Twenty-five years have passed since the original Hedonism resort opened in Negril, Jamaica. While the staff do their best to generate hedonistic tendencies—serving an ever-flowing flood of rum punch and organizing pajama parties, naked Twister, and drug-filled raves—visitors today are apprehensive about jumping in with both feet (hands, legs, etc.). The summers of random sex, key parties, and LSD punch have gone the way of "No Nukes" concerts and rotary phones. Hedonism now is a place for couples (who make up 52 percent of the clientele) to explore their wilder side, which means lounging in the buff, wearing dominatrix outfits to dinner, smoking a fatty, and then returning to their rooms to do it missionary style. And while the overall atmosphere is relaxed, Hedonism is a long way from living up to its name.
This isn't to say the Hedonism experience is without merit. While I didn't experience a swingin' orgy, my week at the resort was eye-opening and "successful" (Yes!). With a "let it all hang out" philosophy (visitors can sun at Prude beach or Nude beach), the resort creates opportunities and provides the "all-inclusive" setting for revelry to occur. The experience varies widely, depending on guests. (I missed the adult film convention by a week, and a group of bondage fanatics arrived just as I was checking out.)
David Belisle
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During my stay, two surgically enhanced strippers from Toronto made the trip a worthwhile endeavor, not with their lap dances (which were also enjoyable), but with their unbridled enthusiasm—chatting up the singles contingency, encouraging folks to enter the Appleton Dance contest, and generally being good sports in a hootenanny that would have fallen flat (no pun intended) without their presence.
The clientele at Hedo resorts are mostly American (75 percent), average 38 years, and for every babe, there are 1.4 guys (promotions are attempting to even that ratio with "3-some is a free-some" specials, enabling three women to attend for the price of two). Sweet and sour, stretched and sinewy, young and aged, pro and novice, the clientele varies widely. The one consistent at Hedo: Half their business is made up of returning guests. Perhaps, over time, inhibitions, like tan lines, fade.
In retrospect, my own life is fairly hedonistic: Sex-crazed, I drink, dance, and flame up at any opportunity. Everything in life is a trade-off. No one gets laid 24/7 (except maybe Dennis Rodman). Relationships are work, and true love hard to find. For the money (a single all-inclusive room at Hedo II is around $325 per night without airfare—call 1-800-GO-SUPER), true hedonists are better off going to Vegas and buying their debauchery the old-fashioned way. Then again, there's not a lot of snorkeling or roots rock reggae in the desert. Yah mon!
