Grand Lido Braco Trip Report
April 4th- April 11th, 2004
Neil & Lois
First and foremost we would like to thank the members of the Grand Lido Visitors Hangout Board for making this the most memorable vacation ever. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas, they were great.
When we booked this trip we booked the textile side. 3 weeks before leaving and much reading on the boards we tried to get to the A/N side but they were sold out. Since we booked about six weeks in advance we were unable to get a direct flight from Newark to Montego Bay. We ended up flying US Airways from Newark to Charlotte with 90 min. layover then onto Montego Bay.
We arrived in Montego Bay at 3pm on April 4th, after getting our bags thru customs and checking in at the SuperClubs desk, we were whisked off to the shuttle bus with two other couples. We had about an hour ride (no stop for red stripe) along the "highway". The ride was interesting. Lois said it was like being on a virtual reality type ride. Riding too fast for the narrow roads, driving on the left side of the road, flying past pedestrians, bicyclists and other vehicles, not to mention the roadside goats. About 25% of the ride was on the new road which will be a wonderful ride when done.
We arrived at Braco at about 5pm and were greeted at the check in area with ice cold wash cloths and rum punch. We were given a letter which was hand signed by the GM Ron thanking us for staying at Braco. This was a nice touch. We were in our room within 10 minutes of arrival. We had a beachfront ground floor room # 114 in the #1 block (the right hand side of the block). The room was tastefully decorated and clean. Outside the room thru the French Patio doors was the patio with two chairs and a round table. Every day house keeping would leave fresh flowers in the bathroom and on the bed. Each night around 10pm the bed was turned down and flower pedals were left on the sheets and pillows, again another nice touch.
Dinner the first night was at the Village Market. Food was great, but better was the three piece band which comprised of a bass player, guitar player and violin player. After dinner was a show, then we stopped over at the piano bar for night cap. That’s when it all started.
After one for the road we went back to the room, and decided to do the Vampire trip to the A/N side. We hit the big hot tub which was empty then we got there. A few minutes later we were joined by several other people. Lois said I’m not getting out until everybody leaves. We stayed and chatted, drank some wine and left after about an hour.
We had a good night sleep and a good breakfast in the morning, then it was decided if we were ever going to do it would have to be now. So we walked over to the A/ side and found two lounge chairs, put on our birthday suits and jumped in the pool. It was amazing within 10 minutes we were talking to people like we had known them all our lives. We spent all of our time on the A/N side floating, playing bar games and playing pool volleyball. We had become good friends after a few short days and there was emptiness after saying goodbye. The place was a melting pot where people were accepted just for who they were. Doctors, lawyers cops, nurses, teachers, accountants computer programmers, bank tellers, blue collar workers and white collar workers. Loose the clothes---loose the labels and people just became friendly people. The age range was from 20’s to 70’s. I would have to say that the majority of the crowd was 30-55 but there were older and younger. One couple even had their daughter who was about 20 and her girlfriend there. Everything was done very tastefully and we are happy to report that we didn’t see any PDA (public displays of affection).
We hit all the places to eat, the textile snack shack, Nanny’s jerk Pit, the French, Japanese and Italian, the A/N club house too ----not one bad meal. We attended the Toga party (Neil and our new friend Pam were the models for the how to make Togas lesson) which had about 40 couples, and the same for the PJ party. The staff did a great job---only those wearing a Toga and PJs were allowed into the disco on those party nights. Fantasy night in the A/N clubhouse was our second night at Braco and that’s where we met lots of great people.
We spent some time talking with the new GM Ron D. and Kerry Quallo the booking manager. They both said the changes have started and will be ongoing for the next year on both sides.
I know this is long winded but I need to say this has been our best vacation ever and we will be heading back to Braco before the end of the year. We look like to thank some of the wonderful couple we met and exchanged email addresses with-------------. John & Cindy, Randi & Pam, Greg & Ginger a/k/a Maryann, Pat & Chris, Jim & Joyce, Barb & Mike, Brian & Lisa, Oleg & Angelique, Doug & Darby and Jeff & Julie. To David and Barb from Manchester England thank you for making us feel so relaxed. Feel free to email us at nrjrsr@yahoo.com or RyannL@optonline.net with any questions, or just to say hi!
A special thanks to the staff at Braco for a job well done.
Martha-----Thanks for the site.
Neil & Lois