Hedonism 2 Review (we had posted this on a review site and so have the number scores... dunno if people here would find it helpful but figured we would post)

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TLDR: We loved our first time at Hedonism 2 and are already planning a return trip for next year. The resort is not perfect by any means but the wonderful services it provides, the sexually liberated, body positive, party-ready atmosphere it promotes is one we love very much. The 5/5 star is not some mathematical computation of all the factors below but rather just how we FEEL about our overall experience at the resort. The score reflects that it was an amazing experience for us.

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We just came back from a week long vacation from our first trip to Hedo running from June 6th-13th and wanted to provide our thoughts on the vacation so this might read as a review and a partial log of our stay there. Disclaimer so you know where this review is coming from: the wife and I are mid 40s to mid 50s and have been in the lifestyle for about a decade at this point so we are not unfamiliar with this particular demographic at all. What we are new to is nudism on vacation. That was a bigger thing to get our heads around (took all of one hour to adjust lol) than swinging. We like to swing and love the community / culture that has developed around ENM; a lot of our closest family friends are in this community.

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Some housekeeping…

This was also our first trip to Jamaica. We did some research about the country and so booked our entire package with Sunwing. We did not have any major issues and loved the app they have developed as it kept us informed but it was somewhat annoying that our transfer time out of the resort was 4:40 AM on a Tuesday morning and then when we got to Sangster at 6:30, the stuff at the Sunwing luggage check-in counter stated they would not be open till 7:30. As you can imagine, this was met with some loud negative commentary from the hundred or so people already lined up at 6:30 as this is when the Sunwing transfers dropped us there.

For our first trip, we also used Club Mobay to expedite our arrival and departure. Since our arrival was so early in the morning (9:15 AM Jamaican time), there was barely a line up to get through customs. We appreciated the guided tour of the airport, helped with luggage and customs, and our guide informed us of famous tourist spots and cultural highlights. However, we barely had time to get a drink at the lounge before being spirited away on the transfer. In this sense, Mobay wasn’t really of much value on arrival as there weren't many people contending with these services. Departure was a different story as there were many more people and we spent a lot more time in the lounge; we got breakfast and snacks and it was less crowded, air conditioned and much quieter than the general waiting area in the airport. In all dealings with Mobay, the staff were super helpful, polite, and positive in their demeanor.

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Ok onto Hedo itself… we’ve broken this down into sections to better organize our thoughts on this vacation: Staff / Grounds / Food / Events / Social Atmosphere

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STAFF: 5/5

Easily everyone we met or dealt with on the staff at Hedo provided fantastic service. Everyone was professional, got the task done when we made a request and were courteous and accommodating. The meal staff at the buffet and in the specialty restaurants served with a smile, pleasant demeanor and were generally very expedient to clean up after us and provide anything that might have been missing from the table (i.e. napkins, a butter knife, etc.). We want to give a shout out to a few particular staff members here whose names we actually noted as it will hopefully benefit them and our only regret is that we didn’t get to know the names of more staff who provided stellar personal service while we were there as they also deserved recognition.

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Maxine - The older lady who ran and worked at the poolside grill; she wore a funny apron of a buff male body on it when working. My wife had more interaction with her than I did. My wife states she was always so helpful and charming to all the seemingly tipsy patrons who were climbing out of the nude pool and went out of her way to keep the line moving and people well fed.

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Tweyeah - I hope I spelled his name correctly. This young man served our teppanyaki / hibachi grill when we attended dinner there for our first full day at the resort. This guy had such an amazing stand-up comedy routine at the grill he had all 4 couples around the table in stitches. Even when the other hibachi grill opposite us had finished their dinner earlier than our table, they decided to stay and watch his antics at our grill as he was on fire (not literally of course) and they only left once Tweyeah had finished making our meal. It made for such a hilarious experience and everyone at the table laughed and chatted about him through the whole meal even after he left.

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Dorette - She was the attendant at the breakfast burrito station. Wife states she was very pleasant, wonderful to chat with and quite accommodating regarding any special requests about the burrito.

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Coffee place “youngster” - I didn’t actually catch this individual’s name but we struck up a conversation while he was making an iced latte (the wife had gotten one first… tasted amazing so I decided to get one). He was telling me the story of how fortunate he was to have gotten this job 5 years ago just out of highschool and how many of the people there often stayed as employees for many years as the company treated them fairly well. I know this may or may not be true for every employee, but it was heartening to hear it from him. He also acknowledged the super high repeat rate of customers as he has seen the same clients return over and over again in the 5 years he’s been there.

