A peaceful escape
Written: Mar 26 '05 (Updated Mar 27 '05)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Great for relaxing, eating and drinking.
Cons: Entertainment is not great.
The Bottom Line: If you want to spend some relaxing time eating great food and sipping yummy drinks on a beautiful beach, this is the place for you.
|
|
|
| nneu's Full Review: Grand Lido Braco |
We spent two weeks at Grand Lido Braco for our honeymoon. We were in desperate need of rest and relaxation! Grand Lido Braco was the ticket.
Bus Ride:
We arrived in MBJ via a charter flight from Toronto. The bus trip was an absolute nightmare. Luckily, the bus driver stopped at a roadside bar and my new husband and I had a chance to down a few Red Stripes to make the rest of the drive somewhat tolerable. (For those of you who have never been to Jamaica, it is a third world country. The roads are rough, small and very crowded. It is not unusual to see farm animals running across the road and to have your bus driver drive inches behind the next vehicle. They pass each other on blind corners and the roads are lined with shanty type houses.)
Check-in:
Once we made it to Grand Lido Braco, we were greeted kindly, instructed to leave our luggage in a pile outside and offered a drink. We had many companions from our charter so there were not enough seats in the lobby. However, we were quickly brought to our room and our luggage was already there!
The Room:
Our first room smelled a bit musty, so in the morning we complained. We were quickly moved to another very nice basic room with a beautiful balcony just steps from the beach. The furniture was basic, a king sized bed with a painted white headboard, a large armoire which housed the TV and several drawers, a small desk and chair. The bathroom had a large vanity area outside the toilet and tub/shower combo. The shower had little water pressure and the water temperature was inconsistent. The room had a tile floor and was kept extremely clean by the staff. At night, the bed was always turned down and fresh flowers were stuck into towel sculptures. The balcony was large and furnished with a table, 2 chairs and a lounge chair. There were some strange salamander type creatures on the balcony at times.
The Beach:
A beautiful area surrounded by some man made jetties and reefs. The sand is perfect, there are plenty of chairs, you won't finish a drink before a waitress approaches and offers to bring you a new one. Popsicles and fruit cut to order are also offered while you veg on the beach. The water is warm and the breeze is balmy.
The Resort:
Has a Jamaican Village theme and a town square is surrounded by shops and restaurants. A huge pool, large hot tub and a swim up pool bar are at the end of the village. The rooms are located in small three story buildings that line the beach. The foliage is amazing and you'll see lush vegitation and even banana trees growing everywhere.
Au Naturel:
There is a nude area to the resort that is fairly large. It is separate from the rest of the resort and the guests of that area keep to themselves. They have their own beach where cameras are banned and their own pool and swim up pool bar.
The Food:
Many great choices of very high quality food. We loved the room service option and routinely ordered breakfast to be delivered and served on our balcony. The beach bar was another great place to hang out, lay in a hammock and chill.
The Entertainment:
Not great entertainment. The traveling acts were okay and the shows put on by the hotel staff were pretty bad. We loved the theme nights, especially the Jamaican Street Party.
Area Tours:
The concierge can set up any kind of local tour. We went to Dunn's River Falls and again had a hair raising ride around the island. The Falls were nice but a bit commercialized.
Tip:
We booked our trip by requesting the Grand Lido Surprise which can place you in any of the three Grand Lido Resorts. We saved a bunch of money by doing this and even though Grand Lido Braco is the least expensive of the three, we were very pleased. We found out our placement about 2 weeks before departure. We spent around $5000 for the two weeks, including airfare.
All in all, if you want to chill, eat great food, sip some nice drinks and read your book on the beach, this is the place for you!!!
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
nneu
|
|
Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.