One Big Holiday # 3 - 2016 Speculation

[delso13]

Probably the best experience of my life... these past 6 days or so.

A lot of speculation that OBH 3 will be in Punta Cana? I heard more than a few folks mention it over the course of OBH 2

Cant wait for A- the soundboard recordings, and B- OBH 3 announcement C- OBH2 wrap up video

[oz_lieb]

I heard the same as well.  Apparently Bo and/or Carl mentioned Punta Cana during the poker game

[ffghtrs]

apparently i really need to learn to play poker.

[fortbethel]

I heard Costa Rica. I'm fu**ing Praying it leaves Hard Rock. Horrible food, warm beer, mind f*** of a place to walk around. That's just a few of my complaints.

[delso13]

Food sucked

Beer wasnt ever warm where I got it (everywhere)

I can see what you mean by it being a somewhat strange vibe walking around

Id go back.. but not a huge fan of mexico

[RaspberryJam]

I was pleasantly surprised.  I've never been to an all inclusive.  My expectations were low; I was expecting neon colored margaritas being served out of a churning machine.  Our room was really nice, food was about what I expected it to be, the whole all inclusive aspect was good in this situation.  No surprises about how much money was spent.  It was fun to go back to the bars, grab a six pack, and hand out cans to fellow concertgoers when I got back to my spot.  It was easy to get off the resort and explore.  I think all in all, it was managed very well.  I would've liked better beer choices, but that's nitpicking.

I've been to Costa Rica a few times, I don't know of any resort that could do an event of this scale.  There are a few all inclusives, but they are known to have horrible environmental policies, and a far away from the things that make Costa Rica cool.  I know Jungle Jam is held there, but it is a smaller event. 

[sherpahigh]

I talked with Carl a bit at the poker tourney and he said while it wasn't for sure it looked like OBH3 would be heading to Punta Cana in the DR. He mentioned switching it up every couple years kinda thing so I'd expect the next two years to be at the Hard Rock in the DR and then move on. I think he threw out Costa Rica as a possibility in the future as well but I was in the middle of a hand and can't be sure.

[fortbethel]

25 % of the food was very good but you had to hunt for it. The chicken enchiladas at Frida's are wonderful but the f***ing place didn't open till 5:30 pm The omlettes at the breakfast place were ok/good.

Just my f***ing luck if they do move it as I FINALLY figured out how to hook up with my lady M. Jane in PDC. Still tripping on how easy that went down.

The Jacket were in 'top form' all three nights.  Good job Gents.

[MMJ612]

The Hard Rock at Punta Cana has 500 more rooms than the one in Playa Del Carmen and accommodates more than 3500 people.  This might make sense for them since they sold out OBH2 and had a waiting list.  I bet the return rate for OBH3 will be close to 75%. 

It looks like all the Hard Rock hotels have pretty much the same stuff, same restaurants, rock spa, etc.  The price would likely be similar based on the average nightly rate at both places.

I'll go where they need me, but Punta Cana would be nice. 

[Stevie]

The one thing i've heard about Punta Cana is that it actually has a beach on the ocean, and that the stage is on the beach...on the ocean.  Going to verify that right now:

1.  They are in fact right on the ocean, it looks beautiful.
2.  Can't find any photos of the stage, tbd.
3.  They do, however, have a casino.  So there's that.

[mwalthers]

I heard the same rumors.  I went last year as well as this year and a change of location might be fun.  I do know that Cloud9 uses pretty much the same resorts in the other two mentioned locations.  We had much better food this year, you just have to know the restaurants that are serving good stuff and when, not all of them are the same experience each time you may go to them.  It is just a fun, fun time, I can bitch about damn near anything given the right moment and I didn't bitch about it once!

[Lilhuffy]

We stayed an extra day and had a couple chances to chat up a few of the Cloud 9 folks.  I pressed a bit but not two hard.  The first guy was an audio engineer who told me Cloud 9 usually switches up after 3 years at one resort so if he had to bet right now he'd be they were going back to Riviera Maya next year and moving to Punta Cana on year 4.

Also, as we were checking out I spoke with a lady from cloud 9, not sure what her job title was but she was at their booth in the convention center and spoke like she knew her stuff.  She basically told me they hadn't decided yet what the plan was.  I said the whispers around the resort were Punta Cana.  She said the positives to staying at RM were:

1. It's cheap
2. It's easy to get to
3. Setting up and tearing down the stage on concrete is wwwayyy easier for them than doing it on the sand
4. People complain that actually seeing the shows for 4 days in the sand is much tougher on the body (having been to the last three years of Hangout Fest on the sand I can vouch for this)

After she stated all those positives so said "at the same time, we know you guys like to vacation in different spots and we do too so it could be on the move.  Stay tuned"

Basically this is a super long post that has no definitive info whatsoever.

[mahgeetah]

The trial and error with finding good food was a bit of a pain, took a few days to figure out where to eat (Ciao for breakfast or lunch, room service for most else), but sort of doubt any all-inclusive resort would be much better at all. The staff was incredible and the liquor choices were much better than expected. Fernet Branca everywhere was a godsend.

[fortbethel]

The trial and error with finding good food was a bit of a pain, took a few days to figure out where to eat (Ciao for breakfast or lunch, room service for most else), but sort of doubt any all-inclusive resort would be much better at all. The staff was incredible and the liquor choices were much better than expected. Fernet Branca everywhere was a godsend.