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Kama Sutra Palace staff - Wife and I are new to any tantric-sexual workshops and truly enjoyed taking these sessions along with the other 9-10 other couples who also piled into the rooms. I will probably touch more on this in the events section but needless to say we really liked how well presented and informative these workshops were. The guided practice was super helpful and this was probably one of the most romantic activities my wife and I have done on any vacation. Listening to different staff members talk the group through different physical and mental / visualization practices over the course of the week (each day of the week is dedicated to a different tantric-centered topic like touch / orgasm / positions / nature of love, etc), was an AMAZING bonding experience with my partner and provided a lot of discussion points for the week.

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Winston and the entertainment staff - What can you say about Winston? We were told that in addition to being the MC most nights, he’s also the choreographer and plans and sets out all the shows performed on the stage. My wife fell in love with him - super talented and a force of nature. As a singer, he’s a natural chameleon blending in and out of different styles depending on what’s needed for the performance number. Hedo’s budget for entertainment is probably not as extensive as the other larger resorts but there are no complaints from us as the band played wonderful live music (volume appropriately tuned for dinner patrons) and the show afterwards with Winston and his troop of gorgeous and incredibly sexy dancers had the patrons rocking out, dancing and participating every night they were on stage. Moreover, after the show, you often saw Winston’s troop milling about at different evening locations at the resort (we saw them at the discotheque on several nights) always engaging the clients, chatting them up and getting games or other activities going to keep the party going.

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Harry - This guy doesn’t need a shout out in the reviews as he’s the owner of the resort but just wanted to recognize it was nice to see him walking around and engaging the patrons in chatter and pleasantries. As some in our group have noted, he’s basically the Hugh Hefner equivalent of Hedo. There was not a single time the wife and I saw him where he did not have a very pretty and much younger woman by his side. He was approachable and wife actually danced with him; we thanked him for keeping the place running all these years as a personal passion project.

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GROUNDS: 3/5

Of all the elements on this review, this is probably the one that gives Hedo the most flack. Yes, it’s a bit dated. No, it is not a 5-star resort in terms of physical presentation. However, it did not detract one bit from the enjoyment of our stay there.

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The resort seems to be in a state of constant partial renovation and upgrade and this is a good thing. Disclaimer: The way the grounds look was actually the aspect of Hedo that made us hesitate to book as some of the amateur videos (some better shot than others) posted on youtube do show the dated look of the resort. We were used to going to more modern “vanilla” resorts that have a real polish / gleam to them and that isn’t Hedo.

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Having said all this, the rooms we stayed in were great. Everything functioned as it should and it seems as if the washroom had just been recently renovated as it had that nice shiny / glossy look all over it and had a more modern look than the rest of the room. The cabinets in our opinion are really dated and probably need changing more quickly than other aspects of the room.

The grounds are very well kept, clean and manicured.

The prude pool right outside the main dining room was barely occupied while we were there but had a “new” look to it so we were wondering if it was recently re-tiled or it was just that way because of lack of use. Cabanas dotting the grounds were great to relax on, read, nap and do other things if you felt so inclined as well as all the mini-pools that existed.

The restaurants (Harrysan, Pastafari, Flame) were average sized compared to other restaurants we’ve tried at other resorts, The decor is a bit dated but appropriate to the fare being prepped and served (Japanese / Italian / Steak respectively). Flame is closer to the beach and without walls so it was nice to eat outside on a warm night. The main dining hall where the buffet is served is a bit dark and probably needs more lighting or to be renovated to allow more lighting in. The seating is always in fours or more and we found this was conducive to others sometimes asking if they could sit at your table when the place was packed; this was a positive in our books as we like company for dinner at a LS location like this.

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I used the gym several times during the week and found it served my purposes well. There was enough gear in there to do all the lifts I wanted to do or modified versions thereof. Several cardio machines were present and a large calisthenics / yoga / stretching area existed near the front. I could see the weight training area getting cramped if more than 10 people were trying to do a workout routine at the same time with the machines / dumbbells in that area. Thankfully, that did not happen while I was there. Water and cleaning spray and wipes were readily available which is great. There are also several tennis courts and a basketball court there but we never saw anyone using these facilities.

