GLB_Trip_Report

This Trip Report Created Expressly For the Use Of Members of

The Grand Lido Visitors Hangout

GLB, May 5 - 12, 2003

Tonia and Amy

May 16, 2003

Grand Lido Braco

Rio Bueno P.O.

Trelawny, Jamaica W.I.

To whom this may concern,

My best friend Amy Brogan and I just returned home from a perfect eight day vacation at Grand Lido Braco. We arrived May 5^th, stayed in room 312 and departed May 12^th. I am writing to thank you and acknowledge a few of your staff who made our trip particularly enjoyable. About 10 years ago I stayed at the Braco Village, before SuperClubs took over and I found the changes that have taken place in the interim truly amazing! I’ve stayed at Grand Lido Negril with my husband twice and thought that was the greatest place to vacation. We will be staying at Grand Lido Braco next year and I am already counting the days!

As a whole each and every member of your staff, from the ground crew to bartenders and waitresses, everyone consistently maintained the highest level of professional, friendly and helpful service.

We were greeted as we arrived by the wonderful ladies at the front desk who had beverages and fresh damp towels which felt so good!

When we first arrived we spent the first few hours while waiting for our room at the main pool bar and were properly welcomed my Denton and by Carl who both just made us laugh and feel so at home.

Waiting for the room is just to be expected – make the best of it – you’re in paradise – bring your bathing suit or find the nude beach – there’s so much relaxing to do!

We were particularly impressed with the lovely Nadine who, each and every afternoon, satisfied our pool and beach side craving for fresh fruit and coconut. The service she provides is such a nice touch. On our first day I asked Nadine for Mango and on our last day when you had Mango in stock she found me remembering my request. What a kind and intelligent woman she is!

On our first day Amy got resort certified for SCUBA diving by Mitch who she raved about as an instructor. I am PADI certified and took two deep dives with Erik and Bobby who were both just fantastic and made the whole undersea adventure safe and fun. \

The diving wasn’t GREAT – due to the winds and rough sea, most of the 11am dives were cancelled. If you are PADI certified the 9AM dives were good. The dive master Erik is a lot of fun and ‘The Wall’ really if amazing.

Each morning as I was walking over to the Au Natural side to secure a few lounges in the shade, I walked by Nanny’s Jerk Pit and was always greeted by big smiles and Hello’s from Joan and Lorna who simply make the best Jerk Chicken I have ever tasted. That pit is such an integral part of the fantastic eating experience at GLB and I thank you and them for making it so very special.

My husband and I will be staying on the Au Natural side next year and it’s SO unfortunate that you can’t take pictures there because it is just so amazing! The nude pool is far better than the main pool, the jacuzzi’s are larger, the staff so friendly and the grounds are simply stunning.

Amy and I decided we were going to enjoy the spa and made appointments for massages outside under the Almond Trees. Tensilyn gave me my massage and Amy had Doreen. I have never had such a truly perfect massage in my whole life. Amy and I were so impressed and frankly moved by the experience that we booked another set of massages for a few days later. These ladies are skilled professionals and so very kind. We had so much fun with them and being able to enjoy these massages outside is just spectacular! Thank you for providing this service and for staffing such remarkable women.

Some people complained that the ladies giving the massages are too strong and that they were actually injured by the massage. My suggestion is – if you prefer the softer more tender massage – is let them know! These are intelligent and talented women who will adjust their style to your preference.

There’s a man named Raymond in Food Services who just about every morning brought us breakfast. I want to let you know that that he is just so special and so very nice. It was so wonderful to wake up to his kind smile, fresh fruit and coffee. That is what I call a perfect wake-up call.

Why use the alarm to wake up in the morning when instead you can have a smiling wonderful person with a tray of coffee and fresh fruit knock on your door at a designated time instead?

I’d like to let you know about a JUTA tour operator named Michael Myrie (Fat Jaw) from Duncan. When we first arrived at Montego Bay airport we decided to take a taxi to the resort instead of the shuttle bus and Michael was our driver. We had such a great drive over to GLB that we called and asked him to take us off the resort to a few public beaches and a local restaurant for lunch. Keep in mind that we were two women traveling alone. He was so professional, so informed and truly amazing. We had a wonderful day with him and recommend him without reservation to anyone who wants to see a little bit of Jamaica where there are no tourists. You have a beautiful country and Michael is a safe and wonderful way to see the best of it. Michael’s phone #’s are 953-1577 and mobile 700-9047.

