We're going to Barbados in early March and are looking for an affordable place to stay. ($100-160/night) We've narrowed our choices down to two: The Yellow Bird Hotel in St. Lawrence Gap and Peach & Quiet in Christ Church. I know these are both mostly well-liked smaller hotels. Can anyone offer some advice about these two places, which they prefer, the differences between them, etc.?
Many thanks,
Kelly

We are going in April and we are also choosing between these two hotels-would like to hear your experience upon your return.

Only a little higher in price, but with gorgeous grounds, long wide beach, quiet spot of the road is Casuarina Beach Resort. You won't regret the $$. See www.casuarina.com

Have never stayed at Yellow Bird but have been to Peach and Quiet twice and would not hesitate to return. I think it's one of the best kept secrets on the island - simple, charming accommodation, wonderful food, gracious hosts, an honour bar, a really neat snorkelling pool, just down the beach you can watch world class kite boarding and windsurfing. A perfect place to relax and hang out or explore the island from. Far from the hustle and bustle of the Gap but that's what we like about it. Depends what type of holiday you're looking for but I don't think you can go wrong with P&Q.

You could also check out Trip Advisor for reviews of each property - the following is from one of the few negative reviews on Yellow Bird but might help you decide. This is definitely one of the disadvantages to staying in that location and one of the differences between the two resorts :
"Our family of 5 ( 3 teenage daughters ) booked the YellowBird in part because of the great reviews. Geeta was terrific to deal with while booking. Unfortunately she forgot to mention that the hotel is located in the very heart of the clubs and bars in St. Lawrence Gap. Upon check in, we were told that if the noise bothered us, to please let them know and they would contact the club and ask them to turn down their music. Now, we had been up all night, arriving from Vancouver, via Toronto and by 8 pm we were trying to go to sleep. Between then and 230 am I called down to the desk 3 times. I know 8pm is early, but after a few hours of nonstop very loud music immediately out our bedroom window, we were all feeling sick from lack of sleep. When we talked to the front desk in the morning, they said we should have been informed of this as we were booking. They kindly agreed to refund the next 2 nights of our 3 night non-refundable deposit, helped make phone calls to find us a new hotel, and had us fill out a special form they have, stating our decision to leave had nothing to do with hotel itself, only the noise. This is obviously a large problem, because the police get involvd if the offending club doesn't turn down the music enough. We ended up staying at the Sandy Beach about a 3 minute walk from the YellowBird, and went into the Gap for dinner a few times. Staff were great but it sure wasn't the location for us."

While Peach & Quiet may be lovely, it's very far away from everything and in the area of Silver Sands -- mainly a surfing area as the sea is very rough there with strong winds.

That is a problem at Yellow Bird -- the noise, and that's true for several places in the Gap right in the midst of the night spots.

Coral Sands Beach Resort on Sandy Beach is lovely, and you may also get a bargain at Sandy Beach Island Resort as it's been taken over by Amaryllis Beach and they will be refurbishing it. It's next door to Coral Sands and very inexpensive.

Lois

Thanks much for all the help. It's helpful to know about the beaches in the area of each hotel, as we really like to swim in the ocean. So I think we may opt for Yellow Bird. I don't think the noise will bother us too much -- and we do like to go out to clubs and such. Though I suppose we may change our minds once we get there!

Glad you were able to decide where to go. Please do a trip report and let us know how you make out. If you have never been, go to the Bajan Roots and Rhythm dinner show - a truly fun night out. Hope you have a wonderful trip!