Name: Sugar Bay Barbados
Address: Garrison Rd, Barbados, Barbados, BB15156
Telephone: +12466221101
Price range: from €1,820.90pp (7 nights includes flights and transfers)

Select Room & Board Basis | Mercury Holidays

Product Details

Pool

Just back from 10 days at sugar bay.  On the whole the hotel itself was good, the food was lovely and the staff amazing! It was definitely the staff who make it!  In particular a young girl who was part of the cleaning team ( Samantha) a happy, very attentive and a genuinely lovely girl .
Xxx

Visited in late April/Early  May.  Started out with no one greeting us when we arrived so when you read about a greeting and welcome drink, don’t count on it.   Room wasn’t ready but we were early.  Wandered around to find a bar to sit at since we were tired from the flight.  We were told they would let us know when room was ready.  They never did.  We checked back hours later to be told it had been ready.   Room itself was nice.  Asked for a quiet room and placed right over beach bar.  Ended up being a good spot to listen to nightly entertainment from our deck because there were never any seats available at the bars.   Dry limited seats at the one beach bar and they were always either taken or held with someone’s clothing or drink. Was never given a summary of grounds so didn’t know about pool tables etc until second to last night when we stumbled on the musty , old room they were kept at the back of the resort.    Never told about afternoon tea.   Buffet was nice in the sense of something different every night but nothing basic for those of us who don’t eat spicy.  Had to specifically ask for something such as ice cream if you wanted it.  One day asked if they cou,d make me a simple ham and cheese sandwich and they gladly did.   They gave me a half sandwich and that  was basically what I ate all day because everything they put on the buffet was spicy is.   Japanese restaurant wasn’t very good and the steakhouse rushed you in and out.  Pool was small and there were never any chaises available even though no one was sitting in them.  They were held with peoples belongings and no I was not going g to move them and risk confrontation.  The one time we got a chaise,I left to use the restroom and get a drink only to come back to find someone in my chair sitting in top of my belongings!   Beach lounges were plentiful though.  There were a lot of weddings and they blocked off ares close to the entrance to the beach for these disrupting the rest of the guests.  Bartenders, although ice, made good drinks but were limited in what they knew how to make.   Unless you could tell them exactly what you wanted and what was in the drink, you drank from a small list.   Depending on who cleaned your room, you may not get clean towels even though the dirty ones will be taken and forget about the robes they threaten to charge you for in your room since they may not have been there to begin with,    
This resort caters to the British.   The Americans got overlooked and not treated as nicely as the Brits.  Resort was 80% British guests.

With all of this said, the staff themselves were very nice.   Everyone was outgoing and friendly.   Despite the shortfalls of this hotel, you can’t take that awAy from them.  

Overall we had a good week but mostly because we left the hotel every day.   Barbados is loaded with very friendly people.   It is a fantastic island.  We definitely will go back.  We will not , however, stay at this hotel as we don’t feel like it was worth what we paid.

Just ok

To start, I’m based out of the US and this colors my expectations a bit, these views are mine and your experience of the resort may differ. 

That said, Sugar Bay was a disappointment. 

Here’s the basic breakdown. 

There are good things:
1. Staff, they are very nice but… everyone here seems to lack urgency to anything they do. They are nice but laid back. For example when you get to a table at the buffet they will come around and ask you what you want to drink… eventually. And then you will get the drink… eventually. No one has that snappy hustle that you get in Mexico or the DR. 

2. The Drinks: They are plentiful and generous. If you want to be tipsy most of the day you can be. 

3. The Kids Club: The staff at the Kids Club know children so well that my kids wanted to go there, usually I only use these facilities to have some alone time with my spouse or to pack but the kids loved the club and wanted to go back basically every day.

Now the Iffy things:

1. The Food: Its not bad but for 1k US per night you’d expect better. The sushi restaurant is particularly poor. They only serve four basic sushi rolls and thin sashimi, it’s served only as an appetizer and you can only order one per person. I can get better sushi at a strip mall in the US. There were no unique experiences unlike every other all inclusive I’ve been to. I’m not looking to get a four star meal every time I eat there. There was a lot of repetitive meals at breakfast and it was clearly catered more for the UK guests (not a complaint just an observation) and 

2. The Pool: For a place with over 200 rooms you would think they would have a bigger pool. Every day the pool was “full” by 8:00am, by that I mean the UK guests came down and staked claims with towels even though it was a direct violation of the stated policy of the hotel that they did not enforce. It was also half the size of a standard community pool in the states and it had a swim up bar, which sorry is not a big draw for those of us with kids. 

3. The Rooms: They are OK. Nothing special but  again it was a grand a night. There was no hotel directory in the room, so all questions had is calling the front desk. The beds are fairly hard but not the worst I’ve been on. The showers are especially lousy, no water pressure and the hot water takes forever to heat up. 

4. The Entertainment: They have live entertainment nightly. If you like to be in bed by 8 or 9 ask to get a room far from the bar/restaurant or you will be listening to it until 10. 

