Where Should We Stay in Barbados Before Our December 8 Pride Cruise

[xyz111]

Hi

 

I'd welcome help in selecting a place to stay in Barbados before our December 8 cruise.

 

We plan to arrive in Barbados two days early and were planning to stay at the Hilton. But I've heard that the beach restoration really detracts from the Hilton at this time. Where would you suggest we stay rather than the Hilton.

 

Thanks for your help.

[Absalon]

Hi

We just stayed 4 days at Coral Reef Club, prior to our Silversea cruise.

[seapenarth]

Hi

 

I'd welcome help in selecting a place to stay in Barbados before our December 8 cruise.

 

We plan to arrive in Barbados two days early and were planning to stay at the Hilton. But I've heard that the beach restoration really detracts from the Hilton at this time. Where would you suggest we stay rather than the Hilton.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Cobblers Cove excellent:D

[lord of the seas]

The Sandy Lane is the only real choice for me.

You can have a dinner at The Cove which is a great place not too far from Sandy Lane.

[SantaAna,CA]

I am on the Pride right now....my dive boats cruised past the Hilton while we were in Barbados, couldn't see anything going on with regard to the beach restoration at all. I cancelled my pre-cruise stay at the Hilton for that reason (and stayed at Colony Club; very very beautiful but very expensive), but the Hilton looked great from what I could see.

 

P.S. Sandy Lane? It's $1000 a night!

 

Also, on the other end of the island is a charming, small hotel called Peach and Quiet. Beautiful, but away from most things (although extremely inexpensive) and no A/C. Great rate, though. Try TripAdvisor, search Barbados hotels. The Arches comes up as #1.

 

Jane

[Martita B.]

Another suggestion: Coconut Court Beach Hotel (Hastings area)

The hotel also has pick-up airport service and will transfer you to the ship. Some of us always stay here ~~e-mail James Best (Desk Manager) It's not a Ritz, but very comfortable, small family owned hotel right on the beach! You might "goggle" the hotel as they are offering "specials" right now ~~~~very friendly and FUN! Convenient location.

Martita B.

[seapenarth]

I am on the Pride right now....my dive boats cruised past the Hilton while we were in Barbados, couldn't see anything going on with regard to the beach restoration at all. I cancelled my pre-cruise stay at the Hilton for that reason (and stayed at Colony Club; very very beautiful but very expensive), but the Hilton looked great from what I could see.

 

P.S. Sandy Lane? It's $1000 a night!

 

Also, on the other end of the island is a charming, small hotel called Peach and Quiet. Beautiful, but away from most things (although extremely inexpensive) and no A/C. Great rate, though. Try TripAdvisor, search Barbados hotels. The Arches comes up as #1.

 

Jane

Tripadvisor can be most unreliable as you take on views of people who may have very different standards to your own. There are many dodgy dirty poor food hotels in Barbados which the weather covers up as in many other holiday resorts so be carefull. :(

do`nt accept TripAdviser word for word any more than Zagat

[curiousx]

We are looking forward to pre and post cruise stays at Peach and Quiet. We could pay much more and get much less. Rooms are basic but fine, food and service are very good, views are wonderful - added bonus...no canned music, no kids. There can be mosquitos so we come prepared and ask for an extra fan in our rooms (no a/c).

[curiousx]

Tripadvisor can be most unreliable as you take on views of people who may have very different standards to your own. There are many dodgy dirty poor food hotels in Barbados which the weather covers up as in many other holiday resorts so be carefull. :(

do`nt accept TripAdviser word for word any more than Zagat

 

Have to agree that tripadvisor is not gospel but the reviews of Peach and Quiet are pretty accurate. Whether Little Arches deserves to be number one on the island, I have no idea, but dear (and demanding) friends stayed there for three weeks and could not have been more pleased.

[Foxberry]

We are staying at the Coconut Court Fri Nov 30th from Martita's review on another thread. We board the Pride the 1st and will be at the Sky bar hanging over the railing watching you during life boat drill the 8th :p .

Judy Field at the Coconut Court has been wonderful to deal with, we just had one couple from our group cancel because the husband had a horseback riding accident on Thanksgiving and they have to cancel, no problem on the hotel's end to cancel and no charges.

Judy also has arranged our airport pick up and ship transfer. Robbie

[xyz111]

Thank you all for the information and suggestions.

 

Written to the Hilton several days ago asking about the status and impact of the beach restoration project, but no response received. [Not a good sign]

 

My reservation at the Hilton can be changed. Encouraged by Jane's message saying that things there appear ok now. Will try to continue to monitor the situation. I appreciate the alternative hotels you have suggested.

 

I would of course appreciate receiving any additional comments about the current status of the beach restoration and its impact on the Hilton at this time.

 

Thanks again for your help, and I look forward to meeting you on Dec 8

 

Harvey

[ldove123]

We just returned from two nights at the Hilton following our Nov. 17th cruise. The beach restoration was not active during our stay; however, the erosion certainly is evident. The pools are very nice but the beach itself leaves a lot to be desired.

 

Plus it is located on the South side of the island and the winter wave action was pretty severe. The yellow flag was flying all weekend -- caution when swimming. I swim a lot but I would not have gone into that water.

 

The other issue with the Hilton on Saturday was the number of day trippers at the hotel. There were 4 other very large ships in port, in addition to the Pride. I think half of the people on all the boats were at the Hilton. They ran out of chairs and the outside cafe was filled to overflowing.

 

Having said that, we spent our pre-cruise stay at Little Arches. Unfortunately, it rained the while time. It's a charming hotel with access to a very nice beach -- which also gets a lot of wave action. Again, we were unable to go into the water.

