“ NOLAnmr Rookie Trip Report - Part 5 – Hedo ”

Dec 30, 2008, 5:27 PM
So we wake up on this Sunday morning at CCLP, our first morning being married. Everything had gone so well for our wedding and reception the night before. The hardest part of the trip was over and we were checking out of here to continue our journey to the notorious Hedonism II. It was bittersweet as we walked out to that awesome view from the balcony for the last time; everything just looked and was so perfect on that strip of beach. But we were definitely excited to continue on to the next stop in our journey.

The excitement also came with a minute amount of being nervous as to what to expect at Hedo. You hear so many things about the reputation, but I did research and we decided to try it for various reasons. Since it was our first trip there, we wanted to get a feel of different parts to pick our favorite for the future, CCLP – boutique on the beach, Hedo – Super AI, & a villa on the cliffs. We do like to party & thought this might be a good spot to sample the AI-side of Negril. Out of all those super AIs, it was also the most reasonably priced. We got a top-notch room on that property for less/same as run of the house on the other mega AI properties. It was also the only place I could find in all of Negril that offered a room with a private Jacuzzi outside and on the beach. We are by no means nudists, swingers or anything like that but we felt adult enough to be able to handle the surroundings for all the pluses.

We checked in at about noon and our room was ready early which was nice surprise. When we walked in we saw that they had set us up with an iced bottle of champagne, a fruit plate and a congratulatory message written with flower petals. Then we opened up the back door to the spot that we will spend the majority of our time in the next few days. The room was a prude side Jacuzzi room which was all the way out almost to the end of the property by Sandals. The patio had a table with chairs and Jacuzzi for chillin out and was steps from the water. The patio was also covered which was great for taking a break from the sun and it practically weather proofs your stay as you can sit in the Jacuzzi during a rainstorm and all. We cracked open the champagne, hung out in the hot-tub all day. We walked over to the beach water for a while and just kept to that area all day. The room also had a mini-fridge stocked with some Red Stripe, waters and soft drinks. Those were all re-stocked daily also. I heard a lot of complaints about the state of the rooms but this one was just fine. A/C worked great, very clean, king size bed, flat screen TV with cable, CD player, etc…. Maybe they kept it up as it was priced higher than the other rooms without the Jacuzzi. The bathroom was small compared to the luxurious bathroom we had in the honeymoon suite at CCLP but no problem. Tub had like 6 showerheads which was cool. The only thing was that sometimes the hot water wouldn’t work on command. We did have sufficient hot water most of the time, but it acted up a few times.

That night we ate dinner at Manusan, their hibachi restaurant. The food was really good and there was a lot of it. Also, we kept the sake flowing. The quality of the food there was really good with the exception of the sushi pieces and the beef. Not that it was bad; it’s just that the other items (salad, shrimp, miso soup, fired rice, seafood and entrees) were of a really high quality. I admit to being somewhat of a sushi snob and expected a bit fresher fish on the pieces. Also, the beef was OK but I didn’t seem to find any great beef in all of Jamaica.

The next day we took the snorkeling trip which was fun. I’ve seen better snorkeling as most of the coral reef and everything looked dead and gray where that boat took us, too bad. But we still enjoyed the boat ride and swim in the ocean. We ate lunch at the Reggae Café which is their beach grill where you can get jerk chicken, seafood soup, sandwiches, etc. if you get bored with the main buffet or as a light snack on the beach. All the food there was good and I actually had the best club sandwich I have ever tried from here. That night we ate dinner at the buffet. I liked the buffet food; the salad had many different options and combinations to keep you interested for a few days. The pasta and meat carving stations were always really good. For breakfast they make some mean omelets. We were only there for a few days and I could see getting bored with the buffet on an extended stay. Not knocking the food quality one bit, but if I were there for 2 weeks or so, I would seek other food alternatives I’m sure.

