I had a fantastic gastronomic experience recently at the 9th annual Epicurean Escape (Flavours of the Caribbean) while staying at the Grand Lido Hotel June 25-29, 2008.

The Caribbean was on parade beginning with the high spirited welcome carnival (Jouvert) theme party, Georgia Henry, Cabaret singer, kicked up a storm. She had newly weds, tourism executives, and guests jamming to the hot, hot sounds of Calypso & Reggae music on the beach.

Menu serving highlights of the night were:prawns, Classic Jerk Pork (with grounded garlic, pimento, scallions, cinnamon, nutmeg, thyme) aged in a marinade; Bahamian fresh conch (with peppers, tomatoes, hot pepper, salt) large shrimp, vegans were in heaven with entrées (jammin’ pumpkin, eggplant & potato salads, butternut squash salad, breadfruit salad, green banana salad, roasted pumpkin soup with coconut) and Bahamian fritters to stir things up.

Each restaurant participated in the Food & Wine Culinary annual event from La Pasta (pasta making class); Munasan ( Master Chef Norma Shirley head Chef & owner of Jamaica's Norma's restaurants stirred up a new take on traditional Caribbean fare); Piacere Restaurant (Pairing & enjoying wines & champagne with (Master Sommelier Michael Jordon of Napa Rose Restaurant)

Above the The Gran Terrazza, just outside La Pasta was turned into a desserted Island with delectible international desserts choices: I enjoyed flambeaux fresh fruit with a Caribbean Flair!
Saturday morning's event showcased the Chef Competition starring Grand Lido's Exeuctive Chef, Gal Kotzer. The event produced an unlikely winner, the team of Jean-Francois Bonnet, an executive pastry chef from New York. Second place went to Jose Riquelme, Executive Chef of Sunset Jamaica Grande, Ocho Rios.

Each day's event topped the prior day so when we got to Saturday, it was time for the Synchronized dining in the ballroom & classical music; it was a showstopping event. There were eight entrees; each Chef presented one, which was served from a delightful menu for this spectacular black tie evening event. Jason Quinn, Wine Sommelier introduced the wines to be served with each entree. My favorite was the special feature vegan mean cooked up just for me (moi). Vegans were few in numbers, but if left to Caribbean VeggieFest, the annual plant-based culinary festival produced by Positive Tourism Network, more vegans will begin to look for complete vegetarian meals at all-inclusive and five star hotels.

During the Epicurian Escape week, the usual Friday evening General Manager's Gran Gala takes an elevated elegance with more diverse and tempting menu offerings. This is where General Manager, Roberto Pelliccia welcomes guests, recognizes his staff and officially opens the dining experience, which is followed by the divine sounds of the Enchanted Duet, Jose Oxamendi on Cello and Lincoln Thomas, reggae guitarist. Show Time, prime time entertainment, trails the dessert period of the dining experience and gets the guests ready to party Grand Lido style. Social directors will be on the prowl to get you up from our seat and on the dance floor!
The programme guide showed a host of Local sponsors who made this Caribbean event possible: Air Jamaica, Jamaica Tourist Board, Red Stripe, Jablum (has free Blue Mountain coffee throughout the event), Appleton Estate Rum, Wray & Nephew, Pepsi, Smirnoff, Nestle, Grace. I was amazed how many well-known food brands Jamaica now has.

I met some lovely friends such as Sylvia Wiley, RN/
Educator from Illinois and Kimberly Balark of Atlanta, first time in Jamaica. I am looking forward to next year's event where I will meet new friends like Lori Farris, associate, and wife of Efisio Farris, Executive Chef, Pomodoro & Arcodoro (Dallas/Houston, Texas). I learned so much about the culinary secrets of this master chef and his beloved Sardinia island home, which has influenced the opening of his specialty import company, GournetSardinia.

Book early because the event is fast becoming a favorite to Jamacian locals and with the word out, rooms will be hard to come by.

We have made 6 trips to the beautiful island of Jamaica and vacationed at Grand Lido Braco and Grand Lido Negril. Our last trip was in May 2008 to Grand Lido Negril and upon arriving there we were very disappointed. Four years ago we attended a welcome back party and we were advised that many improvements were to be completed in the near future but no major upgrades have been made. While we were there, the resort was practically empty and everbody that we spoke with could not understand why. I think some rooms were in the process of being upgraded because we noticed that doors were being removed and refinished as we walked back to our room. A couple of years is a long time to do upgrades.


Our mini bar in the room consisted of 2 bottles of beer, a few bottles of pop and no liquor whatsoever. That's not our idea of a mini bar.

Staff and workers were very friendly on the resort and when we made a request, it was always completed (i.e., extra facecloths).

After we finished dinner, the band was playing so we decided to dance and while doing so, we noticed very large holes and rotted boards on the dance floor. The next day, that section of the resort was closed for floor repairs.

In my opinion, the resort is run down and should not be classified as a 5 star super club resort.

This will not deter us from returning to other resorts in Jamaica!!

