The House by Elegant Hotels

3 star hotel that would have been ok for less than a third of the price. Ritz Carleton Reserve and Ritz Yatch are actually cheaper. While the restaurant staff made a good effort, the experience was ruined by the rude management.  There was no recognition or honoring of being a bonvoy member let alone my Titanium elite status such as upgrades or 4pm checkout that Marriott claims is guaranteed.  Upon checking in, the front desk wouldn't let is to our rooms until after 3pm. Notably it was about 40 percent occupied.  I even offered to pay for an upgraded room and they refused. They gave us the worse room of the ocean view class. It was not a suite and just a regular room with the views partially blocked. The attitude of management was spiteful that we were even customers.  they did not explain anything about the property including that you can go to sister properties. There was no welcome or welcome gift. There is no butler ambassador or 5 star service. We inquired about the welcome massage and told it wasn't available.  There is only one restaurant with a limited menu. We were pressured to have dinner at a set time of either 6 or 6:45, giving it more of an experience like staying at a hostel. I did try their rum tasting but was a bit disappointed that no one new anything about their rums and the presentation was lacking. Our room ran out of tissues, soap, and towels. We had to fight management to get anything including getting our room cleaned. Overall this experience gave a very bad impression of Barbados and I don't plan on coming back. Punta Cana or Cancun has much better resorts with quality service at less than a third the price. You can sheer a sheep hundreds of times but only skin a sheep once.

This was our first time in Barbados and at The House. We've done the Maldives a few times and thought it would be good to try somewhere else. We chose The House because it was a small adults only hotel and we thought it was lovely. The staff were really friendly and Pat who makes the omelettes etc at breakfast always greeted us with a big smile. The food was really good with a good amount of choices for lunch and evening meal and always presented nicely. The room (Garden View Suite) was spacious and had all we needed. There was entertainment on most nights from about 7pm to 9pm. Everyone who performed was really good, from duets, to solo singers and delivered a nice chilled out vibe for a restful Caribbean evening, without being too intrusive / noisy at all. There are plenty of sunbeds, but sadly as is always the case (and which the hotel can't really do much about) some guests were out about 6.30am putting towels on sunbeds, but, you can always find a spot. Fresh towels for the sunbeds are available everyday and drinks / lollies / fruit is delivered to you as you undergo the hard work of sunbathing & relaxing. All-in-all we had a lovely time and would recommend The House.

If I could rate this place 10 out of 10, I would! Service is impeccable. The grounds are gorgeous and the service couldn’t be more Caribbean friendly! Rico, Agnes and Fiona have treated us like family.

