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christina harvey
Last reviewed
Jan 29, 2006
a lovely hotel loving the bar in the pool!
gorgeous
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Jackie
Last reviewed
Jul 19, 2005
We stayed at the Bougainvillea from July 2-9th it was okay. This was our first time in Barbados. The hotel was beautiful and clean. Our room was a very large one bedroom and spacious with a good view. Maids cleaned our room everyday and it was always sparkling clean. The hotel restaurant was expensive and not very good. The breakfast was the worst. There is a convenience store a few steps away and we bought a lot of our supplies there. We did have one major problem at the hotel. One night, there was a reception going on at the hotel restaurant. There was loud music and dancing. It wasn't a big deal until it started getting later and later and the group began to get louder and very rowdy. We wanted to go to sleep because we had a busy day ahead of us. I called the front desk to ask when the party would be over. They assured me that the manager was taking care of it because they had other complaints. Soon after that, the group of people were even louder. They started screaming and yelling and jumping into the pool and throwing each other in the pool. The sound echoes across the resort. I called the front desk again and was told that the noise would stop soon. Well, the noise didn't stop for another hour! I went to the desk and talked to the manager in person. She didn't seem too concerned at all. I suggest that of you want a quiet peaceful family resort try somewhere else. Also, there are people hounding the beach disturbing you and trying to sell you everything from jewelry to illegal drugs. The water was rough and not good for snorkeling. There were many things to see and do around the island. The most memorable was snorkeling with the sea turtles and seeing the Bajan Green Monkeys at the Wildlife Reserve. We didn’t have any trouble finding good food to eat around the island. Try the macaroni pie! Yum! We took an Adventureland 4X4 off road tour. It was a lot of fun and we got to see different things that we couldn’t have seen otherwise. We did rent a car for the week. We rented from Drive-A-Matic and didn’t have any problems, except getting lost once. It was much nicer that getting a taxi. Although, there seemed to always be taxis waiting everywhere. Needless to say, we will not be staying at the Bougainvillea again! The hotel was neat and clean, but did not seem four-star worthy. It was not worth what we paid!
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Karen
Last reviewed
Dec 14, 2004
Stayed here 5 days in May for our 25th anniversary. Was so surprised by size of rooms. It had the largest bathroom I've ever seen in a hotel. We had the one bedroom deluxe. Everything was so clean and the groceries I had pre-ordered were in the refrig. We were on the ground level and had easy access from our patio to the pool deck and beach. This more than made up for the lack of an ocean view. We ate at the Laterns restaurant many times and found the food great. Especially liked the Monday bbq buffet and the Thursday night buffet and show. Happy hour at the pool bar was great. Staff was friendly and helpful. Had breakfast buffet on last day and found it excellent and reasonable. Our only disappointment was that our trip was too short. We hope to go back in a few years with friends. I highly recommend this resort.
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Michael Butler
Last reviewed
Mar 26, 2004
March 21, 2004We just returned from Barbados having spent 7 days at Bougainvillea. We loved our stay. We hope that the following comments help you make decisions about your trip to Barbados and your stay at Bougainvillea. Everything was well organized from check-in to checkout. All the staff was well trained and wanted to ensure a relaxed stay. Francina, Heather, Babita, Don and Leena made the front desk a great location to find out about the facilities. Avril and Rosalind made sure that any activities you wanted to do during your stay were organized for you. Our room was on the ground floor with a private patio, table and chairs. It looked right out on to the pool and was seconds from the beach. Listening to the waves was magical. The kitchenette had all the basic kitchen utensils, pot and pans, hotplate, toaster, microwave oven and coffee percolator as well as a full size refrigerator. There is a grocery service available. You can fax an order to the hotel before your arrival and they will have your order in your room when you arrive. If you do not pre-order there is a little store two minutes down the road where you can pick up milk, bread, etc. before you go to a grocery store. Check on hours of operation. The room was spacious, clean, air conditioned, with and in-room safe. There was lots of closet space. The bathroom was spacious and clean, lots of towels and face cloths, soaps and shampoo. When you arrive the room is sprinkled with local fresh picked flower petals, which is a lovely touch. There is a 20-inch television in the room. Channel selection is basic. There are not enough programs to keep young children entertained but you really want them outside in the fresh air anyways. We brought a portable DVD player and disks to hook up to the television so we could watch movies at night, which was a lot of fun. The room was cleaned daily. You are expected to wash your dishes. You can dial long distance from your room. On arrival you are provided with voucher cards to get your beach towels from the water sports hut on the beach. You can exchange the towels daily and on the last day you exchange the towels for the vouchers, which you give back to the checkout counter otherwise, you are charged $25.00US for the towel. The beach is fantastic. It is clean, safe, few vendors, lots of chaise lounges, shade, breezy and close to the rooms. You can get umbrellas from the water sports hut. We walked past other hotels along the beach and we were of the view that the better beach location was at Bougainvillea. The water was very rough during our entire stay. Unless you are comfortable about being thrown about and bashed by waves, you will not be spending too much time in the water. The pool is fun and you can use the pool at the sister hotel at Sand Acres next