This review is coming from the perspective of someone who is 35 years old, married 17 years, dabbled in the lifestyle off and on for 15 of those years. We’ve been to Hedo 2 three times and Hedo 3 two times.
The things that immediately come to mind when I think of our week:
I literally woke up with a smile on my face every morning. I have never laughed so much in my entire life. Now granted a lot of that had to do with my husband and our friends but also with so many random people throughout the week. Talking on a kik group for a few months prior helped a lot as far as recognizing people and getting conversations started. Young, old, fat, thin, tall, short, newbies and seasoned vets – we talked to them all and enjoyed every minute. I learned something new every day from the real meaning of pineapples to Canadian politics.
This trip was basically a second honeymoon. Hell, it was way better than my first honeymoon! Yeah we’ve been to Hedo and loved it, but for whatever reason I felt just so so in tune with my husband and well…worlds were rocked. On a related note if you are having sex on a pool cabana but not being overly loud, you will not be bothered by the staff who are cleaning up the quiet end of the pool at 3 am.
The obligatory general discussion:
Food: I liked the buffet better than dinner. We tried all 3 restaurants and I think Unik was the only place that was great all the way around. Pearl and Aphrodite were a 50/50 shot. It was either really great or really horrible. At Aphrodite they need WAY more air-conditioning by the windows.
Rooms: We had second floor seashell building. Perfect location. Quiet at night. Short walk to everything. Very clean and well laid out. Air conditioner was great. Plenty of hot water but it undulates from warm to OMG my tits are melting off every 7 seconds. I called it the shower tango. You will dance one way or the other. Loved the balcony. The beds were enormous (bigger than a king I think) and very comfy.
Staff: The staff are truly amazing. I couldn’t make it to breakfast without at least 3 people stopping me to ask if I was having fun and joking around. The entertainment people are perfect as far as asking people to join in but not putting you on the spot if you don’t want to. Kayla does a hell of a pole dance class. Beware those boys though. They will do everything in their power to distract you during pool volleyball…not that you’ll really mind.
Energy: We came in 30 minutes before the foam party, so our vacation started out at high voltage. Rumors were the resort was basically full for our whole stay and I never felt a lull really. Some days people were slower to make it out to the pool which probably just meant the night before was more fun. There was some energy to be found throughout the day just maybe not always in the same spot.
Pool & Hot tub: Always clean. Never really saw the floaty scum people sometimes talk about. Despite resort being at full capacity there were never any problems getting 4 loungers together at the fun end of the pool and no we weren’t members. The Jacuzzi beds got some daytime use and sometimes all 6 channels were broadcasting live at night.
Beach: Disappointing. I know they can’t do anything about the seaweed really. They TRY but it’s no use. It is mounded about 3 feet high and doesn’t smell good at all, therefore we spent no time there.
Bugs: No mosquitoes. I got tiny itchy bites on my feet one day. Not sure what from. But there are definitely no bugs swarming you and we had no need for bug spray.
Transfers: We used USA transfers and they were perfect. Always very responsive to emails. Always on time. Always smiling!
Tipping: It’s appreciated and tip jars are out at the bars. We tipped towards the end of our trip. There’s no difference in service from anyone whether you tip them or you don’t!
Age: At check in when you are newbies they give you a whole spiel about the rules and where everything is and general info stuff. The girl actually mentioned that the resort generally catered to older people. To be honest I didn’t really feel like people were that much older than us (our group was in the 35-40 range) Although on our last day a group came to visit from Riviera Maya and they were all hot as hell so maybe she has a point.
Playroom: Getting in here is hard because when the disco first opens up they are doing the show and then people start dancing and then everyone disappears! So you have 1 hour to 1.5 hours to jump in there….if you want a chance of an audience. The disco is open 24/7 if you want to not have an audience. There are baskets of towels to throw down and it’s generally well kept. I think on most nights there were people in there. Not sure, as you have to make it a point to go to that area of the disco if you’re trying to peek in.
I had a few minor pet peeves to complain about during the week:
At Hedo in the dining room they have tables in all kinds of configurations: 2 people, 4 people up to 12 people or more. So if you find new friends during the day, you invite them to dinner and it’s not like an ORDEAL. You don’t have to make reservations. Desire makes this very hard and it’s a real damper on the fun. It’s vacation. I don’t want to have to make plans hours or days in advance. How should I know if I’m going to have 6 new BFF’s by dinner time?
I’m a diet coke fiend (I know, I know) By the second day we were out and they never restocked our fridge with anything the whole week DESPITE the fact that there were like 3 random guys in our room supposedly taking notes on what we needed one day when my husband went back to the room. That was very strange as we never figured out why they were in there. To be fair I could’ve just picked up the phone and called the butler and I’m sure I would’ve had them within 5 minutes.
It was July and hot as the surface of the sun. There was no poolside lounging. You were in the pool or in the air-conditioning. Being in the pool 8+ hours a day made all of our skin break out in tiny bumps. Not really visible but you can feel them and they’re mildly itchy. Probably not desire’s fault. I imagine being in pool chemicals that long anywhere probably wouldn’t do your skin any favors.
I don’t know what the living hell people were thinking but I saw way too much unprotected sex. This is 2017. Wrap that shit UP! As I said I’ve been in the lifestyle for 15 years, hedo 5 times, and I’ve never seen people behave that way…in public…in broad daylight!!! I was shocked.
All in all the Desire Pearl experience was 5 stars from me. I’m sure we’ll be back!
Heather (and Jason)