13 Best Hotels in Barbados

Privacy, luxury, and service are hallmarks of this intimate adults-only sanctuary adjacent to sister resort, Tamarind. The 34 junior and one-bedroom suites wrap around a central courtyard filled with tropical trees, plants, and water features. Guest rooms are elegantly decorated; beds and pillows are big, soft, and fitted with luxurious Egyptian cotton linens. Personalized attention creates a welcoming feel, as does 24-hour "ambassador" service and a complimentary jet-lag revival massage upon arrival—in your room, on the seaside yoga pavilion, or in the spa. Dine beachfront in a private cabana or at The Deck. You can also enjoy the restaurants, pools, and water-sports opportunities—including complimentary windsurfing, bodyboarding, kayaking, water-skiing, tube rides, banana boats, and sailing on a Hobie Cat—at Tamarind. Champagne breakfast, afternoon tea, and canapés at sundown make The House a home.

This family-run, modest but recently renovated hotel is popular among families, who love the activities room for kids, the kitchenettes, and the convenient beachfront location. Nearly all rooms stretch right along the powdery white sand, and the views and ocean breezes from the private balconies—all day and into the evening—are nothing short of spectacular. (A few units in a small annex across the street have no ocean views.) Accommodations are designated either rooms or studios—the main difference being that the rooms have a refrigerator, microwave, toaster, and electric kettle, whereas the studios have a full kitchenette with all the accoutrements found in the rooms plus an oven and stove. A minimum five-night stay is required in high season.

Comfortable, contemporary, and convenient, this hotel is pleasant and the rooms are well appointed. The informal Centro restaurant serves breakfast, plus light lunches and dinners; vending machines dispense snacks. There's a lap pool on the second-floor terrace, a fitness center, a guest laundry, a business center, and meeting space.

Beautifully situated on the sandy Needham's Point peninsula, all 350 units in this high-rise resort hotel have private balconies overlooking either the ocean or Carlisle Bay; 77 rooms on executive floors offer a private lounge and concierge services. Butler service is also available for an additional charge, regardless of room type. As it is just minutes from Bridgetown and the property has the largest hotel meeting space in Barbados, meetings are big business here. Yet the broad white-sand beach, the sprawling bi-level pool complex, and a host of activities on land and sea—both on-site and nearby—make this a hit with vacationing families, as well. Children under 18 stay free in a room with adults. Babysitting can also be arranged for a fee.

Constructed in 1804 as a rum storage facility for the British Regiment, this charming, all-inclusive boutique hotel—less than a mile from Bridgetown and steps away from beautiful Pebbles Beach on Carlisle Bay—appeals to singles, couples, and families. Modern, attractively decorated rooms (just 24 of them) form a horseshoe around the pool and gardens. The bathrooms are large and, well, stunning. Guests love the walk-in closets, too. The dining room serves three meals a day, both local and international cuisine, and the chef will prepare a picnic for you to take to the beach or on a day's outing. There's also entertainment on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday evenings, as well as a rum tasting on Wednesday. A scuba-diving lesson in the pool is included. And for a change of pace, try your luck at the slot machines in the arcades next door and across the street.

Just east of the fishing village of Oistins, this classy boutique hotel has a distinctly Mediterranean atmosphere and a perfect vantage point overlooking the sea. Beautifully appointed rooms are decorated with Italian fabrics, local pottery, and terrazzo flooring. Bathrooms have showers only and locally made earthenware sinks. The pool is on the roof, alongside the open-air Cafe Luna restaurant. Two suites each have a kitchen and a large oceanfront patio with a private hot tub. Guests who book a 10-day stay are entitled to a choice of a complimentary round of golf at the Barbados Golf Club, an in-room Champagne breakfast and massage at the minispa, or a fully catered day sail. Leave the kids at home, as Little Arches offers pure romance—and only accepts kids ages 16 and up.

A cluster of spacious self-catering cottages, built in updated chattel-house style with gingerbread balconies, overlooks a narrow strip of beach north of Speightstown just beyond the fishing community of Six Men's Bay. This little enclave of one-, two-, and three-bedroom (mostly) duplex suites is a perfect choice for self-sufficient travelers who don't need the hand-holding that resorts provide and who relish the chance to experience a delightful slice of Bajan village life. Two large suites are directly on Shermans Bay beach, sharing a building—an old stone fort with louvered shutters on the windows—with the excellent hotel restaurant, The Fish Pot. You can arrange for a personal cook from the restaurant and stocked groceries upon arrival. Although you're mostly on your own in terms of recreation, the hotel will arrange activities and tours. There are two pools on-site, and snorkeling equipment is available to use at the beach. For total relaxation, there's an inviting little spa. 

