Bird of Paradise Beachfront Cottages

We have stayed here twice. 2019 and again in 2024. There are 3 cottages side by side. We stay in Purple Papaya. Love the location, right on the beach. One bedroom open floor plan. Very clean, plenty of cooking supplies, towels, bed linens, beach chairs, etc. The manager, Tarictia, is so sweet and excellent at her job. Tippy's restaurant is right next door. Excellent food and service. Beach directly in front of cottages is a little rocky, but just walk a few feet to Tippy's, and it is amazing. The cottage next door, Shooting Star, has 2 bedrooms if you need more room. I highly recommend this cottage. We never return to the same island, to many others to visit, but Eluthera just has so much you can do, and it's just an amazing place. Pam and Shannon, Atlanta, GA

We had the pleasure of staying in the Shooting Star in early November. My husband, 2 pre school age children and myself traveled to Eleuthera and our stay was nothing short of spectacular. The views from this cottage are amazing and like none other I’ve experienced. We happily watched the sunrise each morning from the upper deck and lower patios. The infinity pool was such a nice place to sit relax and watch/listen to the waves. My children had the most wonderful time playing in the sand with all of the beach toys provided by the owner. The walk from the patio to the beach is seconds and easy for young children to navigate with a little help. The interior of the cottage also does not disappoint. The wall to wall sliding doors and automatic shades made viewing the ocean on a constant basis so easy and really beautiful. The kitchen is equip with all the modern comforts of home- pots pans, utensils, kid friendly dinnerware, even baking dishes and cookie sheets (we did actually make cookies one night!). The washer dryer was key for us with 2 little kids and a sandy beach. The two bedrooms upstairs were of an impressive size! Each with its own ensuite full bathroom, and closet storage! The owners even provide bins to help separate clothing and keep organized. The pillows and sheets were also very comphy and a great touch having 2 king size beds. Bathrooms also have ample storage for all of our stuff. Given my kids are young, we only utilized 1/3 showers, but see how awesome this would have been if traveling with additional adults. The owner, Alissa, and property manager, Taracita, were so friendly and accommodating! Alissa checked in on us multiple times during our stay and Taracita was always available when we needed her. We would absolutely stay here again! Thank you Alissa and Taracita for enabling such a memorable vacation for my family!

Where to start?! We spent a week in the purple papaya cottage (the one next to Tippy’s). Booked direct and saved a good amount of money, and it was just as simple as booking through a platform. The two nights that Tippy’s had music, it was a bit loud, but didn’t keep us from falling asleep. Definitely a place you want a car, but absolutely gorgeous beach literally four steps off deck. Can walk more than a mile in each direction and see very few other people. Nice reef offshore, so waves are minimal, and then winds are from across the island, it’s flat as a bathtub.

This review is in response to the owner's response 5 days ago: Everything we stated in our review was 100% accurate, not false information, which is why we included pictures of the broken pool along with detailed info that also included texts, emails, and calls during our stay. We checked into this house and I immediately noticed a non - working, contaminated, dirty pool. It did not work the entire time we were there, despite the pool maintenance guy coming over several days later. If the pump was working fine prior to our arrival , as the owner stated, then why was it green from algae and filled with beach sand when we checked in? The pool obviously hadn't been looked at or touched in several days. If you are going to advertise a beautiful infinity pool on your website with 13 pictures (but you know that your pool guy is unreliable), then state on your website and in the description that the pool may or may not work. The pool was one of the main reasons we chose this house, so we indeed asked to be compensated for this. As far as the updates of this issue while were there, both the owner and property manager knew that I had a phone with working cell service, including WhatsApp, and text messaging available. Were we supposed to sit at the house all day and anxiously wait for updates? That's not how we wanted to spend our vacation! We spent a lot of time exploring the island, eating out, and enjoying ourselves. Half way through our vacation, the property manager offered to use the pool at the cottage next door (which was the only one working out of all 3 cottages). We felt that using another pool was not an acceptable solution and did not make up for the inconvenience. It also did not make up for the extra money we spent on this house. We could have saved alot of money if we rented a beach house without a pool. By the way, there are very nice houses with great reviews right on the beach that aren't 30 years old (as the owner stated in her response). Yes they are a little older, but they are bigger than a cottage and are on the same beach. It was a shame that our 20th anniversary turned into this fiasco with an owner who clearly is blaming others for the issue and being this unprofessional. We definitely know that our next trip to Eluthera will be spent at a different property!

