Grand Lido, Negril, Jamaica (Second Trip)

Back for the second time in just three months.  The second time was even better then the first.  They have added new floaters that are very popular.  These are the same type floaters that couples resorts use.

There is a cool calendar website that you can see who is going to Grand Lido called http://tripcalendar.org  .  It’s free to use and to help link up with others going to the resort.

You can also read  my review from our January 2014 visit here.

Main updates from our visit three months ago:

• The check-in seemed a little faster.
• No one complained of no hot water so it seems that issue was resolved.
• The staff seemed even friendlier.
• They added the very popular floaters (great move).
• Added new beach chairs.

Interesting that Apple Maps has already updated their satellite photos showing the floaters.

You can see the floaters in the red circle on the CO beach. Hundreds of fish beside this point (blue circle) will fight over a bagel. Main beach is show by the yellow line and the crabs make their home in the yellow circle area.

Grand Lido is very unique from all the resorts in Jamaica and any where in the Caribbean.   I don’t think you will find a resort like this anywhere.  It’s not a new resort, it’s small and some people call it rustic.  So what makes it so special?  It has a private clothes optional beach.  Not like the nude beach at couples that is  separated from the main beach by a line in the sand but a private cove. Since it is not a nude beach but a clothes optional beach people are nude, topless and even wearing bathing suits.  This is definitely the key to Grand Lido’s success.

This time we had a room on the ground floor.  I usually don’t like a ground floor room but this was so nice to be able to walk out the patio door and be on the beach in just 20 feet.  We would sit on the deck each night and watch the sunset before going for dinner.  Our room was the same layout as the room in January 2014 visit.

Our Patio on the ground floor.

Views from our patio:

Don’t go to Grand Lido if you want crowds and loud music and lots of activities.  It’s a relaxed resort that feels a little like going to your own private cottage but with the benefit of never cooking, cleaning or doing all the upkeep to a cottage.  You can always get a beach chair or seat for dinner.

Staff & Dinner Pictures

Bottom line:

Grand Lido is a great resort to meet people in a quiet relaxing atmosphere.  It’s an adult resort with no kids running around and feels like a home away from home.

 

IBEROSTAR Costa Dorada, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

The IBEROSTAR Costa Dorada, Puerto Plata is located 10 minutes from the city of Puerto Plata on the north coast of Dominican Republic. It is rated as a 5 star hotel with 498 double rooms and 18 suites and was renovated in 2011. It is a very nice resort for family with children under 10.  The lobby, grounds, pool and room are excellent.  Lot of entertainment for the younger traveller giving parents a chance to relax.  We travelled with our grandson who is 13 going on 17 so there was not as much for his age group but he was very happy to relax and be independent.

Overall 

There are 516 rooms in 9 buildings and two pools with exceptional gardens.  The layout of the nine three story buildings have four on one side with five on the other creating a wide garden down the middle to the beach front.  The grounds have a large fish pond with bridge and two water falls.  There are several water fountains around the court yard and grounds and you always hear running water.

They say two pools but it is more like four pools interconnected.  The grounds and pools are never crowded and you can always get a beach chair anytime of the day. They obviously have  way more chairs than guests.  We could always  get a chair on the beach or in front of the pool.

The lobby and main buffet were large and spacious, clean and fresh with covered walkways to get back to your rooms in case of rain.

Check-in

Check in was fast but then again we checked in at 9pm.  Only one other couple checking in at  that time.  They drive you to your room in a golf cart and take your bags.

Lobby

Lots of plugs in the lobby

The lobby is large and impressive.  A bar off the side of the lobby and a court yard that has access to the stage and entertainment and two restaurants and buffet. There is also a beach buffet that has everything that the main buffet has but you don’t need to cover up.

Room

Rooms or the beds and furniture are very dated.  We had a double bed which is way too  small. When I called the front desk to ask for a room with a queen bed they delivered a blanket. After a few minutes of trying to explain to the handyman , he dragged in another complete bed. Anyway it worked out OK.  I find language is always a bit of an issue in DR but you have to go with the flow.  There is no dresser for your clothes and all the sun screen etc you take on vacation so you have to work out of your suitcase.  Just a long table like piece of furniture.  The room smelled a bit and the bed spread looked old (maybe just the design and small size of the bed) but after the second day I didn’t notice.  The beds were comfortable and there is a mini fridge stocked with pop, water and beer at no extra charge.  There is a flat screen TV with lots of channels to chose.

