Turtle Beach by Elegant Hotels

Trying to keep it to point.... Family of 4 (two teenagers) and first time in Barbados. 10 night stay. In general we mostly loved it. Top of the shop is the staff 10/10. Couldn't do more for us and very relaxed and friendly. Resort itself is great but not brilliant. Food is very good - not a huge choice however (not a problem for us). Clean and tidy too. The biggest reason for the slightly less than favourable review is the state of the beach. Its not because of the seaweed (you can't argue with nature if you go when we did) but the as-advertised beach images. A lot of it is NOT there. A good proportion is gone/eroded and is taped and fenced off. If like me you booked a lot based on the pictures, be very aware this is not how it looked in August and you may end up disappointed. If you can afford it, my advice is to stay at their sister hotels either Treasure Beach (very quiet, good location) or Crystal Cove (bloody fantastic in all departments). This isn't a bad review for the hotel as much... its more a warning against the companies selling holidays which show an unbroken beach. It's not there!

We had a wonderful experience at Turtle Beach! It is sparking clean, and beautifully maintained. The two pools and the beach were lovely (and the beach had lifeguards). All the meals were excellent. There is even an ice cream shop! Our room was large and cheerful, with a great patio. It was quiet and restful, but also a lot of fun! Everyone who works there is so nice. Thank you to Kim, the manager, Raquel (Rocky), Yehudis, and all of the servers, Naradona, Ricardo and all of the bartenders, the housekeeping staff, and everyone who made our vacation a delightful experience. I feel that the price was fair, and well worth the money. I would also recommend Turtle Beach to families and single travelers. We will definitely return!

Highly recommend this newly opened resort, 15 min away from airport. As others mentioned, the beach is rougher than other parts of Barbados, but it is swimmable - just don't go too far - the hotel crew cleaned the sorgossum every morning so we honestly did not notice at all. Diagonal to the water right in front of this hotel is a manmade rock barrier, which provides some comfort if you dip right in front of it (vs. facing open water). There's also lifeguard post right on the beach. Turtle Beach provides non motorized water sports although we didn't take advantage of it. Could be an option. The two adult pools are mid size - large enough for the guests while we were there as it was not fully booked, but I can imagine it may feel small if the hotel is packed. With that said, it's not a pool bar so I imagine people will not be hanging out in the pool all day. There is also a good sized kid pool. The best part is the supersized hot tub. Having the pool and the hot tub to relax in after a long day exploring the island, with bar about 10 steps away in one direction, the ice cream shop 5 steps away in another direction, and the super friendly staff (who offers cold scented towel and ice cream bars during the day) was an amazing way to cap our days. Almost all of the rooms will have view of the water. The ones farthest away from the beach at ground level will have their views blocked by the shrubbery and beach restaurant, so ask for higher floor, farthest away from reception. The resort is mid-size so farthest room will not be too far to walk to/fro. We knew that the resort was newly remodeled before arriving, and it did not disappoint. The rooms feel very new and clean, the sofa bed is new, and we saw the outdoor lounge beds in other balconies still wrapped in plastic. Each room's balcony has a bistro table for 2, plus the one lounge bed that can fit 2 people (albeit tight), which was a nice touch that gives a luxurious feel. Wi-fi is free and strong enough to watch TV from the balcony. The front desk is always helpful and picks up the phone promptly; they can arrange transport if you need. I found that Barbados is still very much a cash-only island (Barbadian Dollars). Taxis do not always take credit card, but you can arrange for them to charge your hotel room instead. The front desk helped our family with this. It was helpful when we took one for longer rides and your cash is better spent elsewhere. Lawrence Gap is the party scene - about 15 min walk from the hotel. For families, there are shops (including ATM, 5 min walk from hotel), and local cuisine to try. We did not see many souvenir shops - we bought all of our souvenirs at the airport, which is large and has many shops and food options. Carlisle Bay, 15 minutes away from the hotel by taxi, has several beach clubs that you can pay with credit card for entry, beach chairs, and food. The water was calm and clear - like a pool, as my teen said - with floating trampolines off the beach. I thought this was a good complement to a stay at Turtle Beach, which as stated, has rougher water (as it is facing the south of the island). Turtles can be found slightly off the cost of this bay as well, although we didn't see any as we didn't go too far. The watersports nearby probably scared them all away. But you can take a short boat ride provided by the beach clubs for ~B$25 to visit the shipwrecks where the turtles often are. But for turtles, I recommend booking a Calabazas (or similar) catamaran tours as the ride itself is part of the experience. We saw turtles and snorkeled along the Platinum Coast where the super rich have their homes, and enjoyed the sun, the calm water, and the Barbadian hospitality. Certainly a highlight. Lastly, the "all inclusive" part of Turtle Beach - the bar is always staffed, bartender friendly, and the buffets were varied. Oxtail was yummy, sushi and Italian was good. There is a Greek restaurant on the second floor where guests can make reservation and it is a sit down affair. It's cute, the staff (again) was welcoming, and the food is pretty good. This was also included in our stay. All in all, this hotel was a win. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay, and Barbados in general, and we will be back.