5. Extra charges: Be careful of what happens to you there. You lose a towel, want to go to the specialty restaurants more than twice, shuttle to the fish fry all are extra charges. 

6. Housekeeping: When we arrived there were four water bottles in the fridge which we drank the first day and we never got more than that. We had to go the bell desk to get more. Our floors had sand on them everyday and it didn’t get swept. 

The Bad: The Cost. It’s too much. It is. I expected better of everything for that price. Better quality of everything, more luxury, better food, a shower that worked, water bottles in the rooms to be restocked every day, more hustle from staff, a nicer pool, a cleaner room, and no nickel and dime stuff. 

There it is. These are my opinions I enjoyed it mostly because I was on holiday and not necessarily because I was at Sugar Bay. I may return someday to Barbados but not to Sugar Bay.

Less of Everything I Expected for the Price

The hotel staff, food and atmosphere are great! 

The beds are small twin beds, they do not have full size beds. They push the beds together to make a double/full size bed. 

The hotel only gives change in bajan money, so be aware, so that you aren’t going home with lots of bajan money.

Great experience:  ocean, food, staff and resort

I have written a long review, which I had hoped might help both fellow travellers and the resort. Sadly I note that the resort don’t respond to such reviews. Hopefully that’s not complacency.

Overall 

The resort is excellent overall. Food and service were generally very good indeed. 
It is small which generally was beneficial, but had what some (not us) would consider drawbacks as a result. For example there were no spectacular themed evenings, few competitions, classes and events, and only 2 speciality restaurants. However what you did get was a relaxed atmosphere throughout, no highfalutin management strutting around the place with clipboards, no intrusive security protecting the beach and my personal favourite - no “Preferred Customer” concept. I hate turning up having already spent a fortune to be told I am a second class citizen, then to be relentlessly upsold. None of that here which was great. 

There were very few hawkers around the resort or beach which I liked.  Wifi was excellent throughout the resort. Fast and reliable. Going back to security the resort felt safe, with security staff discreetly present. I also liked the fact that there was a large police station opposite the entrance to the resort!

There were unfortunately however a number of niggles, some significant. These are what prevented this being a 5 star review. These are detailed below within the general review points. 

Pre Trip

I received quick replies to emails from the concierge (Natalie). These were clearly answered (although one that turned out to be not so clear concerned dress code - see below).

Check In

Very quick. We had to fill out and sign paperwork for what seemed like forever and pay a hefty $200 security deposit, plus local taxes. Just be aware for a 10 day stay on arrival you will be looking to pay around $300 additional to what you have already paid (although obviously you should expect to get your deposit back).

What I really liked was the overall speed of check in. It had been a long journey and a long day. I can’t be bothered with a welcome drink or chat. Just get me to that room! The resort did this really well. Note that welcome drinks were available if you wanted one. 

Our Room

The room was spacious and airy and had a large, comfortable and high bed, making it easy to get in and out of and we generally enjoyed very good sleep.

Our furniture was great. Inside there were 3 chairs and 2 tables. Outside had 2 cushioned loungers, 2 chairs and a table, plus wall fittings to hang wet clothes etc. (see picture). 
In room storage was excellent. Around 20 hangers for clothes were provided, plus loads of other storage space, all arranged so as not to take away from main bedroom area space. 

The bathroom was very well fitted out. It had a high quality shower with both a freely moveable hand shower, a large overhead shower and a tap. Water pressure was good. This was contained in a wet room type arrangement. The only weakness was the sink. It was very slow draining (this was fixed very quickly when brought to the attention of reception), and the drainage plug didn’t really work (in other words it drained when it shouldn’t have). Towels were plentiful and of high quality.

The room was pretty quiet. Some evenings loud music was played in the centre of the resort, but this always ended at 10.00 which is reasonable.

The usual tea and coffee facilities that you would expect at a hotel were provided and were fine, the only issue being UHT Coffeemate was provided rather than milk. I really don’t like tea made with anything other than milk, but maybe that’s just an English thing. A really good (very cold) fridge and separate freezer were also provided.

The AC was wall mounted rather than ducted, so a little noisier but it worked very well throughout our stay. 

Pool 

The main pool was small and pretty shallow, even in the ‘deep end’. There were strange and slightly awkward steps between depth levels. Signage states it opens from 7 (see photo), but it was actually more like 8.30-9.00. Not a problem for us but you could see young kids getting frustrated.

Pool and deck areas were kept in very good condition throughout the day. Loungers were all high quality with comfortable and well fitted cushions. Provision of pool toys was a nice touch and these were well used by customers. 

The beer tap in the swim up bar was not working from when we got there until the day we left (11 days), and maybe still isn’t. The helpful staff were happy to go to the main bar for beer, but this naturally slowed service down.

An excellent facility was that iced water was available at the pool (and the beach) with clean glasses all of the time.

Drinks service at your lounger was occasionally available but was very patchy. I saw it 4 times in 11 days. 

The pool needs rules on loud music. People brought speakers to the pool to play from their phones. It wasn’t a massive problem but at one point I had one on either side of me. One was playing loud music with racially aggravating lyrics (including the N word). This is generally unacceptable in today’s world. Indeed it is illegal in many countries.

