| Grand Lido Negril | Roger ~Ontario, Canada |
May 2009
Arrival: May 3-10
1 hour wait in lobby.. another hour to get bags to room .. horrible…
Rooms:
Old…. did I mention ….. old .. A/C very noisy … and this is in all rooms..
Restaurants and Bars:
Average .. Bartenders not friendly at all though ..
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
My neigbour had a bigger pool in thier backyard … Ground clean but boring, Appearantly a hurricane a few years back ravaged this place .. beware ..
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
Did not do any tours …
Other Comments:
WARNING – READ THIS … This resort mainly attracts repeat visitors.. but this is NOT a good thing. They are all 50+ and have good memories of when this place was good and are all "buddy buddy" with the staff. This resort has too many problems to mention as a first timer.. OLD .. poor service .. bad layout .. Spend your money somewhere else … Please …
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| Grand Lido Negril | Tony ~ Toronto Canada |
December 2008
Arrival: Nov 18th ~ 25th
Arrival was pretty good, at the airport they direct you to a special lounge for the super clubs, wish they had something in a beverage to welcome you, but really wasn’t there very long.
Rooms:
Rooms were very clean, had a in room safe and LCD TV’s that we could get local Toronto CITY TV station and keep up to date with weather and whats going on in Toronto.
Restaurants and Bars:
All the Restaurants were very good, clean. Service was as they say Jamaican time. But were not there to rush you in and out, like a fast food joint.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
Beaches were very clean, pools were kept clean just a little on the cold side for me. Hot tubs were great. Specially on the clothes optional side, were partying never stopped.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
Had every activity you could think of, through out the day.
Other Comments: All in all great place for a vacation. Can’t wait to go back. People on the resort can’t do enough to keep you happy, they are great. Best vacation I’ve ever been on.
tcooke3560@rogers.com
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| Grand Lido Negril | Ranjit ~ USA |
December 2006
Certainly not the 5 star resort that it claims to be:
Pros – Very friendly waiters, bartenders and room service personnel – Very good, clean beaches – Excellent pasta restaurant – Out-of-this-world lamb chops – Excellent Bob Marleys (alcohol shots… woo hoo!) – Clean rooms – Above average gym
– Good spa facilities
Cons – Front-desk and supervisor staff are cold, unwelcoming and unfriendly. Gift shop staff are even worse – Poor food choices and quality (French, Japanese (really lousy) breakfast & lunch, etc.) – Careless water sports staff and trainers – Small swimming pools, nothing special – Airport pickup and drop by bus should be avoided of possible (slow, crowded, stops for *expensive* beer)
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| Grand Lido Negril | Lou & Pearl ~ Toronto |
February 2006
We had the privilege and pleasure of staying at this delightful resort in December 2005.
The Grand Lido Negril is one of the flagship resorts of Superclubs, the company that invented the all inclusive (AI) concept.
This resort is all about amenities, services and gastronomic delights. Those expecting palatial gardens and architecture with marble foyers and hand painted ceilings will be in for a bit of a culture shock. The resort is clean, simple and elegant. Perhaps the best feature of the rooms is the surround shower with eight shower heads. There is 24 hour room service with complimentary laundry, shoe shine and shoe repair services.
There is a spa here with complimentary mani and pedicure.
The food here is fabulous. Just as one should not judge a book by its cover, don’t let the simple décor of the Jamaican or Italian restaurant fool you. Every restaurant and every menu including the room service menu is excellent. The best restaurant is perhaps the French, with service and food that surpassed even the renowned Susur Lee restaurant in Toronto. The weakest (in relative terms) is the Japanese teppanyaki cooking which is more show than substance. The sushi and sashimi however are near perfect. The buffet though not as extensive as the Riu Palace Mexico and Las Americas is flavourful and above average.
Also included is Scuba but bring your own wet suit as this is the only gear not provided. The diving here is low stress. There are no strong currents. There were lots of lobsters and puffer fish especially on the night dives with large sting rays, an electric ray and dolphins joining the party on one occasion. Snorkeling is excellent with more fish than you will see in Scuba.
There is a strong tennis program here with morning group lessons and afternoon one on one. The balls are decent but bring your own racquets. Those looking for a more extensive program will be better served by the near by Couples Swept Away Resort.
