TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

We arrived home from Barbados this morning after spending 11 nights at Sugar Bay — our first time staying here — and overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our holiday. I always try to provide honest and detailed reviews, as I rely heavily on them when choosing destinations myself. Positives • Smooth and Efficient Check-In Check-in was quick and easy, and our room was ready immediately, which was very much appreciated after a long journey. • Excellent Food Across All Restaurants The food was consistently very good throughout our stay. There was always plenty of choice, and we never struggled to find something delicious at any meal. • Wonderful, Friendly Staff Every member of staff we interacted with was friendly, helpful, and welcoming. Their warmth really added to our experience. Areas That Could Be Improved • Room Cleaning Although the room was cleaned daily, the standard wasn’t quite what I’ve experienced in similar hotels. Coffee was only replaced on 4 out of 11 days, and water was never replaced (although it was always available from reception). • Limited Communal Toilets There is only one toilet area serving the pool, beach, and bar. While the facilities were always clean, there were only three toilets for ladies. Also, only tissues were provided for hand drying — I really think a hand dryer would be more hygienic and cost-effective in the long run. • Lack of Hand Hygiene Stations I would strongly recommend adding hand-sanitising stations at the entrances to all restaurants. While I always wash my hands before eating, not all guests do, and this would help reduce hygiene risks. • Gym Equipment I used the gym on 8 of the 11 days and found it clean and tidy. However, it would be great to have some smaller dumbbells available, as many hotel gyms do. Overall, though, it was better than most hotel gyms I’ve used. • Beach/Pool Area Management This was the biggest issue. As other reviewers have noted, you need to get up very early to secure a sunbed. Umbrellas were extremely limited, and we weren’t always able to get one — a real concern given the strong sun and high temperatures. Towels were also a challenge; I believe providing towels in the room with a strict swap system could help prevent people taking more than one each. • Palm Tree Maintenance This is a safety concern. On two occasions, members of our party were hit by falling palm leaves while on the beach. The leaves are large, and thankfully no one was seriously hurt. Many trees had dead fronds that clearly needed removing — regular maintenance by a professional would prevent accidents. • Sea Floats Hygiene The floats in the sea were increasingly covered in algae, becoming completely green and slimy by the end of our stay. Regular cleaning would make them far more pleasant to use. Overall Despite the areas that need attention, the food, staff, and general ambience of the hotel were fantastic, and we had a truly enjoyable stay. Would we return? Yes, definitely. I just hope management takes steps to improve these few issues. (I have also provided this feedback directly to the hotel.)

Fantastic again, great friendly staff, especially tony the barman Good food lots of choice, room very comfy, and great location,

We are just coming to the end of a lovely week of winter sun here at Sugar Bay. I’ll deal with the (very few) negatives first, then move onto the many, many positives of this resort! Whilst the hotel is beautiful and kept spotlessly clean by the hardworking staff team, our room (107) was much more basic than we had been expecting. It was lovely to have a room which is only yards from the beach, but there were several things which detracted from the positive impression, such as the missing panel on the door lock inside the room, chipped paint on the bathroom door frame, a very noisy (albeit effective!) air conditioning unit and poor ventilation in the bathroom. The room also felt small. I understand that the rooms throughout the resort differ, so our experience may well not be the same as other guests in this respect. In every other respect, the room was fine - serviced every day, and the bed and pillows were comfy. It was also lovely to wake up and hear the sound of the sea so close by. There was lots of storage space for our possessions and a full size fridge, as well as tea and coffee-making facilities (although a coffee station in the resort providing good quality coffee would be a welcome addition, according to some guests we’ve overheard!). The food here is great, a good choice, all freshly cooked and no issues with dietary needs, (I’m gluten free and this has not been an issue at all). We ate twice at Sizzle and loved it - great quality steaks and cocktails, but the food at the main buffet and at Colin’s Grill is just as good, and we’ve eaten really well all week. The beach is gorgeous, and it’s a lovely place to spend a morning chilling, stepping into the lagoon for a dip every now and then. Weather-wise, the temperatures in this last week of November have been great - in the high 20s Celsius, with the odd, quick shower, but mainly sunshine. As many other reviewers have commented, the staff team here is really what makes this such a fantastic place to spend your holiday! We have been looked after by so many truly kind, helpful, hardworking people, who take a real pride in doing their jobs well. From Reception, Housekeeping, to the Bar Staff and Waiting Team, they have delivered consistently faultless service and helped make our holiday truly memorable. If you’re looking for a relaxing holiday on Barbados, this resort may well tick as many boxes for you as it has for us!

We have just returned from 9 nights at Sugar Bay, and it was fantastic! Would definitely stay here again. The hotel has a great location right on the beach, with a sheltered area within the sea, for swimming in calmer waters. Plenty of sun loungers and parasols available, and fresh towels every day. The watersports team were very helpful and also offered various activities like paddleboarding and snorkelling. Most people claimed sun loungers pretty early, so we did the same and then went off to breakfast and to get ready. If you are shade bathers like us, you’ll want to set up over the left hand side of the beach near the trees for more shade. The room was lovely and airy and spacious, with a modern bathroom and plenty of storage. We were on the ground floor with a door out to the path along the beach, but higher floors had balconies. We didn’t use the pool at all as we much prefer being on the beach, but it looked nice and has a swim up bar. My only slight negative about the room was that we had interconnecting doors on both sides and the soundproofing was not great. I wore ear plugs as we could her talking, coughing and someone snoring next door! The food was excellent. We ate at the main buffet restaurant every morning and at lunchtime most days. A great spread of hot food, salad etc. It was varied and different every meal, with plenty of choice. Could eat inside or outside. My only complaint here is that as someone who can’t eat dairy, dessert was limited. I ate a lot of raspberry sorbet! I did flag this with the team who were very helpful and made sure that something suitable was prepared for me, but I did have to ask each time. And one day ended up speaking to the chef, an English man, who was not friendly at all and was trying to start an argument with me about why there is no need to have dairy free options! So I would recommend speaking to the team in advance in order to make sure you have options. Weirdly there are a lot of gluten free things there, but if you are vegan you will struggle. All the staff (except the chef) were lovely, and always saying hello when you pass them in the resort. Front desk team very helpful. We had a couples massage in the spa, and would definitely recommend that. There are also activities laid on for guests including a weekly outdoor movie night which was good (recent cinema releases) and a steel pan workshop which I would definitely recommend! For travel from the airport, we got a taxi and it was 35 US dollars (cash only). I wouldn’t recommend taking a taxi to Bridgetown as we were charged 25 US dollars, whereas the mini buses are very cheap and regular. And quite fun! Top tips for things to do: - Atlantis submarine tour in Bridgetown; absolutely brilliant - Mount Gay rum distillery tour in St Lucy (not the Bridgetown one) - world’s oldest rum distillery - wander to Pebbles Beach about 15 mins away to see the racehorses being washed in the sea every morning, and swimming! Lots of people down there but you need to get there around 6.30am - go and watch the horse racing at the Garrison a 5 min walk away - this is every other Saturday I think and it was a lot of fun - Bridgetown walking tour (found on Viator) It was an excellent holiday and I would definitely return to Barbados and to Sugar Bay! Feel free to DM me if you have any questions

What a beautiful hotel, great location with the beach on the doorstep. All the staff were attentive and couldn’t do enough for you. Highly recommend visit to the steak house (part of the all inclusive package) We will definitely be returning!