The tub is a little small to shower in but lots of hot water.

There is a nice big patio deck with a table and two comfortable chairs.

There is no free internet in the hotel at all.  You need to purchase a password for an hour, day, 3, 5 or 7 days.  At first this was annoying but it is not a bad deal and you can use it in your room and good reception everywhere. We purchased the 5 day for $25.

Beach

The beach in front on the hotel was great.  There is even a few coral reefs ,waist deep and tons of fish.  The only downside to the beach is outside the control of the hotel.  To the right or left of the hotel is vacant land and the beach is not cleaned and is littered with garbage.  Lots and lots of garbage, pop bottles, plastic , everything.  There is also two streams running into the ocean one on each side with smelly water.  Maybe just algae or maybe more.  Lots of algae in the ocean around these streams too.  I felt there were more people to harass you on the beach than other places we have visited , wanting you to take a day trip or visit the market.

It’s a shame but I also notice this type of garbage in other parts of the island when your driving to the hotels.  It seems to be acceptable to throw your garbage anywhere.  You see many of the small local homes littered with garbage.  They should have returnable bottles at least.  You would think the locals would take it upon themselves to make sure the beach looks nice since they use it too.  This is the public access areas.  In Jamaica you would see the local vendors cleaning a part of the beach to make sure it looked nice where they were selling their goods. In Nigel the public access area was cleaner than some of the hotel areas.

(garbage on the beach)

Food

There was always great food.  There was a variety of food choices for everyone’s taste. Plenty of salad and fresh fruit and yogurt. The meat dishes were plentiful and everyday there was chicken ( yummy) , beef, steak, salmon and other meat choices. Pizza, pasta, hotdogs and hamburgers were also available. The deserts were out of this world!! There were 2 stations for all the food choices so no waiting in line. The beach restaurant served the same items as the main buffet but with out the need to cover your bathing suit.

Grounds 

The grounds are immaculate.  Lots of fountains and trees and plants with a fish pond garden and pink flamingo’s and  peacocks too.    Lots of lighting at night and never a bug.

One funny issue is the signs around the pool.  No topless.  I did see several men that went topless with big man boobs so I guess it’s not enforced. Strange since it’s hotel chain based in Spain. I though Spain was topless friendly.

Bottom Line

It’s a beautiful resort.  They need more servers in the entertainment areas.  I only saw two so you wait forever.  At Secrets there were 10 and always standing around the courtyard to wait on you with no more than a few second wait.  The same in the buffet.  We usually move our old plates to another table since they were not removed.

Also the beach is very steep.  It’s over your head in just a few feet from shore and walking along the edge is very sloped.  Also the lots on each side of the resort are public access and littered with garbage and two streams that smelled very bad feeding into the ocean.  It may just be pond water or polluted with much more.

No free internet anywhere.  Most Hotels have at least free internet in the lobby.

Grand Lido, Bloody Bay, Negril, Jamaica

Water wheel in Lobby

Lobby

View from our room

View from room

Service road

Bed

Coffee Maker

Shower

Sink

Guest for lunch

Main buffet

Feeding the fish

Stingray in cove

Fish in cove

Stingray in cove

Overview:

The resort is an older resort that was once the top hot spot in Jamaica to visit. It was recently sold and the new owners have said they will be spending 65 million dollars to upgrade the resort.  By today standards the resort is smaller than most with 210 rooms and lots of pillars in the way in the lobby.   This does make it less crowded and you can always get a beach chair or pool chair or get into  the À la Carte restaurants with no reservations.  This is a refreshing change of pace.

The resort has three areas, breach front, ocean view and cove view with is a cloths optional area. The beach front where rooms are located right on the beach with a grassy area between you and the beach but you are closer than any other resort I have been too.  Other rooms are located with an ocean view on the small cliff.  We stayed here and our patio deck was only about 30 feet from the ocean with a great view.  The other area is cloths optional.  It has three building and goes from the cliff area to the beach with their own private beach with no public access, pool and bar and both are cloths optional.

The main buffet restaurant is only open for dinner on Monday and Friday.  This seems unusual but forced one to use the À la Carte restaurants which turned out to be a great idea and the À la Carte restaurants were great.

During our stay we had no hot water and asked to be moved to another room.  Others were not so lucky and this seemed to be the main complaint of most people.  At least five or six couples had the same issue.  Even with this issue the resort is so relaxing and had such a variety of friendly guests that it was easily one of our favourite vacations.  We plan to go back as soon as possible.