LOCATION The adults-only, ~36 room Elegant by Marriott is a boutique hotel on the southwest side of Barbados thus calmer water. There are several other Elegant hotels by Marriott on Barbados. A couple are under renovation. Colony Club with 90+ rooms is very nice; we stayed there before. Treasure Beach and Waves are nearby, but we preferred the atmosphere and food at The House. The hotel is about 30-45 minutes from the airport depending on your route and day/time. A rental car is about $550 for the week with Go Rentals, an efficient no-wait company. ENTRANCE Across from the Roti Den, there is a security house and about 5 parking spaces due to the beach bar construction. Designed with hibiscus and palm trees, the entrance is very pretty and nicely lit at night. TIP - Beware of the LARGE hole in the grate when driving and exiting the property. CHECK IN Anthony and Kaitlyn made the process effortless with a refreshing ginger drink and cool towel. Housekeeping works efficiently to get the check outs cleaned for the check ins to avoid a wait to get in the room. TIP - Ask for the wifi password ROOM Positives: beautiful second and third floor room views of ocean, spacious bedroom, balcony: table, 2 chairs, sofa, comfortable seating and bed, large, pivotable ~20-channel flat screen TV, consistent A/C, storage: 7 drawers, many closet hangars, robes, slippers, safe, umbrella (pop-up rains here), iron/board, turndown almost every night, 95% clean, coffee, tea kettle upon request, stocked fridge with water, beer and beverages. For your electronics, there are 2 USB-A and 2 USB-C charging ports and 110 outlets. Otherwise, bring and adaptor. TIP - If you have a standard schedule, consider arranging a daily room-service time with housekeeping. TIP - Wedge the Service/Privacy sign in the exterior door jamb as it tends to fly off with the winds BATHROOM Positives: water pressure, water temperature, shower and wand, automatic night light for motion, large mirror, smaller make up mirror, hairdryer, amenities: Apotheke shampoo, conditioner, and body wash Know: There was quite a bit of mold in the shower edges and corners. The Apotheke product line has an undesirable smell. RESTAURANT/BAR Positives: Andrew, Nadia, Chantal, and Devere were among the staff members who made our stay most enjoyable. Their conversations and personal touch to service and attention to detail were delightful. The bar is well-stocked and has 8 stools. The staff does recommend that you set a dinner reservation for each night even if you decide to dine elsewhere on occasion. The restaurant offers a daily breakfast buffet with a made-to-order egg station. The lunch and dinner menus provide varied fish, beef, and poultry preparations every day. We loved every meal. Our favorites: rib eye, tuna poke, and marlin. We did miss the weekly Thursday Caribbean buffet. Know: Despite the staff's efforts, there can be black flies in the morning. And check the chairs before sitting, many have stains and need cleaning. TIP - Bug lotion and After Bite came in handy at times. TIP - Sister hotel recommendation: Colony Club is very good for food; however, Colony Club meals are NOT included in The Hotel's all-inclusive program. Yet, there is a 30% discount off menu and bar items at the Colony Club. Nearby Waves and Treasure Beach sister hotels ARE included with the all-inclusive program. The food selections do not compare to The Hotel. PUBLIC AREAS - POOL & BEACH The areas are cozy, well-manicured. There are courtyard gardens and a coy pond. As for the pool and beach, this would be the reason that we would NOT return to this hotel. With ~30 pool lounge chairs, the pool area is usually 'towel-reserved' by guests by 7 am. Many chairs sit empty and remain vacant for hours despite the management's 30-minute towel removal policy/notice. The pool staff does not enforce this policy. However, we were able to find chairs near the two small round attached pools on 2 of our 7 day stay here. If all else fails, there are several chairs on the beach. The beach has about 20 beach lounge chairs. The chairs are on a strange slope. These chairs ALSO fill up quickly. There will probably be more chairs once the beach bar is complete. The beach is short with coral and a drop off upon entering. We did not feel comfortable entering the water based on the coral and rock. The walk along the beach is quite quick as well. TIP - Take the free northbound water taxi from The Hotel's beach and go to the sister hotel Colony Club. The water taxi goes between the sister hotels most of the day. The beach is longer, has less of a drop off, less coral, good snorkeling and a picturesque pool are with MANY unreserved lounge chairs. SPA Closed Sundays, the spa appears to have 2 employees: Stacy and Shakiria. The spa offers a free 30-minute jet-lag massage. Nice facials, relaxing massages, and energizing body scrubs TIP - Reserve EARLY with the front desk concierge during your stay in order to get time slots

I think the experience sits somewhere between the two extremes of reviews. The hotel certainly isn't as advertised and it doesn't have 5* service. Watersports and gym etc didn't exist. There was 1 yoga session and 1 pilates session a week and the beach isn't long enough for a proper walk, so if you love exercise it's not the best. Certainly didn't have paddle boards. The water taxi was patchy at best. The food was average too and we ended up eating out a lot... I suspect there may have been a change in chef as earlier reviews are great. Some staff are amazing... some outright rude. There was a great little espresso machine in the room - but no pods for the whole stay. The rooms however were big and stunning and the location is excellent. We met some brilliant people but there was a feeling amongst all guests that the hotel didn't live up to its promise. Saying all this I would stay again if they just lifted standards.