In general it’s not the rules of the resort that are the problem but the policing of them. It would be nice if rules weren’t needed, but given they were there then they should be enforced.

Reef Restaurant 

Superb for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Buffet was superb at all services. All good quality and lots of variety. All freshly carved meats served at dinner were excellent. Service was top notch pretty much at all times, including drinks on arrival and top ups. There was the occasional blip e.g. asking for ice cream and it never showing up, but overall very good. At breakfast there was a great omelette/fried egg station. Poached eggs however were not so great. Fresh pancakes and waffles were available at all breakfast services. Cooked breakfast was very much to the US style (well done streaky bacon, sweet baked beans and sweet bread for toasting). I quite like that but perhaps not everyone would.

Colin’s Beach Bar
Great food. Burgers were freshly cooked to order and not just a great big warm dish of them as in most resorts. Quality was high. One minor gripe is that I couldn’t work out how to get a table on arrival. This is fine in other Sugar Bay restaurants but here what do you do? Sit down and wait to be served? Ask at the bar? Not clear. 

A note on their clothing policy. The first time I visited Colin’s Beach Bar I wasn’t wearing a shirt. So I was sent away to get one. Fair enough I thought - that’s the rules. Then a few days later I showed up and (you’re ahead of me here), there was some bare chested bloke tucking in to his burger and fries. Another day I saw 4 such people. I am a qualified sports official, and one thing I understand is that above all else players demand consistency and fairness. This policy has neither. I did gently ask a server about this but she just referred me to the front desk. If you are challenged on their clothing policy I suggest that you tough it out. You’ll see many examples of this policy being ignored. The dress policy is however well adhered to in other restaurants. As mentioned earlier policies aren’t well monitored but this inconsistency wound me up. 

Umi Restaurant

Good if not spectacular. Decent quality and very good portion sizes. 

Sizzling Steakhouse

The steaks here are superb. Top quality meat cooked to perfection. Unsurprisingly there isn’t much here for non beef eaters, but the problem with that is if one of you is and one of you isn’t then it puts you both off. Very good steaks though. 

Note that in regards to specialty restaurants (Umi and Sizzling Steakhouse), for every 3 nights of your stay, you are entitled to 1 complimentary specialty restaurant dinner. Therefore, during our 11 night stay we were entitled to 3 specialty dining nights in total. So to maximise this benefit then book 8, 12, 16 etc. nights. 

Bars

As mentioned above the Pool bar had its only beer tap not working for the duration of our stay.
 
The main bar was very good. It did get very busy from about 6.30. It was at this point the only bar open and as well as serving at the bar the staff had to deal with restaurant orders, which appeared to take priority. Certainly when trying to get service they often seemed distracted. But overall very good and in a lovely setting. Staff were excellent. 

The bar at Colin’s Beach Bar was relaxed, friendly and never busy. However it has limited opening hours.

In general the opening hours on the resort website don’t match the reality, although they are a decent guide. 

Driftwood Cafe

This area provides a pleasant 24 hour coffee area with a high quality machine that always worked. Afternoon tea here was also good if you fancied a snack. 

Beach

This was OK but there is a bit of a seaweed problem (this varied day by day), and uncomfortable boulders under foot in the sand. Seaweed at worst was a proper nuisance. You could see it piled up in banks back from the shoreline. 

Water sports are not a big thing. I saw a couple of kayaks. Not a lot happening when we were there. 

Other

There is a small Gift shop with gifts, medicines and a small range of groceries. We wanted to buy a resort T shirt but the largest size was XL. Have they seen the size of half of their customers?! I suspect this is an opportunity missed.

It is a small resort but nevertheless a map would have been useful. No site map was available, either on paper or posted on boards around the resort. 

Staff 

Overall staffing was very good but some staff were extra special. I thought I would mention a few (with apologies for any poor spelling). 

The two that stood out the most were Keyshawna in the restaurant and Jonathan. 

Keyshawna was exceptional. She learned our names on day one and greeted us by them from then on. She always checked we were OK, including when we weren’t on one of her tables and even in the pool, and was an absolute delight. 

Jonathan was I think a cleaner. Well that might have been his official role, but be was actually a hotel front man. He was always super helpful, charming and seeing him brightened your day. A lovely guy. 

Both are huge assets to the resort and I hope that they are well looked after by it. 

Other special mentions:
Helen and Damien (bar tenders) - both excellent technically and from a customer handling perspective. 
Akeil the Trainee receptionist - surely not a trainee for much longer! Always super helpful and a lovely smile. 
Zaren the water sport guy who ran the UNESCO tour. What he didn’t know about the history of the area he made up for in bouncy charm.

Excellent overall but with a few unfortunate niggles

Sugar Bay Barbados is the newest all-inclusive beach resort in Barbados. Relax and unwind in bohemian-inspired style and comfort, leave your footprints in the sand or go for a dip in the natural tranquil bay. With 138 beautifully designed rooms and suites, you are sure to find the perfect fit for your holiday. 

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