Breezes Grand Resort and spa Negril Jamaica Nov 12-19 2011
We left STL at 6:25 on American Airlines. We flew to Miami, had breakfast in the Admirals Club and left there at 1:15. We arrived MBJ at 2:30, ahead of schedule. The Immigration line was very long. We got our luggage, and then waited in a line at the super clubs desk that was all the way out the door. Two ladies were doing check-ins. We finally boarded the bus for the hour twenty minute ride to the resort. We had originally booked at Breezes Rio Buenos (this was to be our twelfth time) but since it closed, we were transferred to Breezes grand Negril. We booked a one bedroom suite A/N first floor through David Parker at allthewaytravel.com.
We checked in at the reception desk, were given cool towels and a rum punch and waited to be taken to our room. We had dinner reservations at Munasan at 7. At 5:30, a lady came and got us and started telling us where everything is in the resort on the way to our room. I told her our friends had arrived earlier in the week and what room they were in. She stopped in her tracks…oh they are on the other side. WHAT other side? The nude side. OH REALLY??? Funny…that’s where we are supposed to be!!! We turned around and went back the office where we waited to talk to the office manager, Clithy. At 6:45 she finally came to tell us that she did not have any one bedroom suites available on the nude side but she could give us a room on the nude side on the second floor AND she would upgrade us and put us in the cove. So we got downgraded and upgraded in one swoop!! I was FURIOUS!!!! She promised to move us the next afternoon to a one bedroom suite but on the second floor. We took the room but they had misplaced our luggage and promised it would be brought promptly. We went to Munasan and had a lovely dinner. Our luggage arrived at 9 p.m.
I love color coordinating my days…bikinis, pareos, cover-ups, dresses, etc. I plan my wardrobe well in advance.
Sunday was lime green day. We got up at 6:15 and walked around the resort. The pool is extremely small and there is no bathroom facility. The beach is small and rocky. We ate breakfast at 7:30 at the buffet. The service was very poor. We went back to the room and showered. We then headed to the pool. We could not find any chairs to sit in at the beach or pool so we sat in chairs in the grass. At 2:30 we finally got our room 2070 and unpacked. We went to the piano bar at 6 and I used the laptop. Wi-Fi is free but only in the lobby area. We had sushi for dinner at 7 which was good.
Monday was red day. We got up…took pix then went to the gym. The Gym is small with 5 treadmills, a few elliptical and a couple of bicycles on one side and weight training on the other. The view is a grove of trees instead of the ocean. We then went to breakfast where once again the service was poor. We decided to walk the beach all the way around bloody bay. We got back to the room and then showered and sat in chairs in the grass. We had lunch at the Reggae Café. We went to the piano bar at 6 and we had dinner at the beach party. It was pretty bad so we left and went to La Pasta.
Tuesday was gold day. We took our pix, hit the gym, had breakfast, showered and headed to the pool. We found some chairs by the pool. We had lunch at the pool. It poured down rain all afternoon. At 6 we went to the piano bar and had dinner at 7 at Piacerre. The food was ok and the service was poor.
Wednesday was pink day. We took pix, hit the gym, ate breakfast, showered and went to the pool. We had lunch at the pool. We had dinner at the Grand Café at 7. The food was ok and the service was poor.
Thursday was silver day. We took pix, hit the gym, ate breakfast, showered, and went to the pool. We had lunch in the main dining hall. We had dinner at Piacerre at 6. Service was a bit better in Piacerre this time.
Friday was turquoise day. We took pix, hit the gym, ate breakfast, showered, and went to the pool. We had lunch at the pool. It rained all afternoon. We attended the repeaters party and could not believe that we won the drawing!! Three nights free next year!! Of all the luck! We had decided we would not go back to this resort!!! Clithy came and talked to us and answered all of our questions and explained a lot of things to us. First of all, the resort is not sold. They are looking for investors but not buyers. Secondly, there are NO PLANS of any kind to close during September to put in a new pool and bathroom on the nude side. That is absolutely a rumor. She also explained that there are 18 one bedroom suites…10 0n the nude side, 8 on the prude side. When you book one of these rooms…you get what they have. There have been 10 rooms in the entire resort upgraded with new showers. The rest of the rooms still have the Jacuzzi tubs. They hope to continue to upgrade the bathrooms as money is available to do so. She explained there are 5 categories of rooms… Garden, ocean front, deluxe oceanfront ocean view and cove. The garden rooms of course are the cheapest. The oceanfront rooms are on the prude side as are the oceanfront deluxe rooms. The ocean view rooms and the cove rooms are on the nude side and those on the second floor have a very small deck with 2 small chairs. The one bedroom suites have an additional living room and a large deck with 2 recliners. The rooms on the first floor all have doors that open to a patio. I asked her if we should book through the resort or use David Parker. She said to use David. They value their travel agents. I also asked if we could use the 3 free days we won in addition to the 3 free days promised by David Parker for next year. She said yes. She explained that we can get 6 days free and pay for one and for a small upgrade fee since the free days are garden view rooms we can book the cove. We also received a repeater day free but you must book 6 days to get the repeater day free. So if we book 12 nights we can get 7 nights free. We then had dinner at the grand buffet. There was lobster among all the other dishes served. Service was much better.
Saturday was black day. We got up and took our pix but skipped the gym and went to breakfast. All week we had waited and waited for coffee and this day…our last day…they were more attentive than they had been all week!! We went to the pool for our last couple of hours then showered and packed, said our goodbyes and had lunch at Reggae Café. Checkout was a breeze and they remembered to give us the voucher for the free nights next year. We boarded the bus at 1:15 for our 5:30 flight back to Miami. We checked in at the airport, went through security and straight to Margarittaville for our annual cheeseburger in Paradise. Immigration in Miami was terrible…we just made it through in time to board our flight. There was an issue with the plane and we sat there for an hour. We arrived in STL an hour late and one of our bags did not make it. We caught the bus to our car and drove home in the rain. Our bag was delivered at 5:30 Sunday evening.
We had an absolutely wonderful relaxing vacation. We loved seeing our friends. We were disappointed in the resort because we expected so much more. It is a very nice resort and if we had not stayed at Braco for the past 11 years, we probably would have thought it was spectacular. This is no Braco…but then again…Braco is no longer Braco either.
We will return Nov 10-17 2012.