The main beach is sandy and shallow. The optional nude beach is more rocky and deeper. The water is sometimes murky but generally quite calm as the bay area is well protected from the open sea.
Watersports is laid back. No reservation needed, no time limits, no problem.
There is a strict no tipping policy here that is rigorously enforced.
This is a wonderful resort that truly exemplifies the AI concept. Compared to the over 25 AI’s we’ve stayed at the Grand Lido sets the gold standard benchmark that has yet to be surpassed by the competition. A word of caution, for those lucky enough to visit the Grand Lido Negril, it will change your expectation of what a true AI should offer.
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| Grand Lido Negril | Jeff ~ USA |
March 2005
This review of the Grand Lido Negril is based on a visit in July 2004.
The center of this sprawling facility is an open-air lobby upstairs and the open-air main restaurant (The Gran Terraza) downstairs. The expansive main restaurant serves buffet breakfasts and lunches and is open for dinner one night a week for a manager’s party, when the other several restaurants are closed. The food was very good and quite varied. Lunch included a sandwich bar and several hot entree choices and an extensive salad bar. Service can be spotty — it’s possible to be ignored for a while — but was generally very good and a specific request to any server will be filled almost immediately.
Guests are entertained in the main restaurant during meals by the mellow music of an acoustic cello/guitar duet during the day, and at night are entertained by a band that performs mostly American R&B and dance music. The French restaurant — called the Piacere — is the best on the property. The Piacere requires reservations, and book with the concierge as soon as you arrive because it fills up. This restaurant also requires a jacket for men, but they will lend you one if you forgot to bring one. It offers an excellent jazz pianist. The entertainment was definitely improved from a prior visit I made here in 1998.
The hotel also offers other choices for the evening meal: a Japanese restaurant, and Italian restaurant, a "Continental" restaurant and one that offers Jamaican fare. Of these, the Cafe Lido — the Continental one — is the best bet. (The Japanese and "Scotch Bonnet" Jamaican restaurants are a little disappointing). Be sure to order the creme brulee, served at both the Cafe Lido and the Piacere. Of these other restaurants, only the Cafe Lido offers live entertainment, a bass guitar and electric piano duet that is largely ignored by the patrons but which has an extensive popular music repertoire and is happy to play requests. On Carribean Carnival night, tasty seafood and local dishes were served buffet-style on the terrace near the Gran Terraza.
The resort is extremely safe. The property is fenced and guarded by sentries at the gate and adjacent to the beach at one end. This side contains the only beachfront rooms and suites. At the other end, a rocky point, it adjoins another SuperClubs property, also fenced and gated. This side contains garden-view rooms and is more quiet than the beach end, but is a longer walk to the restaurants. The nude beach is set off from the rest of the property; it’s not "on the way" to anything, so you have privacy there and the easily offended are not at risk unless they wander. Room locks are substantial and the rooms include small safes. Unlike the rest of the resort, the rooms are beginning to show a little age, but they are very comfortable with good mattresses and well-appointed with TV, radio/CD player, small frig.
The resort has a main bar in the Gran Terraza, where service was unusually attentive for such a busy operation. (Service was better than on my previous trip). There are also satellite bars located near jacuzzis on each wing of the resort. These were rarely busy and a good opportunity to night only refresh yourself in relative quiet, but to ask the bartender questions about the resort, the town and the country. There is a well-equipped fitness center and a spa where a manicure and pedicure are complimentary; other spa services are fee-based.
There is little reason to venture from the resort unless you want to shop or experience the nightlife. I went out on a couple of occasions, including a long walk down the main road, and the streets of the resort town of Negril seemed quite safe. There is a police station in the heart of town, just around the corner from a small shopping center that contains a grocery store and several tourist shops and stalls. Buy Jamaican coffee in the grocery store, not in a tourist shop: It’s cheaper that way. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is $40 per pound or more in the States; it cost less than $6 in the store. The local crafts market offers clothing such as bathing suits, wood carvings, paintings, straw purses, and other items. Prices are negotiable.
