Carolla22-where's your report on RBH?
Sep 6th, 2004, 09:38 PM
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Thanks for your interest - sorry, I've been lazy! Will post a detailed travel report about RBH in a few hours (still waking up now 
- briefly I can say that we loved RBH and that it was exactly as we'd hoped and expected it would be! More details to follow...
- briefly I can say that we loved RBH and that it was exactly as we'd hoped and expected it would be! More details to follow...
Sep 8th, 2004, 06:17 AM
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Well, here's my somewhat longer report on RBH, with apologies for the delay!
First of all, there'd been a mixup with KLM's flight schedule (not our fault but that of KLM!), which meant a slight change in our arrival and departure dates. This meant that the 2-bedroom upstairs studio (BV9) which we'd reserved was not available on our first night there, so Bart booked us into the 'ordinary' upstairs bedroom next door for 1 night. When we arrived, he had a beautiful table all set up, decorated with flowers, and with 2 bottles of wine (Pinot Grigio and Cabernet Sauvignon, we preferred the Pinot Grigio!), various beers in the fridge, tea, coffee, milk, sugar, chips, etc., all to our specifications as promised. Great service!
The room was basic, as we knew, but we felt at home in it right away, especially the studio we moved to the next day. Everything was simple and practical and well adjusted to the tropical climate. The louvered windows with mosquito netting, but no glass, kept the room cool with breezes blowing. Sure it was hot, but we didn't really feel we needed the airconditioning and hardly ever used it. This was one advantage of being upstairs (apart from having more privacy!) - I think the upstairs rooms catch a better breeze.
The location was second to none - we actually preferred it to that of Frangipani on Meads Bay where we stayed last year and the year before. At Meads Bay we had been rather annoyed by all the motorboats whizzing past (particularly a noisy little banana boat with yelling kids, probably originating from Mallihouana).
But here all was peace and quiet, the beach was certainly the most peaceful I've ever experienced, great for walking or just lounging about. We did see a motorboat just once or twice, but so far away that it was hardly visible. And sometimes people would go and sail with the Sunfish which were on the beach in front of Rendezvous. (But since these aren't motorized this didn't bother us, of course.)
We found service at RBH to be generally excellent - one example is housekeeping: we always like the housekeeper to come (early) in the morning; we always get up early anyway and do stuff in the morning but like to hang around the room and read and have a nap, in the afternoon. Anyway, we mentioned this to the reception on our first day, and the housekeeper always came before 10! A minor detail perhaps, but we really liked this. Every day the housekeeper would bring a large bottle of mineral water and a thermos of ice cubes (being European we don't use this much, but probably more important for Americans!).
Breakfast at RBH was also quite good, sometimes a bit of a wait but hey, it's vacation! We already knew that dinner was good, and this was the case also now, with slight variations in quality but on the whole excellent.
One other thing we liked was the fact that RBH had a sort of 'family atmosphere' - old Jeremiah Gumbs has passed away as you probably know, but we saw, and briefly spoke with, one of his daughters who was staying at the hotel, as well as a little girl ((great) granddaughter?) who was there every morning for breakfast with her nanny, and gradually got to know these people a little.
So we really liked the atmosphere - let's hope that RBH will manage to survive as the wonderful real Caribbean place it is and will not fall victim to one of these horrible chains which are becoming all too common in the Caribbean and all over the world! Bart assured us that the hotel would go on as it is now, and we've already provisionally booked for next year.
Well, hope this answers all your questions about RBH - if there's anything more just ask!
First of all, there'd been a mixup with KLM's flight schedule (not our fault but that of KLM!), which meant a slight change in our arrival and departure dates. This meant that the 2-bedroom upstairs studio (BV9) which we'd reserved was not available on our first night there, so Bart booked us into the 'ordinary' upstairs bedroom next door for 1 night. When we arrived, he had a beautiful table all set up, decorated with flowers, and with 2 bottles of wine (Pinot Grigio and Cabernet Sauvignon, we preferred the Pinot Grigio!), various beers in the fridge, tea, coffee, milk, sugar, chips, etc., all to our specifications as promised. Great service!
The room was basic, as we knew, but we felt at home in it right away, especially the studio we moved to the next day. Everything was simple and practical and well adjusted to the tropical climate. The louvered windows with mosquito netting, but no glass, kept the room cool with breezes blowing. Sure it was hot, but we didn't really feel we needed the airconditioning and hardly ever used it. This was one advantage of being upstairs (apart from having more privacy!) - I think the upstairs rooms catch a better breeze.
The location was second to none - we actually preferred it to that of Frangipani on Meads Bay where we stayed last year and the year before. At Meads Bay we had been rather annoyed by all the motorboats whizzing past (particularly a noisy little banana boat with yelling kids, probably originating from Mallihouana).
But here all was peace and quiet, the beach was certainly the most peaceful I've ever experienced, great for walking or just lounging about. We did see a motorboat just once or twice, but so far away that it was hardly visible. And sometimes people would go and sail with the Sunfish which were on the beach in front of Rendezvous. (But since these aren't motorized this didn't bother us, of course.)
We found service at RBH to be generally excellent - one example is housekeeping: we always like the housekeeper to come (early) in the morning; we always get up early anyway and do stuff in the morning but like to hang around the room and read and have a nap, in the afternoon. Anyway, we mentioned this to the reception on our first day, and the housekeeper always came before 10! A minor detail perhaps, but we really liked this. Every day the housekeeper would bring a large bottle of mineral water and a thermos of ice cubes (being European we don't use this much, but probably more important for Americans!).
Breakfast at RBH was also quite good, sometimes a bit of a wait but hey, it's vacation! We already knew that dinner was good, and this was the case also now, with slight variations in quality but on the whole excellent.
One other thing we liked was the fact that RBH had a sort of 'family atmosphere' - old Jeremiah Gumbs has passed away as you probably know, but we saw, and briefly spoke with, one of his daughters who was staying at the hotel, as well as a little girl ((great) granddaughter?) who was there every morning for breakfast with her nanny, and gradually got to know these people a little.
So we really liked the atmosphere - let's hope that RBH will manage to survive as the wonderful real Caribbean place it is and will not fall victim to one of these horrible chains which are becoming all too common in the Caribbean and all over the world! Bart assured us that the hotel would go on as it is now, and we've already provisionally booked for next year.
Well, hope this answers all your questions about RBH - if there's anything more just ask!
Sep 8th, 2004, 12:04 PM
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Yes. I realize I forgot to mention the full name of the hotel and even the island, so my report must have sounded a bit vague for those not 'in the know' - anyway, Kristen beat me to it: RBH stands for Rendezvous Bay Hotel and the island is Anguilla
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