I’m not real sure why I have decided to write this review. I suppose I had read just about all of the Grand Lido reviews I could find before visit # 1 to GLN in February 2007. I read more before trip # 2 in January 2008 and I am reading again as I look forward to visit # 3 in January 2009.

What strikes me as I read is the wide variety of personal tastes on the part of the reviewers. You can find reviews written by people who were there at virtually the same time with one giving a rating of 5 after having had the time of their lives and another giving a rating of 1 detailing the vacation from hell. It all seems to me to be about the variability of personal taste.

Clearly I enjoyed my first two trips otherwise # 3 would be out of the question. My tastes and my needs are fairly simple. I want my winter vacation to be about warm weather, a beautiful beach, good food, a welcoming atmosphere and restful peaceful relaxation. In my opinion this resort delivers on all counts. The water and the beach are spectacularly beautiful. For me they are the “stars of the show” and the highlight of my previous trips.

The people are the kindest and most gracious hosts I have ever known. I feel very qualified to comment on this as I have owned and operated my own tourist related business for the last 18 years. I will be bluntly honest here when I say that being in “host mode” day after day, week after week; hearing the same questions, giving the same answers, enduring the same complaints can be grueling. Being consistent about your own attitude and delivering quality service with positivity and professionalism is not easy. The smiles and kind greetings offered so consistently by the Jamaican people is amazing. I lost track of the number of “Good morning“, “How are you today?”, “Are you enjoying your vacation?” kinds of greetings I received on a daily basis. The Golden Rule certainly applies and mutual respect is huge to the Jamaican people but if you give them a smile and your respect it is returned to you tenfold.

I guess I have to be honest a say that some of the complaints and negatives I read are hard to refute.

The resort is dated. – Without question the décor is a bit out of date. If it were my property I would decorate differently but at least the furnishings are in good repair and comfortable. The French restaurant is is tacky to the point of being funny. I have told my wife that it looks like Liberace exploded in there. I would rather enjoy the quirkiness and chalk it up to “charm” rather than complain.

The nightlife is dead – 100% correct. I wouldn’t want it any other way. You can hear some neighboring resorts with the sounds of loud music drifting in the night air. If that is what you want then by all means you should stay there. I like the peaceful atmosphere at GLN. There are a couple of nights during the week (Beach Party and Manager’s Gala) that are more of a party but on most nights it is nice and quiet. I tend to get up early anyway when the beach is quiet and the water is gorgeous. I can hardly think of a night in Jamaica when we were up after 10:00 pm. My wife and I are middle-aged (she 43 and me 46) so we are not ones to gripe about partying but for us quiet there seems better.
The pool is small – No doubt. I have never stuck so much as my big toe in the pool. With the Caribbean staring you in the face everyday why would a pool even enter your minds much less become a source of grief?

I like the food just fine. Maybe it isn’t 5 star or maybe I’m just easy to please.

The drinks are great.

Water sports and the water sports staff are fantastic.

The grounds at GLN are beautiful. This is a miracle given the last few years of hurricane damage.

There is no accounting for taste. I think it is fair to say that GLN presents itself in a way that creates high expectations. I think maybe sometimes people expect too much. I think that there may be some who are vacationing a bit over their budget and when they think about how much they are spending their expectations go even higher. Don’t stay here if you can’t afford it or you may end up with “buyer’s remorse”. We have worked hard in life and the cost at GLN is no problem for us. We live in a tourist town and know what it is like to work with the high demands of people on vacation. We are easy to please and eager to have a good time. I appreciate ALL that the very young and eager staff has done to make my vacations special and I look forward to 2009.

Until then......

and wow... what a place. Wife and I made a last minute decision to hit up Jamaica for her bday and after much reading (most of it on here!) we decided on Grand Lido Negril.

Couldn't have been happier - the place was almost deserted. I guess they had about 35 rooms filled. It seemed the C/O side (where our room was - we didn't partake in the nudity but enjoyed the c/o side, seemed more peaceful and was away from the road) was fuller then the other side. Sometimes it felt like I had the whole beach to myself.

Service was great! Drinks were refilled without asking, towels were plentiful, food was good, and the entertainment was amazing! Highlights were a traditional drum (bongo) band and a steel drum band.

One downer was when we ate at the french restaurant, that was the biggest disappointment of the trip, and in my opinion you're doing ok if the worst thing is one meal! In my opinion they try and make it a fancy dining experience but fall short in many ways including the food, the ambiance, the service, the a/c, and the wait. Bottom line: if you've had 5 star meals elsewhere don't bother here.

We had big plans to visit towns, go horseback riding, and maybe rent a motorcycle. We did nothing. Didn't even leave the resort, and I'm usually not that kind of traveler. But between the relaxation and the afternoon rains, all we did was on the resort.

I've done a little traveling and I'm just taken with the Jamaican people. They seem to be genuinely happy you're there. Be respectful and watch how it's returned to you. Take the time to get to know a local, and they'll reward you for it! The island is amazing, but for me, it's the people you meet who make the difference.