My wife and I will be in Barbados for ten days in March. Any suggestions for hotels, that are clean, interesting, and worthwile to stay in. On the beach or close to it, smaller is better with restful pool!

I stayed at a lovely hotel on the southern part of the island. Right on the beach Balconey from master bedroom overlooked the ocean, beach was small but private, very calm waters. We were there 5 days and hardly ever left the beach. Restaurant was super good.Not a big resort. Bank across the street,bus to Bridgetown across the street too. If you like doing fun things, try the Jolly Roger boat trip (pirate ship cruise about 3 hours.
I'm sorry I can't remember the name but will post another message next week with it. Your travel agent would know what hotels are on that part of the island. It was an apartment type place with small kitchenette, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. Price was reasonable. Service was excellent. You will love Barbados. It was my first island and I have been back several times on cruise ships. I'll e-mail you more info. It may have been damaged during one of those bad storms last year or the year before. Joan

I've been to Barbados and have stayed at Sandridge Hotel every time. It is on the west coast near Speightstown and right on the beach. Right beside it is Cobbler's Cove with a very peaceful beach where Claudette Colbert had a house. Speightstown is within walking distance, the hotel food is good, there's also a local bar across the street where you can eat. It's a bit far from Bridgetown so if you want nightlife this may not be the place, although we used to take a bus to Holetown which had something going on about twice a week.
Good luck in finding a place, the island is great!

When we were in Barbados last year we stayed at the Colony Club. The hotel is lovely and the pool area and beach are peaceful. The hotel is quiet. It is all inclusive, but you can dine in a number of restaurants in other hotels such as Tamarind Cove and the other St. James Beach hotels. If TV is important to you--there is only a TV in the lounge area. Enjoy your trip.

Hi we were in Barbados last April for 10 days and loved it. We stayed for 1/2 our stay at the Casuarina Beach Club on the south coast. South Coast is where the action is and also where you'll find most of the self-catering places. The Casuarina is very nicely landscaped, good-sized pool with separate children's area. Good beach but water is rough here. Live entertainment each night. Good restaurant. Efficiency apts. allowed us to cook flying fish one night and dine on our own balcony listening to the band playing below! There are many restaurants within walking distance and the bus to Bridgetown runs very nearby and is a fun experience. Staff is very friendly and accommodating. Many Europeans stay here.

We then went up to the Colony Club on the west coast. The West Coast is classier and quieter. The Caribbean Sea makes for calmer waters better snorkeling, swimming. Definitely a few notches up the quality ladder from Casuarina! We had a gorgeous junior suite with balcony. Grounds are lovely and free form pool is lovely to look at but not practical of you like swimming laps. Entertainment was top notch. It's all-inclusive - meals were excellent and you can dine at it's sister properties as well. Our only complaint was that on several occasions we found the staff to be less than friendly at the desk and in the restaurant and in one case quite rude. (We aren't fussy complaining types!) Overall, we'd recommend both properties.
Enjoy your trip!

All of the above info is very accurate. Just wanted to put some more thoughts in your head: as mentioned the South coast is perhaps a bit more budget minded and the water rougher (but still crystal clear). We used to stay at the Accra Beach hotel many years ago when we lived in Trinidad and I think it has been refurbished (it was pretty run down 8 yrs ago), all the hotels mentioned are very good ones though! Avoid Marriott's Sam Lord's Castle--too far away!!! Avoid the East coast---too far away. The West coast is my favorite and if I had the money I would stay at Sandy Lane(just go there for drinks if nothing else). We rented a house on the West Coast which is another option--so many are in that area and come very well staffed. I love Barbados and we are planning to go back in June '98 but we will rent a house for sure. Have fun and do eat the flying fish and drink a Mount Gay rum punch!

I was in Barbados about 7 years ago for 11 days. It was wonderful. I stayed on the east coast which is quite different from the carribean side. It is much more private and rustic. I stayed at the Ginger Bay Beach Club. Also near here was the Crane Beach Hotel. Both of these hotels sit upon a cliff. At Ginger Bay you had to get to the beach by going through a cave (very cool!). The beach itself (Crane Beach) is georgeous. Be aware that there are bigger waves on this side of the island (i.e. not calm like the carribean side).