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Speaking of water, an awesome feature of the resort is that they have drinking stations all over the grounds. We got at check-in Hedo branded water bottles to fill and this a smart move as hydration is key in a place as warm as Jamaica and especially on resorts where alcohol is free and flows easily.

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The Kama Sutra palace seemed to be a more modern building and had super comfy mattresses for all the couples participating to use. Bathrooms here were new in the same way that the bathrooms in the client rooms are newly renovated. The main practice room itself had a high ceiling, light and airy feeling.

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If you’re into the LS, the playroom was pretty impressive in that it had an open air area that included a cold pool one could dip in after a hot session with new found friends. Or if you ever wanted to just have sex under the stars but not necessarily out on the beach, this was a great option as well. There is a small side room with a sex swing, showers and mini-dungeon but we didn’t spend much time here but it was all clean and tended to by staff. Condoms and towels were readily available.

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The beach area itself is divided like the pools as prude / nude sides. We started on the prude side. Many of the beach chairs are under trees. We discovered the hard way that birds sometimes nest in the trees and got pooped on. Never again did we decide to stay under any tree on the property. Thankfully, large umbrellas are present beside many chairs (but we discovered they are kept closed on very windy / rainy days). Very little seaweed was present on the beach, the sand was raked and trash was very quickly attended to. Security is present at regular intervals and cameras as a big no no on the nude side. Nudity is generally enforced quite quickly by staff if you cross over to the nude side and this is great as it makes it a pretty even “playing field” for everyone there.

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The nude pool - this was the most happening place on the resort. And probably the area most in need of upgrading. We get why they would be hesitant to shut this place down for upgrade though as so much of the “life” of Hedo revolves around this pool at all hours of the day. However, the tiling of the pool is cracked in certain areas and the layout of the pool itself it a bit bizarre with a hot tub area on the far side closest to the washrooms, a middle wading pool with a fountain, a grotto behind a waterfall leading off the side of the wading pool, an elevated whirlpool tub with really powerful jets that the wife absolutely LOVED that has an infinity pool-like edge that drops off into the larger pool that leads up to the swim up bar.

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We loved our time at the nude pool but it feels like it’s one of those key features of Hedo that doesn’t know what it wants to be. It would probably be best if the middle wading pool and whirlpool were just removed and the large main pool area attached to the bar was extended as this is where most patrons hung out. The walking area around the pool also needs to be re-worked as that surface is rough. Pool shoes almost feel mandatory at hedo. The mats they’ve placed to cover these spots also get blazing hot in the sun and so even if the roughness doesn’t get to your feet, the trapped heat of the sun from these mats will definitely give them a partial cooking as you run to and from the washrooms. There’s also a “sex-hut” as it’s been termed off to the side of the hot tub areas and this is well used late into the night by patrons. Well stocked with towels and condoms and a large industrial fan to keep air coming in; not anywhere near as nice as the playrooms but it will do in a pinch if you’re feeling frisky from all the stuff happening at the nude pool and don’t want to trek all the way to the playroom (or if it’s before 10PM when the playroom officially opens).

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FOOD: 4/5

Ok this is a bit contentious. My wife and I will admit we are easy to please with regards to food so this could be more gracious than other reviewers. The main dining area serves buffet food every night except Mondays when the entire eating set up is brought down to the beach for a Jamaican themed night and traditional Jamaican fare is served. This night seems to be a real hit or miss with repeat patrons as some of the offerings would be foreign to the less traveled eater (ex. Oxtail, ackee, “fish tea” soup, various sea fish and fried breads). Of course jerk-chicken and pork were on offer and we found that delicious along with the beans and rice and salads on offer.

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Long and the short of the main dining buffet; it’s a buffet very similar to the other buffets on offer at other resorts. Prior to Hedo we had gone to Temptations Cancun and honestly felt the buffet here was better than TTR’s.

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If we had to rank the restaurant’s in terms of food it would be 1) Harrysan, 2) Pastafari and 3) Flame. Harrysan we liked as the food was fresh and prepared right in front of you. The entertainment we had at dinner also added to the experience so that might bias us. The food at Pastafari was good. Nothing that screams spectacular fine dining but it was tasty and well prepared. The filet mignon was especially tender and the fresh bread served with EVOO and balsamic vinegar hit the spot. Flame was good but nothing memorable to us.

God bless the planner who put the grill beside the nude pool and has it opened till 3 in the morning when the pool officially closes. Fresh made pizza is available throughout the night (the toppings should probably be expanded as the only plant life available is pineapple… some peppers, mushrooms, etc. would be nice).

