Tamarind by Elegant Hotels

Barbados, Caribbean

Virgin rating

The hotel

Situated on an idyllic 750ft crescent of beach on the Platinum West Coast of Barbados, Elegant Hotels proudly re-introduce Tamarind. A fusion of Mediterranean warmth and Caribbean spirit coupled with serene outdoor spaces give it a distinctive personality. It is a perfect holiday destination for couples, honeymooners and families seeking a stylish retreat. There’s an array of complimentary water sports and activities for all ages, kids' club, family lounge, fitness centre, an intimate spa and relaxation pool (adults only) and access to acclaimed golfing nearby. Culinary experiences include the 'Taste of Asia', 246 Fridays and Caribbean buffet nights, and a series of chef-inspired à la carte menu options with live entertainment five days a week.

Amenities

  • Kids Club
  • Wheelchair access
  • Families
  • Honeymoon
  • Wedding
  • Bar
  • Fitness Centre/Gym
  • Internet Access
  • Restaurant
  • Room Service
  • Safety Deposit Box
  • Spa

Where is it

At Paynes Bay, St James. 20-minutes to Bridgetown. Transfer time from airport: 35 minutes.

Hotel information

104 rooms on 3 floors with no lifts. All with balcony or patio, air-conditioning, flat-screen cable TV, tea/coffee-making facilities, radio with iPod docking station, fridge, complimentary WiFi access, safe, iron and ironing board, bathrobe, and hairdryer. 

Pool/Garden View Rooms have 1 king-size bed and a sleeper chair, sleeping maximum 2 adults and 1 child. All rooms are non-smoking.


All Inclusive of: breakfast, lunch, all-day dining options, afternoon tea and dinner. All beverages and cocktails (excluding champagne and fine wines). Room service is also available at a supplementary delivery charge. Complimentary motorised and non-motorised water sports, and fitness classes. Guests can enjoy access to the amenities and facilities at the hotel's sister properties (subject to availability, exclusions may apply).

Oceanfront Rooms have sea views and 1 king-size bed. This room type is not available as a twin, and sleeps maximum 2 adults. 

Oceanfront Rooms with Sleeper Chair, featuring 1 king-size bed and pull out sleeper chair. This room type is not available as a twin, and sleeps maximum 2 adults and 1 child.

Junior Suite Pool/Garden View featuring a living area with sofa bed, and either 1 king-size bed or twin beds, sleeping maximum 3 adults, or 2 adults and 2 children.

Junior Suite Ocean View featuring a living area with sofa bed, and either 1 king-size bed or twin beds, sleeping maximum 3 adults or 2 adults and 2 children. Wheelchair accessible Room with roll-in shower.

1-Bedroom Suite Pool/Garden View featuring a separate living room with sofa bed, and 1 king-size bed, sleeping maximum 3 adults or 2 adults and 2 children.

1-Bedroom Suite Oceanfront featuring a separate living room with sofa bed, and 1 king-size bed, sleeping maximum 3 adults or 2 adults and 2 children.

Family Connected Oceanview Junior Suites are available and consist of 2 Junior Suite Oceanview Rooms, sleeping maximum 6 adults or 4 adults and 4 children. 

Sugar Cane Room — open-air restaurant serving full breakfast buffet, traditional breakfast choices as well as local Bajan delights. Rilaks Deck & Bar — South Beach Miami-inspired outdoor lounge serving light snacks and cocktails with music including R&B, jazz, Caribbean, and soul. The 246 Deck — oceanfront restaurant serving local and international dishes for lunch and dinner. Room service*. Taste of Elegance Dine Around Programme* at select sister properties (drink and meal supplements may apply, exclusions may apply).

Live entertainment 5 days a week, including live bands, solo artists, and steel pannists. Saturday special BBQ buffet nights.

3 freshwater pools including an adults-only relaxation pool. Boutique spa*. Fitness centre. Yoga, aqua aerobics, and fitness classes. Complimentary motorised and non-motorised water sports including water-skiing, tubing, banana boat rides, stand up paddle boarding, snorkelling, hobie cat sailing, and kayaking. Water trampoline. Flying Fish Kids Club. Tamarind Teens Den with outdoor activities, water sports and local educational activities.

