GLB - A must read full review
Written: Dec 23 '07 (Updated Dec 24 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: The weather
Cons: The staff
The Bottom Line: Select another resort based of value
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| madeia98's Full Review: Grand Lido Braco |
Grand Lido Braco
My husband and I took a vacation to Grand Lido Braco December 13-22 2007. This is my complete travel review of my vacation at the resort. Please take the time to read this review, as it entails the good and the bad. This was my second SuperClubs vacation, I visited Hedonism III in 2003, which is why I chose to return to the SuperClubs properties.
I am writing this extensive view because of the lack of in depth reviews available. While some people choose to look over minor concerns, when they add up it makes a difference. Different people expect and care about different things. I am an observer of people and things and feel it only fair to express my views, reviews, and concerns for your consideration. You could disagree and appreciate my views, its fine either way.
Flight
We flew out of BWI into MBJ via Air Jamaica. The flight left close to on time from BWI with no issues. There was food and beverage served on flight, but as normal with food in the air, needless to say it was nothing to write home about. There was an in flight movie with free headsets provided. The movie was Hairspray, but there were several audio issues which only allowed us to hear a portion of the movie. When we landed in MBJ, it was in the old section of the airport and we had to walk a long way to go through Immigrations and Customs, but the lines were short and it was hassle free. When we reached the luggage there were technical difficulties with the baggage belt, but the problem was resolved quickly. We then proceeded to the SuperClubs lobby inside the airport and were given a bottle of water and told we would be leaving in a few minutes. We were escorted to a bus that held about 12 people. There were 7 people including us on the bus ride. Traffic was light and the bus driver took us the approx 45 min ride to the resort without even offering to make the usual beer stop on the way which was nice because why pay for a beer when you are shortly going to be getting it without having to pay for it.
Check In
We were one of 4 other couples waiting to check in, which it took about 20 minutes. We were offered a cool towel and a rum punch while we waited. We were given a brief check in run down with another couple by a member of staff, given our welcome pack and card key, and sent off to our room with the other couple by a bell hop.
The Room
We were assigned to block 4 on the textile side. The bell hop took our bags into the room, open the curtains and lifted the roman shade on the door and left. We walked through our room to check it out. I give the room 2 stars because it is that of what you would expect from any of the large hotel chains in the USA.
The room needed some serious updating. The bathroom tile was chipped and scratched, the tub, while having the texturized non slip strips was worn and discolored as were the tiles in the shower. There were tiny holes and several stains on all the curtains and blinds in the room. There was also what appeared to be leftover screws and bolts sticking out of the floor from where there used to be a doorstop. We both stumped our toes several times on it. Later in the week it was fixed, by chipping out the remnants of the screws and bolts which left it looking worse.
The bed was not to our liking, being stiff and hard. There were only three lumpy flat pillows. We had left a note asking for 3 more and were given two more. It was found to be true that the bed sheet was not fitted and simply a flat sheet which was tucked under that does not work well for people like me that toss and turn at night. I woke up many a night to find myself lying on the exposed mattress, which disturbs me due to mites and bacteria.
There was a mini fridge in the room stocked with Pepsi, Ting 7-Up, and Real Rock Beer. Do not expect to get bottles of Red Stripe in your room, because in the 10 days we were there, they were always out of it.
There was a back door to the room that led outside to a porch with two wooden chairs and a table. It was a 1st floor room that was beachfront. It had a card reading door in the front and the back, however we could only enter through the back door. We couldn't leave because the back door wouldn't shut from the outside.
As advertised, there is a cd player in every room, except ours, which had none. We did however have robes and slippers. I would advise wearing these slippers however because they are extremely slippery and I almost fell twice in a matter of 5 minutes on the tile floor.
No need to worry about space for unpacking. There were 4 large dresser drawers and 3 small drawers in the TV armoire. There were a limited number of hangers, but after sending out laundry, we had plenty of hangers.
The TV channels certainly leave something to be desired. There were a handful of channels including CBS, Fox, Discovery, MTV, Showtime, and BET. There were several channels with bad pictures or audio problems. The TV had a remote along with a remote for the Air Conditioning which worked very well.