Another good bet: the locally made jewelry featuring bone and shell materials, sold at the tourist stalls in the shopping center (but not, curiously, in the crafts market). Expect to pay about $10-30 for a necklace, depending on workmanship; prices are negotiable. One of the stores in the shopping center sells music CD’s. I told the salesperson that I wanted "roots reggae" (i.e., old style reggae uninfected with American rap) and he patiently played some sample tracks on the store’s CD player and made very good, knowledgeable recommendations. The resort’s gift shop is, needless to say, far more expensive for souvenirs than the options in town.
The room’s small refrigerator is stocked with bottled drinks every day. Room service is available 24 hours per day, although it can be slow. In fact, anything you request can be (but is not necessarily) slow to arrive or happen, reflecting the laid-back island culture. The room service menu is much more extensive that when I previously visited the resort in 1998.
This is a good point to mention that this is a "super all-inclusive resort." Meals, beverages (including alcohol), and most activities are included. Most notable among the "free" extras are scuba diving, which elsewhere typically costs $60 or more per diver per day.
The grounds are immaculately kept by a team of gardeners. The beach is raked of seaweed every morning and is equally pristine. By the way, the gardeners illustrated something important to know about Jamaicans. We struck up a conversation and the gardeners offered almonds harvested from the trees on the property and laboriously extracted from their husks before our eyes. Jamaicans respect your space. With the exception of those selling goods or services, they may not at first seem gregarious. But extend yourself a little, show these people respect and friendliness, and you are repaid many times over. They are happy to talk about themselves and their country, which they do unselfconsciously, but seem reluctant to ask much about you and yours. You get much further with respect, patience and kindness than you do with a demanding attitude — but then that’s probably true everywhere.
Tipping is not allowed at this resort. Period. Yet I made a special request to get a Jamaican Sunday newspaper (not normally carried at the resort) and I was accomodated by the concierge, who bought a copy of the Sunday Jamaica Gleaner for me on her way to work. No problem. No charge.
In fact, in general the service is friendly and accomodating ("no problem, mon" seems to be the national slogan). The Jamaicans will speak their patois in front of English-speaking visitors, but I saw it only to communicate on job tasks, i.e., matters the guests wouldn’t be interested in. Please keep in mind that although English is the official language, it is actually a second language for most Jamaicans that they learn at school, not at home. Many are much more comfortable speaking the patois.
The beach is a two-mile-long stretch of white sand in a crescent shape. The resort’s portion of the beach is approximately 500 feet long. Officially known as "Bloody Bay," the beach and bay are protected by a coral reef at the mouth of the bay. Consequently, the water is stunningly calm, making it perfect for swimming and for sailing on the small catamarans offered by the resort. A swimmers-only area is demarcated by lines and floats. Vendors hawking jetski rides respect this boundary, and beach vendors respect the property line of the resort. Only a few crafts sellers and hair-braiders are authorized by the resort to be on the beach, and they are not objectionably aggressive. A variety of drinks are served at a beachfront bar, and waitresses patrol the beach taking and delivering orders. Comfortable lounge chairs and water float pads are abundant on the beach, but many people tend to claim chairs in the late morning and then leave the beach for long periods of the day, but finding a lounge chair in the afternoon was always possible. Almost no one frequents the beach in the earlier morning, and after breakfast is an excellent time for quiet reading or unbothered tanning or swimming, and out of the worst heat of the day.
One of the resort’s great strengths is its water program. It offers sailing (and lessons), scuba (and lessons and certification), snorkeling, kayaks, and cocktail-hours cruises on the yacht Zein. The yacht is supposedly historic: Ari Onassis gave it to Prince Rainier and Princess Grace on the occasion of their marriage. The cruise is very pleasant. The yacht is taken out of service from time to time, presumably for maintenance. The swimming pool is reasonably large but nothing special; the beach is far more popular.
I am a scuba diver, so here is the scoop for my fellow bubble-blowers. There is a decent reef at the mouth of the bay that has seen better days but still has viable coral and some fish, although the fish tend to be small. The resort’s dive crew found an illegal fish trap on one trip, and did their best to dismantle and free the trapped fish. The crew visits the same stretch of reef every time, although at different spots, even though there is a small island near the mouth of the bay and an extensive reef system off the adjacent Negril beach, the beach at the aptly named five-mile "Long Bay." The dive boat accomodates about a dozen divers. There was little if any apparent degradation of the reef system from my prior visit in 1998. Scuba is included in the price except for a night dive, for which they wanted about $50. I didn’t do the night dive. The bottom line is that it is nice that the scuba is included in the total price, but this is far from a diving destination, and just so-so compared to other Caribbean islands. So scuba is a bonus, not a reason to visit here.
