Thumbs Down for Hedo for us...
Background: We have been to DRM twice, DLC once and DP once. We made our first trip to Hedo II July 06 - 20 and spent 13 nights there. All we can say is that once was enough or maybe too much at Hedo! Not going again for many reasons but these are the main reasons below:
Hedo has more of a party atmosphere all day long, that is true we found but borders on being tacky/crude fun.....too loud at the pool area, music is really loud. We like that it was music and not just the background ELEVATOR music they played in a loop at Desire Pearl all day long. Just way too loud and very repetitive. One day we walked to the next resort (Sandals) and couldn't believe how loud the thumping sound was way over there. We were half way down the Sandals beach and couldn't believe it. I said to my husband that the Sandals guests must just hate Hedo because of this. Not that anyone cares what Sandals thinks, it was just a random thought.
We saw that males were looking for females to scam into some kind of a sex scheme. We were actually approached and warned by the nude grill person NOT to associate with certain individuals that were there. One night around 2 am she saw that we had spoken to a single guy near the grill. This guy was getting around, there's no doubt. He was actually involved and acting together with another single guy in some kind of a setup to snare some men's wives that might be looking to fulfill some fantasy and then rope them into some scheme, either to get in the room or for money, we're not sure. We know there is something there based on what the kitchen staff told us.
There is some really crude and very unclassy behaviour......a group of single girls came into the beach water screaming " we just want to get some quality dick!!" Well they did get their share of attention later that night in the pool and hot tub so I guess that tactic worked for them but it just makes the atmosphere un classy if you ask me. Single creepy guys could be seen staring throughout the day and wandering around....I noticed them, not so much for hubby. I guess he was focusing on the girls on the property. I couldn't help but notice it.
The beach was absolutely terrible, full of seaweed and lots of seagrass, and because there was so many people in the water, it just stirred it up more so when you were trying to float around, the sea weed was grabbing onto your body parts. You also had to be so careful where you stepped because of the sea urchins. Some guy got stung on the foot by a stingray while we were there and incurred a $300 Dr. bill. Regarding being on the beach or in the water....if you like to get laughed at and looked at and possibly in someones pictures, then just wait for all the other resort boats to go by pointing and laughing. The Hedo guests are up to the challenge because we saw people doing BJ's when the boats went by just to "show them" who has more fun...all kinds of behaviour when the boats showed up. Felt like a monkey in a cage at times....I didn't like that. Not cool.
We both got ill with cramps and intestinal problems, we think this had to do with the kitchen staff not monitoring the temperatures of the food...left out without any ice for things that need refrigeration. We also both started coughing and experiencing breathing problems, most likely due to the poor air conditioning units in the room. The fan would only blow on high and right over the bed it wasn't able to be changed to redirect the air. Some people have said to bring two can's of Lysol to spray the unit down. This is ridiculour! As if you want to have to do that on vacation, really?? We found numerous spots of mould in the bathroom. My husband has said on tripadvisor that you need a mechanical engineeer to operate the shower. He's not kiddidng, sometimes it took me 2 minutes to find the "sweet spot" where all the shower heads would turn off. There are about 8 different ones that are connected. Couldn't use this feature because the pressure was so strong, when it hit me it almost took my nipples off! No joke. Terrible showers. We had no cold water in our room for showering, which we reported many times but could not be fixed. We also had this problem in the first room they gave us which was literally near the road close to the Sandals resort. After walking from there to the nude beach which took well over 5 minutes, we had to switch the next day to get closer at a cost of $410.00 USD. Basically the new refurbishment of the rooms showed that they only painted over mouldy surfaces. The new mattresses are EXTRA FIRM. If you have any type of a back issue you will not be comfortable at all. I came home with so many aches an pains it's unbelievable. It's now one week after we returned and I am just starting to feel a bit better.
The overwhelming smell of Ganga was always around, beach or pool. This was way overboard our tolerance level for this. Even when we stood in the pool for only a half hour one afternoon, the cloud coming from some group was so strong we felt a hit of this just being in the area. The guys selling it are relentless...constantly asking if you wanted it. Very annoying. The other beach vendors are relentless, I know all you have to say is no but you do get tired of saying it over and over again. Even the massage therapists from Hedo were very persistent in asking repeatedly if you wanted a massage.
