Barbados - anyone been?

[TomAllenWife]

Where would you stay?
Any recommendations would be great thanks 😃

No kids, prefer all inclusive with a choice of restaurants and bars

I stayed at Club Barbados for my 60th. Adult only, all inclusive on the "right" side of the island for calmer seas. Two swimming pools, own small stretch of beach, two restaurants and a nightclub on site. Lovely, lovely, lovely staff. On my bucket list for a return visit. I went with Saga but I don't think they go there anymore.

I went in April to The Waves hotel on the west coast. Loved it and will definitely return at some point.
Two restaurants, right on the beach with watersports included in the cost, spa. All inclusive but we did eat out twice...went to The Cliffs and Lonestar. I advise you to book in advance as both restaurants are busy.
My boys played golf, we swam with turtles and watched the race horses swim at sunrise.... I want to go back!

Thank you both

The reviews are so mixed it's hard to decide
Even Sandals has some shit reviews

You want to be on the West coast for the Caribbean ocean. South coast is rough and seaweedy, I think there’s a crossover with the Atlantic Ocean, it’s not great.

We’ve also stayed at Waves several times and loved it, it’s all inclusive with a lovely Asian fusion a la carte restaurant and then a buffet/theme night restaurant, plus a coffee shop/snack bar during the day.

The Sandpiper is our favourite place to stay but it’s not all inclusive.

Even though Waves is AI we ate out a lot anyway. You can do a “dine around” in any of the 4 Elegant hotels and there’s a boat that basically spends the day sailing between all of the hotels and you can hop on and off.

The Cliff restaurant is closed, it’s been closed for about 2 years now and the land/building is being sold off. We’ve eaten at and loved Nishi (sushi place in Holetown), Tides (absolutely stunning waterfront restaurant), Cin Cin (that’s just a short walk from Waves). We had terrible service Lonestar.

We've stayed at the Sea Breeze beach house on the south coast near St Lawrence gap.Lovely hotel right on the beach .No problems with seaweed when we were there(February). Sea was great for swimming and for boogie boarding.Hotel is AI and the staff were so attentive.They would come to your loungers round the pool and on the beach and take drinks orders,offer you ice cream and would spray your feet with cooling water and eucalyptus.The sun loungers round the pool were the most comfortable I've been on. Very wide and with thick mattresses.I think they've added more rooms since we were last there.

Thank you so much for this
Will have a look at the hotels you've suggested

Is it cheap to eat out?

We stayed at Turtle Bay Resort right next to Sandals and it was lovely

The cliffs restarant is open as I went this year, but I think it has new owners. Still fab though and the interior and view is amazing. Hometown is a great location as well

I think we're heading to the sea breeze
DP likes a selection of bars and restaurants and this seems to fit the billl

Cobbler's Cove... very quiet, small private beach and fabulous restaurant. Was a few years ago though.

We went last year and stayed at Crystal Cove. Have been previously and love it so much. My parents are going start of September and staying at Crystal Cove as well.

crystal Cove is part of elegant hotels and you can visit any of the others - just jump on the water taxi. Waves is supposed to be nice , as is Colony Club - but Colony Club isn’t all inclusive I don’t think so if you would rather go out and eat then it’s a good one.

Turtle Bay is reportedly quite tired now, but Elegant Hotels have been bought by Marriott so they may look to renovate.

But Crystal Cove I would say defo one of the best and on West Coast. Love it, it’s a great hotel

We’ve stayed at both The Club Barbados and Waves, both AI and adults only (Waves was many years ago so may not be adult only now).
We preferred The Club for its location and what’s around, it’s close to The Tides, which is just lovely with beautiful views.
Sandals is also in a great location (we stayed there before it became Sandals), it’s got a great spot on the beach but having stayed at two other Sandals elsewhere, I’m not sure we’d do another one.