim-ups are on the "lazy river", an extension of the main swimming pool, so you can swim from your room to the main pool, where there's a swim-up bar.
The main pool isn't really any good for swimming, as it has a permanent volleyball net across the middle. There are twice-daily pool volleyball sessions, which tend to be rather noisy. There's an outdoor hot tub next to the swimming pool, big enough for about 20 people, and that was very pleasant. There's another similar hot tub inside the nightclub, but that one was far too hot for comfort!
Food was OK, but nowhere near the "Gourmet" level they suggest, and fairly mediocre bearing in mind the room rates. It was mainly buffet-style Mexican food, with a small a la carte menu at lunchtimes and an even smaller a la carte menu some evenings. I'd read reviews which said "you must try the lobster", and was surprised to find that the lobster is extra cost at around $50 a portion. The house wine was very drinkable, and there was an extensive list of wines for purchase (at fairly high prices!). There was 24 hour room service, which we used a couple of times, and it seemed OK. You can exchange-dine for free at the neighbouring hotel, which has some different food styles, at a similar quality (but you have to get dressed to go there).
As for entertainment, there was live music several times a week at the poolside in the evening, and this was good. There's also a nightclub, which had a bar and a disco every night, plus a couple of small cabaret-type shows each week. The nightclub is located at the back of the resort so noise shouldn't affect the rooms. But the nightclub has all the acoustic qualities of a dumpster, and the music was deafeningly loud, to the extent that many people didn't stay long.
For a dedicated naturist resort, I was surprised by how few people embraced the naturist lifestyle. During our stay, it seemed the majority of people dressed at meal times, and in the nightclub. At breakfast in the restaurant, many people wore the white bathrobes provided in the rooms, and some people even wore these to dinner, which seemed a bit sloppy.
So, to the bottom line - it's phenomenally expensive for what you get. Many people we met were members of Karisma's Exotic Travelers Club, and so they got discounts on rack rates, but then they'd paid a big lump sum upfront for the privilege.
However, since Club O blew away, Hidden Beach is the only dedicated naturist resort left in the Caribbean (if you ignore the swinger lifestyle places). Karisma are planning to build a second Hidden Beach at their new development in Jamaica, but this is a few years away from opening.
The "beach" is a narrow strip of sand next to the sea wall (the real beach washed away some years ago). The beach has a row of double-sized palapas at the rear, and a row of ordinary sunbeds next to the sea wall. It was quite windy when we were there, and the spray from the sea crashing against the sea wall rendered most of the sunbeds unusable on several days. The sea isn't suitable for swimming.
There are sunbeds around the pool, but not really sufficient for the number of guests in the resort. As a result, it was necessary to get up at 6.30am to put towels on sunbeds if you wanted to be sure of getting one! There's an endless supply of clean towels by the pool, in the restaurant, in reception and in the nightclub.
We're keen sunbathers, but we found that there were very few sunbed locations which had sunshine most of the day. Shading from the beach palapas and palm trees blocked the sun from many of the sunbeds.
The rooms are getting a bit tired and dated, with dark furniture. Every room has a jacuzzi bath, but we didn't meet anyone who'd actually used it! The swim-up rooms are a good choice, because they're much easier to pop back to (the upstairs rooms are accessed from the rear of the buildings). The swim-ups are on the "lazy river", an extension of the main swimming pool, so you can swim from your room to the main pool, where there's a swim-up bar.
The main pool isn't really any good for swimming, as it has a permanent volleyball net across the middle. There are twice-daily pool volleyball sessions, which tend to be rather noisy. There's an outdoor hot tub next to the swimming pool, big enough for about 20 people, and that was very pleasant. There's another similar hot tub inside the nightclub, but that one was far too hot for comfort!
Food was OK, but nowhere near the "Gourmet" level they suggest, and fairly mediocre bearing in mind the room rates. It was mainly buffet-style Mexican food, with a small a la carte menu at lunchtimes and an even smaller a la carte menu some evenings. I'd read reviews which said "you must try the lobster", and was surprised to find that the lobster is extra cost at around $50 a portion. The house wine was very drinkable, and there was an extensive list of wines for purchase (at fairly high prices!). There was 24 hour room service, which we used a couple of times, and it seemed OK. You can exchange-dine for free at the neighbouring hotel, which has some different food styles, at a similar quality (but you have to get dressed to go there).
As for entertainment, there was live music several times a week at the poolside in the evening, and this was good. There's also a nightclub, which had a bar and a disco every night, plus a couple of small cabaret-type shows each week. The nightclub is located at the back of the resort so noise shouldn't affect the rooms. But the nightclub has all the acoustic qualities of a dumpster, and the music was deafeningly loud, to the extent that many people didn't stay long.
For a dedicated naturist resort, I was surprised by how few people embraced the naturist lifestyle. During our stay, it seemed the majority of people dressed at meal times, and in the nightclub. At breakfast in the restaurant, many people wore the white bathrobes provided in the rooms, and some people even wore these to dinner, which seemed a bit sloppy.
So, to the bottom line - it's phenomenally expensive for what you get. Many people we met were members of Karisma's Exotic Travelers Club, and so they got discounts on rack rates, but then they'd paid a big lump sum upfront for the privilege.
However, since Club O blew away, Hidden Beach is the only dedicated naturist resort left in the Caribbean (if you ignore the swinger lifestyle places). Karisma are planning to build a second Hidden Beach at their new development in Jamaica, but this is a few years away from opening.