Boutique. Jewellery store. Gift shop. Complimentary WiFi in rooms and throughout the property. Daytime water taxi service (subject to availability and weather conditions) stops at select West Coast Elegant Hotels. Beach and Pool Ambassador service.

A Tourism Fee will be charged per bedroom, per night and will be collected at check out. The rate is subject to change by the Government, and varies by hotel room. Fees currently range from 8.75 Barbadian dollar (approximately £3.90) to 35 Barbadian dollar (approximately £16.00) per bedroom, per night. 

Wheelchair adapted rooms with partially accessible amenities or facilities available on request. Please note that these rooms are subject to availability and may be restricted to specific room categories and bedding arrangements. Rooms and facilities vary between hotels so please check at the time of booking. To discover all the special assistance services we offer please see additional information below.

1 night between 5 Jan-21 Dec and 5 Jan-31 Oct.

7 nights between 22 Dec-2 Jan.

* Denotes local charge.

Special assistance

Please note: child ages from 2-12 years.

Dress code: elegantly casual in the evenings.

Please note: over Christmas and New Year, a dinner credit of $90 per adult and $45 per child will be given towards the cost of the gala dinners.

Please note: the Dine Around Programme is only available at select properties and may be subject to an additional cost. A complimentary water taxi to select west coast Elegant properties is available during daytime only and subject to availability and weather conditions.

Rating summary

  • Location Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Sleep Quality Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Rooms Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Service Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Value Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Cleanliness Image of the Tripadvisor rating

Traveller rating

  • Excellent (1002)
  • Very good (439)
  • Average (147)
  • Poor (36)
  • Terrible (52)
Image of the Tripadvisor rating Excellent hotel. Negative reviews misguided.

Mar 21, 2024 Gavin W Toronto, Canada

Excellent stay at the Tamarind across 3 generations of my family. First to address some of the negative reviews I see here: 1. Barbados is a wealthier Carribean island, with a well developed infrastructure, easy to get around and feel safe while off the resort. You are naturally going to pay more to stay on this island than others. If price is… Read more
Excellent stay at the Tamarind across 3 generations of my family. First to address some of the negative reviews I see here: 1. Barbados is a wealthier Carribean island, with a well developed infrastructure, easy to get around and feel safe while off the resort. You are naturally going to pay more to stay on this island than others. If price is a primary concern, you shouldn’t be coming to this island. 2. I’ve stayed on many other Carribean islands and this was by far the friendliest. To those who say staff here aren’t friendly…who are you comparing the staff too? Island values are different- do not compare this to 5 star hotels in Europe or North America. 3. Food- again, context matters. I thought the food was good, better than a lot of the other islands. Obviously not fair to compare to other areas of the world. The food is catered to Western appetites. If it was all local food some would rave and others would complain that they didn’t get “normal food.” Can never win on this topic. Now for my review: The good: 1. Again, excellent staff. Great suggestions on where to go (Boatyard in Bridgetown is a must if traveling with kids, and Cat and the Fiddle Catamaran for any age) and were very good dealing with rude guests. (I saw the same two British couples traveling together continually harass staff during our stay. Completely ridiculous.) Also very fast at dealing with issues that arose. Very kind to all of us, particularly my young daughter. 2. Being on the West side of island. There were some issues (see below) but generally water was calm and were able to see turtles in the water! 8 year old daughter was thrilled. 3. Drinks were very good, and very quick and easy to get them. Excellent bar and dining staff. 4. Again, I think the food was good. Don’t compare to back home. Never the same meal/buffet. Yes, things could be better but again what are you really expecting here? 5. The island. As mentioned above, lots of good things to do. A boat trip up the west coast is a must. 6. Rooms were generally quite tidy. No issues here. The less good: 1. The hotel does need work. They are closing in July 2024 for a year. Do not come here if you’re looking for a modern hotel. 2. The beach- while there were pros to the beach, it’s rocky. This is not unique to this hotel. If you are a beach goer, the reality is that climate change has wrecked havoc across the Carribean with soil erosion. Rocky in large parts of it, but there is a good section to bob and float about. This is not the hotels fault. Do not blame them. Also some weather lead to red flags on the beach the last few days. 3. The air conditioners do have condensation so water dripping is a concern. It’s also tough to cool a room with a single unit. If you need to sleep in cold rooms, go somewhere else! Overall great trip. It’s not cheap (relative to other islands) to come to Barbados, but if money isn’t a primary concern, a stay at Tamarind should be strongly considered! Read less
Image of the Tripadvisor rating Not worth the stars it has!