door. At Bougainvillea there is a lovely bar in the pool run most days by Marguerite. She makes excellent rum punch and other drinks. There was no excessive drinking, loud parties or noise at the bar. Smoking is still very acceptable in public locations and in the rooms. The little children playing in the pools were all well behaved thanks to their parents. There is a hotel policy restricting visitors to the hotel. Non-guests must be registered with the front desk. The resort is patrolled 24 hours by security. We prepared breakfast and some lunches in our room. We ate most other meals at the Lantern Restaurant, which is right on the beach. The staff were pleasant especially Eurita who always made sure we had a great table, lots of great cold water and Bajan hot pepper sauce. The food was well prepared and presented. Freddy's mashed potatoes were delicious. The drinking water in Barbados is excellent and safe. You can drink the water right out the tap, wash food and make ice cubes. The hotel organized two weekly cocktail parties and provided entertainment. These events were lots of fun. Make sure you make reservations so you are not left out. We did order pizzas a couple of times from Pizzazz Pizza, which were delivered within an hour, hot and delicious. To do a round trip to buy groceries was about $17.00 US. Grocery shopping was fun and everything you could want was available including rum, wine, beer, snacks, yogurts, milk, bread, butter, etc. There is a shuttle service available for guests three times a day to Bridgetown which you book for at the Activities Desk. The shuttle takes about 30 to 40 minutes depending on traffic. It drops you off close to the main shopping district and across the street from the main branch of the Royal Bank of Canada and the Bank of Nova Scotia. Taxis are always waiting in front of the hotel. We were, however, disappointed with the non-grocery shopping. Nothing grabbed our attention (probably just our taste) although all of the jewellery shops had beautiful items. Harrison’s and Cave Sheppard have changed their marketing approach and I guess we did not fit the profile they were aiming at. We ended up purchasing all of our gifts at the Bougainvillea gift shop rather than using our precious time to go back to Bridgetown. Make sure that you check out the night before your departure to avoid the rush during the morning of your departure. Credit cards, traveler’s cheques, Barbados and US dollars are all used. Check out is 11:00 am. If your flight is later in the day, you can use their lounge facility (shower, bathroom, etc.); however, it can get hectic and cramped if there are too many families all wanting to use the facilities. Try and request a day room from the front desk. There is a $75.00US charge but it is worth it if a room is available. They could not leave us in our room but they gave us a superior suite next door at Sand Acres, which was nice to try out. Sand Acres is 30 seconds away and has all the same amenities as Bougainvillea. Luggage can be stored with the doorman for the day until your departure time. Tipping is not expected at Bougainvillea, as it is included; however, we found that we were so well treated that we always wanted to leave a little something special to say thank you. Also it is important to remember that the pace is generally slower in Barbados, which is the reason why you go there. If you expect a frenzied response to your requests then you need to chill out and have another rum punch. Just go with the flow, man, and you will have a vacation to remember. We have tried to mention the main points that you need to consider before leaving home and arriving at Bougainvillea so that you are well oriented on your first day. The dress around Bougainvillea is always casual; however, you need to wear t-shirts with your bathing suit at the Lanterns Restaurant and many other restaurants in Barbados have a "no shorts" policy. Make sure you check when making reservations about the dress code. In each room there is hard covered book about Barbados which you should review as it covers numerous topics that you might want know about to make your stay more enjoyable. Take lots of sunscreen, t-shirts, shorts, sandals and bathing suit and 2 or 3 cans of Tim Horton's ground coffee if you like your Timmy's in the morning (assuming that you are Canadian, eh). Have fun in Barbados and especially at Bougainvillea. Michael Butler in Canada
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Alison Bryan
Last reviewed
Nov 28, 2003
My family and I went to the Bougainvillea last April, and loved every minute of it. The beach was awesome, white sand and plenty of room for everybody. The pools are small, but nice. We liked the pool with the waterfall, because it was less crowded and more shady. Our 6yr old son loved the kiddies pool and that was in the shade most of the time. We didn't try out the kid's club, since our son was happy to be with us. The room was nice. We had a one bedroom suite and it was large, clean and bright. I loved sitting out on the balcony at night and listening to the tree frogs. Very relaxing. The Lanterns by the Sea restaurant was okay, the food was good, but the service was definately slow at times. That is usual in Barbados and the caribbean. We cooked our meals in the room most of the nights and got our groceries from the big supermarket in Oistens. The staff at the resort were friendly and they were never rude. Sometimes they were businesslike, but they were never rude. I liked the girl in the gift shop and esp one of the porters at the front. I liked the women selling souvenirs on the beach, esp Robertha and Margaret. Margaret does a great job braiding hair. There wasn't much entertainment at the hotel, which I don't mind, since I wanted peace and quiet and also we didn't want a lot of noise at night with a young child. They did have buffet dinners and entertainment on Monday and Thursday night's. The one of Thursday night was fun and it did bring the hotel guests together. I would recommend two activities to do. First one is the Adventureland jeep tour. It was a riot and we got to see Barbados. Cassius is fun and would be a great person to get to know. He is definately multi-talented. The second thing, is the Bajan Roots and Rhythm show. The show is awesome and the Plantation Band is excellent and is they are fun to dance to.