Michael is a professional – not going to over charge you, negotiate of course – but don’t worry about him being pushy or taking you to places where he gets kick backs – won’t happen. He’ll show you whatever you’d like to see in Jamaica.

Amy and I had a little trouble figuring out the locks on our room door and we got locked out on our second day. Clayton and Noel showed up at our room so quickly and let us into our room within 15 minutes of our calling the front desk. There is no such thing as "Jamaica Time" at GLB. 10 minutes is 10 minutes not an hour. Across the board we found all services incredibly timely. We waited for nothing and everything we wanted or needed was always available. Thank you for this!

There’s a beautiful young lady who works with Carl in guest entertainment… I never got her name because I thought she looked so much like Whitney Houston that I just referred to her as Whitney…. She’s amazing – you must know this – somehow she was everywhere we were, all over the resort making everyone laugh and have a great time. Carl was equally impressive, playing volleyball with us and handling the scavenger hunts and trivia games – they are such a nice touch!

The food! What can I say other than it was all amazing. Although I usually only have fruit for breakfast, I look forward to the breakfast buffet days before I arrive. That buffet is just so cool! We ate at the French restaurant on Saturday night and were blown away by the flavors and presentation, diversity of the menu and the wine list. The Italian restaurant always had the freshest salad bar. We never did get around from ordering from the menu but my husband and I will make a point of it when I return. Did I mention how amazing the Jerk Pit is? J

The lovely ladies that staff the front desk were consistently friendly and very helpful. I wish I had written down the names of those people who helped us directly. I thank them all for their professional, kind service and great smiles.

I had to think long and hard for any constructive criticism. These few points are so minor and I bring them to your attention because you just don’t get as good as you are without honestly wanting this kind of feedback.

The rooms:

The air conditioner and items on the ceiling like smoke detectors desperately need to be cleaned and dusted.

The door leading out to the patio should really have a lock on it so that your guests can come and go through that door. Having a beach front ground floor room and not being able to come and go through the back door just doesn’t make sense.

I don’t know if there is anything you can do about this but there are a huge amount of ants that infest the patio’s on the ground floor and make eating out there a little unappealing and difficult.

The grounds/pools:

It looked like the pools were only cleaned once a day in the morning and they really need more attention than that.

The yellow rafts we use in the pool are getting old. Some of them are okay, none are great and some are downright disgusting. Someone should take a look at them and consider cleaning them once a month or so because they are really rather dirty and leave a waxy residue on your hands.

The hot tubs on the nude side, particularly the little one hidden in the woods are just way too hot. I don’t know what temperature they should be but at the very least someone should test the water temperature and make sure it’s within range.

Someone has just got to tend to the beach chairs/lounges on the nude beach. There are guests who keep towels and books on lounge chairs permanently making it impossible to get a shaded chair no matter how early in the morning you go out looking. If someone cleared off all the chairs and lined them up on the beach each morning it would not only look better but it would give everyone an equal chance at a good spot on the beach.

There are not enough snorkeling masks available to the guests through water sports. Each time I went to get a mask & snorkel they were out of them.

Now for a few suggestions:

During the beach party, which was just awesome by the way, I thought that it would be so cool to watch a movie out there on the beach. If there’s any way to maybe have a portable screen and set it up for a movie night I think your guests would love it! It would be so fun to be out there at night listening to the waves, feeling the great breeze coming in and watching a great old classic black and white film.

More buffet dinners! Please J

Thanks again for a vacation we will never forget! I am looking forward to sharing the resort with my husband next May. I know he will love it as much as I do. Is it true that for every week you stay at GLB you get one free day on your next trip? I was just there for 8 days and 7 nights so if my husband and I stay for 10 days next may do we get the 11^th day free? I intend to be there once a year for many years to come and would like to understand the advantages of being a repeat guest.

I hope you have a terrific year and send you all my very best wishes.

Sincerely,

Tonia ~~~~

The Grand Lido Visitors Hangout

GLB, May 5 - 12, 2003

Tonia and Amy

CLICK Here for Photographs!