What could have been one of our best vacation rental experiences has turned into one of our most disappointing. We chose to visit Eleuthera for our first visit to celebrate our 20th anniversary. After reviewing many houses, we narrowed our search to only beachfront rentals that included a pool. This house was chosen because of the amazing pictures of the pool (shown in 13 of 24 pictures on the main website) overlooking the beach and because of the following description of the pool as a "custom made tear drop infinity edge pool over looking the beach". There were several other beachfront properties at a much lower price point that do not include a pool. Upon arriving we immediately noticed that the pool was green, filled with sand, and had debris in it. We contacted the property manager, Tarictia, who also instructed us to contact the property owner, Alissa, which we did (on the day of our arrival). While Tarictia worked to communicate with us on the problem, we did not hear from the property owner until 2 days later (after a second attempt of reaching out) – and her only response was ‘the pool guy comes weekly’ without regard to the fact that the pool is clearly not in working order. In the first several days there was continuous back and forth with the pool maintenance person and Tarictia – though the issue was never resolved during our stay and we never heard back from the property owner to try and offer compensation for the problem. Once we returned home we reached out again to the property owner stating our disappointment of communication and lack of compensation and did not hear back from her for another 7 days. We realize things happen and were fully aware of some things out of the owner’s control (such as power/ water outages) cannot be avoided. However, part of the owner’s response stated the following about the person responsible for pool maintenance: “‘Unfortunately he is not reliable”. This is unacceptable if you have an amenity that you are up charging a rental amount for (by a significant amount) if you know you have an unreliable resource to maintain it. Again, we understand that it is a small island and that some things take longer. If that is the case, then don’t showcase the pool as a primary amenity for the house – and clearly state that it may or may not be working given there is no reliable service. At the time of our stay, there are 3 cottages associated with Birds of Paradise – and 2 of the 3 didn’t have working pools. Pros of our stay: - Tarictia (the property manager) was excellent in communication and empathy for the issue. She also makes beautiful handmade baskets for sale. - The house is on a beautiful stretch of beach and the house provide excellent views. - If you happen to be staying when Tippy’s is open, it is a very easy walk. - The house provided beach chairs that you could easily take down to the beach. Cons of our stay: - Alissa (the property owner) did not communicate directly with us regularly, was slow to respond, and did not provide any kind of good customer service or ownership of the issue. - One of the key amenities was not available. The pool was unavailable because (in the property owner’s words) the person responsible for pool maintenance “is not reliable”. It is a different story if the pool was not available due to something unavoidable. - The house is over-priced for not providing reliable maintenance.

This is hands down the best rental home I have rented anywhere in the Bahamas. The pictures don’t do it justice either. First, the owner makes the booking process easy and he’s very explanatory. Next, the house is immaculate. It has no weird smells, mold or grime, random animals and it’s stocked with every thing you can think of from kitchen utensils, to snorkels, extra towels and blankets, etc.. Additionally, it is a smart home and has all the features you can imagine. The property manager Rhonda is amazing and the location with pool are to die for. Thanks again for making our experience sooo memorable.

I cannot express in words how amazing these cottages are! We stayed in the Golden Chalice while our friends stayed in the Purple Papaya. The location cannot be beat! The infinity pools overlook the beach and the water crashes just a few feet away. The cottages are a home away from home. Super comfortable, spacious, and full of all the things that make you feel like you live there. The wall to wall, floor to ceiling windows give you an unobstructed view of the most gorgeous beach you could ever dream of. I explored the whole island and the best snorkeling was right in front of our own cottage!!! I've traveled all over the world and have never had accommodations as amazing as this. 5 stars all around! Can't wait to go back!

We stayed in the Golden Chalice cottage and there isn’t a bad thing we could say about this cottage. Location was great too! My husband and I traveled to Eleuthera for an anniversary trip and it was the perfect place for us to stay. The bed is super comfortable, and I have awful insomnia so that should tell you something, I slept great! It might have been the view too! The kitchen and bathroom are stocked with the essentials, my only regret is we couldn’t sign the guest book because we didn’t have a pen! The booking process was simple, Alissa is a GREAT communicator and once on the island we met Tarictia who was available if we needed anything. I would not only stay here again and again but would highly recommend the cottages. The cottage is in central Eleuthera which is perfect and only minutes into Governor’s Harbour. Tippy’s next door is great for lunch, dinner, and live music. Cherry on top is the pink sand out front. Book this place, you won’t regret it!