Southern Palms Beach Club & Resort — Hotel in Barbados

I don’t normally write reviews, however, this needs to be written. We have been going to Barbados for years, we had never stayed at this hotel. We had 8 rooms total. None of the rooms looked anything like what they advertised on the website. • Warning- when booking you must put exactly how many people will share the room. If not when you arrive you will be charged for the second person at check-in. Don’t get mislead by the FAQ section where it states additional fees for more than two people in the room. When you book and only note one person, it is apparently a lower rate than if you have two. Never have I ever had to do this when booking a hotel room, on the island or off the island. We thought the rate was due to the special not that we didn't list all staying in the room. • One member booked what she was told when booking, was a room with double beds. After checking in the room only had one bed Three rooms booked that had two people each in them, also had only one bed, not two for those staying. • Junior Suite Room with kitchenette did not have a table or chairs to sit at while eating what you made on the stove. • No elevator to get to third floor • The 8 rooms were spread from one end to the other of the hotel. • Electricity went out in the middle of the night in one room. Accommodated by giving her a new room key, but no one to escort her to the room at 3am. In an offer of apology, they gave her complimentary breakfast the next morning. Service in the restaurant was horrible, she was ignored to the point of having to stand up to get attention and her water refilled. • In suite, both toilets began to leak and flood the room during mid stay, causing us to have to pack up and unpack in the new room. This was apparently not the first time that it has happened in this room. The hotel is fully aware that the roots from tree in the back are now in the sewage lines • New suite door did not lock properly, but had a table we could eat what we cooked. • Ginny/Jenny at the reception desk was rude and abrupt and short with her responses. Not the best first impression for those first timers to the island. • After getting settled my wife went to the front desk to ask further questions when she overhead Ginny discussing my wife, using her first and last name, to another employee. • There are NO umbrellas for the beach and you have to pull your own chairs out to enjoy the beach. Stephen (management) told my wife when she asked if there was someone to help get the chairs and umbrellas out, that if she wanted chairs and umbrellas on the beach, she can walk all the way down the beach and rent them. So note, no umbrellas for on the beach • Website states there are “in-Room amenities”, they are not in the rooms. You must call down and request them to be brought. i.e. coffee maker, microwave, etc. Warning- tell front desk when you are checking out. We were starting to load up our vehicle, having to make several trips. On the first trip to vehicle, Stephen called security on us to have security guard tell us that we were needed at the front desk. Thinking something was wrong, went to front desk only for him to smile and ask when we were checking out. He was afraid we were leaving w/o checking out. Way to make your customers feel like criminals trying to run out before checking out. • There were four people who stood out with exceptional customer service, always with a smile and asking how our day was and if there was anything they could do. They were Richard, Merle and two other young men that worked the grounds, unfortunately I don’t recall their names. • Kelli, who is the GM once she found out there were issues with our check-in process, she tried to address them for us, to a degree. You obviously can make your own decision, but this is not where I will be staying again. There are several other hotels on the island that provide excellent customer service throughout the stay. Like Coral Mist, Rostrevor, and South Gap Hotel for a reasonable price. And check out the great food at Harlequin, Gap...