75 % of the buffet offering was on par with 'Circus Circus' buffet in Vegas. HORRIFIC! And the preps we're not properly gloved up. Anyone notice THAT? UNACCEPTABLE!

[IMeMine]

If and when there is a 2016 One Big Holiday, I hope it's at the same place. Cancun is such an easy and affordable airport to fly into and it's a relatively short flight for most people in The States. A full travel day filled with longer flights and layovers really does make a difference especially when you are running a "musical marathon" immediately following. Also returning back to a familiar place cuts down on a lot of questions, concerns, and anxiety before hand and helps you spend your time more wisely when you are there.

An all inclusive Hard Rock is going to be about the same anywhere you go.  I doubt the food will be any better anywhere else.  Also because we attended last year we had really positive food experiences this year because we remembered what we liked and what to stay away from.

Shows on the beach sound like fun.  But they are actually a pain in the ass.  It's harder to stand if you are even just a little drunk.  It's dirtier, you get sand in and on EVERYTHING and if it rains or a lot of drinks spill it's just gross.

Also, you could definitely tell the difference between the amount of people who were there this year versus last year.  I for one do not want it to get bigger.

I vote for Riviera Maya again.  It's not perfect but no resort is. 

[gluvmiller]

The one thing i've heard about Punta Cana is that it actually has a beach on the ocean, and that the stage is on the beach...on the ocean.  Going to verify that right now:

1.  They are in fact right on the ocean, it looks beautiful.
2.  Can't find any photos of the stage, tbd.
3.  They do, however, have a casino.  So there's that.

I went to panic last year in the DR. It is a beautiful beach, no question. They've been working on it the last couple years as the under-tow is dangerous. They've had machinery moving rocks to help the issue. The stage is also on the beach which as a novelty is really cool, but in the end I prefer the courtyard. For one, dancing in the sand for 3-4 nights is BRUTAL on your legs and distracting. You spend your whole time digging a hole and filling it back in. There is significant sound loss playing on the edge of the ocean and that is an issue for me. And then if you're lucky enough to have your room in building 1 or 2, then you're psyched because the stage is all the way at that end of the resort. If you're unlucky and end up in building 7 or 8, THAT'S REALLY, REALLY FAR. Better pack a bag. One of the reasons we did not go back to Panic this year was because it was in the DR.

[Sassbox]

The trial and error with finding good food was a bit of a pain, took a few days to figure out where to eat (Ciao for breakfast or lunch, room service for most else), but sort of doubt any all-inclusive resort would be much better at all. The staff was incredible and the liquor choices were much better than expected. Fernet Branca everywhere was a godsend.

75 % of the buffet offering was on par with 'Circus Circus' buffet in Vegas. HORRIFIC! And the preps we're not properly gloved up. Anyone notice THAT? UNACCEPTABLE!

Not to mention people sticking their hands directly in to the serving dishes, then in to their mouths, then in to the serving dishes again. I said it elsewhere...the food handling leaves a lot to be desired. The quality of the food is awful...and this is coming from someone who is just looking to eat to fill up. I can live on cheese sandwiches and white rice for a month (and have).

[redpatoka]

we did obh1&2 from uk and think RM is fine no beach but we go for the music ,atmosphere, people ( few drinks)-if DR used wouldnt atmosphere and sound dissapear if on the beach.the town 15 min away and a beach  any excursions are pretty close staff at playa are brilliant the hotel grounds easy to get around,in DR OUTBREAK OF CHOLERA since 2010 as well as mosquitos and chikungunya disease even though would be unlikely to catch?also punta cana on the atlantic coast not carribean so assuming sea colder and told that sea is rough/ dangerous....we are for RM keep the special vibe

[Stevie]

Where were you guys eating?  lol  I thought the food was fine.  Ciao had a great breakfast/lunch buffet that really had anything you could want and they did it well.  They even had an omelet station during breakfast and during lunch you could get steak, chicken, tuna, salmon, hamburger etc made up to your liking.  Thats in addition to the buffet.  The french restaurant i thought was pretty decent but the portions were tiny.  I thought Toro was fine for what it was.  Never made it to the brazilian place, i mean, dinner in general was not something we really did because it was so close to show time. 

Oh, but, there was this one thing.. . i dont know how i could have forgotten... i did end up getting food poisoning from some room service food after the final show on day 4.  i was one of the first people to call room service and they told me that they were working super fast to get orders out.  I ordered a burger, gf ordered a chicken quesadilla.  She fell asleep before it arrived so i ate a little of both.  The next morning...and all of the next day pretty much... was not good for me. 

Stick with Ciao.

[rincon2]

we did obh1&2 from uk and think RM is fine no beach but we go for the music ,atmosphere, people ( few drinks)-if DR used wouldnt atmosphere and sound dissapear if on the beach.the town 15 min away and a beach  any excursions are pretty close staff at playa are brilliant the hotel grounds easy to get around,in DR OUTBREAK OF CHOLERA since 2010 as well as mosquitos and chikungunya disease even though would be unlikely to catch?also punta cana on the atlantic coast not carribean so assuming sea colder and told that sea is rough/ dangerous....we are for RM keep the special vibe

UK as in Ukraine?