N Resort - April, 2011

We stayed at the "N" resort for five nights during the first week of April.

After several trips to Hedo 2 we were looking for something a little bit different, and N is certainly a lot different then Hedo.

Travel to the resort was uneventful, Jamaica Tours handled the ground transfers flawlessly. Upon arrival, JT did not have any buses/vans heading to the Falmouth area, so they sent us in a private car with a driver who gave us a little tour and pointed out things of interest along the way - a nice additional touch. The return pickup was punctual and we got to MoBay with plenty of time to spare.

Check-in was smooth. The rooms do not have safes, but there are safe deposit boxes in the front office for the use of the guests. Also, free Internet access (slow during normal business hours, somewhat faster Internet connections at other times) and free wifi, which other guests told me worked just fine.

Occupancy was very low when we were there, ranging from 6 to about 14 guests (although they were expecting occupancy to pick up a bit over the next few weeks. This is both good (lots of attention from the staff) and bad (limited opportunities for socializing). Despite the small group, we met several couples there whose company we very much enjoyed and who we hopefully will cross paths with again.

The resort is more clothing-optional than nudist, nudity was the norm in the pool. People dressed for meals, even in the pool grill where clothing was not required.

We had an oceanfront room, it was clean and comfortable. The rooms and buildings had clearly been worked on recently. The bed was a little firmer than we were used to, but it was fine. Sleeping to the sound of the surf was relaxing most nights, there was one night when it was loud and windy. The AC units appear to be fairly new and are efficient and fairly quiet. The bathroom could have used a little bit of an upgrade, but it was functional, clean and hot water was plentiful. The refrigerator in the room was nice to have and was stocked with Pepsi and Red Stripe upon request. Having a terrace with a daybed on it was another plus.

Staff was great, any reasonable request was dealt with quickly. Freddie DePass (the GM) is a constant presence around the resort grounds and one gets the impression that he doesn't miss much. Didn't see much evidence of "come soon, mon".

Food ranged from OK to very good...for the most part better than Hedo's (Pastafari/Martino's excluded). We are mostly beer/wine drinkers, but I did notice some premium brands of alcohol at the bars. The house red wine was surprisingly good (and I can be picky about red wines).

The grounds are a bit overgrown and the resort shows some wear and tear from age/usage. It appears that there had been a fair amount of deferred maintenance from when it was FDR Pebbles. Much of this is more cosmetic than anything else. However, we did see people working on the grounds to get things up to par, it is just going to take some time to get there.

This is essentially a pool resort, the beach can be a bit windy at times (the pool bar and grill shields the pool from most of the winds) and somewhat rocky...sea urchins were also noted in the water - so bring water shoes if you want to swim in the ocean. Having said that we did see a few people swimming in the ocean from time-to-time.

Overall - We enjoyed our stay...we found "N" to be very relaxing. There were a few Hedo touches we missed (sunsets, massages on the beach, the nicer beach area to name a few). We would like to see a little higher occupancy for a future trip but we would definitely consider returning