So here I am back in the UK after 14 days at the Southern Palms resort just off the Lawrence gap.|Firstly, I’d like to say thank you to all the staff there for making my stay absolutely amazing, especially as this is my first trip to Barbados solo but my seventh trip in total.|For travellers, I will always recommend an ocean view however from what I gather of other guests staying at the resort all the rooms are in very good order|This was my second time at this resort and I think the main feature of the resort is the fact that it’s so spread out in some beautiful well-maintained grounds and again my heart off to all the maintenance and gardening teams to make it look so beautiful|My package was room only so that gave me the flexibility of eating at a number of locations within the gap, but the meals I did have at the resort were very tasty and quite a wide variety of choice, particularly with the all day menu|No doubt travellers would’ve noticed comments about the seaweed that turns up every now and again and when I arrived yes there was quite a bit on the shoreline and further up towards Dover Beach however as I’ve experienced over the years the beach and the sea has a habit of reclaiming itself and by the end of the holiday I was still able to go for a really nice swim. One thing I will say about the beaches in general, but especially at Southern Palms is the way that not only the visitors and the gas but everyone respects the beaches it’s quite astonishing really the amount of visitors the island does get and how well the beaches are kept in pristine condition even in the most locations. Coming from the UK it’s very frustrating seeing how the visitors to the seaside resort in the UK treat The beaches like rubbish dumps perhaps I could learn some lessons from Barbados.||I did quite a bit of travelling around. I hide a car as I normally do this time. I’ve got a little GPS which really did help as most travellers will note the signposting is not very good but it’s still great fun driving around the island and it’s safe as well.. I used to drive-a-matic this time and their service was really good with the pick up and drop off at the hotel.|I managed to get round most of the hotspots rascals fisherman’s pub bats rock Thunder Bay sharks hole and many many other places I think that’s the fun of exploring the island. You never know what’s round the corner the only disappointment was the caboose wasn’t open on the two times I passed there that just means I’ll have to come back to the island and try it again. |I also did a day trip down to savvy on the bay, which was a great day out. It was $30.B and the bus picks you up and drop you off at a convenient time for yourselves. Will you get a lounger and an umbrella? The sea is absolutely stunning and the food trucks are absolutely amazing as well as the bar obviously.. they really do know how to look after you down there and it’s a highly recommended visit.|As I mentioned, I spent a bit of time in the Lawrence gap and basically I started up at Café Sol and worked my way down , but always might go to place was sharkys , I have a lovely team of staff down there really friendly the food is good and the drinks keep coming. What more can you ask for?|Another little point was there is a couple of convenience stores quite close by there is the Dover market where you turn right from the resort and it’s about a 10 minute walk down there however there is another smaller market just before you get to Sharkey’s where the prices are quite reasonable if you just want a small amount of Food and drink for your room. Of course you can always get a further trip bus or a taxi up to the Massey stores.|So overall Barbados did not disappoint but I would like to say a big thank you to a lot of the staff at the resort Jenny and Stephen in the reception David the sports guy and many many others who made my stay there memorable so once again thank you very much, and I will be returning...

Travelled as a couple. Upon arrival at the Southern Palms Beach Club we were told that our room was not yet ready. No problem. We sat by the pool and listened to the Steel Band entertainment which is on every Sunday afternoon. Great atmosphere. The hotel is right on the beachfront of exquisite soft white sand and gorgeous turquoise waters. Idyllic.||Our room was on the first floor overlooking the quieter pool with a sea view and balcony. Room was a good size with 2 queen size beds. Plenty of storage space, a fridge, kettle and sink. Free safe and a good size bathroom with a shower over the bath. Beach towels provided and was cleaned every day. ||There was plenty of sunbeds around the pools, gardens and on the beach. No charge on the beach. There are no umbrellas on the beach as this a turtle nesting area but you can shade under the palm trees. The quieter pool serves afternoon tea around 4pm every day. ||Breakfast - |Served in open sided restaurant overlooking the sea at the front and the bigger pool at the side. It was a confusing affair. It was buffet style in which you helped yourself but waitresses would set a full table before being allowed to seat. This caused some delays whilst tables were cleared and re-set. Waitresses also took orders for coffee or tea, which would often not arrive until we had actually finished eating, and we had to request on 3 occasions on one morning!! Would be easier to collect our own. The food was of a good selection and quality with a chef preparing eggs to order. They also had an a la carte breakfast which was full waitress service with breakfasts to order. With only 4 waitresses they appeared to be concentrating on the al la carte breakfast guests, leaving the rest often ignored. There was an additional restaurant at the back but this was always empty. Suggest maybe the al la carte breakfast is served in this area.||Lunch - |Was served in the bar which had an uninterrupted view of the beach and was again open sided. The food was ordered from the menu and was great. The salads were huge, as were the burgers and delicious. ||Evening meal - |Some nights were themed nights and were buffet style. There was a BBQ theme on one night. Other nights were al la carte and the food was great. Service was good. ||The staff were all very helpful and cheerful. One Restaurant Supervisor in particular, (can't recall her name but had ringlets) was really lovely, the other supervisor (short hair) was not so good. ||Evening entertainment was provided on some nights. There was a male and female couple who were fabulous singers. They took requests and gave a fantastic rendition of Aretha Franklin's "A natural woman". Her voice was so powerful it blew my socks off!!1||On check out were unable to keep our room late and were offered facilities in another room for 1/2 hour, which was clean and this was great as we could stay on the beach until the last minute.||The hotel is in a great location with plenty of bars and restaurants within 5 to 10 mins walk up the road in St Lawrence Gap, but far away from the noise not to be disturbed. Don't worry it is not like Blackpool. It is also easy enough to get into Bridgetown or Oistins by "ZR" minibuses for only 3.50 dollars.||The area itself felt very safe and no trouble or problems from the locals. No hawkers pestering you on the beach. We did not use the water sports facilities but they are available. Unfortunately, we were unable to swim for 3 days due to high waves and seaweed. The red flags were flying. The lifeguards kept an eye on everybody and even rescued a man in difficulty. ||Overall a brilliant holiday and would...