Mar 18, 2024 Karen T

Please think carefully before staying at this hotel! I checked out the negative reviews before I went but there were so many positive ones I ignored the negative reviews and I shouldn’t have done so. The whole place needs shutting down and refurbishing from top to bottom. We were given cold food and replaced with the same meal barely heated… Read more
Please think carefully before staying at this hotel! I checked out the negative reviews before I went but there were so many positive ones I ignored the negative reviews and I shouldn’t have done so. The whole place needs shutting down and refurbishing from top to bottom. We were given cold food and replaced with the same meal barely heated through, I know it was the same plate of food as the bite I had taken out of the burger was still there and plain to see. Staff at the bar would stand chatting and seemed annoyed to be interrupted by having to serve us with a drink! The pillows were lumpy and hard and the room very out dated. The wooden stairs were worn and scuffed, there was peeling paint and chipped tiles everywhere, I could go on and on but would be here next week! Just avoid! Read less
Image of the Tripadvisor rating Wonderful restful holiday

Mar 17, 2024 Jane J

We have just returned from a week's holiday at the Tamarind, which we thoroughly enjoyed. What a fantastic place with super friendly staff, who went out of their way to give us a great holiday. We had a wonderful room which opened straight onto the beach. This was spacious, clean and well-equipped. The meals were of a very high standard, with… Read more
We have just returned from a week's holiday at the Tamarind, which we thoroughly enjoyed. What a fantastic place with super friendly staff, who went out of their way to give us a great holiday. We had a wonderful room which opened straight onto the beach. This was spacious, clean and well-equipped. The meals were of a very high standard, with plenty of choice and great Caribbean tastes. The bar area is particularly attractive with a tasty all-day menu. The free water sports and water taxi to other hotels in the group are great - it was just a pity the sea decided to be rough for our last few days! It was easy to jump on a local bus to get around in any case. We are very keen to return to the lovely Tamarind once it's had its refurb - we just hope the character is retained - it's a special place. Thank you for a wonderful holiday! Read less
Image of the Tripadvisor rating Bad experience

Mar 16, 2024 AnnL766 Burgess Hill

We just got back from our holiday in Barbados the Tamarind hotel . When we got there we had to wait 2 hours for our room to be ready . The room was not good the the hair dryer was broken . Two days after we arrived our door broke twice this happened . Later in the holiday we had not hot water for 4 days had to boil a kettle to have a wash… Read more
We just got back from our holiday in Barbados the Tamarind hotel . When we got there we had to wait 2 hours for our room to be ready . The room was not good the the hair dryer was broken . Two days after we arrived our door broke twice this happened . Later in the holiday we had not hot water for 4 days had to boil a kettle to have a wash terrible. The staff were lovely and friendly and helpful . Read less
Image of the Tripadvisor rating A lovely hotel and staff

Mar 14, 2024 Frances H Croydon, England, United Kingdom

I had read the reviews for the this hotel and was concerned as some were not favourable. However, our week was very enjoyable. We had a lovely room overlooking the main pool and able to enjoy beautiful sunsets. The staff were very accommodating, nothing was too much trouble. The breakfast was great with lots of choice and Ether making the… Read more
I had read the reviews for the this hotel and was concerned as some were not favourable. However, our week was very enjoyable. We had a lovely room overlooking the main pool and able to enjoy beautiful sunsets. The staff were very accommodating, nothing was too much trouble. The breakfast was great with lots of choice and Ether making the omelettes was great fun! We always found something to eat, we are not fussy people. Entertainment at night was usually a lone singer and enjoyable. Loved it when the girls of the bar did their karaoke one Saturday afternoon. We would love to go back! Read less