Grand Lido Braco - Back to the Future [an error occurred while processing this directive]


Contents

 
XML
Google Reader or Homepage
Add to My Yahoo!
Add to My AOL

Grand Lido Braco: Old World Charm meets Seaside Luxury

At Grand Lido Braco, you can step back in time to a turn-of-the century Jamaican colonial village. But instead of stepping back to primitive surroundings and amenities, you step into modern luxury and facilities complete with its own golf course. This is where old world charm meets luxurious seaside living. Welcome back to the future.

Grand Lido Braco is not a relica of its sister resort in Negril. After Grand Lido Negril, Superclubs must have known it was hard to Grand Lido Braco build another resort like it. Rather than trying to duplicate it or its experience, they instead created another luxurious village with its own unique charm and experience and called it Grand Lido Braco.

At Grand Lido Braco you will experience the world of 18th Century Jamaica colonial Village, complete with gingerbread architecture, cobblestone streets, town square, and town hall and court house. Even the village craftmen and vendors are authentic Jamaica. But don't be misled by the village architecture because it is all luxury. After all, its Grand Lido.

I stayed at Lido Braco during their "Best of Jamaica" 2006 celebration. No doubt they pulled out all the stops to impress guests as well as the press who were there to cover the event. Needless to say, seven days I spent there was a blast with food and entertainment galore. Overall, I was very impressed with Grand Lido Braco, mainly because of it's sheer size and their on-property golf course and driving range which I throughly enjoyed.

The Facilites and Services

Set on 85 acres among lush tropical foliage with over 2000 ft of beach, Grand Lido Braco is the largest resort in Jamaica. It is set way back from the road and to reach the village you have to drive past the soccer field and manicured nine-hole golf course.

Like any village, the central point of Grand Lido Braco is the village square with its Town Hall and small intimate shops and restaurants. The roads run North-South and East-West and circles a water fountain which provide a focal point in the middle of the village square.

Straight ahead and north of the village square is the main dining area - the Victoria Market, the main pool and activites area, and restaurants. To the East or right of the main square the guests accomodations for the clothing side of the resort are nestled among trees and tropical foilage. The Au Naturel side is similarly located on the left.

Along the main street that run North-South are the common areas. These include the village shoppes, the bakery, the concierge desk, the French and Italian restaurants, the disco, and the White Gaulin which houses the piano bar and game rooms.

Grand Lido Braco boasts the largest free-form pool in the island which is uniquely shaped and features a swim-up bar and a bridge which crosses from the main dining area. The beach stretches far right and left of main street and has many areas well shaded either by palms or broad-leaf almond trees.

By Jamaica standard, the beach is ok, not great. If you just want to lay on a beach chair and catch some rays, the beach is fine. However, if you want to swim or walk bare footed along the shore line you will encounter seaweeds and rocks that makes it difficult to do either comfortably. The sea here is usually rough and they have to build a wall running parallel to the shore to break the big waves before they reach the shore,

There are three large jacuzzis - one each at the main and au natural pools and another at the far end of the beach on clothing side. There is, of course, a spa that offers the full menu of treatments including complimentary manicure and pedicure as well as a fitness center, game rooms along with all the other luxuries you expect from a AAA 4-Diamond Award resort.

The foods

Like Lido Negril, there are five speciality restaurants plus the main dining area. There are six Bars and two Club Houses. Breakfast and lunch are served buffet style in the open-air Victoria Market. There is Munasan (Japanese), Piacere (French), and La Pasta (Italian) just like Negril. For an authentic taste of Jamaica, make sure you stop by Reggae Cafe where you can get Jamaican beef patties, jerk chicken, curried goat and rice & peas.

If you are in the mood for dining in, you can have a private table for two with in-room dining service. Unfortunately, the menu for in-room dining is very limited. One thing that is different here at Braco is that there is a bakery where you can go anytime of day and get your favorite desserts. You also don't want to miss the Wednesday nights Beach Party or the Saturday night gala street buffet because some of the best food will be in abundance.

If you want to experience an au natural Jamaican vacation, Grand lido Braco provides a separate area with its own restaurant, bar, and grill just for you.

The Entertainment

Entertainment is one area where I think Braco beats Grand Lido Negril. I think it has a better and livelier entertainment than Lido Negril and the night time village streets might have something to do with this. On Friday nights the main street becomes the disco and you can party until the wee hours of the morning. On Saturday nights, the streets are your dining room when the village throws its gala buffet followed by live musical entertainment.

On Wednesday night, Grand Lido Braco try to have a famous Jamaica entertainer for Beach party night. This is where you can shake your waist to the sound of ska, reggae, calyso, and dance hall music. This is preceeded by a buffet dinner of some of the best food on the beach with entres such as grilled lobster tails and delicate Island desserts.

Of course there is Toga Party and Pajama Party nights where you can choose to be wild and crazy if you feel like it.

The Activities

You can always find something to do at Grand Lido Braco. The volleyball area is next to the main pool and it seems there is always a game going on. If golf is your thing, the village has its own 9-hole executive golf course right there on propery. However, if you prefer something more, the challenging PGA-quality 18-hole course is only 25 minutes away at Runaway Bay.

The village has the same land sports (Tennis, Beach volleyball, Basketball, Billiards, Table Tennis, Sauna, and Fitness center) in addition to a soccer field. For watersport there is an olympic-size main pool plus another huge one on the Au naturel side. There are four jacuzzis (2 Au naturel, 2 texile) and your usual watersports such as sailing, water-skiing, windsurfing, snorkling, and Scuba and 2000 ft of the georgeous beach. There is also two fishing ponds where your catch can be prepared for you at Reggae Cafe or if you prefer you can fish catch-and-release. Sticks and baits are available and, of course, complimentary.

The Rooms and accomodations

Grand Lido Braco has 232 rooms and suites including 52 in the private Au Naturel section. The Au Naturel rooms are usually sold out, so if you want one of these Jamaica vacation, it is best to book far in advance. All rooms and suites have air-conditioning, telephone, satellite TV, CD player, air dryer, coffe maker, and a safe deposit box. The rooms at Braco are definitely five-star but the bathrooms are a let down and deserved nothing more than two-stars. If they upgrade the bathrooms to whirlpool appliances as they have in Negril, Grand Lido Braco could be just as favorite a place to visit as its sister resort in Negril.