Fairmont Hotels in Barbados?
 

I've been looking at a lot of message boards and I haven't found much about Glitter Bay or Royal Pavilion (Fairmont resorts). Does anyone have any advice on them? They look amazing. Thanks!

They are both great properties. Grounds are gorgeous too. They are next door to each other. This year they both will be undergoing extensive renovations.

Lois

Hello,
We just got back from Barbados. We were supposed to stay at the Royal Pavillion but due to rennovations the hotel is closed. We stayed at Glitter Bay instead. The resort was great. We lucked out, we had a penthouse overlooking the ocean w/ 3 balconies. This is great for in room breakfasts, lazy afternoons and romantic dinners for 2. The restaurant, the Piperade was good. Breakfast was nothing fancy but there were plenty of options. Lunches and dinners were my favorite. The lunch & dinner menu wasn't huge but it did have a pretty good variety. As much as we enjoyed dining at the restaurant we didn't want to dine there for the 10 nights that we were there. The beach was great. Nice white sand and beautiful turquoise water. The hotel also provides beach butlers. So there is no need to get up. Whatever you need they will get for you, whether it's a drink a snack/meal or dinner reservations any where on the island. They also bring you cold faceclothes to cool down with. The grounds are very pretty and if you are lucky you'll see the monkeys that frequent the front yards. I would go back to Glitter Bay again.

Some great restaurants:
The Cliff - our favorite, pricey but soooooooooo worth it.
The Lone Star - Soooo good! Wish we went more then once.
Olives - Great food, great atmosphere and not too pricey.

Good Restaurants:
Carambola - Pricey, and in my opinion overated. We had very good meals there but I was expecting something more and I wasn't very impressed.
Bellinis: Good food, not sure if the 45minute cab ride to get there was worth the trip or money. If you are going to St. Lawerence, The Gap then go.

We also went to the Bajan Roots & Rhythms show at the Plantation. This was an absolute blast. Highly recommend going. It's Friday's and Wednesday's. I think $75 pp US, but that includes transportation, drinks, dinner & entertainment. Very Fun!

Sorry, I am rambling. Probaly more info then you wanted. Hope this helped.

Hi ddoherty,

Thanks for the great review. I wasn't sure if either hotel was closed yet, or how they would be handling the renovations, so it's good to know.

I have a question for you - you rated Carambola as "good" rather than great. Can you elaborate on why you did that. It's usually one of our favorites and I recommend it to a lot of people. It would be good to know why you make this differentiation. If you'd like to write me privately, I can be reached at:
[email protected]

Thank you.

Lois

Hi Lois,
It's not that I didn't like Carambola...it was good, but I think that I had really high hopes for it. My husband thought it was very good. Maybe my opinion had to do w/ not being able to have what I really wanted. I wanted to try the lobster that was on the menu, but the waiter told me that they only got 1 lobster in that day and they used it for the appetizer. My thinking is...if you are only going to get 1 lobster per day, don't put it on the menu as a regular entree offer it as a special. I have to say that my husband ordered the tenderloin and it was delicious. Maybe I just didn't order the right thing, maybe I wasn't in the mood or maybe it was because we had already had so many great dinners that this one just didn't seem very special. Not sure.

Thanks for the information! I'm wondering if the Royal Pavilion will be safe to go to in October or November with renovations taking place.

Thanks for the comments on Carambola. I agree with you -- why offer an something as an entree if you have only one. When I visit the next time I'll have to be sure to tell the owner about this as it is very important to visitors.

Lois

Would anyone happen to have any details on the construction? We are looking at a possible trip in Oct.

According to www.tradewinds.com site, the Royal Pavilion is scheduled to reopen October 1, 2003. Hope this helps!