Drive to the Resort:

It is a long drive from the airport to the resort.  Count on two full hours or more if their is road construction.

Check In:

Very bad check in service.  It’s slow and complicated.  It would be better if they just let you go to the bar or buffet to eat and have you check back with them.

Beach:

The best beach in Jamaica if not the Caribbean.  Pure white power sand with gentle slope into the shallow water.  You can walk out into the water for 100’s of feet and still not be over your head.

The resort is located at the end of Bloody Bay on cliffs that over look the ocean and a long section of beach.

The resort is next to the couples resort that has a nude beach section.  You need to walk through the couples nude beach section to continue along the beach.  There is virtually a line in the sand, nude not nude.

At the far end of the beach near the RIU resort you can feed lots of colourful fish in knee deep water.  The water does not look as clean at that end of the beach due to less water movement and leaves falling and decaying.  At our end of the beach the water is crystal clear.

Rooms:

The rooms are a little dated but clean.  You don’t spend much time in your room anyway and I really don’t care if it’s new as long as it’s clean.

The balcony is very tiny on the second floor.  Just enough room for two chairs but we did sit out most evenings since there were no bugs at all to bother you.  Our room over looked the ocean and was only 30 feet from the waves.

Food:

There is one main buffet restaurant and three  À la Carte restaurants.  The food was excellent in every one.

• Japanese Restaurant
• Italian Restaurant
• Mediterranean Restaurant
• Ice cream and coffee bar
• Jamaican Restaurant ( more like fast food ) 

Bottom line:

This resort while has some short coming including the terrible check in process and the overall age of the resort, it grows on you.  It has a small resort feel where everyone is friendly and you keep running into the same people at different restaurants.

Even with the bad checking experience, hot water issues and dated resort it was one of our favourite vacations.  It’s a relaxing resort with friendly staff and fun guests with a great beach.

Punta Cana Princess, Dominica Republic

Rooms were a split level , clean with lots of towels.

The grounds had peacocks running around and well maintained with a large pool.

The beach was great.  Very clean and not much seaweed around.

We booked this hotel when it was on sale and make it a great deal. Keep your eyes out for deals.

Disney Polynesian Resort, Orlando

Disney Polynesian Resort, Orlando is a great resort if you can afford it.  It’s located just across the Seven Seas Lagoon.  You can take the Mono Rail or boat to the Magic Kingdom or even walk to the main entrance where you can take the Mono Rail to the Epcot Park.

It’s great to take a small boat back to your resort after the last night fireworks and not have to wait or use a bus.  You can even watch the fireworks from the Polynesian beach.

This is a nice resort all by it’s self.  There is a great pool with water slide and water fall.  A Polynesian luau, a great show and good food.  The food is good.  You can pick  what you want.  Usually you only eat breakfast at the resort since you will be in a park all day.  You can also attend for $, a Disney breakfast with Disney characters.  The kids love it and the food is good too.

The rooms are OK, nothing great but your not paying for the room but the location. It’s funny to look out and see a mono rail going by your window.

Best Resort to stay in Disney World

I have been to Disney World in Florida many times with our daughters and now with our grandson and thought I would put together a list of what I know.

There are now many areas to stay within Disney World to meet every price range depending on how much you want to pay.   I have two thoughts on visiting Disney World.  One is book the best resort to save time and enjoy your visit.  The other option is to save money while still enjoying the parks.

In the beginning Disney had all their resorts around Seven Seas Lagoon.  This made it easy to get to the park via boat, Mono rail or walking.  Now Disney is competing with lower cost hotels that have built up around the Disney property.

Save money option:

While there are hotels are technically within Disney they are very far from the parks and can only get to the park via a smelly diesel bus.  So I don’t see the advantage of paying a premium price on a hotel with no extras like free breakfast and free wifi if you still need to take a bus.  All the hotel outside the park also bus you to the park for free but also offer extras like free breakfast and wifi.  So my advice for the “save money option” would be to stay outside the Disney property.

What’s the problem with buses?

The line ups for buses are getting longer and longer.  The worst time is after the fireworks when you may need to wait for 3 or 4 buses before you can get on due to the large crowds. Also after a long hot day at the park the last thing you want to do be be squeezed on a overloaded bus next to a lot of other sweaty people with standing room only.

