Lula P.
Google
We stayed here for a week from Boxing Day. The hotel itself is nice, clean, and well maintained, and the staff are generally very friendly. However, for the price we paid (around £450 per night for two people), the overall service did not quite meet expectations.
From the first day we noticed that service was consistently slow, despite the hotel not being particularly busy at the beginning of the week. A service charge of 10–20% is automatically added to bills, even for drinks, and there is an expectation to tip on top of this, which felt disappointing given the speed of service. On one occasion, we ordered two drinks and spring rolls from Charlie’s beach bar and waited over 30 minutes. A nearby table that ordered the exact same items after us received theirs first, and when we asked about our order, we were told it hadn’t been put through. We also tried to order pizza on the first day and told the oven wasn’t on, then a few days later told the pizza oven wasn’t working. Fortunately a restaurant nearby called Buzo did amazing pizza! We also went to a place called The Sipping Room, which was some of the best food and cocktails we had all week.
We also had a slight issue with housekeeping one afternoon. Rooms are cleaned during the day, and while we were sleeping, housekeeping knocked. We said “no thank you,” but they entered the room anyway, which was uncomfortable.
We were on a breakfast package and ate at Coco’s every morning. The breakfast itself was good, and the staff there were lovely, but again the service was very slow. We were also surprised to find that breakfast was not a buffet, but rather a set menu, with surcharges for certain items if you built your own breakfast.
The pool is quite small, but there is a large beach area reserved for hotel guests, and we never struggled to find sunbeds. However, there are no umbrellas, and on several days there were no clean towels available when we tried to exchange our wet ones.
Check-in is not until 4pm, which felt quite late. There was no proper area to store luggage or change other than using the toilets, which wasn’t ideal after a long journey.
On the positive side, the room was lovely; spacious, clean, and comfortable, with both air conditioning and a ceiling fan. The beach itself is beautiful, although the shallow water is rocky, so water shoes are advisable. The location is very good: you can walk to Bridgetown or easily catch a bus just outside the hotel for 3.50 BBD.
The on-site shop is handy, though it doesn’t stay open late, and there’s a small nearby shopping area with a supermarket-style store and pharmacy, as well as a nice smoothie bar and surf shop. The hotel was also beautifully decorated for Christmas. There was a small New Year’s Eve event with a good buffet and some drinks included. The times we did eat lunch here, we had the jerk chicken wrap which was to die for, as well as fishcakes, quesadillas and burgers. The main gentleman at the front desk, Jabarri, was particularly lovely and accommodating.
We would highly recommend the activities coordinator in the hotel, Vaida, she is a breath of fresh aid and sorted us a lovely boat & snorkelling trip. Which was much cheaper than booking online.
Overall, a pleasant stay with a great location and lovely rooms, but the service levels did not reflect the premium price point. We explored some other hotels and based on initial impressions we would go to Hilton, or Sugar Bay.
