The Soco House

This is our 5th day at SoCo House and we are really enjoying our stay . The staff is great, accommodating, helping and extremely polite. Food and drinks are great, the beach is literally 5 min walk in one of the best beaches of the island . I am not giving excellent just because the gym is really small and the WiFi connection is unstable, but these two are the only slight weak points of this great hotel !

On arrival the entrance was really nice however, the customer smoking area is right at the front entrance of the hotel. On entering reception we attempted to book in. Handed all our papers and booking reference and arrival papers to find they did not have us booked. After some frantic work the hotel found ourselves a temporary overnight room. Not a great start but we went with it. A very moody bell boy /man, think his name was Demetrius showed us to the room. He was an observer of us carrying our cases more than assisted. He continued this moody and impolite persona throughout our holiday. The following day we were moved to what should of been our correct room the next day, meaning we could not really start our holiday. The same person watched me move our luggage only to find that half way down the landing a cleaner shouted at me to go back to shut the room door. I had been told to leave it open on leaving by a cleaning super visor. I downed my luggage and went back to shut the door. The new room had exposed electrics of which we advised and these got repaired two days later. In the restaurant you need to be patient as it’s a very long wait for breakfast, lunch or dinner. If you book a trip for 9am you really need to be at breakfast for 7 to be out on time. Not enough loungers and it’s old style to get a towel very early on a lounger for any chance of getting one. Charles at the bar however is a top man. Sean at the beach is an absolute gentle man and I think a lady on reception, I think her name is Angelic, with really long hair is very pleasant. A lot of the other staff are frankly rude. To exchange your towels is an interrogation of when you last had clean towels and do you need to exchange them. Good points the hotel is clean, the food when served is good. Location is excellent but with a short walk to the beach and we recommend Spinikkers and Lee bees bars in the town. This hotel could be good with some refreshed staff and investment. Eh dirty cushions on loungers, customer service. We met some lovely other customers at the hotel which made it really nice with friends.

Taking into consideration that it's a relatively new hotel and still experiencing teething problems, it still has a way to go to have a higher rating from us. The main disappointment for the entire 7 days was that we had to send our food back due to it being lukewarm, and more regularly cold. In spite of a special note referencing our room number expressing our food to be delivered hot, never a day went by without one meal going back. There was also a shortage of local fruit. The Caribbean flavours were also missing for food and music/cultural entertainment. However the staff were very friendly and accommodating but limited in resourcefulness when confronted with issues, for example there was a shortage of beach/pool towels. The hotel General Manager, Edmund, made an effort to personally know each guest and sought feedback if there were any issues. He was particularly helpful in providing assistance that was not listed as standard, but due to him building a relationship with us during our stay, went beyond expectations. A special mention is also needed for 2 lovely bar tenders, Desma and Kenisha, who surprised us with such a variety of cocktails never before tasted.

On arrival, the reception is stunning. That’s probably where that effect stops. This hotel has, I think, 76 bedrooms. Taking this fact further, there are only 26 ancient - but comfortable- sun loungers. Unfortunately all the loungers surround the bar and not the pool. Surrounding the pool there are 10 Cabanas which can be reserved, at a cost. Like most holiday hotels in the sun, loungers start getting reserved at 4 a.m. Bedrooms are comfortable. Bathrooms are ok but lack courtesy robes. Staff are amazing. Food pretty good but more staff needed in this area. Bars run out of some popular drinks. In conclusion, we enjoyed our stay thanks to the great staff. Would we stay there again - NO!!

Obviously we had read the negative reviews but to be honest we were very pleasantly pleased with what we found at Soco House. It looked stunning, we had a pool walkout room which had everything needed. All the public areas were well designed and spotlessly clean. Yes the was often a wait for meals in the restaurant but not always. Most of the staff were very friendly, treat them right and they treat you right. Having said that some lacked training. All the bar staff worked very hard, were great at remembering your drinks and had a sense of humour. This is a lovely intimate boutique hotel that has a great friendly vibe, we enjoyed making lots of friends there. There are a few things lacking, one of which is a proper coffee machine, also they could do with some organised activities, as not everyone wants to just flop around the pool. This hotel is one of my favouties and with a few improvements it could be THE favourite

Just back today from a 10 night stay, I’ll try to be objective. I’ll not complain about travel arrangements as that has nothing to do with the hotel. I don’t think the hotel was at anywhere near capacity that may explain why we didn’t have to wait for long for meals as mentioned in previous reviews. The meals were freshly cooked and delicious, a real assortment to try. The serving staff were an absolute delight, friendly knowledgeable and so funny. Now…the staff around the bars and housekeeping? If I was opening a hotel then Soco House would have none left, I would take them all!!!!!! I have travelled all around the world and I have never met staff like this!! If I say vodka sprite and a piton you’ll know who i am, thank you all so much. It’s a small hotel so you get to talk with other Holiday makers over post dinner drinks which is nice, Rennae & Mike, Rob & Julie, thanks for your company, but most of all thanks to the staff, absolutely amazing!!!