Best resort option:

Toronto, Niagara Falls, London Ontario Trip 2013

Chris was going to a Jam session in St. Thomas, Ontario so we decided this year to fly and travel around southern Ontario for a week.  Here is a map of our route and links to the hotels we stayed at during the trip.

Map of route during trip 2013

A) We flew into Toronto and stayed the first night beside the airport so we could start out fresh in the morning.  We could have bi-passed this if we flew in earlier since it is only about a two hour drive to Niagara Falls.

My Review and pictures of the Hampton Inn Airport

B) We drove to Niagara Falls and stayed at the Embassy Suites over looking the falls. This hotel is right on the falls and the view from the room is unbelievable.

My review and pictures of the Embassy Suites 

C) Now on to London and St. Thomas for the Jam.  We stayed in London and drove to St. Thomas each day since the hotels were nicer.

My review and pictures of Homewood Suites London Ontario 

We also stopped in on the Microsoft and Apple stores.  

Since we were flying I purchased a cool folding voyage air mini-dreadnough guitar for my wife.  You can see the pictures and review here of the guitar and Jam Session.

D) Now back to Toronto.   We stayed the first two nights at A) Hampton Inn since we were going to go to the Science Centre and Zoo.  Due to the heat we decided to skip the Zoo. Then we moved downtown at the Residence Inn.

My review and pictures of the Residence Inn Downtown Toronto

After four days downtown and seeing several shows we moved back to A)  but stayed at the Homewood Suites by Hilton Toronto Airport Corporate Centre that is attached to Hampton Inn.  They share the pool but have different breakfast areas.

My review ad pictures of the Homewood Suites Airport

All in all a great trip.  I made sure to plan extra time so we were never rushed and organized the travel to be on Sundays to avoid the heavy traffic.  We were caught in the traffic moving from the airport area to downtown and were stuck for 30 minutes moving 1 km.

Shows we saw:

• Greg Frewin Magic Show at Niagara Falls (Excellent) Link here http://www.gregfrewintheatre.com
• Second City In Toronto (Excellent)
• Anything Goes Show in Toronto (Excellent)  It’s very expensive (~$300 but you can get “Rush” tickets for $29)

Related articles

• Embassy Suites Niagara Falls (benh007.wordpress.com)
• Homewood Suites by Hilton Toronto Airport Corporate Centre (benh007.wordpress.com)

Homewood Suites by Hilton Toronto Airport Corporate Centre

Homewood Suites is a excellent  hotel.  Clean and with lots of extras like free parking, great breakfast, nice comfortable beds, free fast wifi, micro wave oven, flat screen TV, full fridge in a new clean suite.  We stayed in a one bedroom suite that gives you lots of extra room and two flat screen TV’s so people can watch difference shows.  We had our grandson with us so this was perfect.  There is even a dishwasher.

Check in was very fast and courteous and all the staff were friendly.

They are attached to the Hampton Inn and share the pool and coin laundry room but have separate breakfast areas.

Residence Inn Toronto Downtown

Residence Inn Toronto Downtown

This is a great central location in downtown Toronto with apartment like suites and lots of extras.  There is a full fridge,  big microwave, separate bedroom with two flat screen TV’s, free fast wifi, complimentary full hot breakfast buffet featuring over 60 breakfast items.

The indoor pool is regular size and hot tub.  The hot tub was so clean it looked like fresh tap water (maybe they just changed the water). I normally don’t go in hotel hot tubs but this one was so clear and clean I had to test it out. They also have a  state-of-the-art fitness centre.

Check in was quick and easy.  The parking is high ($40) but after driving around to different parking lots with signs say $16 dollars per day only to find out that it’s really $42 dollars for 24 hours I decided it would be easier just to use the Valet Parking.

Homewood Suites by Hilton Hotel London Ontario

A great hotel with suites.  It’s like a small apartment with full kitchen, full fridge, nice big microwave and even a dish washer.

Two flat screen TV’s, one in the bedroom and one in the living room with separate great air conditioners.

Homewood Suites by Hilton Hotel London Ontario

The lobby and breakfast area is large and modern.  The breakfast is great with hot eggs, ham, along with the normal breakfast items.  Pool and even a golfer’s putting hole. Internet is fast and free.  A small safe in the living room for valuables.

The living room is a little crowded with the pull out couch bed but thats only at night.

Great suites, quiet and close to malls and the 401.