Hedo Vets First Time at Desire...
After an annual trip to Hedo (both 2 and 3) for the last 6 years we finally decided the long standing excuses about the condition of the resort were wearing a bit thin... Time to see what else is out there!
Very glad we did!
Our decision to try DLC this year was a tough one because we knew we would not see many familiar faces and would miss out on new friends at Hedo. If nothing else, we KNOW Hedo has great people, and we were not sure about Desire. As it turns out, this was a completely unfounded concern, as we met great people right off the bat. We have often read that the Desire crowd is "cliquey", but we did not find that to be true at all. We try to meet everyone and my wife is a major social butterfly, so perhaps we simply were oblivious to this aspect. A cute little blonde with a nice rack tends to break through most social barriers.
Anyway, the following is going to read a little bit like a comparison to Hedo, but that's inevitable as that has been our only experience so far. Bear with me.
The late morning, Wednesday flight from LAX was a piece of cake at 2 hours compared to the 6 1/2 hour journey to Jamaica. Despite the warnings to the contrary, we still got caught up in the "timeshare gauntlet" (twice!) trying to get out of the airport. We have it figured out now, so lesson learned. We booked through Denny P (as usual) and he arraigned for the ground transportation. The trip to the resort was a quick 15 minute ride in a small van with a few other couples. Desire was the first stop, and we were the only ones off the bus. Check in was quick as the lobby was deserted, and we hardly had time to finish the offered glass of champaign before being led to the room. On the trip to the room we were struck by the overall great condition of the resort compared to Hedo, and that was reinforced upon entry into the room. Clean, neat and everything worked. None of the peeling battleship grey paint and moldy, chipped tiles as in Jamaica. Things were looking good so far. Unpacking takes WAY too long when the pool is calling, but we finally got our asses out to the pool by about 3:00 PM. This was our first potential let down, as the pool area was pretty dead. There were perhaps 20 people there (front desk indicated 32% occupancy when we checked in). The up side is that we were able to find two of the few (compared to Hedo) loungers. In seconds we were naked and baking in the bright sunshine under a cloudless, blue sky. Some time ago, we were a bit uncomfortable being naked in a clothing optional area - we preferred "forced" nudity. We have overcome that however, so the few people wearing suits caused us zero discomfort. We found the pool area to be a bit larger and better kept than the Hedo version, and the bar was plenty accessible. Before long we were in the water, drinking and socializing. We quickly found the loud, party group and within a few hours had the entire pool grouped into one big party cluster. Turns out Desire people are as easy to talk to as Hedo people. In the early evening, the pool bar closes and essentially forces you upstairs to the rooftop hot tub overlooking the beach. This place is WAY neater than the hot tub at Hedo! ...and it's not just the fact that there is a swim up bar either. The new pebble finish in the tub is sharp however, so if you're a clutz like my wife you are likely to loose some skin. We were prepared for the many beds around the upper deck, but the nice showers and handy (and clean, unlike Hedo) bathrooms were a plus. There was a lot of accent lighting and fire pits around the pool and hot tub, but we only saw the hot tub fire lit one night out of the 8 we were there. One downside was the wide variation in temps of the tub. It was hot during the day, and cooled all night. It got cool enough to drive us out to the room sometimes.
To be continued....