 

The rooms are very nice, good restaurant, but the drawback is the "communal" nature of the rooms, in that the nicer ones open out on the public areas. You are not able to keep any curtains open as anyone sitting at the pool or walking by has a full view of the room.

 

I don't think I would name Little Arches number one but it was fine for a one night stay. Easy access to the fish fry as Oistins which we really enjoyed.

[marienbad]

Additional question:

Which nice hotels in Barbados are close to the pier where Seabourn is docked?

[tayl]

Has anyone ever heard of "turtle beach resort"? it's all inclusive. Someone suggested this place for a couple of days as it's near the gap.

[Journey88]

Earlier this year, I over-nighted in Barbados prior to taking a SeaDream II Cruise in the Rostrevor Hotel (http://rostrevorbarbados.com/). It is a clean, family operated, reasonably priced hotel about half way between the airport and cruise ship terminal (US$20 per leg). It is located on the beach in St. Lawrence Gap and has numerous restaurants and bars within 50 meters.

[DaveD]

Hi,

 

I have to agree with Seapenath, Cobblers Cove is excellent!

[SantaAna,CA]

I'm back from my cruise and stayed at the Hilton (day room) again. I love that place, and I don't understand why anyone wouldn't like it. I thought the beach was fantastic, in fact I had the left hand portion of it all to myself! Perhaps it's a different story when it's crowded? I don't know but I loved it. They even gave me an ocean view room just for the day. Expensive though, whoo eee! A bottle of water cost six bucks!

 

The pool area and umbrella shaded beach area had lots of people, but being the isolationist I am....I can always find space where others aren't, and the left side of their beautiful beach can be all yours most of the time.

 

I'm also puzzled about the negative reactions to TripAdvisor. I never book a hotel without it. I read the last ten reviews of any given place, and that usually gives a pretty good balance of things. I have never found a review to be way off in my years of using it. So anyway, it works for me!

 

Jane

[GrannyLorr]

I also use Tripadvisor and so far have been happy with the places I have chosen......hope the one I picked in Lisbon is ok. I think a lot of the "reviewers" are just there to complain........you soon learn to read between the lines!

[Cruisin Simon]

I agree with Jane about the Hilton Hotel, there was no sign of any beach restoration work when we stayed there overnight prior to embarking on the Pride on 24 November. Although there seemed to be quite a lot of people on loungers near the main pool, the area around the infinity pool just above the main pool was almost deserted.

 

The only downside for me was the loud karaoke going on at the beach bar, which was definitely assaulting my ears! Luckily it stopped at about 8.00 pm and we had a peaceful night.

 

I would certainly stay there again. Simon

[RosieD]

We stayed at the peach and quiet. in nov of o6. It was the most unconfortable place we ever stayed at. The rooms have a fan but you haveto keepthe doors closed as the mosquetos are vicious. There are no screens and it is hot hot hot. The owneres are very nice food there was adaquate. You do need a car as it is out of the way. There is no beach right there but the waves crashing on the rocks is great. The pool is wonderful.

[MandH]

We stayed at the Tamarind Bay before our December "Pride" cruise and I can recommend it well. We've also stayed at the Hilton but its too much of a business style hotel. They'll make you welcome at Tamarind Bay and it isn't too far from the cruise terminal (nowhere on the West Coast really is). Daphne's next door is a great restaurant.

[SantaAna,CA]

We stayed at the peach and quiet. in nov of o6. It was the most unconfortable place we ever stayed at. The rooms have a fan but you haveto keepthe doors closed as the mosquetos are vicious. There are no screens and it is hot hot hot. The owneres are very nice food there was adaquate. You do need a car as it is out of the way. There is no beach right there but the waves crashing on the rocks is great. The pool is wonderful.

 

Rosie, I felt exactly the same way. In fact I left a review on TripAdvisor raving about the location, and warning people about both the suffrocating rooms, and mosquitos. I apparently annoyed the management so much, they actually replied, quite huffily, to my TripAdvisor post.

 

I am amazed, whenever I check out the reviews of this place, that no one mentions how stifling the rooms are.

 

Jane

[seapenarth]

Additional question:

Which nice hotels in Barbados are close to the pier where Seabourn is docked?

 

? pier

[seapenarth]

We stayed at the peach and quiet. in nov of o6. It was the most unconfortable place we ever stayed at. The rooms have a fan but you haveto keepthe doors closed as the mosquetos are vicious. There are no screens and it is hot hot hot. The owneres are very nice food there was adaquate. You do need a car as it is out of the way. There is no beach right there but the waves crashing on the rocks is great. The pool is wonderful.

 

So do`nt always believe Tripadviser. It`s such a mix of views and there are 10 times poor hotels in Barbados than ones I would want to stay in, even for one night.

[curiousx]

I have stayed at Peach and Quiet 4 times now and have no hesitation in going back or recommending it to friends. It is true that the rooms do not have air-conditioning and, that if you sleep with the unscreened windows closed, the overhead ceiling fan may not be enough for those who like air conditioning or continuous breezes. And it is also true that there are mosquitos (heavy after it rains and not many whenit doesn't).

 

Our solution to this is (a) ask the owners to supply an extra floor fan (b) burn a mosquito coil when the mozzies are heavy. If one does this, you can sleep with the windows open as both the coils and the fans keep the mozzies away. Once, when there was a real downpour, we slept with the windows closed - For our needs, the combination of floor and ceiling fan provided more than sufficient cooling.

 

I also note the comment abovee that the food was "adequate"...well, it was certainly not Seabourn, but I certainly preferred it to 'popular' Barbados restaurants such as Champers and Pisces, noting, of course, that the choice is more limited.

 

Each to his/her own, however!