Coral Reef Club

We have visited Barbados many times and stayed at 7 different hotel during our time there. This has been our favourite and we have booked to return this year for 9 nights. We usually do a split stay on the island. choosing to holiday on different sides but this year we have only booked to stay here , so that speaks volumes in itself. The hotel lends itself towards an older demographic of clientele seeking a tranquil refined ambience , without any pomp and ceremony. This suits us as we are in our 50’s and we found most of the guests were in their 50’s through to their 80’s. Many of these were repeat guests . These are the reasons we are returning - Service levels were outstanding ; all the staff made us feel very welcome and looked after wherever we were in the resort. The quality of the food ; both the produce and presentation were outstanding . It was consistently good every night which is a rare find. The ambience and luxury; the rooms were luxurious and everything was clean and kept beautiful. You can turn right out of the hotel and walk into Holetown within 10 minutes. We visited the Limegrove centre and purchased some clothes and a piece of artwork in the gallery painted by a local artist. We ate out a couple of times , but as previously said by others there is no need to as the food in the hotel is difficult to beat. I have already emailed the hotel and booked to attend the Pilates during my stay , along with requesting a TV for our bedroom. I had my hair done by the hairdresser near the hotel at the entrance and she was very good indeed.

As always a wonderful Hotel and holiday , The staff are always happy and helpful, the bedrooms and hotel perfect. A special thanks to Carlos on the beach and Lennie at the water sports . Will definitely return And thankyou to the O’Hara’s for welcoming my mother and family back again .

Coral reef is a fantastic hotel. The staff are incredible and attentive, the grounds are stunning and the food and drinks were all delicious. We loved every minute of our honeymoon. I’d read reviews that the hotel seems tired and it was mainly older couples. We found this wasn’t the case. Having stayed at other hotels in Barbados, this is by far the best and most the guests were families with teenagers. There was a nice range of guests. The beach is lovely but get there early to get the best spot (I think this is the case with all Barbados hotels). There’s also a cocktail party on Monday evenings which was lovely! Thanks to the whole team for a wonderful stay!

This hotel fitted our preference for a quiet, family run boutique hotel. It’s biggest asset is the owner and amazing staff. From our reservation right up to our departure, everyone was so welcoming, attentive and helpful. The O’Hara family live on site and regularly socialising with guests in the bar and restaurant, as well as hosting a weekly cocktail party in their home. There is a good range of accommodations scattered around the well-maintained tropical sea-front gardens. We stayed in a spacious and comfy Luxury Junior Suite with a large covered double balcony (one of the few with a full sea view). We asked for a tea tray, which was very handy. We ate in the hotel for all our meals with the exception of a few lunches. The menus were a bit basic and would get repetitive over a longer stay. The buffet breakfast included cold and hot selections, with a separate station for cooked to order eggs, crepes, and waffles. Each week, there are two sumptuous special buffets (BBQ and International-Bajan), featuring prawns, filleted fish, steaks, chicken breasts, chops, burgers, curries, stir-fries, and plenty of yummy desserts. While the Restaurant is not all pretentious, the dinner dress code may be too formal for some. There was a good variety of live evening entertainment. There were plenty of sunbeds, although we a bit surprised and disappointed that there was quite a bit of ‘bed-bagging’, beginning at 7am (if you want quiet and space, ask the beach butler to set you up on grass behind the main sunbathing area). Reception organised some customised excursions for us and our driver-guide Roger was absolutely brilliant (a very personable and careful driver with a spotless car, who happily accommodated some last-minute changes to our itinerary and offered lots of interesting insights into the places we passed). We also booked our own private boat with the awesome Captain Dwayne - Livity Cruises (see separate review). So why the less than perfect score? The beach is short and narrow at high tide, and the entry into the water shelves steeply, with shifting shingle and rocks. The outdoor pool was too chilly for me. The number of returning guests asking for their regular rooms reduces the availability of certain rooms for ‘newbies’, which is not ideal if you have walking difficulties or other requirements or special requests (advise the hotel in advance and hope for the best).

We just spent 5 wonderful nights at the Coral Reef Club to celebrate our anniversary. It was truly a pampering experience. The grounds are absolutely gorgeous and the service was fantastic. The food was great - they had an extensive breakfast buffet every morning, and we also had one lunch and one dinner there during our stay (we like to check out restaurants all over the island). We heard that the bbq buffet night is really nice but we already had plans that night. The beach in front of the resort is beautiful, and if you walk 5 minutes north along the coast you will find what might be the most spectacular beach for swimming in Barbados (we visited quite a few different beaches during our stay). The fitness center was also fairly well equipped. They gave us a lovely surprise for our anniversary, which we really appreciated. We met some other guests that visit the Coral Reef Club every year, and we certainly understand why - the place is an oasis. Overall we had a fantastic stay and look forward to our next visit.