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@bensgadgets
ContractorsWebsite.ca is the easy way to find contractors Free website for contractors ( we create the site for you ) with just a few clicks. No complicated input. Get requests from homeowners. It's that easy. Open for Nova Scotia. New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island coming soon.
Trip Calendar ( Tripcalendar.org ) is a cool new website that allows users to add their trip dates in a secure environment. Unlike Facebook where everyone knows who you are and where you live TripCalender.org hides your identity using a nickname.
One of the best uses of Trip Calendar is that you can add people you meet on a resort to trip calendar without adding them to your Facebook page. This is safer for work etc. “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”.
The trip dates are shown in a monthly calendar per resort or a roll call count down of who is travelling next.
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Resort Roll Call
Monthly View
Trip Calendar also has a smartphone web app countdown timer to your next trip in days or seconds. You can create Travel business cards, postcards, add a trip report review, upload images for your use only or sure with friends, repeaters hall of fame, private message others and more.
New features added weekly.
Current Resorts
o Beaches, Turks & Caicos o Beaches Negril, Jamaica o Beaches Ocho Rios, Jamaica o Breezes Bella Costa, Cuba o Breezes Jibacoa, Cuba o Breezes Varadero, Cuba o Couples Negril, Jamaica o Couples Sans Souci, Jamaica o Couples Swept Away, Jamaica o Couples Tower Isle, Jamaica o Grand Lido, Negril, Jamaica o Hedonism II, Negril, Jamaica o Iberostar Dominicana, DR o Iberostar Grand Paraiso, Mexico o Iberostar Punta Cana, DR o Punca Cana Princess, Punta Cana, DR o RIU Negril, Jamaica o RIU Palace Punta Cana, DR o RIU Palace Tropical Bay, Jamaica o Sandals Royal Carribean, o Sandals Royal Hicacos, o Temptation Cancun, Mexico
Trip Calendar Trip Calendar ( Tripcalendar.org ) is a cool new website that allows users to add their trip dates in a secure environment.
Grand Lido Calendar For people going to Grand Lido there is a cool web site that helps link up with people going.
Back for the second time in just three months. The second time was even better then the first. They have added new floaters that are very popular. These are the same type floaters that couples resorts use.
You can also read my review from our January 2014 visit here.
Main updates from our visit three months ago:
The check-in seemed a little faster.
No one complained of no hot water so it seems that issue was resolved.
The staff seemed even friendlier.
They added the very popular floaters (great move).
Added new beach chairs.
Interesting that Apple Maps has already updated their satellite photos showing the floaters.
You can see the floaters in the red circle on the CO beach. Hundreds of fish beside this point (blue circle) will fight over a bagel. Main beach is show by the yellow line and the crabs make their home in the yellow circle area.
Grand Lido is very unique from all the resorts in Jamaica and any where in the Caribbean. I don’t think you will find a resort like this anywhere. It’s not a new resort, it’s small and some people call it rustic. So what makes it so special? It has a private clothes optional beach. Not like the nude beach at couples that is separated from the main beach by a line in the sand but a private cove. Since it is not a nude beach but a clothes optional beach people are nude, topless and even wearing bathing suits. This is definitely the key to Grand Lido’s success.
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This time we had a room on the ground floor. I usually don’t like a ground floor room but this was so nice to be able to walk out the patio door and be on the beach in just 20 feet. We would sit on the deck each night and watch the sunset before going for dinner. Our room was the same layout as the room in January 2014 visit.
Our Patio on the ground floor.
Views from our patio:
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Don’t go to Grand Lido if you want crowds and loud music and lots of activities. It’s a relaxed resort that feels a little like going to your own private cottage but with the benefit of never cooking, cleaning or doing all the upkeep to a cottage. You can always get a beach chair or seat for dinner.
Staff Pictures
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Bottom line:
Grand Lido is a great resort to meet people in a quiet relaxing atmosphere. It’s an adult resort with no kids running around and feels like a home away from home.
Grand Lido, Negril, Jamaica (Second Trip) Back for the second time in just three months. The second time was even better then the first.
I was watching The Pebbles Smart Watch during it’s very successful crowd funding complain but was reluctant to purchase due to the higher shipping costs for people in Canada and I wanted to wait for the other smart watches to be launched like Sony and Google.
Since I waited I am lucky to use the Pebble with their new App store app and SDK version 2.0.
Setup
So easy it almost does it by it’s self. Just load the app and and turn on the Pebble and click OK when asked.
Adding new watch faces and apps is super easy using the App. Just click on any watch or app and it load it on the Pebble. Very smooth process. You can only load 8 apps or watch faces but the app stores your favourite in a locker so you can quickly reload them.
Notifications
The Pebble will show notifications for email, text messages, calendar events and phone calls. Just about anything you need. There is no setup to see the notifications.
The only issues is a known bug where email message may show up twice or more or in the wrong order and get a “Loading …” message for the remaining part of the email message. You receive a few characters of the email and then it loads more text but sometime you get the “Loading …” . It’s not a big deal but just an annoyance.
Watch
The Pebble comes with several built in watch faces and an ever expanding list of free download watch faces on thier app store. It is very easy to add a new watch, just select the one you like and click ADD. You can only add 8 watch faces or apps. But its so easy to switch them in and out that it is not a problem.
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App’s
Like the watch faces their is a every expanding list of new apps. Stocks, weather, exercise etc. Many of the newer watch faces also have some of their features too so it may be hard to decide your favourite.