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Freshly made pizza is basically ambrosia after a hot and steamy session in or around the nude pool.

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Regarding drinks… I am not a drinker. I loved the ginger beer that is not available at home and drank plenty of diet coke and water. My wife is a regular drinker and she stated that the drinks were fairly good but the potency differed from one bar to another, one server to another as it’s all free poured. She also lamented the fact that there was not a greater selection of beer as seemingly the only brand available was Red Stripe.

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EVENTS: 4/5

So much of the life at Hedo seems to be based around lounging around on the beach or at the nude pool (the prude pool was absolutely dead when we were there but maybe that would change during a week of max occupancy which our week was not). However, there are few “events” (a catch-all we use for anything happening to do by patrons other than lounging at the beach / pools). Effectively we thought of:

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-Theme nights

-Evening entertainment on stage

-Piano bar / karaoke

-Discotheque

-Kama sutra workshops

-Playroom

-Gym / sports recreation

-Guided pool activities

-Groups

-Spa services

-Catamaran tours

-Sea activities

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The three below the line we don’t have much experience with other than friends we made with the resort talking about them.

Theme nights are a central part of the resort experience and probably carry the most weight for our score (again, nothing really mathematically sound behind the score… just what we feel). You don’t have to participate in them (we totally regret not packing more costume materials to join in… next time we will for sure) but they are a fun distraction and a great lead-in as conversation starters with others you don’t know. Theme nights also have contests that result in judging of said costumes that provide the winner and all participants with HEDOBUCKS.*

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*A quick note on HEDOBUCKS. Hedo has its own fake fun currency in the form of these poker chips with different denominations that you can use on a 1:1USD conversion rate for anything purchasable on-site. They can be won from all sorts of games / activities on the resort. So technically you could pay for a spa-treatment if you won enough HEDOBUCKS during your stay. The small gift shop that carries an assortment of essential goods (ex. Tylenol, sun-screen, sandals, etc.) and themed souvenirs and sex-related toys and clothing also accept HEDOBUCKS.

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Theme nights also kinda dictate the evening entertainment on stage (ex. If the theme is Fetish night then the performers do a 50 Shades - S&M lite related dance review). Speaking of stage entertainment, we loved what was provided. As stated earlier, Winston and his crew of performers pour their hearts and a tonne of sweat into the shows. All the dancers are incredibly easy on the eyes (all guys are ripped, women gorgeous in our opinion). They get the patrons involved in shows; people often move to the pit area in front of the stage to dance, Winston gets people to sing key parts of songs, etc. Super engaging. One of the theme nights is also a talent show that patrons can participate in. It’s all good fun and again… easy conversation starters for everyone involved.

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-Karaoke and Piano Bar are fine. The former is great when there is good talent, sometimes even better when there’s poor talent and everyone has been drinking. Piano bar (same space where Karaoke is done) is great as often while we were there, a hired singer and piano player lead very popular piano songs that everyone could join in, dance to, etc. Only problem with this place was that the song selection got a touch repetitive if you came for more than night. It seemed like Living on a Prayer, Don’t Stop Believing, Wonderful Tonight and Piano Man were nightly staples that really got tiring after a while. This did not stop dancers from cutting a rug or sing-a-longs from starting every night we went and these familiar tunes came up.

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-Discotheque at Hedo is basically dead except the one night it rained hard and a lot of people were there. The stage performers were also here several nights during the week orchestrating games like a pole dancing contest for patrons, mock Magic Mike for the guys to do for birthday ladies, etc. They also milled about and socialized and were very pleasant and cool to be around.

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-Kama Sutra workshops were talked about in the staff section. Short story: Wife and I did them every day of the week we were there. If you come to Hedo with a partner and want a romantic period of time of the day to reconnect, learn sex-related ideas to introduce in the bedroom or are curious about tantric sex GO GO GO to this. We absolutely loved it and felt rejuvenated by doing it together (Spoiler alert: We’re also crazy madly deeply in love with each other). Hedo is often talked about as a purely swingers resort (notoriously so) but we feel there’s probably a lot on offer at the resort as well for couples NOT in the lifestyle but are just curious, want to explore the kinky side between themselves, explore exhibitionism, add some spice to their sex life, etc. This would be a tool / experience that would speak well to traditionally monogamous couples.