This is an adult resort, so there are no kids around. The guests range in age from their 20’s to their 70’s, but the typical guests are couples in their 30’s to 40’s. The resort’s noise level and guest behavior reflects this demographic. The only problem I experienced was a wedding party of about 12 people in the Cafe Lido. They made no effort to keep their noise level below a roar, oblivious to the diners in the otherwise normally quiet restaurant.
Do not rely on reviews of other Superclubs properties to evaluate this one. Grand Lido Negril and Grand Lido Braco are the flagship resorts of the chain, and a cut above the rest.
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March 2005
arrive at grand lido,negril on feb 12-20,2005. had booked ajoining rooms with friends in auguest, called grand lido in december told eveything was ok. arrived , our rooms were not together, 2 doors down, no explanation given. had reservations 3 different nights, told at japanese res. we had no reservation that day. french rest. was great, reserve as soon as u get there. my husband and friends stated in 9 days they never had a beer that was "cold". coffee ordered between 7:30 and 8 am took over an hour on 2 differnt mornings. very limited service of drinks on the beach. you have to go get them yourself at a bar close by, on most days. our room was not cleaned, bed made, or fresh towels until after 3pm. one day my husband had to call at 4:30 pm. would i go back? if it was free. i would go back to mexico much faster.
all in all very disappointed after spending so much money on an ocean front room and after such a cold winter here.
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| Grand Lido Negril | Debbie ~ Alberta, Canada |
March 2005
We travelled to the Grand Lido Negril from Feb. 19-26th.
We earned this trip through our business and were very excited to travel to a hotel that had such rave reviews! We were not disappointed.
We travelled from Calgary to Montego Bay on board an Air Canada jet, through Air Canada Vacations, but I will add that as we were in a group of 36 people travelling together (we only met at the airport for the first time), we used a travel agency from Montreal, and had an associate from the travel agency awaiting our arrival at the airport, (he had been at the resort for over 24 hours when we arrived and had compiled a lot of information for us in advance, he stayed all week long and took care of any needs we had as well as booked all excursions, etc). His name was Jeremy Hall, from Merit Golf Tours. He was absolutely invaluable, and an amazing asset to our vacation.
The company who sponsored our trip, sent us matching "wild flowered shirts" to wear to the airport and on the plane to easily identify others in our group! If we wore these shirts to the airport and on the plane, all names were going to be entered into a draw the first day there and lucky us, we won! This was an amazing idea, as it immediately helped us to meet up and get acquainted! It also caused quite a sensation at the airport from other travellers! We were seriously the talk of the airport that day!
When we arrived at the airport in Montego Bay, we were shown to a room that was air conditioned, a lounge, for customers heading to GLN, Hedonism II and the Starfish Trelawny! In this room, we were asked to fill out a pre-registration form, with our credit card information, and these cards were collected by a staff member of the resort who would later accompany us on the bus! This room also held our luggage till we were ready to leave for the resort, and I will say that this was the only negative part of the whole week, it seemed like we were there forever, and then the process of having to go back in the room to identify our luggage to be sure it was going to be loaded on the bus. It seems if we had just taken our luggage out to the bus ourselves, and filled out these cards on the bus, things would have been smoother and quicker!
Once loaded on bus, it was an hour and 15 minute bus ride. It was Saturday night and there seemed to be a lot of local traffic in the towns we passed through on route to the GLN. Some very interesting things to see though! Local culture, outdoor church services, etc.
Once at the hotel, we were offered a cold drink and cold facecloths to wash up with.
We were then grouped in the lobby (which was beautiful) and then shown to our rooms in groups of 4 couples to a group.
The rooms were absolutely beautiful, clean, and welcoming! We were in room 2098. Our view wasn’t great, but that was okay! The showers were immense, with 7 showerheads! They were amazing! The air conditioner was remote controlled. What a luxury to be able to change temperature settings from your bed! The entry had a mini bar, stocked everday, and it had tea and coffee, and some shelves to put things like glasses, keys, etc, to have easy access to when coming and going! It had a king size bed, TV, sunken living room with desk, couch and coffee table. Patio doors to a balcony, that overlooked the Hedonism II resort and a garden. We could catch a glimpse of the ocean, but not much. I believe this is the only building that does not have an ocean view! We spend so little time in our room, that this did not matter to us!