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Mark D. Vipond
Last reviewed
May 22, 2002
This was our second trip to Barbados, but only our first time at the beautiful Bougainvillea. Our expectations, which were already pretty high after reading reviews from this site, were easily surpassed. We stayed in a one bedroom suite with a sea view which was, quite simply, superb. It was incredibly clean and the amount of space was amazing, with a king size bed, fully fitted kitchen, dining table, lounge and a massive balcony where we`d sit each morning with tea and toast, gazing out to sea and feeding crumbs to the birds. Absolutely idylic. The hotel grounds were incredible, with bougainvillea blooming almost everywhere and numerous waterfalls tracing their way down to the two free form swimming pools. The bar - always the hub of any great holiday - is situated in the middle of all this, manned by friendly staff (especially the wonderful Maguerite!) and always a convivial spot for a beer and a chat after a hard day on the beach. The restaurant did huge, tasty - and maybe a little pricey - cooked breakfasts right on the beach. The lunch/dinner menu offered a great choice of well cooked food and the service was fine, as long as you reminded yourself that you were on Bajan Time. The beach was brilliant, rivalling many on the west coast. Soft white sand, clear blue sea - often quite choppy - and easily enough sunbeds to accommodate all of the resort`s guests. All the staff were friendly, helpful and showed a real pride in their jobs. Room service could be rather slow in materialising, but this is usually par for the course in the caribbean. Anyone who wants the freedom of their own Barbados apartment in truly wonderful surroundings, instead of just another pokey hotel room, could do no better than choosing the Bougainvillea. Rolll on next year, `cause we`ll be back!
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Nicky
Last reviewed
Jan 17, 2002
November 2001 was my 8th trip to Barbados, but 1st to Bougainvillea. It is a wonderful hotel on a lovely beach (with Casuarina Beach Club at the other end). The studio we had was spacious and well equipped and the balcony was large with a fantastic view down the beach (we were in room 402).The only reasons I didn't give this hotel 4 stars was because the evening entertainment was virtually non-existent and I thought the drinks in the bar were very weak and full of ice (and not cheap).All in all it was a great holiday, I would go back to the hotel and I would recommend it.
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Carol Zimmerman
Last reviewed
Jul 24, 2001
Our first time to Barbados was to see our son get married on 7/7/01. It was mixed with good and bad. I did my homework before going. Checked on hotels and rates and found the Bougainvillea the exact way it was described. It was a remarkable display of plants and waterfalls and a beautiful beach. We stayed in a one bedroom suite. (#206) It was very pretty with pinks and aqua furnishings. The open balcony overlooked the pools with their waterfalls and the ocean view. Having a kitchen is a must for snacks and drinks. Everything was very clean and the staff was very polite and helpful. We spent most of our time at the hotel. (even stayed extra day)Some of the other hotels did not look the way they were advertised.
The bad side was getting around the island. The roads are terrible and it seems there aren't any rules of the road. Streets are only wide enough for one car but are two way streets, with lots of bends and people walking on the side of the road and an occational car parked in the street, which you must go around. It is like driving in a Rally Race. It is just as scary walking along the road. (no sidewalks)The food in the restaurants are pricey and are kind of spicy.You must try the fruit juices, they are great.
I will be returning to Barbados to visit my son and his wife in the future and would not stay anywhere but the Bougainvillea. It is Beyond Your Imagination.
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Charlene
Last reviewed
Jul 01, 2001
Wow! I came to Bougainvillea with high expectations, given the many good reviews I read and the pics on the website; however, I was curious how it could be so comparatively affordable. Bougainvillea far exceeded my expectations. If you are someone who is touched by nature‰s beauty, this is the place for you. There were different hues of blue, winding pools, hidden coves, flowering trees, many species of palms, and waterfalls everywhere. It was lively at times, yet also peaceful and serene. The grounds seemed quite spread out, yet the resort had an intimate feel š we were able to make friends with a few couples and families. The beach was large enough and well maintained. The resort is linked to its sister resort, Sand Acres, by a walkway over a jetty š great to add to your morning walk. There were singing birds at day and chirping tree frogs at night. The two restaurants were fine and had a widely varying range of prices (and not too formal). There was almost nightly entertainment/activities š don‰t miss the Friday Oisten‰s Fish Fry shuttle or the Thursday Caribbean show and buffet. The resort clientele was a mix of families, couples and some young singles. The staff was very courteous and helpful. We were put on a ground floor room (5112) which at first I was upset about because long ago, I had requested a higher floor room. This might be because we arrived late at night. However, by the next morning at 10:00, a second floor room was found for us. Funny thing is, we ended up with a fairly unobstructed view and loved the easy access through the front porch door (double locks) that we stayed where we were. We had the simple studio, which was more than large enough for us, with an adequate kitchen (full sized frig) and large bathroom. The room was nicely decorated. The first floor patios were huge. I cannot say enough good things about Bougainvillea. My husband and I had tears in our eyes when we had to leave, and we will be back again. This is a place that brought us great joy, so I must spread some around and recommend this place to everyone!!