A 1940s-era service station just north of Holetown was transformed into a sleek beachfront boutique hotel that—fortunately or unfortunately—has since been discovered by celebrities. The hotel's six large, architecturally fascinating suites—two penthouse suites, two oceanfront, and two in a separate beach house—are elegantly decorated in neutral colors and furnished with enormous Bajan mahogany beds and chic Italian-designed upholstered chairs, sofas, and settees. The bathrooms are stunning. Each suite—appropriately dubbed Buick, Cadillac, Studebaker, Lincoln, Shelby, and Corvette—has its own communications and entertainment center. A shady terrace overlooks the beach; golf, tennis, fishing, snorkeling, scuba diving, and horseback riding are available nearby. The beachfront restaurant has a great atmosphere.

Rooms in this high-rise hotel overlooking pretty Carlisle Bay, just south of Bridgetown, are modern and sleek with espresso-color furniture, sparkling white linens, and each with a desk with ergonomic chair, comfortable sitting chair and ottoman, 42-inch flat-screen TV, a mini-refrigerator, and the latest in-room technology. Vacationers love the magnificent white-sand beach—and its crystal-clear water and gentle waves—that stretches completely around the bay, as well as its proximity to The Garrison Historic Area, local restaurants, and other activities. At the same time, businesspeople find the location (and meeting space) convenient to Bridgetown. A breakfast buffet and other meals are served at the Aquatic Club restaurant, which is located on a long pier that extends into the sea; Neptune's Grill, on the beach, serves breakfast, lunch, and all-day snacks.

Appealing to those who don't require fancy surroundings or organized entertainment, the Savannah is convenient for walks to The Garrison Historic Area, the Barbados Museum, and the racetrack—and minutes from Bridgetown by car or taxi. Two modern wings spill down to the beach from the main building, once the historic Sea View Hotel. A lagoon-style pool flows between the wings in graduated steps, from a waterfall at the higher end to a more traditional pool by the beach. Definitely opt for a room in one of the wings; oceanfront duplex suites, at each end, are the best. The popular Rachel's Bar and Restaurant serves lunch and dinner, as does Drifters Beach Bar, often with entertainment.

Sophisticated travelers, particularly couples, love this ultramodern adults-only boutique hotel, strategically poised on the beachfront in Hastings. The two-dozen rooms (on four floors) are bright, light, and white—white leather headboards, a white leather sofa bed in each room, and creamy white crushed-bamboo furniture. Every room has a terrace with a stunning ocean view. The air-conditioned oceanfront restaurant has an open kitchen—unlimited meals are included, and the menu changes every three days. The pool deck overlooks a lovely beach and the South Coast Boardwalk, which stretches all the way to Accra Beach—great for long walks or jogging.

You enter the sleek lobby of this cool condo-style hotel, across the street from spectacular Accra Beach, via a footbridge across a double-wide lap pool that runs the length of the property. All studios and one- or two-bedroom suites have a kitchen, a dining area, and a pull-out sofa in the sitting area—making them suitable for parents and a couple of kids. Children 12 and under stay free when in the same room as adults. The on-site Swagg Cocktail Lounge and Bistro serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner—indoors or poolside—and the neighborhood is filled with restaurants offering everything from fast food to fine dining.

Quiet, upscale, and intimate, this adults-only boutique hotel a couple of miles south of Holetown was gutted and completely refurbished in late 2017. Three floors of one-bedroom suites form a horseshoe around an intimate courtyard, Tapestry Restaurant, and a pool. Most units have a sea view, but all are just steps from the strip of sandy beach. All suites have large comfortable sitting rooms with coral-stone walls and French doors leading to a balcony. Bathrooms have a freestanding shower and separate soaking tub, along with his-and-her sinks. This is the seventh Elegant Hotels property on Barbados and the sixth on the island's West Coast; a complimentary water taxi shuttles guests to and from the various hotels.