We travelled as a family of 5 to Barbados in December, having undertaken all the necessary paperwork we decided to stay for a week at the Sugar Bay Hotel before moving to a different hotel for another week.
Firstly the good points; the rooms were well equipped and a good size for 3 sharing – there was plenty of room and wardrobe space. The TV was particularly good as we managed to download Netflix to the smart TV which was great for ‘Grandad’ for him to disappear back to the room to get a few hours respite from the heat. The beach is lovely and we never had to queue for any drinks nor food and the staff were incredibly friendly.
Areas for improvement; the main buffet restaurant was inconsistent in terms of quality and choice (although we know you can’t please everyone all of the time and we’re not particular fans of buffet food), the children enjoyed it, but we chose to take lunch at Colin’s Rum Shop which is waiter service and included in the all inclusive and the menu changes daily but the staples of burgers are always on. As we stayed for a week our package also included a dinner at each of the speciality restaurants UMI and Sizzlers Steakhouse (one time only). Both were excellent and a welcome break from the main restaurant buffet.
Evening entertainment was ok, a tad loud on a couple of evenings but didn’t go on too late and we generally just sat playing cards, it’s a very relaxed resort overall.
You get a complimentary 15 minute spa treatment included, but book your slot early – we didn’t and by the time we’d decided what day and when to have them we couldn’t get in for the rest of our stay.
The beach is lovely as mentioned, but the furniture could do with an upgrade, and it takes the beach team a while to erect shades in the morning.
You can walk up the beach to the Hilton, or walk the opposite direction and you can walk all the way down to Champers restaurant (during day time only), it’s a combination of beach and boardwalk but a good way to get the daily steps in.
We usually stay on the west coast and prefer that part of the island, however, the island was busy over Christmas and we struggled with availability so as an all inclusive option that was good value the Sugar Bay worked well.
