9 Beaches Review

Reviewed by adunaway from Chicago on 8/21/08
One of the reviewers got it right to say 9 Beaches is not for everyone. This is our sixth year vacationing in Bermuda and we have stayed at the both Fairmont properties (Princess and Southampton), the Robin's Nest, Oxford House (which was a business related trip) and eventually found 9 Beaches. My favorite of all these has been 9 Beaches for a number of reasons I will list. One is seclusion - we typically vacation in October when it is not overly booked and the temperature is usually just right for us. The cabanas (aka tents) do not seem to offer much in the way of extreme privacy at all depending on which one you choose. We have been fortunate to find ones we really like and last year we had the beach beside it all to ourselves during the entire 5 day stay. The year prior we stayed in a cabana over the water and again - found it comfortably secluded. Yes you might see your neighbor out on their porch - yes you might hear people talking if you really strain - outside the ocean there is really not that much noise to be heard. If you are the type that desperately needs to be in an air-conditioned environment you definitely should avoid. Each year we have visited 9 Beaches we encounter the "unhappy guest" - who obviously had an entirely old world idea of not only what the resort would be like but also what Bermuda is like. It is not the Caribbean – and as such the temps can go from unusually cool to uncomfortably hot. We really enjoy nature and a camping so for us the 9 Beaches’ ultra casual model works out great - which is why we like it. We have always rented scooters to go out and explore the island and here it also makes it easy to head into Somerset for supplies (wine, beer, snacks) so we remain as self sufficient as possible to ensure we happily enjoy ourselves. You get a small fridge in with your cabana. Needless to say, if you are the pampered type (or expect this during your vacations) I would definitely say look elsewhere - similar to another reviewer we are selective about who we recommend this place to. We laugh though because we actually only recommend 9 Beaches to people we truly enjoy spending time with - people who are down to earth, enjoy exploring nature, and self sought excitement on their vacations. We enjoy having the cell phone since it makes communicating with our local friends easy as well as calling to book a cab (if we’ve put on too much to dare jump back on the scooter) or making dinner reservations while we are about since we never really dine at their restaurant but love the breakfast buffet. Also I enjoy having Wi-Fi access at no charge to keep in touch with things if I choose. Security is a bit of a concern - the cabanas could be easily broken into - so I now take a sturdier suitcase that I can cable lock to a beam in the closet for my laptop. We have never had security issues but we did have concerns the first time we stayed. Alternatively, you can drop items off at the front desk where they also have a safe if you feel you must lockup certain valuables. In final, 9 Beaches is the kind of place you can totally lose a week from "reality" and if that is up on your list then I'd highly recommend.

Member Rating: 4.2
Ratings details: Room: 4.0 Atmosphere: 5.0 Service: 3.0 Value: 5.0

Reviewed by gwk222 from Long Island, NY on 7/5/08
Stayed at in 9 Beaches June 08. We really liked it. Not everyone will though. If you want the full service hotel experience that runs like clock work you won't like it. If you are in the mood to just go with the flow and enjoy the beautiful scenery and friendly people then check it out. The good: Breakfast included. Real food, not just muffins and juice. Beaches are small but really nice. Excellent snorkeling right off the beaches. The bad: he cabanas get so hot in the day time that the AC's cannot cool them down. So after a day at the beach it's hard to cool off. The cabanas don't always work well. We didn't have h2o one morning. We lost power one night. Stuff lke that. It gets fixed. But it gets old after a few days. There's a dairy farm next door. If you're in a low number unit you'll smell it. Get a unit #30 or higher. We will go back some day but the list of people we would tell to go is shorter than the list of those who should look elsewhere.

Member Rating: 3.4
Ratings details: Room: 3.0 Atmosphere: 4.0 Service: 4.0 Value: 3.0