Close to our room, we had a bar called the Stonehouse Bar, and each bar has a hot tub as well! On the way to the main building there is the Timberhouse Bar!
We used the room service only on the first night as we arrived quite late to the resort, it took around 1 hour after being promised about 30-35 minutes, but we sat at the Stonehouse bar and watched for room service till they arrived and the wait did not seem very long at all! This bar had a drink menu for you to choose from, it was a very large book with lots of choices, it sure made it easy to try new drinks. I would recommend the Hummingbird, the No Problem, Purple Rain, and a Chocolate Monkey!! All delicious, and fun!
The beach was beautiful, clean, and calm (as it is set in a bay), with the most comfortable lounge chairs I have ever sat on! They had cushions at least 4 inches thick. Very nice! Also, they had float mattresses for both the pool and the beach, they were very relaxing and very easy to get used to. The beach towels were very nice and large, and did not have to be returned. They were just left wherever, and the staff picked them up and laundered them each night and then you were able to just get a clean one in the morning, without having to leave a deposit! Made me very lazy!
The nude beach was fairly secluded behind buildings, away from the main beach. There was some great snorkelling at the nude beach as well, but not lots of lounge chairs (only at the nude beach, lots of lounge chairs at the regular beach) to leave your things at while snorkelling. The wedding chapel was there as well, and it confused me why they would put the chapel there, where the nude bathers would be in the background for pictures, but it is a very nice chapel none the less!
The pool was small, but seemed to suffice for those who wanted to lounge there! The beach is in between the beach bar and the main bar(beside the pool) in the buffet! There was some beach service, staff walking along with ready made drinks, and bottled water. Occasionally, they did ask what you wanted, and retrieved drinks for you. But usually only in the morning! The beach seemed to clear out around 3 or so.
The food was incredible, morning, noon and night, it could not have been better! The buffet was open for breakfast, then the buffet and Scotch Bonnet was open for lunch, and then for supper two nights a week, the buffet was open! On Mondays it is the Beach Party, and on Fridays it was the General Managers Gala! Both had great entertainment as well. The other nights, there are 5 a la cartes for dinner, (no buffet). They were all superior! Our luck the night we ate at the Cafe Lido, the catch of the day was lobster! Then the Japanese called the Munasan, (reservations required) and then the French called the Piacere (reservations required), the Cafe Lido, no reservations required, the Scotch Bonnet, no reservations required and lastly the Italian called the Pasta. We did not eat at the Pasta, but I heard from others that it was great as well. The buffet for breakfast was very nice, and usually had musical entertainment, a piano player, or a duet playing very nice calming music. The buffet for lunch was superb as well. Try the Jerk Chicken, it was great!
The entertainment was fun, it usually included dancing and the audience participated well!
Watersports were great too! There was a snorkel trip twice daily at 9:30 and 1:30, and then a glass bottom boat trip as well at 11 and 3. Diving is included at this resort, and there is a very qualified diving team onsite! Very accommodating! Very helpful! There are Hobie cats, windsurfing, paddle boats, and kayaks. Beach volleyball and aerobics!
We went on the MY Zein one evening for a sunset cruise (3:30 -6:30). This is a three hour trip along the coast of the 7 mile beach! Also very entertaining as there is a band that plays as you are being taxied out to the yacht, and plays for the first hour or so of the journey. This is strictly a cocktail cruise and one should eat before going!
The spa is very nice and set in the middle of the resort. They offer free pedicures and manicures, and then most other treatments are charged a fee, there are massages, (on the beach in a hut), facials, wraps, etc. There are very nice lounge chairs for you to sit and wait for your turn.
Every night our beds were turned down, and sprinkled with flower petals, and our towels used before supper to shower were removed and replaced!
All in all, this was our best vacation ever!
Would we return, probably not as we always try to visit new places! Would we recommend this resort!! Absolutely! It was great!
tjmf@telusplanet.net
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| Grand Lido Negril | Anita — Canada |
January 2005
We just returned from one week (Dec. 11 – 18) at the GLN. It helped me so much when I was choosing our destination to read the reviews posted on the various resorts and would now like to contribute to someone else’s decision-making process if I can.
