We just returned last night from our fourth trip to H2...another success story!
Travel:
Our previous trips, we've flown from Philly, about a two hour drive. We've done park'n'fly and flown Air Jamaica. This time, we booked AirTran out of BWI, about an hour drive. All in all, the experience on AirTran is not as "caribbean" as AJ (now Caribbean Airlines), but with the ever increasing fares on AJ, it was worth the change. Customs and Immigration in MoBay was busy but moved quickly.
Travel to the resort was not the best. We had to wait nearly two hours for a bus. Once we had a bus, it seemed to take longer than normal for the drive, presumably because it was a larger "charter" type bus. I'm assuming the delay and the larger bus was due to all the folks coming in for the group that week. More on that later...
The return trip to MoBay was uneventful and seemed to take much less time than the bus ride to H2. Check-in at MBJ was a breeze, there was no one in line at the AirTran counter!! The line for security was the longest that we've seen and very busy but it moved really well. We only waited a half hour, tops. The trip home we decided to upgrade to business class. Turned out to be a great move! After take off, we had to return to MoBay due to a mechanical issue with the plane. We spent an extra three hours on the plane (in addition to the 3 1/2 hour flight) so we enjoyed those larger seats!
This was our first time through Customs and Immigration at BWI. It was a breeze as well.
Travel-wise, other than the three hour delay (which I'll gladly accept to insure that the plane is safe), it was a good trip.
The Resort:
Check-in - We arrived for check-in around 3pm on 3/24. It was fairly busy due the group arrivals. Our room wasn't ready and they offered us an upgrade from our booking of GVR to a jacuzzi room. The downside was that we'd have to move two days into our trip. We declined and chose to wait for our room. Turned out to be the right move as we were upgraded to H-Block which is where we normally stay on our October trip. Our room, 2242, was fine. The A/C worked great all week (first time for that), the water was perfect all week (plenty of pressure and always hot), and the room was cleaned well. The only complaint I had was that our safe didn't function the first night. Once maintenance reset the mechanism, we were good to go.
Food - In our opinion, the food continues to improve. We've heard that the greater the occupancy level, the better the food. That logic applies here. From what we were told, by the end of the week, we were at full capacity. We ate at Munasan one night, the service was good and the food was good. Not great, but good. The place to go for the best food is still Martino's. We ate there two nights and were not disappointed. Notable dishes are the ravioli (really good) and the pork with tortellini (excellent!). The steak was good as well but it's Jamaica so it's all relative. The service at Martino's is always great! The only thing we'd change is either improve the anti-pasti bar, or get rid of it.
The beach grilles are both still the place to go for lunch. Just be sure to cover up for the prude grille. Even though the entire resort is now clothing optional, that grille isn't. With the big group, Nigel's Grille was pretty busy so we ventured down to the prude grille to avoid the crowd. Tip, try the jerk chicken nachos...
Entertainment - The shows were the usual fare. Of note was the fabulous singer early in the week. She was really good, wish I could remember her name...and a few other things. In any case, if you want to enjoy the shows, you will. If you don't want to enjoy the shows, you won't. The disco is still hotter than hell once it gets going. The only saving grace is the terrace to escape to for some fresh air. The biggest change is in the piano bar. Dion is no longer at the resort. He's been replaced by Michael. Michael is a VERY GOOD musician and will do fine once he learns how things work at Hedo. He played "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" and was clearly annoyed when we "Hedo-ized" the lyrics. Same with "Sweet Caroline". He'll get better....or he won't.
Facilities - We didn't really notice any significant changes in the pools. The nude pool is still where all the action is. With the big crowd, Delroy and staff did a great job of keeping up with demand. We only had to wait a couple of times for drinks. The main pool is still the best kept pool and we had no problem using it in the buff! If you want a party, go to the nude pool. If you want to relax, go to the main pool. It's nice to have options! Oh, and we did have wait service on the nude beach! First time we've seen that...
It's also nice to be able to use the beach on the other side of the pier. It's a much nicer beach, much deeper, less grass, just a better spot.
One HUGE note on the facilities is that the fans in the dining area have almost all been upgraded and what a difference! Overdue but glad it's done!
Overall, the facility is improving each time we come back. Looking forward to see how things progress!
The People:
This was our first time with the Hedo Amigos group. We normally go in October with the International Delights. We knew we wanted a second trip this year, knew the dates, so we joined the HA group. The first thing I'll say is that this group is BIG. Jeff and Jen, the organizers (I'm sure there are others...sorry), have their hands full! This seemed to be a younger crowd and they loved to party! The nude pool was hopping every day, especially for their big blowout party on Friday! Jen and I never have any trouble meeting people and had no problem here either.
I'll admit, we were a bit less social this trip than we normally are but that was definitely a concious choice on our part. We did a lot of beach time, took walks, even went offsite a couple of times (first time for that). When we wanted to party, the Amigos were more than accomodating. When we wanted alone time, they obliged. This was a good group, but a big group.
Final Thoughts:
So our fourth trip was fun. It was adventurous. It didn't suck. We met some great people. We ate some great food. We drank way too much. All the usual stuff. We will definitely continue the new tradition of two trips a year (as long as the man keeps paying me) and look forward to our October trip.
As we were winding down our week, we did meet some of the folks from the group that's there this week, Repeat Offenders. It's a smaller group and based on the time we had getting to know them on Friday, a group that we'd like to get to know better next year. Maybe we'll step in for the second part of the Amigos and stay for the Offenders. Who knows! The only definite is, we'll be there.
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