The Grounds
The Grand Lido Braco property is very well manicured. This is where they seem to spend a lot of their time and effort. We always saw them trimming, mowing, sweeping, and spending a lot of time on grooming. I even saw a worker digging in 4 foot shrubbery clearing out trash that guests had thrown in. We witnessed the fogging in the evening that was mentioned in the welcome pack. This seemed to help with the bugs, though we made sure to put on bug guard all day every day.
The beach spans the entire resort and is small but kept free of debris. Some areas of the sand and water contain a lot of rocks. There were always plenty of lounge chairs, towels and floats available for use. The ocean water was moderately warm, almost like lukewarm bath water.
With only one pool on each the textile and au natural side, there are fairly large and are always being netted for falling leaves which is a constant chore. We only spent our time in the textile side so can only review about that pool area. There was a swim up bar with dry access between the beach and pool. This bar usually opened close to on time. The pools are not heated at all and seemed cold to the touch but you seemed to adjust to the temperature fairly quickly.
Dining
For breakfast you had two options - to dine in Victoria Market from 7:30am to 10:30am, where the was a hot and cold buffet with an egg and omelets station or to have a cold breakfast served in room. If you chose in room, you filled out a door card and put it out the night before. We had 4 door cards in our room and they were never replaced by room service.
At lunchtime, you hade the option to dine at Victoria Market from 12:30pm to 3:00pm, however some days there was a buffet setup and some days there was only a soup and salad bar and a four choice selection from a menu. Another option was Reggae Cafe from 11:00am to 4:00pm where you could find a selection of jerk chicken, pork and fish.
Dinner was available with no reservation at La Pasta, the Italian Restaurant, from 3:00pm to 11:00pm and Victoria Market offering ala carte from 6:30pm to 9:30pm both offering a casual dress code.
There were two formal restaurants at the resort. Piacere which offered French and Muna San which offered Japanese. You need to make reservations for these restaurants with the concierge during the day. Upon arriving at the resort, we made reservations for 1 night at each place, which was all that was allowed at one time. Once you ate there once, you could make another reservation. When we went to make a second reservation, it seemed like they only wanted to allow you one meal at each place per stay, asking if we had already dined there, when we arrived and when we were leaving the resort.
I was disappointed with the dining options, considering I dislike buffets and for a luxury resort, this is what they mostly offered. All dining rooms are closed on Fridays, which is a Gala Dinner on the street which is where they simply only offer the same buffet found in Victoria Market along with a few added dishes. A similar even happens on Pirate night which is Wednesday and this buffet is offered on the beach. The buffets offered through out the week didn't change much at all and the selection was lacking.
Your final offering for meals in the 24 hour in room dining which is also available 24 hours at the bar at the far end of the beach. There is however a limited selection of several appetizers including salads, nachos and wings, main courses of chicken, pizza, steak, and lamb chops and a small selection of desserts.
For dining in Victoria Market it was a bit disgusting. There seemed to always be dirty plates and bowls that were lined up for use of meals. The linens on the tables were not changed, because a glass table top was over them. The sides, however were always found to be stained.
At Piacere, the meals were disappointing and not cooked to order. The first meal there I ordered a Medium steak and it was served rare. The second meal I ordered a well steak and it was cooked medium.
Our two meals at Muna San were enjoyable. Though the offering of shared appetizers was not acceptable.
Both reservation based restaurants has a lack of consistency. The service was on and off at Piacere and the chefs at Muna San were like night and day. Once chef had a lot of fun and even invited me up to cook. The other chef just wanted to cook and get back to the kitchen.
La Pasta was always consistent and the meals came out quick, hot and very flavorful. The tables are open air on the sidewalk and it was a very nice atmosphere.
On Friday, during Gala Dinner, upon arriving at the street setup, we saw several tables setup with signs reading that they were reserved for Trelawney Credit Union. We didn't stay for the gala, but from the looks of things, they were holding a private function for a local business with the mix in of resort guests who have paid a lot of money to vacation at a resort. This does not seem like fair or smart business.
Room Service
Room service always delivered orders within 30 minutes. It was hard to make any kind of special orders for the staffs lack of understanding the requests. On several occasions I was called and asked to place my tray outside for pickup. I'm not sure if they were short on trays, but they should call guests and require them to do this on their vacation.
Entertainment
While the brochure they give you boasts a lot of activities throughout the day, it was our experience that the schedule was very inconsistent. If the activities actually happened during the day, most of them were consistently late. We gave up on the activities halfway through our trip because of these issues.