Service is no where even close to that of Desire, waited over 15 minutes at 1 am to get a drink at the hottub. The bartender was alone but the main problem was that he was ignoring certain people (that he didn't know) and serving to people he knew that just showed up. Some guy was so pissed off that he threw his empty cup on the floor and left swearing after he had politely asked the guy for a drink and told him he had been there for 15 minutes and was still ignored. We had to search and search for a table for dinner, asking for a table to be set because you could not at times just go to a table then head to the buffet as there was no cutlery etc. As an example of " everything is irie mon"...we checked out at 12 pm. Called down, told them we are leaving, were told to leave our luggage at our room door and it would be picked up. Went down to the lobby, filled out the check out papers, were given a tag for our luggages and told them again we needed our luggage brought down. 3 hrs later we showed up at the lobby to get ready for a 4 pm pick up taxi and no luggage! We asked and they said it's IRIE MON, someone would go get it. My husband asked another 4 times and spoke to 4 different people. Long frustrating story short, we got our luggage at 3:50, had to run to the Spa, shower and change as if we were on an episode of the Amazing Race and run to the taxi. Not the most relaxing way to end the vacation. If we would have taken the free shuttle from Sunwing, we would have been on the bus in our bathing suits and sweaty full of sunscreen. I doubt this would ever happen at Desire. It's frustrating to always get the " everything is irie mon" with no results.
There are no nice places to dress up nice to eat in air conditioning except the one Italian "fine dining" restaurant ....the restaurant was no where even close to fine dining, there was no atmosphere in there either and it was just blah...and you needed to reserve it. The cutlery used was the quality of a dollar store. The interior of the restaurant was not nice at all. The rest of the dining is in a huge massive buffet area where you have to walk around in your dressier clothes searching for your food and hauling it to a far away table....didn't like that. It was a complete sweat bucket with ceiling fans blowing down on you all of the time. Not a nice dining experience at all.
The bathrooms that service the nude beach and nude pool/jacuzzi area are absolutely disgusting (women's side). I am not exaggerating. There are only two stalls with a black plastic flooring with holes in it, hurts the feet if you forgot your sandals but worse than that it just smelled like urine and mould every single time I used the bathroom. It looked like there was fluid in the holes in the mat (maybe some splashed urine I hate to think). Also, that bathroom is so far away from the beach it is ridiculous that there isn't something closer. You would have to walk up the beach and up the pool stairs, all along the pool and hot tub, and even after a few drinks, I still felt like I was walking through a meat market with all the looks from the people in the pool down below and walking by the men at my private lady parts height! I am no prude believe me, I love nudity and people and enjoy a good swing when the people are right but I felt like I was on a runway of hungry sex starved people! WTH.
Many many times there were no towels, very annoying to have to go back 3 times to try to get clean towels.
About the women at the resort. I have never been hit on so many times ever at any resort. Mostly started in the ladies bathroom. Women like to talk, about everything and next thing you know you are invited to someones table or getting your boobs adjusted and played with and getting your little skirt pulled even higher and women slapping your butt. There is a lot of women/women action here. Maybe it's a compliment but I'm not that into women so for me it became bothersome. Never seen such aggressive behaviour at Desire. No one asks here, it's all taken for granted that anything goes, that was my experience. Maybe I just looked like a newbie, I don't know what it was.
The drinks are poor unless you stick to a rye or a vodka or gin or if you like rum. They were very inconsistent. They couldn't make many things we asked for and these were just normal things like mojito, margarita and a caesar. They have no mint, no clamato juice and the margarita was just wrong. I was wishing for a "Red Door" drink which we loved at Desire Riviera Maya last November but I didn't even ask if they could make it.
The issue of cell phone use is utterly ridiculous. I have never seen so many wireless devices used at a resort. They need to stop this practice immediately. What a way for people to instantly get their back up and be on guard when you see these ignorant people hold these things up at the beach, pool or hot tub. AND security seems to turn a blind eye to it all unless you walk up to them and insist that they do something . WTF, if I can't relax knowing that I won't be on U tube tomorrow then I won't even bother to go to a place. This is more than annoying it is a vacation buster.
Good things are the Staff, they are so smiley and friendly, the Jamaican's are super nice. There is never a question about that...we love them. I loved that they have a water sports area to take out a kayak or a little sailboat, that is where they out do Desire. Too bad Desire doesn't offer water sports. Also, Hedo has those fantastic floaties, same as the Couples brand resorts! They are so great. This is where Desire lacks. Why can't they splurge and get a few of them for people to use? It's great on the lounger, makes it so soft and so that you are able to lay around in comfort. We liked the private dip pools and bed area and used that a few times. We did like the food at the buffet but it was the same ALL the time. They need a nice sit down restaurant where it is cool and you can order off the menu.....IF they would enclose the Harry San area for air conditioning it would really add a lot to the resort.
My hubby wrote a review of Hedo and summed it up by saying if you are Classy or want a "classy upscale" vacation, don't go to Hedo for that, you won't find it. We have been to Jamaica many many times but I don't need to go on a vacation to get sick, from the room and the food! The same week we were there was one lady that we know of got food poisoning and was very ill. Actually I think I heard of two separate people. We were lucky to escape that fate but we did stick mostly to cooked food.
I know all the Hedo lovers will be in an uproar but this is our opinion and our experience and we have a right to voice it. Hedo is just not for us. It's a fun place with NO rules at all but just not our type of fun.....I like to be pampered a little bit and I like our sexual experience to be erotic and sensual and a bit more upscale than what Hedo offers. That's just me. Apologizing in advance to all the loyal people of this resort.