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-Playroom was already touched on above. It’s a great space to have sex safely in a public space if you want to experiment with it, have others watch you, etc. Also great if you want sex under the stars. “Dungeon” is a bit lacking if I should even call it that. Due to low occupancy, it wasn’t very full most nights we were there and most of the action we witnessed was at the nude pool, day or night.

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-Gym / sports recreation already covered in the previous section.

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-Guided pool activities. Effectively staff emcees at the pools during the afternoon lead the crowd in an assortment of games where they can win HEDOBUCKS. As you might expect, most of the games and humor from the hosts are sexually charged (the exception might be daily trivia and bocce ball tournaments that happen on the beach). This happens by the swim up bar and since this is where the vast majority of patrons congregate, participation is generally high and energized. The only downside to the pool directed activities is that sometimes we find that afterwards the DJ in the booth ramps up the volume to the music. While we are not averse to loud music (we like to go clubbing regularly), in a setting like the nude pool where the vast majority of people are chatting and / or trying to make a social connection, loud music is antithetical to this and gets in the way. Yes have music, yes have it be heard, but not to the point that it’s distracting or detracts from conversation. A bunch of people in the pool were also commenting on this and by the end of some days, we were hoarse from yelling for the better part of the afternoon to be heard at the nude pool.

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Groups that attend Hedo together sometimes organize their own pool activities and the wife and I attended a week with several groups that were very inclusive and welcoming (I’ve been told that most groups are very friendly and inclusive in their takeover events with the exception of a few that attend during certain parts of the year that may be more marketing / social media related… can’t comment much more on these exceptions but this was mentioned by some of the patrons we talked to and had been repeat visitors for many years).

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SOCIAL ATMOSPHERE: 100/5

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Not sure if we named this section correctly. Basically, we wanted to dedicate a section to the ambience or social atmosphere present at the resort due to the people it attracts. As we stated at the start of the review, we are swingers and have been for about a decade. We frequent clubs regularly, attend house parties, hosted parties, etc. So we are generally familiar with the LS community (at least in our North American metropolitan center).

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Based on our experience this week with the staff and people we met there and the groups we interacted with, we can see why the resort has built a base of so many repeat customers. Allowing for both a clothing optional section and nude area gives people the choice to hang out where they are most comfortable and the ability to move to the appropriate section if their comfort increases or wanes.

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This was our first time at a resort that allowed for full nudity and after an hour of my trepidation, I was quickly over it and realized no one else on the nude side cared what I or others looked like naked (or if they did, they didn’t voice it out loud). The nude side of the resort was easily the most popular with the nude pools seeing the most traffic at all hours of the day save dinner time.

This only makes sense as those in the lifestyle ultimately hope to make that connection which leads to “more” and since appearances count in this manner, being nude adds a lot to an informed decision making process on who you may want to approach.

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Having said this, despite the majority of clientele being lifestylers we also met a fair number who were there to simply explore the kinkier side of sex with their main partner or enjoy the nudism aspects of the resort.

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Everyone we met was so incredibly warm and friendly, open and courteous. Both funny and deep conversations were had with other resort guests. Often they would tell us that this was their 2nd, 3rd, 10th, or 25th visit. They love it so much they keep returning to experience the fun, open and liberal attitudes towards sex offered at the resort.

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We genuinely believe that the resort helps to foster this open attitude; it allows for a fun, safe atmosphere for people in the community to congregate and feel free to express themselves sexually. The resort facilitates fun activities, and environments like restaurants, a dance hall, playroom, sports areas, dinner shows, etc all in the same localized area help people make connections over shared interests. The easy access to all inclusive food and alcohol (most of it good, some decent) again continues to add to an environment that is ripe for making connections. Hedo has a great party vibe running through its veins.

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Regarding all the myriad of groups that book Hedo together as a destination trip or takeover, we were worried that not going with a group would isolate us but (maybe we were lucky), the members of the Wild Women Vacations / Hedo Rockers / Reggae Cowboys that were there were incredibly inclusive and welcoming. We took part in their games (that car wash activity was fantastic), organized and joined dinners with their members and they joked they had adopted us. Several attendees stated that by repeatedly joining these groups year after year they’re able to return and reunite with the same people making them an alumni of sorts. We absolutely understand the appeal of this.

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We arrived at our house after almost being awake for 36 hours straight on a Tuesday afternoon. The following morning we immediately began planning our next trip for June next year to go back “home” to Hedo.