My husband & I traveled with our two sons aged 27 & 23. We choose GLN based on the reviews that I had read and the fact that it was an all-adult resort offering both scuba diving and golf as part of its all-inclusive package.
We booked through CAA and Sunquest. Our travel agent at CAA was extremely helpful and informative. Sunquest was offering some incentives at the time of our booking that we took advantage of (luggage at a special price, CAA discounts and travelers cheques). The flight was a late one (4:30 p.m. scheduled but 7:00 p.m. leaving due to a mechanical glitch in the plane) and the major complaint (and I was not alone in this) was the food we were served on route. It gave new meaning to the term “airplane food”. It remains a mystery to this day to all of us on that flight. The more minor complaint was the cramped seating on the plane.
From what I had read in the posted reviews I was apprehensive about the ride to Negril from the airport in Montego Bay and especially after dark but it was absolutely “no problem – mon” as they say in Jamaica. Sunquest was waiting for us as we disembarked and directed us to the special GLN lounge where we were met by a gentleman who took our bags to the bus (who was not shy about asking for a tip) and then the driver (who also reminded us that a tip would be a good thing). It was very late (10:30 p.m. or so) and the traffic on the highway was not bad making the trip very easy & comfortable. We arrived at the resort at about 1:00 a.m. and were greeted with a cool drink and a comfortable place to relax before being escorted to our respective rooms. We had requested a room with twin beds and our room had a king size. The next day all was made right but we did have to assert ourselves somewhat and we ended up having to move our own baggage because they were quite slow in doing so and we were looking for a shower and some dry clothes. The rest of the service was excellent.
The rooms were nice with a view over the water from a (tiny) balcony. There was maid service twice a day (thanks Authorine, especially – what a sweetheart) and we found pretty little towel sculptures and rose petals on our beds every day. The GLN tries to be environmentally conscious and asks that you place a card on the bed if it is not necessary to have the sheets changed and place on the floor any towels that you want changed. There were extra pillows and towels and blankets in a little cupboard if you needed them.
The shower is a large “body shower” complete with a hand held spray which was nice. The bar was always stocked and there is coffee and tea available in the room.
The grounds are lovely despite the damage from the recent hurricane when some of the palm trees and plantings were destroyed. They have since re-planted along the beach and there was plenty of shade available.
The GLN staff told us that pre-Xmas was not their busiest time and we loved the fact that the resort was not overly full because it was very easy to find lounges at the beach and at the pool, there were no line ups for food or difficulty getting reservations at the restaurants or sports centre and rarely anybody competing for space in the hot tub.
The water sports staff was very nice and my sons enjoyed the scuba diving and snorkeling especially. They made friends with Seaweed and Yoyo who tried very hard to accommodate and entertain.
The GLN made a good effort at the entertainment but it was less than spectacular. The beach barbecue was okay, we enjoyed the 50s – 60s music and for the Manager’s Night they really put on a big splash.
We were somewhat disappointed in the food. The buffet-style meals offered on the Gran Terrazzo were mediocre with disappointingly limited fruits available (watermelon, pineapple and citrus basically) and not much that stood out for breakfast or lunch. The Lido’s food was better but we only ate there one night because they closed it for renovations. The Pasta restaurant served us a tasty meal. The French restaurant was a smash. We loved the food and the service. Our waiters made our visit even more enjoyable by their humour and attentiveness. Special thanks to Michael and Omar. We were collectively disappointed in the Munashan (Japanese restaurant). They tried but came short. The food was so-so. The Timber House had good wings. We would not recommend the GLN if you are looking for great food based on our experience. It was simply mediocre and not close to what we had recently enjoyed at a previous visit to a Riu Resort (but, man was the Riu packed full and the beach crowded). But I wouldn’t let the food keep you away from an otherwise wonderful resort.
