Southern Palms Beach Club

Pros fantastic location on a beautiful beach . Wonderful views . Large room which was clean . Live music in the evening which was rather cheesy but people were dancing to it Could walk to some ok restaurants Cons- vet poor amenities for a 4 star and pricey stay. Room had no hairdryer . Interestingly there was a kettle and cups but no coffee sachets or indeed anything to make a drink with. There is a room service menu but no working phone to order from.

Just back from staying at the Southern Palms in Barbados for 10 days. The hotel is on a beautiful beach, which takes your breath away when you first see it, the sea was very rough for the duration of our holiday so we weren’t able to swim in it the whole time as the red flags were out, however there is an area you can swim in the sea a bit further up on the beach. There were so many turtles directly opposite the hotel in the sea, but you obviously weren’t able to swim in the sea to see them close up but it was great from a distance too. The hotel is pleasant and nice enough but it was just a bit too boring for us. Not much personality or any sort of good vibes! It was all very serious and strict. Not much fun entertainment! A couple of chilled bands while we were there but they finished at 9pm ! As the majority are of an older generation which is absolutely fine but I guess the hotel don’t feel they need to liven it up much but I’m sure EVERYBODY would love it if they did, especially as the other hotels had fire breathers and other great entertainment going on ! Luckily it was on the Gap so lots of restaurants around and a bit of entertainment in some of the places. Annoyingly there is a bar directly opposite that has karaoke and singers in which is good but they go on til the early hours which sounds as though it is right outside your bedroom ! So so load and you hear everything !!! So annoying. The food at the hotel is good and we didn’t have to wait too long for it. The staff a nice enough, they are very professional and take their jobs very seriously. Would be nice if they smiled a bit more though and relaxed a bit. But I understand they are probably not allowed too! So the hotel does need to losen its reigns a bit. For us we would not stay here again simply because of all I wrote above and that the beach although looks beautiful there is nothing else todo there, no water sports etc. we spent most of our days at Carlisle Bay at The boat yard or Savvy on the bay! So much more fun for my husband daughter and I! There are water activities and boat trips out to see the turtles and a ship wreck’ lots of good music and happy, smiley people. We took a ZR bus there which was an experience in itself! I recommend waking up early and seeing the race horses at Pebbles beach! A ZR bus away! So lovely seeing them. We also went to Harbourlights dinner show at Carlisle bay one evening (they do them on a Weds and Thurs evening) we loved it and so much fun ! We ate at Primo (top of the Gap) lovely lovely food and sea views. We ate at a lot of restaurants at the Gap and all really good. We also took a trip to QP bistro st the Cliff one night and wow what an amazing restaurant with delicious food and entertainment. We also ate at Cafe luna in Oistens which was also amazing. On a Friday night Oistens have there Fish market on which all the locals go too and holiday makers ! They have local singers, food stalls (we ate at Chillin and grillin which was r

Hotel has a fantastic location on the white sands of Dover Beach. Rooms are clean, very large and had a great sea-view balcony. Furnishings getting somewhat dated and could do with a refresh but not a major concern. Great facilities with 2 pools which were never crowded and sun loungers also available on the beach. Breakfast buffet very good, although pricey if not booked as part of a package. The key thing that lets the hotel down is the slow and chaotic service in the bar/restaurant by the pool. It could take up to 30 minutes to get served and equally long to get the bill. Situation not helped by the fact that they were implementing a new billing system which either didn’t work or staff hadn’t been adequately trained as half the time they were hand writing bills. As a result we never bothered dining in the hotel at night and plenty of other good restaurants in St Lawrence Gap (recommend Mimosas, Harlequin and Primo). If management sort out the service ( which has been noted in several other reviews) this could easily warrant 5 stars.