can anyone give advice on the divi southwinds in barbados? i read a few responses from before and am hesitant to stay there due to the quality of the hotel. we aren't looking for anything that extravagant, but someone atleast stayable. thanks.

We toured it a couple of years ago and it was in dire need of updating. It would not be my choice. If this is a timeshare trade, other possibilities on the island are better such as Bougainvillea Beach, of South Beach Club.

Something in that same general area to consider would be Southern Palms -- large resort on a nice stretch of beach. If you can elaborate on what you are looking for that is moderately priced, we might be better able to give suggestions.

Lois

how bad is it? just old or not clean? is it heavily populated on the beach there? thanks!!

It was old and not well-kept. Beach is busy.

I stayed there in 2002, it was in dire need of repairs. I stayed in a one bedroom with a kitchen and livingroom it was spacious. It was poorly lit, I think they only had 5 watt light bulbs in (I was unable to read it was so dark), also the bed was lumpy and it felt like I was sleeping on the bed-springs because the mattress was paper thin. Kitchen was OK.....lamp in the living room was broken and never repaired after numerous calls to the front desk. The wash cloths and towels were so thin that I actually went to a store and purchased a set just to bathe.

After complaining 3 days in a row, the front desk finally moved me. It was to one of the newly remodeled rooms and I was a lot happier. All I can tell you is that the kitchen had a counter with a bar or island type. The bed was not as lumpy but the mattress was still thin.

We took a tour of the ocean front timeshares and they were ok, nothing spectacular except that if you compared the new rooms to ours it was almost a 5 star resort. The staff was nice (just slow.....even for island time they were the slowest) they ran out of hotel keys while we were there so they could only give us 1 key to our room. The food was good and the beach was incredible.

After they moved me to a different room, I had an enjoyable stay. Location was great in that we were able to walk to lots of restaurants, the local bus stopped right in front of the resort and the beach was beautiful you only had to walk across a small street to get to it.

I would have been greatly disappointed had I paid a lot for the hotel but it was a special and I guess you get what you pay for. The first room was way less than a Motel 6 and the second room was more like a nice Holiday Inn.