My husband and I were looking forward to playing the activities because they give away points that you can trade in for rum or t-shirts. I am sure in 10 days, you can collect a fair amount of points. I am not sure if the activities don't go off on time or at all to keep guests from winning points because they don't want to incur the costs giveaways. We only ended up with 400 points, meaning we won 4 games and for 400 points you got 1 bottle of rum.
In the brochure, one of the activities was pond fishing. We had spoken to three employees who didn't have an answer on how to obtain the equipment to participate in this activity, but on the second day when attending orientation, we asked about pond fishing and were advised that it was discontinued.
There always seemed to be a nighttime pianist advertised in the piano bar, yet we never witnessed once where there was actually a pianist playing or a sing along at the piano bar.
The evening shows consisted of bands and singers which was quite bland.
Tuesday is toga night. I had brought my own toga, which was worn to the looks of a more formal toga and was a tropical floral print because I like to be creative. When we arrived at the disco, we were the only guest there. One of the entertainment staff came in. I don't even recall how our conversation started, but he said to me that "That's not a toga" in a very demeaning tone which insulted me. We then started to argue and he tried to cover his arrogance in his comment between saying that I was dressed sultry and that it was a sultry toga. Regardless, I was insulted and turned my back and advised him that our conversation was over then he started to argue with my husband about not being in a toga. It was advertised that if you didn't have a toga they would outfit you in one, but arriving at the disco, there was no staff to do so. He insinuated that my husband had to leave and after arguing, the employee left. We then enjoyed a beer and I went to make a request to the DJ as I did the night before, but none was in the booth. I asked the bartender what happened to the DJ because I wanted him to play a song. He said the DJ was a she and she's in there but she's short. I wanted back over and no, there was no one in the booth. We advised the bartender we were going outside to smoke because there was a no smoking policy inside. Upon going back in the disco, there was no bartender. We also walked over to the DJ booth door to find it locked and the booth appeared to be in automated mode. The bartender never came back out, so we left. Come to find out, there was a large resort party going on for the staff which is probably why it was hard to find any of the staff.
Thursday is pajama night. The activity schedule clearly states that no photos are to be taken in the disco, only by the hotel photographer (which we never saw a hotel photographer the entire trip). Upon entering the disco, there was a group of guest who had given their camera to the bartender to take a photo of them which made me uncomfortable because I was sure that I was in the background of the photo. This marked my first trip to the lobby to get a manager. The manager went over to the disco with me to say something to one of the entertainment staff about this issue. We then viewed two off work employees, on at the bar chatting with the bartender and guest and one behind the bar, drinking a bottle of Guinness (the resort does not serve this beverage) and leaning over the bar to talk in another guest ear. The employee at the bar turned to have a conversation with me. I told him that he isn't supposed to be there and he said that he was allowed to stop by and say hi to his co worker which I replied that it didn't take 20 minutes to do so. My second trip to alert management at the lobby occurred. Upon the second manager entering the disco, the second bottle of Guinness disappeared from behind the bar to out of sight. After a few minutes, the bottle of Guinness and a can of Red Bull (this is not available on the bar menu but can be purchased at the sundries store) was being poured into cups and served to two guests, which marked my third trip to the lobby to alert management. I also made my way over to the staff member working the club for pajama night to ask about the group of guests that were dressed in street clothes about their attendance because of what happened at toga night. He wouldn't give me his name but alerted me all he could to was to ask them to remove themselves to change into pajamas, but could not kick them out of the disco. I did feel racially discriminated because the guests were black and he was also.
The casino games advertised were a joke. There was only 1 of each a blackjack and poker table. These tables weren't always manned by staff nor did they start or end on time. If at all, only two games were played which was disappointing.
Never mentioned in the activities schedule is the fact the some activities such as tarot/tea leaf reading and international crab racing are events you need to pay for. While these events were fun to watch, they should not be advertised without a mention of cost and they should offer them if they are going to advertise them as no cost.
The staff lacked motivation to get guests involved in activities. On several occasions we found that the entertainment staff were sitting at the bars by the pool and Reggae Cafe relaxing and having a chat with other staff members.
