Bougainvillea Barbados

Ok here goes stayed here for 11 nights First of all staff at the reception were excellent as were the staff at the pool bar We had room 5208 which overlooked the pool and beach which was lovely The grounds pool and rooms were very nice Bad points no parasols round the pools Need another bar apart from the pool bar Signs need to be installed to ask guests to be courteous of other guests when closing doors at 5 30 in the morning The price of food at the hotel is rather expensive $190 for 2 to the buffet and not a great variety but all this is just my option could be a fantastic hotel if they could just make a few minor changes Read less

We had a one bedroom suite in the west wing which was to a high standard - lots of added extras I didn't expect including use of a beach bag and mosquito blaster in the room. Beach was great and we had no problem in finding sun beds and shade during our stay and were lucky enough to watch three nests of turtles hatch. Staff were superb - very friendly and knowledgeable. Food prices in the hotel were very reasonable, if not cheaper than outside of the resort and I concur with one of the previous reviews in that its worth hiring a car and also food is very expensive - one lettuce £7!! Overall a great hotel and we would return again. Read less

The room was as expected from the pictures, we had a lovely view of the pool and see. The bathroom was beautiful with a big walk in shower, double sink and plenty of towel. It was also kitted out with a hairdryer, and white company shampoo, conditioner, body wash, hand soap and hand cream! Air con was in both the bedroom and the living area. Fan on the ceiling in living area too. We has a lovely spacious balcony, and the kitchen was kitted out with everything you could need whilst on holiday (toasters, kettles pots, pans, chopping board etc)- washing up liquid, clothes and tea towels provided. There are 2 hotel pool areas - it was low season when we went so there was never a problem with loungers, but there weren't a huge amount so potentially could be a problem in the high season? You can hire snorkle, paddle board and I think kayak equipment for free from the water sports area, and go out on a small catamaran for a small feel. The pool bar was lovely, with drinks at really resonable prices. Calabash restaurant was a lovely setting right on the beach and sea, with good food. Siam is a thai restaurant which personally I was very disappointed with - they food was very average and I ordered a thai curry which was oily and the chicken horrible. But they were happy to change this for another meal no problem so that was good. There is a hospitality room for late check outs where you can sit and wait and use the shower for the gym if needed. Overall a great hotel, would recommend to anyone, and would definitely go back. A couple of other things to note about barbados - taxis are veryyy expensive. You are looking at £50 ish one way to go from south side to west side of island as a tourist, so consider car hire. We got a 4x4 for 10 days for around £500 - which we used to do trips all over the island so got our moneys worth easily. Secondly, make sure you have the right budget, barbados is a very expensive island. We hoped to save some money by eating in the hotel for breakfast and lunch - but even food in the supermarket was very expensive. For example a box of kellogs special K would be around £7.50, and milk £2.50. Generally the cost of food both in restaurants and supermarkets was expensive - so just be aware of that! Read less

We have stayed at Bougainvillea many times in the past and keep returning for the excellent location, facilities and friendliness of the staff. On this latest visit we were very impressed with the refurbished rooms (not that there was much wrong before) which have been completed to a very high standard. The main restaurant (open for breakfast, lunch and dinner) has also been refurbished and provides a good choice of food at reasonable prices. Read less

Visited Maxwell Beach last year but this was our first stay at Bougainvillea resort and we were very pleasantly surprised, smaller resort than last year but much better. There were 4 of us so we had two rooms both of which were beautifully laid out, modern and clean with lovely view over pool area to the beach. Our room was actually amazing with a very roomy terrace/veranda to the side with table chairs and sun beds as well as a balcony. The beach was gorgeous, the sea is fairly unpredictable as it's South Coast but, apart from the first 2 days when there were red flags up following the near passing of hurricane Dorian, it was much calmer than last year and we were able to enjoy the beautiful turquoise water every day. There was a bit of sargassum seaweed, less than last year and it was cleared up regularly. There are also 2 free form pools, one with a swim up bar (no under 16's) plus another quieter pool with a couple of hammocks nearby (no children under 12 unaccompanied by an adult). We booked on room only basis and were very pleased to be given vouchers for continental breakfast in Calabash Cafe for all 4 of us for 5 mornings of our stay. The options were a little limited but to be honest we weren't expecting anything so it was a bonus and the staff there are lovely. We could upgrade to a cooked buffet style breakfast for 15 Barbados dollars (US$7.50, about £6) which 3 of us did a couple of times. We made a couple of trips to the local Massy supermarket for food, snacks and rum and could cook on the hot plate in our room. There was a fridge and freezer, a toaster, kettle, crockery, glasses and cutlery for 4, brilliant! Only thing I would say is that our room, 5405, would benefit from a doorbell. This is because the outside space is so large and the entrance door leads on to the veranda and not to the actual room so when you are in the room, with the doors closed to keep the lovely cool air conditioned air in you can literally not hear anyone knocking! We missed our daughters calling for us once and much more importantly, the young man delivering our room service burger and pizza from Calabash Cafe had to go back down and get someone to ring us to let him in then come back up 4 flights of stairs! The food from the Cafe was good, there is a snack menu as well as a lunchtime menu and then an evening menu, they have a lovely set up whereby you can eat in the cafe or at table covered by parasols outside in your swim wear if you prefer. There is also a Thai restaurant, Siam, didn't try it so can't comment. The staff, apart from one gent who had a grumpy day, were without fault. The young men in the watersports shed were friendly and really happy to help, a real credit to the resort. There are no parasols for the sunbeds round the pools but they are more than happy to give you extra shades round the sun beds on the beach and it's such a short hop from beach to pool that this didn't cause us any problems. We went late, 27th August to 4th September and had no problem getting sunbeds but this may be a problem in high season when it's busier. There is a spa offering some treatments, details were given at check in we didn't use so can't comment on this. All in all we had a fabulous holiday with the delightful bonus of seeing a nest of sea turtles hatch, and would happily go back to Bougainvillea Barbados. Read less