The Grand Lido Visitors Hangout

Quick background- We are early thirties, no kids, this was our sixth trip to Jamaica, and our second trip to GLB. The first one was 4 years ago, and that was also our first A/N experience. We had no trepidation, and thought it was the ultimate in freedom. We brought our friends with us this time, who are in their mid thirties, and had never been to a resort before. They were a little apprehensive about being nekkid but I assured them if they were uncomfortable, they didn’t have to do it. No pressure. Turns out they disrobed the first day and wanted to stay that way as much as possible.

Getting there- Flew Air Canada out of Nova Scotia, flights were on time, had to overnight in Toronto. The SARS scare was all over the media and the World Health Organization issued a travel advisory against travel to the Toronto area while we were in Jamaica. No one at the airport seemed overly paranoid or scared.

Arrival- Typical confusion and bus switching at the airport. No worries, relaxation soon come. Don’t forget to tip the baggage handler and bus driver and few buck each. They aren’t superclub employees and it’s okay to spread the wealth around. The bus drive to GLB was uneventful, it was nice to see Jamaica again.

Check in- there were quite a few of us, and it was 3pm, so we all piled into the main room in the "city hall" and received rum punch and cold towels. Filled out the necessary paperwork and received our key for our a/n jr suite. Our friends were told to return at 4pm for the key to their garden textile room. We requested a king bed and received 2 doubles, they did tell us that when they gave us our key, and told us we could move Sunday to a room with a king bed. By Sunday my husband didn’t want to move, we are both tall and he didn’t want to be too hot at night, so we slept in separate beds. I didn’t care enough to argue and we stayed where we were.

The room- Our room had a fridge which was stocked with 2 miller lights, a few waters, tings, pepsi and 7ups. There was chilled champagne and cheese plate waiting for us when we got back from dinner our first night. The fridge was refilled daily, and we always had lots of clean towels. The housekeeping and turndown service was really great.

Vowel renewal- Beverly did a great job, we had nice flowers, cakes, champagne, and the minister did a nice speech. I recommend renewing your vows if you have been married a while. It was our 13^th anniversary. We had some pics taken with the photographer using our own cameras(didn’t want to pay for the package) and Jeff got a bit antsy with being posed and told what to do, so we cut that short. We had a double ceremony with our friends and we all enjoyed it.

Grounds and pool- Overall, very nicely landscaped. Some of the wooden decks needed some repairs. Both hot tubs were working well and were a good temperature. The pool was clean and warm, but I wished it was cooler, the air, pool and ocean were all about the same temperature. There were at least 5 different women there at different times wearing bottoms. It was only slightly annoying, my female traveling companion was even more annoyed, but no one was bothered enough to approach them or report them to security. A/N doesn’t mean clothing optional, if you want C/O, go somewhere else. There are C/O beaches at BRB, GLN, and GLSS. I know some people think that is an extreme attitude, but I don’t think so. It seems pretty simple to me. The only exception should be if you are badly burned. The last few days I kept a wrap or towel around my shoulders, since they already had burn blisters on them.

General- The music was a bit loud and cheesy at the a/n pool, but there was always the beach, tennis court, or golf course to escape to if it got at all overwhelming. The entertainment directors were all fantastic to listen to and watch, and they had a lot of energy.

The snorkeling was good right off the a/n beach. We did the advanced dive only 1 morning, I found it very disappointing and didn’t feel motivated to go again, I heard about some better dives later in the week, I think it was just a bad day for the staff. We were dropped off over a huge stretch of sand. I can see that at home. Over fishing has really damaged the area. We were just diving in Molokini, Hawaii a few months ago so I was feeling a bit spoiled. Also Tony the divemaster is gone now which is a bummer. Our friends did the resort course and went on the beginner dive, Jeff did go with them but my ear was bothering me a bit so I stayed ashore.

We are early risers and we swam laps a few mornings at 6am. It would be nice if the buffet opened earlier for us who don’t sleep away the morning. Also, when they did open the buffet in the morning it was 7.30 but the omelet chef didn’t usually start until almost 8, which was annoying because we had tennis lessons every morning at 8.

We had never played tennis before and went for our first lesson with Robert, the pro from Montreal. We loved it, and him, but he left the next day. Michael was the Jamaican pro, he is a great guy, 24 years old, and a good teacher. We both feel very comfortable now after 1 week of lessons with him. If you play, go see him, he teaches all levels, and he really enjoys having people to work with.

I also took a few golf lessons, and played 1 round on the small course. It was okay, but I was really focused on the tennis this trip, so maybe I will play more golf some other time. If you are a golfer, bring your own balls and tees! They are highly priced there. It costs $6 to rent clubs and $4 for a pull cart each round if you don’t bring your own. Oscar and Jeff were the golf pros when we were there.

The gym was well equipped and nicely air conditioned. It’s nice to be able to look out at the ocean while you train. Next time we go we will bring more workout clothes since we were so active we ended up washing some stuff in the sink. I know that they have laundry service but there was nothing we could wait 48 hours for.

La Piacere- Make your reservations when you check in. We ate here 1 night, and the food was really good. I enjoyed the fish, the service, escargot, and especially the crème brulee. It was lemongrass flavored and delicious. Overall, not as good as the sushi at Munahana.

Nanny’s Jerkpit- OMG! We ate here at least once a day, usually twice. The jerk chicken sandwiches are to die for. Jeff and I usually added hot sauce to them just to make them even more fiery. I could happily eat one every day for the rest of my life. They always seemed to have specials also, and a few days they had great pumkin rice. Try the soups if you aren’t too hot.

Munahana- we had sushi here twice. Never did the stirfry. Oneil was the sushi chef and he is really great. If there is something you like or don’t like, just tell him and he will adjust. The little salad he makes as a starter is delicious. Try the ice cream for dessert.

Victoria’s Market- We ate here once for dinner and it was ok. The service was fine at dinner, but at breakfast it was pretty shaky. Didn’t eat lunch here because we were either at Nanny’s, or the few days they set up the a/n luncheon, we ate there.

Room Service- I ordered breakfast 3 days. 2 days it never showed up. The one day it did it was fine. I ordered a pizza and nachos to the pool one afternoon and it was great.

The people we met were all fun and overall we had a fantastic trip. The few little negatives I mentioned were fleeting things, and GLB is a very positive experience for us. Of all the places we have traveled, this is still our favorite resort, and we will return again. Our next major trip will be this December, and we are going to try Hidden Beach Resort in Mexico. Maybe next April will find us back at Braco, or somewhere else in Jamaica, but sooner or later we will find ourselves at Braco again.