Pebble Design
The Pebble seems to be the right comprise. It has a battery life of 3 or 4 days. The screen is easily seen in bright daylight. It’s not a hires color watch that you can view pictures or movies but what it does it does well. It coveres all the basics that you need in a watch including being water proof.
Pebbles Smart Watch I was watching The Pebbles Smart Watch during it's very successful crowd funding complain but was reluctant to purchase due to the higher shipping costs for people in Canada and I wanted to wait for the other smart watches to be launched like Sony and Google.
The IBEROSTAR Costa Dorada, Puerto Plata is located 10 minutes from the city of Puerto Plata on the north coast of Dominican Republic. It is rated as a 5 star hotel with 498 double rooms and 18 suites and was renovated in 2011. It is a very nice resort for family with children under 10. The lobby, grounds, pool and room are excellent. Lot of entertainment for the younger traveller giving parents a chance to relax. We travelled with our grandson who is 13 going on 17 so there was not as much for his age group but he was very happy to relax and be independent.
Overall
There are 516 rooms in 9 buildings and two pools with exceptional gardens. The layout of the nine three story buildings have four on one side with five on the other creating a wide garden down the middle to the beach front. The grounds have a large fish pond with bridge and two water falls. There are several water fountains around the court yard and grounds and you always hear running water.
They say two pools but it is more like four pools interconnected. The grounds and pools are never crowded and you can always get a beach chair anytime of the day. They obviously have way more chairs than guests. We could always get a chair on the beach or in front of the pool.
The lobby and main buffet were large and spacious, clean and fresh with covered walkways to get back to your rooms in case of rain.
Check-in
Check in was fast but then again we checked in at 9pm. Only one other couple checking in at that time. They drive you to your room in a golf cart and take your bags.
Lobby
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The lobby is large and impressive. A bar off the side of the lobby and a court yard that has access to the stage and entertainment and two restaurants and buffet. There is also a beach buffet that has everything that the main buffet has but you don’t need to cover up.
Room
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Rooms or the beds and furniture are very dated. We had a double bed which is way too small. When I called the front desk to ask for a room with a queen bed they delivered a blanket. After a few minutes of trying to explain to the handyman , he dragged in another complete bed. Anyway it worked out OK. I find language is always a bit of an issue in DR but you have to go with the flow. There is no dresser for your clothes and all the sun screen etc you take on vacation so you have to work out of your suitcase. Just a long table like piece of furniture. The room smelled a bit and the bed spread looked old (maybe just the design and small size of the bed) but after the second day I didn’t notice. The beds were comfortable and there is a mini fridge stocked with pop, water and beer at no extra charge. There is a flat screen TV with lots of channels to chose.
The tub is a little small to shower in but lots of hot water.
There is a nice big patio deck with a table and two comfortable chairs.
There is no free internet in the hotel at all. You need to purchase a password for an hour, day, 3, 5 or 7 days. At first this was annoying but it is not a bad deal and you can use it in your room and good reception everywhere. We purchased the 5 day for $25.
Beach
The beach in front on the hotel was great. There is even a few coral reefs ,waist deep and tons of fish. The only downside to the beach is outside the control of the hotel. To the right or left of the hotel is vacant land and the beach is not cleaned and is littered with garbage. Lots and lots of garbage, pop bottles, plastic , everything. There is also two streams running into the ocean one on each side with smelly water. Maybe just algae or maybe more. Lots of algae in the ocean around these streams too. I felt there were more people to harass you on the beach than other places we have visited , wanting you to take a day trip or visit the market.
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It’s a shame but I also notice this type of garbage in other parts of the island when your driving to the hotels. It seems to be acceptable to throw your garbage anywhere. You see many of the small local homes littered with garbage. They should have returnable bottles at least. You would think the locals would take it upon themselves to make sure the beach looks nice since they use it too. This is the public access areas. In Jamaica you would see the local vendors cleaning a part of the beach to make sure it looked nice where they were selling their goods. In Nigel the public access area was cleaner than some of the hotel areas.
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Food
There was always great food. There was a variety of food choices for everyone’s taste. Plenty of salad and fresh fruit and yogurt. The meat dishes were plentiful and everyday there was chicken ( yummy) , beef, steak, salmon and other meat choices. Pizza, pasta, hotdogs and hamburgers were also available. The deserts were out of this world!! There were 2 stations for all the food choices so no waiting in line. The beach restaurant served the same items as the main buffet but with out the need to cover your bathing suit.
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Grounds
The grounds are immaculate. Lots of fountains and trees and plants with a fish pond garden and pink flamingo’s and peacocks too. Lots of lighting at night and never a bug.
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One funny issue is the signs around the pool. No topless. I did see several men that went topless with big man boobs so I guess it’s not enforced. Strange since it’s hotel chain based in Spain. I though Spain was topless friendly.
Bottom Line
It’s a beautiful resort. They need more servers in the entertainment areas. I only saw two so you wait forever. At Secrets there were 10 and always standing around the courtyard to wait on you with no more than a few second wait. The same in the buffet. We usually move our old plates to another table since they were not removed.
Also the beach is very steep. It’s over your head in just a few feet from shore and walking along the edge is very sloped. Also the lots on each side of the resort are public access and littered with garbage and two streams that smelled very bad feeding into the ocean. It may just be pond water or polluted with much more.
No free internet anywhere. Most Hotels have at least free internet in the lobby.
IBEROSTAR Costa Dorada, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic The IBEROSTAR Costa Dorada, Puerto Plata is located 10 minutes from the city of Puerto Plata on the north coast of Dominican Republic.
Grand Lido, Bloody Bay, Negril, Jamaica
Water wheel in Lobby Lobby View from our room View from room Service road Bed
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