While I might enjoy the odd resort as a civilian it is quite rare that I get this at work. Yesterday though was that day as me and my group went to the Grand East Resort in Jordan for some swimming in the dead sea, among other entertainments.
This was on day two of our trip, with us already having rocked out at the Royal Automobile Museum, as well as even chasing Moses before arriving at 3 pm.
The Grand East Resort
Said resort had been booked by our local partners and fairly well overreached our expectations. Although with that being said there where some mitigating factors that led to this. Currently the war in Gaza has seen tourism plummet, which means cheap prices.
And while the resort was far from empty it was at best 25% full. The residents consisted of mostly local, Arab or Turkish guests, with the odd Russian too.
I’d estimate that capacity here was well over 2000, with facilities to match.
Facilities at the Grand East Resort at the Dead Sea
The rooms here are pretty big and have a balcony for us smokers, but the jollies do not stop there. Of course there are bars, restaurants and the like, but also Filipino staff. This did though beg the question why so many imported staff when the country is struggling, but that shall remain a question for another day.
Outdoor wise there was not just 1, but three huge winning pools, all with a different vibe. These were all placed en-route to the Dead Sea, which involved a fare walk to get to. We settled at pool 2 as it had a bar. There was certain surreal element to drinking Pina Coladas in a pool with Israel and all its troubles visible from across the way.
I actually went even crazier by having a double vodka slushy, for I am a classy camper. This was followed by a buffet dinner at $25 a pop and then belly dancing.
The last escapade was though alas ruined by a gentleman of a flamboyant nature from the audience who decided to get involved. Guys if you ever do this then keep it quick and to one song. That is at least what I do when singing in Ermita.
And the Dead Sea?
Of course we had come to the Grand East in order to swim in the dead sea and that is exactly what we did! Overall it took about 30 minutes to get all of the way down, after which you had to negotiate a fair few rocks to get to the “beach”.
I will again use the word surreal to describe actually going in, although weird would also suffice. This is not a beach in the traditional sense, and almost reminded me of the “beach” in Tiraspol.
We did though go in to find it did indeed feel medicinal and thus something we should not overdo. This was not how we felt about drinks in the pool though, which we took our very sweet ass time about.
Overall on the Grand East Resort Jordan
This was fabulous place to spend an evening, although what made it as good as it was is that the fact that few tourists are here. Good for us, yes, not so much for tourism in Jordan though.
Yet on a trip that would take in Petra, Wadi Rum and indeed SOFEX, this was fairly decent place to hang our heads for the night. Whether we do this in the future though is yet to be seen.
Grand East Resort Address
Dead sea,
Jordan Valley Hwy
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Drive to Dead Sea and look for signs (on the road, not from god).