No Tipping Policy
From the bars, to the salon, and the waters sports, I personally witnessed many instances of guests tipping and workers accepting. I even heard a conversation while passing block two of rooms between two maids, one saying to the other "business is good, I just got a $20 tip". It made me think if I wasn't getting the level of service I expected because of the fact that I did not tip anyone.
Golf
There is a 9 hole executive course on the property. We rented clubs and a cart which costs $28 USD to play 9 holes (if you didn't have balls, those were also extra at what I recall $2 a piece random for $8 a sleeve new). The golf course is taken care of fairly overall, however there were a lot of ant holes on the greens.
When we tried to attend a golf lesson that was advertised in the activities schedule. We went to the pro shop gazebo and when asked about the golf lesson, the worked looked around and said the instructor was not there. No attempt was made to make a phone call or investigate further.
There was a driving range available for no cost with a limited selection of clubs and balls available for use.
Tennis
We never attended a lesson but they were advertised as available. There were balls and fairly new racquets available for use. You have to walk across the golf course to the front of the resort to find these courts.
Water sports
It was viewed as true to other reviews I read about water sports going on when it's convenient for them or if you tip them. The only event that happened for us was a glass bottom boat ride. This ride was to be 1 hour but we went back in after 30 minutes. The other two passengers with us asked why and the driver said he was out of gas. This was the first ride of the day, so the boat should have been fully gassed before departure. He did however get more gas and take us back out for another 30 minutes. It was a pretty ride, no many fish, but lots of jelly fish and a sting ray.
I asked for a speed boat ride early in my trip, and I was not surprised when they told me to boat was broken.
One day I decided I wanted a hobiecat ride. I went to the water sport desk and was advised that there was limited staff that day and I would have to come back tomorrow. On the walk back I saw a water sport guy that had went out windsurfing. I asked him about a hobiecat ride and he said he only does the windsurfing. An hour later I saw the hobiecat boat out not once, but twice. It was very discouraging.
Drugs
For some reason, my husband must have looked like a drug user (which he certainly is not), because multiple staff members approached him to let him know they could get him marijuana, hashish, and cocaine.
Filing Complaints
We did meet with the entertainment director the day before we left. She asked why we waited so long and she could have transferred us to another property. First off we knew better to not make complaints, especially about the staff because after we did everyone seemed to know us and treated us differently. Secondly, we overheard a conversation from a couple that was transferred from Grand Lido Negril for the same reason. If I wasn't transferred to Grand Lido Negril, it would have been a downgrade to transfer to a Breezes resort. We spent 30 minutes addressing our concerns to the Entertainment Director who took about 3 pages of notes.
One of our complaints was that the mini fridge wasn't stocked on Thursday. Friday afternoon, we had a phone message, not actually a message but had to call the front desk to be transferred to room service. I gave the staff that answered my room number and she said room service tried to deliver us our 6 beers, which I advised her we never ordered. She then put me on hold to come back and say they have been trying to call us all day to stock our fridge. I advised her that we don't sit in our room all day, we were out enjoying the sun by the pool. She then told be that the staff aren't allowed to enter the room to stock the fridge if we aren't there which made no sense because it was done before while we were out and after I got off the phone with her, the food and beverage manager was knocking at my door to fill the fridge, which was actually stocked.
Other Mentionable
There was a gym and spa. The spa offered all the usual services at a price you would expect to pay at the resort. We had a massage under the trees by the beach that was acceptable but not exceptionable. The gym offered personal training, classes, and a variety of equipment.
The entertainment room offered slot machines which were not worth playing, two pool tables which needed felt replaced as well as pool sticks which were well used. Also offered were a selection of about 6 board games, a ping pong table, and an out of date dart board with 3 darts.
Excursions were offered via booking with the concierge. Most offerings did not include ground transportation. There were a lot of excursions offered, but be prepared to pay a premium.
We arrived just as sub tropical storm Olga had passed over. There were very brief rain showers the first two days, but for the rest of the trip it was sunny, very few clouds most days, and hot.
Bar service was acceptable. There were only four beers available which were Red Stripe, Red Stripe Light, Real Rock, and Miller Light. There were about 10 top shelf choices for liquor and a multitude of other liquor for a variety of mixed drinks.
A manicure and pedicure were included and was a nice touch. It was easy to get an appointment and was one of the only things that happened on time.