We randomly picked this resort for our Barbados trip from August 9th to August 16th, and overall had a really great experience. It was my boyfriend and me, and although it’s a family resort, we still really enjoyed our stay. I’ve been to many resorts, hardly ever write reviews, but had to write one for Turtle Beach. The resort is located on the south side of the island, and it’s currently high season for sargassum, so unfortunately we did not use their beach. That being said, you’re able to use the amenities at their sister properties, which is a huge plus. We personally didn’t because we already had our entire week planned out. The pools are exceptionally clean and enjoyed a full relaxing pool day. They also offer a shuttle to Oistins Fish Fry on Fridays for a small fee, which we thought was a great and convenient touch. Oistins is a MUST—delicious and such a fun experience! The hotel is also not far from other beautiful beaches, so it was very easy to hop on a bus or take a short cab ride to explore other parts of the island. St. Lawrence Gap is only a few minutes away as well. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it there because we were so tired, but definitely next time! The absolute standout was the staff. I cannot say enough good things about them. Everyone was incredibly friendly, welcoming, and genuinely lovely throughout our entire stay. They really made the experience that much better. A huge shoutout to Ikeel from the activities desk, who helped me book a catamaran trip when another company canceled on me the day before. He truly went above and beyond! A special thank you to Dionne, Elizabeth, Patricia, Juliet, Karen, Winston, Dane, and ALL of the bartenders, waitstaff, groundskeepers, front desk, concierge, environmental —EVERYONE— for making our stay so enjoyable. I’m terribly sorry for forgetting some names! There were so many people who made us feel welcome and taken care of. (I should have written out a list! 🥰 ) The food was pretty good. We aren’t the type to come to an all-inclusive and gorge on food—we prefer local cuisine and trying different things, so having a massive selection wasn’t particularly important to us. There was always something we enjoyed. There was also music entertainment during dinner hours, which was super relaxing while enjoying our meal and/or a cocktail. I always went to bed with a happy belly 😁 One of my FAVORITE parts was the coffee café. Having a freshly made espresso or cappuccino every morning was such a treat, and the ice cream parlor is a nice touch too :) Our room was comfortable, clean, and updated. I’m going to miss sleeping in that bed! The bathroom was great and the shower was perfect. I actually appreciated that the resort isn’t enormous. Everything is easy to get to, and you’re not walking far just to reach the lobby, pools, restaurants, other amenities, or front desk. Overall, we had a really nice stay. The wonderful staff, convenient size, good food, coffee café, transportation to the sister resorts and Oistins, and easy access to other beaches definitely made up for the seaweed situation on the south coast. I’d absolutely recommend it, especially if you prefer a relaxed resort and want a good home base for exploring Barbados. We’ll be back. Thank you for such a wonderful stay! 🇧🇧🩵🐠🐟🐚 Oh, I loved the toiletries so much.. I ordered them as soon as we landed back home 😂🤣

We had a family reunion (48 people) at this hotel and the experience was very good. It’s a small hotel which works perfectly for us because we all wanted to be together all the time, and having part of the family in their 80’s was a challenge, but the size of the hotel made that easy. The hotel is recently renovated; the rooms are beautiful and everything works as expected. The beach is super nice (perfect water temperature and soft sand). We got next to nothing sargassum, and I think it’s because the location within the island since the current takes the seaweed to the other side. The food can improve, but the truth is we are a foodie family and also for the price you pay, you expect this level of quality. Some food were better than others. The Greek restaurant was good, and the buffet was better some days than others. The Mexican and the Italian nights were the most challenging. They do know how to make slow cooked meats like curry, chicken and pork. That being said, people at the hotel were super accommodating and that definitely made the experience so much more memorable. Míss Kim Young (the general manager) was amazing at trying to fulfill our requests of facilitating us with private spaces for our family to gather. Grafton who was in charge of restaurants did the same thing and for that we are very grateful. Juliette who is in charge of activities and entertainment, also spoiled us and did everything in her power to gives us moments and experiences we will treasure forever. Me and my family had a great time!