Bougainvillea Barbados

Not a great stay

+Overall staff were professional and helpful. They had initially placed me on the fourth floor, as there are no elevators in the hotel, I requested for a lower level room. They showed me a room on the second floor which I accepted. The rooms on the surface appeared clean. The TV in the room were old, limited channels with poor picture quality, it was a bit like going back in time. The beddings especially the bed cover was rough. On my last and check out day, I found cockroach in the room, I didnt expect this in a 4 star property and when I informed front desk upon check out, she only oh, sorry about that and that she would inform house keeping. I was glad that was my check out day as I detest cockroaches and would not have been able to sleep in that room. To cap it all, on same check out day, I noticed three clustered rashes on my arm that resemble bed bug bites. I have informed the hotel by email as I am not sure if they are bed bug bites or not, but I am taking action to ensure my home does not become infested. This has been overall a horrific experience and has left a bad taste; I have since read some reviews of this hotel and saw that someone had also complained about bedbugs with photos - so now, I am really worried that I have carried bugs home. Restaurant The restaurant food was just okay, I only eat fish anyway, though the breakfast i tried was not great and I didnt try it again. The restaurant however had a very limited menu and was expensive. I only ate there mostly dinner because I would have had to take a taxi elsewhere given the location of the hotel. Pool/bar/beach I visited in August, there was smelly seaweed on the beach so sadly could not enjoy the beach. I had to take transport to Carlise Bay/Savvy beach. The pool chairs were always occupied. Some of the umbrellas had bird poop on them and there was also bird poop around some parts of the pool seating area. It was unsightly. I would not recommend this hotel to anyone.

Exceptional experiences. Excellent value for you

+Breakfast was tasty

−Beach was dirty full of sea weed

Beautiful Resort With Great Staff

+I booked this resort for my wedding anniversary. We’ve stayed at a few resorts together, and I have to admit, this one had the best view at an affordable price. The resort was clean, well-kept, and offered nice amenities, including a gym. I have no complaints about the staff—they were genuinely so kind, welcoming, and willing to answer any questions we had. Overall, we had a wonderful experience!

Poor quality food and bedding but a great staff

+Despite the lovely staff I can’t recommend this hotel. Rooms — we stayed in the honeymoon suite as it has a bigger porch etc. The room decor is one very large painting of a woman’s naked breasts close up. It’s aggressively sexual and definitely not romantic, if that was the intent. It was weird to see it every day — nipples and all. The bedding is rough and scratchy, clearly poor quality. If you have sensitive skin, it will not like the low count sheets and blanket. That said housekeeping was great. The room was always clean and the AC worked well. The food was terrible. The hotel restaurant is a total rip off. Fruit was always turning (soft grapes, flavorless watermelon, mushy strawberries). Cereal was stale. Meat was overcooked and the beef was seasoned poorly. French toast has way too much cinnamon. Curry had no flavor. Kids menu was made of hot dog or hamburger so once the kids at one day, they had no other choices. Some dishes were just poorly put together with weird flavors like the pasta mash-up. It’s clear they are using very poor quality ingredients and products but they’re charging really high prices. It felt like were taken advantage of and we stopped eating at the restaurant. Food across the island is really good elsewhere! Recommend not eating at the restaurant — even for breakfast. Also the service is sooooooo slow that we almost missed our boat charter cause they couldn’t make eggs at normal speed. They need a new chef right away. The ocean was filled with stinky seaweed. Not the hotel’s fault but that meant everyone was by the pool and it, while beautiful, is small. So chairs went fast. The music was also loud. The bar always had a long wait despite true bartenders being amazing!!! They need to staff them with more support. We ended up going to local beaches where there was no seaweed and fantasia food options at normal uninflated prices. It’s shame because the guest services are amazing! Really lovely front desk, drivers, gift shop, spa and waitresses! But the rest is really hard to swallow at this price point.

Lovely stay at Bougainvillea Barbados – a few things could be improved

+We had a really enjoyable stay at Bougainvillea Barbados overall. The resort has a lovely relaxed feel, the beach is beautiful and there are some genuinely fantastic members of staff. There are, however, a few areas where I think improvements could make the experience even better. Arrival We received a pleasant welcome with drinks on arrival. A special mention to Rashad, the porter, who was extremely helpful, polite and welcoming. Our room The room was spacious and airy, with a decent-sized bed and bathroom. The kitchenette was clean and had enough cutlery and utensils for our needs. We also had everything we needed — plenty of toilet roll, washing-up liquid, towels, an iron and a safe, all of which were in good condition and worked well. The air conditioning was also very good. The TV had lots of channels, although the picture quality wasn’t particularly good and there were quite a few very old shows being shown. Outdoor shower This is one area I think could definitely be improved. There was only one outdoor shower and the water pressure wasn’t great. With guests coming off the beach covered in sand, I think having two showers would make much more sense. There were times when people were waiting to use it, which was a little off-putting. Kalabash Restaurant A big shout-out to Juliette, Kadijah, Nicole and Zakiyah they were all fantastic and provided great service. The downside was the long wait for food and, at times, the wait for the bill, which could be frustrating. Prices were reasonable overall. One thing I would strongly recommend is putting up a clear sign saying “Please do not feed the cats.” We saw people feeding the cats around the restaurant, which I didn’t feel was particularly hygienic. There may also be guests with cat allergies, and these are wild cats, so I think this should be addressed. Pool & Pool Bar The pool is a decent size, although I think it could become quite hectic during peak periods, particularly with lots of children, floats and water toys. The pool bar could also benefit from additional staff when busy. Having just one bartender makes it difficult for the service to be quick. Big up to Hosea, though great service! Beach The beach was absolutely beautiful and definitely one of the highlights of the holiday. We did have a few days where there was quite a lot of smelly seaweed, but this appeared to be due to the strong winds and rough waves, so obviously not something the hotel can control. The towel station staff were lovely and a particular highlight was being handed cold flannels such a simple thing but incredibly soothing in the heat! Getting around Taxis were fairly easy to get, although we later discovered the Ubers were a much cheaper way of getting around. We did have two occasions where we were quoted one price for a taxi but charged slightly more at the end. My advice would be to confirm the exact price before setting off. We also went to Sheraton Mall for food. Massy supermarket was quite pricey, and I did wish there was a larger, more affordable supermarket option nearby. Be prepared for “island time” when eating out generally! Service was quite slow in most of the food places we visited, so don’t expect everything to be quick. Overall We had a lovely stay at Bougainvillea Barbados. The beautiful beach, spacious rooms, relaxed atmosphere and friendly staff were the biggest positives for us. There are definitely some relatively simple things that could improve the experience particularly the outdoor shower situation, staffing at the pool bar, restaurant waiting times and the issue of guests feeding cats around the restaurant. Would we recommend it? Yes. We enjoyed our stay and would consider returning, while hoping some of these small issues are addressed.