Laundry service was included and when bags and tickets were available in the room (these were not replaced without having to make a phone call) you simply call laundry and your bag is picked up and returned the next day. I am assuming the laundry isn't too intense, because simply stains still remained in our clothes. But it seems you never pack enough, so having the option to have your clothes cleaned was a nice touch.
Departure
Our flight was schedule to leave MBJ at 5:50pm. We were left a note in out room the day before we left that we were to checkout of the room and place out luggage outside the room at 12:00pm. I called and asked if we could stay in our room until 1:30pm which was approved. The pickup time to the airport was 2:00pm. We checked out at about 1:50pm and watched our luggage be loaded about 2:05pm into a 7 passenger small van which we were traveling in with 4 other guests. They were detained in checking out which delayed out departure until about 2:20pm. On the way to the airport, we encountered a traffic backup due to an automobile accident. I was thankful that we were delayed in departure, because who knows if that could have been us involved. The driver maneuvered onto the shoulder and cut across the to opposing lanes of backed up traffic in an effort to speedily get out of the traffic delay which upset my husband because these drivers stop awfully close to one another. The crash was bad and medics haven't even arrived to the scene. It was a head on between two cars, one passenger trapped in her vehicle and a man lying on the ground pulled from his vehicle. It was very sad.
When checking out, there were two couples arriving who were not offered drinks or towels.
The road construction, completion, and expansion is almost complete. This will not cure the speed and passing of drivers, but in some parts the lanes are two wide on each side.
There were several shops available. A shop of general clothing that was very expensive, a sundries store supplying a variety of gifts as well ad toiletries and medicine along with snacks, refreshments and cigarettes all which were highly priced, a cigar shop providing a variety of Cuban cigars along with some other tobacco products and paraphernalia, a higher end jewelry store, and a logo shop.
My Thoughts
It is possible the lack of commitment of the staff towards policies and procedures have caused inconsistencies and a lack of management and supervision of towards the staff has lead to a lot of these issues. The resort, at least the textile side rooms need an overhaul as well as a lot of the common areas on the property. The resort, in my view, is certainly not a luxury property.
I know that paying the staff more will not resolve the tipping issues, but management should step up and have some cross and check and police the grounds better to keep an eye on the staff.
SuperClubs doesn't mind charging for a luxury resort and not promising what was to be delivered. They should take the time and expense to reinvest into their resort.
When booking the resort, I had dreamed of going since my stay in 2003 at Hedonism III which I enjoyed. It was certainly a higher expense to vacation at Grand Lido Braco and the experience for the expense was certainly lacking. I am not sure if it has been a downfall throughout the lack of service and amenities throughout all of the SuperClubs properties, and I doubt I will incur any more of an expense to find this out.
I had some stomach issues and was fortunate to bring a nice supply of medicines to calm such issues. I couldn't narrow it down to what caused these issues between the food or the beverages that involved drinking water.
I don't know a lot about scuba diving, but from my understanding the runs are free and you can even get certified, so if you are an avid scuba diver and the dives are enjoyable to you, it may be worth it to stay at this resort.
I know SuperClubs used to boast their resorts as being superior to cruising (I could no longer find this section on their website). If you can deal without having constant beach access, can tolerate the few children who aren't placed in the mega ships extensive kids program, can deal with only having a pool most of the time, and don't mind sometimes feeling like your being cattle herded, you will be rewarded by a bounty of luxury, including dining choices that allow you to sit down for EVERY meal without reservations (you will need to specify early of late seating and eat the same time every night in the main dining room for dinner only) and have access to a very large and extensive buffet. Nightly entertainments are shown in large theaters with large scale Broadway type shows. Nightlife is available and plenty, with an array of piano bars, discos, jazz clubs, and many bars. The activity staff will always hold scheduled activities and they will be on time. You will get to explore an average of 3-4 different ports and most likely countries for a 7 day cruise. Your accommodations while small, will be in top notch condition. I can make a full report and fully justify with a much more extensive list why a mega liner cruise surpasses Grand Lido Braco and even including tips and beverage with a cruise, it still surpasses the value when compared to the resort.
I've been on 10 cruises and 5 resort stays. And while they both have their pluses and minuses, a can say cruising wins hands down to Grand Lido Braco. Do you research and make sure you read the travel reviews to make your best judgment.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
madeia98
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Reviews written: 1
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