The next day we walked the grounds and lazily took a long nap on one of these beds that they have scattered throughout the whole property. We drank frozen drinks from many of the bars and had a great couples massage at their spa. My kind of day! This night we made reservations to eat dinner at Pastafari which is their reservations only Italian restaurant on the property. The food and service here are the best they have. You get all courses of the meal brought to you, there are many choices and everything was good. I heard that the steak is really good here and it must have been because they were out when we made it but I ordered the rack of lamb and it was very tasty. The service was some of the best we experienced in Jamaica also, very much in tune with your requests. The wines are OK, I’ve tried worse, but it did not matter as they literally topped your glass off and kept ‘em coming like there’s no tomorrow. Because of this, the rest of the night after dinner gets fuzzy, REAL FUZZY.

I think we were done eating at about 10pm, and then we went to hang out at the nightclub on the property. That’s when things got a bit crazy and we start partying really hard. I can only remember up until about midnight, then it’s like someone has just erased 4 hours from my memory. It’s weird, I regained my mental stability at about 4am and we are back in the room and it is completely trashed. It was just like “Fear & Loathing…” only in Negril at Hedo, not Vegas. There is evidence everywhere that we had a great time, inside the room, outside in the tub, clothes and items everywhere. Let’s just say it was a little insane. We were finally able to get to sleep the next morning and lost a whole day because of the damage we inflicted to our bodies. But it was well worth it, I hadn’t partied like that in almost a decade. I’m only 29 but I felt my age because I could do that every weekend when I was 21. Not anymore though, I felt like I had been hit by an 18-wheeler before it hit reverse and ran me over again. I guess now we were truly hedonists…

We’re all aware of hedo’s reputation and it is there if you want it. We actually didn’t join or witness much of all that kind of craziness because we kinda stayed busy by ourselves exploring the whole time. We wanted to check out the naked side of the resort because we were curious and we just never got around to it because our time ran out. But that was fine, we had our fun and after that last night and that lost day, I started thinking that having too much of anything you could want at your fingertips all the time was an evil thing. There needs to be some ying to the yang. It can be good for a while but some rest from all the hedonism is necessary, at least for me. I was ready to get the hell out of there and needed a change of scenery bad. I had it coming too as the next stop was Seagrape Villas on the cliffs.

A Hedo trip is what you make of it. We were able to have a nice romantic time and party hard without all of the other hoopla, no problem. The entertainment, food and drinks were great. We did see some nudity and skimpy outfits but it was all in good fun. Everyone enjoying themselves like they wish, no negativity from anyone else and very attentive staff. The grounds are beautiful and you will never run out of stuff to do. Would I go again? Yes definitely, but only for a few nights or so balanced off with a stay on the cliffs or something different. I like a good hardcore party atmosphere but only for so long. I do recommend the Jacuzzi rooms though, not just for the hot tub but also because they are the only rooms with back doors, beach access and an outside patio area. I also like to get out of the property and couldn’t stay in any 1 place too long.

I will follow up with my final installment on our stay on the cliff side. The link below is for the Hedo pics, there weren’t that many because we were having so much fun that we forgot to take photos a lot of the time. There are also some we will not post for various reasons…

http://picasaweb.google.com/stephanielanter/Honeymoon#





Unfortunately, I never finished the report after this and it would not doe Seagrape Villas justice if I tried to remember the details now. Just know it was my favorite part of the trip. We stayed in the Wildgrape villa for 4 nights with chef bringing you food to your veranda on your own cliff sea access. It was just the best. I remember we had a dinner at Rockhouse which I was not impressed with the food but we did reserve the private "rock"table that made it all worth it as you have your own private table way out on a rock over the sea.

Since I don't have many details, I do have some great photos of this last part of the trip here:


https://picasaweb.google.com/1133615...488/Seagrapes#




We returned to Jamaica in Nov. 2010 to celebrate our 2nd anniversary. This time we tried Superfun in Runaway Bay. I will now post that report and photos in the Ocho Rios board.

Alright that is all I have. Now I'm psyched to be going back to Negril again in Nov for our friends' wedding and we get to be there to celebrate our 3rd anniversary also. Trip report after that pending....

PEACE,

Oscar