The beach, oh, the beach – how amazing! Safe, sandy, usually calm and warm, warm, warm. I am a nervous swimmer and I was totally at home in this heaven of a beach. You can walk for at least two miles from the GLN to the Riu Negril past Couples & Riu Tropical Bay all the way to Riu Negril. Every time you leave the GLN property the security guard takes your name and room number and we felt very safe at all times. Then if that isn’t enough beautiful white sand and lapping waves to satisfy your soul, you can be “escorted” through the neighbouring (but totally separate and not nearly as nice) Hedonism II Resort to another 7 miles of beach. There you will find little stalls with Jamaicans hawking their wares (but never aggressively) and one resort after another. Not to scare you but on our last day we had a sting ray at our feet just gliding along in the shallows. It was not bothering anybody and soon swam out to sea.
There is a little market just outside the gates of the GLN where you can bargain for Jamaican souvenirs, you can hire a taxi to take you into Negril proper or on all manner of excursions. We were so content at the resort that we did not venture very far. Our son went golfing twice and my husband played tennis with the resident pro a few times. We all had a complimentary manicure and pedicure but I felt a little miffed and ignored when the manicurist and her sidekick prattled on in Patois while working on me. Not my idea of good manners.
On the whole we would definitely return to GLN and we would recommend it to anyone with the proviso that there really were not any single guests our sons’ ages there when we were there. It was mostly couples. There were about five weddings that week. We all made some new friends and found the experience a very positive one. I hope that this helps someone else with their choice of a destination.
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| Grand Lido Negril | Cara — Canada |
May 2004
We stayed at the Grande Lido Negril April 21 – 26.
The service was excellent – 5 star Room service was good and very quick – 5 star The specialty restaurants were good, although the serving sizes were very small – 4 star The food was very good, no seafood to speak of though – 4 star
The swimming pool was very small with no swim up bar, the filtration system in the pool was also sorely lacking, the pool was always cloudy with lots of junk floating on top. Being pool people we were especially disappointed with this pool – 2 star
The beach was excellent, situated in a cove the water was calm most of the time we were there – 4.5 star The accomodations were ok, nothing special, our room had 2 small twin beds, and in other resorts we have stayed in they are at least a double size if not queen – 3.5 star
The grounds were poor, in other resorts there are always workers busy raking etc. here we did not see anyone working on the grounds. There were fallen leaves and grass clippings etc, everywhere – 3 star
Overall I think this hotel is overrated at a 5 star. I think a 4 star would be more appropriate. Would I return to this resort. No, we have traveled to the Mayan Riviera and Punta Cana and feel they are both just as nice and are much easier on the pocketbook
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March 2004
We went to Grand Lido Negril from Feb22-29. We thought it was a great resort and had no major complaints. Upon arrival we were served drinks while we checked in. We were then escorted to our rooms. We had only booked gardenview but had been upgraded to oceanview which is located on the c/o side. I did look at the gardenviews and I have to say their garden was not very pretty. The room was a long walk from the central area but with all the food we ate we decided we could use the walk to work off all the calories. Our room had been 3/4 redecorated. It looked nice but when I saw the rooms that were done I realized that we had a BR vanity and faucets and some more new furniture that was due to finish off the remodeling. Our room had a two person Jacuzzi that was nice and they have a small stepstool now to get in and out of the tub. My brother-in-law’s room had a real nice shower with multiple heads. Our room overlooked the cliffs and ocean and had a great view. We used the prude beach and next trip would like to book the beachfront rooms.
We had great service after the first day. It did seem like the staff had to find out you were nice and then they would be nice back. We had exceptional service from several people. They discouraged tipping and staff refused tips many times. We were able to tip a few people when no one was around. The resort was half empty the first half of the trip which was nice. The water was beautiful and calm and I enjoyed water-skiing 4 days(Hueroy was very nice).We also did the hobiecats and the canoes. The water for 5 days was like a lake. We had one day with rain and the next day the ocean was rough and we could do no water activities. The beach was one of the most beautiful one we have ever seen with white sand with no rocks. They had mats you could float on. The food was very good and the service great. We even had all you can eat lobster at the Gala buffet on Friday. Be sure to book your dinner at the French restaurant the first day. We also had no complaints about the Cafe Lido. The Japanese restaurant had only been open one month. The food was good but the chef needed to go see Japanese chefs so he could learn the act of preparing the food. We like all-inclusives and felt it was in many ways as good as The Royal Hideaway outside Playa del Carmen, Mexico. I’m sure we will return.
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