Who's been to Bardados?

DiscoStu

In February we want to celebrate 10 years together, and looking at going somewhere exotic to mark the occasion. Barbados looks ideal for weather, culture, language, safety, etc.
Anyone been? Any recommendations where to stay?

guitars4you

Sorry I can't help but instantly made me recall this song from the 70's 

DiscoStu

Yeah that's been on a few times recently haha!

EricTheWeary

guitars4you said:

Sorry I can't help but instantly made me recall this song from the 70's 

Strangely enough I was thinking about that song this week as I'm part way through Rob Halford's autobiography and the two guys who made that also produced one of the Judas Priest albums. 
Sorry, don't know anything about Barbados. Seems to be somewhere that Americans mention and Brits don't. We went to Cancun years ago which turns out to be basically Benidorm for Americans so I'd want to feel reassured that the resort I was going to in Barbados wasn't like that (unless you like that kind of thing). 

joeW

Been many times - went on to uni with a Bajan so get to see most aspects of the island.  Awesome people, good music, great food.  Not many American tourists, more UK and Canadian.  East side of the island is beautiful and much quieter, south side is very touristy and west coast is quite pricy.  Watch out for hurricane season tho 

Kurtis

My sister and her husband went on their honeymoon.

They got crotch fungus. 

Heartfeltdawn

I played cricket out there in 1999. Fabulous place. Stayed in a hotel that no longer exists in the Saint Lawrence Gap .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Lawrence_Gap

Great area, amazing place. Absolutely go to Oistins for the Fish Fry. I'll have a look later as I can't recall the exact location but we played a match against the Barbados Defence Force. Behind the ground was a beach that was accessible to the public but off the tourist trail.I am a confirmed non-beach person but even a luddite like me was dubstruck by how beautiful it was. 

DiscoStu

Nice one. It certainly sounds positive so far! 
I'm not much of a beach person either (I prefer exploring towns and history) but really enjoyed Albufeira last year as the coastline was simply gorgeous. 
We've only looked at Georgetown and Holetown so far, and there's the Holetown Festival the week we're going.

Dominic

Fair enough if you're going to The Sandy Lane for luxury buti think if I was going to go to the Caribbean I'd want to go somewhere more authentic and truly Carribean not an Americanised,watered-down Pastiche .Aruba ,Curacao etc is similarly Americanised and sterile
Haiti for the real thing .....plenty of Voodoo and Murderous Anarchy
Jamaica ....for Reggae and a bit less Murderous Anarchy
Antigua for a perfect (and safe ) combination of all
Some of the French Islands are really nice especially Mustique and St Lucia but more expensive

DiscoStu

We talked about a cruise initially, but went off the idea. Then we thought Jamaica but other half is worried about safety, which took us to Barbados which seems pretty safe.

BillDL

How about Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands? 

Kurtis

Dominic said:

Fair enough if you're going to The Sandy Lane for luxury buti think if I was going to go to the Caribbean I'd want to go somewhere more authentic and truly Carribean not an Americanised,watered-down Pastiche .Aruba ,Curacao etc is similarly Americanised and sterile
Haiti for the real thing .....plenty of Voodoo and Murderous Anarchy
Jamaica ....for Reggae and a bit less Murderous Anarchy
Antigua for a perfect (and safe ) combination of all
Some of the French Islands are really nice especially Mustique and St Lucia but more expensive

All inclusive hotels all look the same though! 

Brio

Went windsurfing there and liked it. Prefer the Bahamas though.

HAL9000

We went to the St Lawrence Gap about two years ago. Felt safe, some decent bars and restaurants, good beaches. We did a snorkelling trip out of Bridgetown with a company called Calabaza and would definitely recommend. We had lunch at Holetown one day and that looked a nice area too. The east coast is more wild and rocky and has fewer beaches.

If you’re looking at the Caribbean then I’d also recommend looking at St Lucia.

Dominic

Kurtis said:

Dominic said:

Fair enough if you're going to The Sandy Lane for luxury buti think if I was going to go to the Caribbean I'd want to go somewhere more authentic and truly Carribean not an Americanised,watered-down Pastiche .Aruba ,Curacao etc is similarly Americanised and sterile
Haiti for the real thing .....plenty of Voodoo and Murderous Anarchy
Jamaica ....for Reggae and a bit less Murderous Anarchy
Antigua for a perfect (and safe ) combination of all
Some of the French Islands are really nice especially Mustique and St Lucia but more expensive

All inclusive hotels all look the same though! 

I'm sure they do ........glorified Butlins

Kittyfrisk

Dominic said:

Kurtis said:

Dominic said:

Fair enough if you're going to The Sandy Lane for luxury buti think if I was going to go to the Caribbean I'd want to go somewhere more authentic and truly Carribean not an Americanised,watered-down Pastiche .Aruba ,Curacao etc is similarly Americanised and sterile
Haiti for the real thing .....plenty of Voodoo and Murderous Anarchy
Jamaica ....for Reggae and a bit less Murderous Anarchy
Antigua for a perfect (and safe ) combination of all
Some of the French Islands are really nice especially Mustique and St Lucia but more expensive

All inclusive hotels all look the same though! 

I'm sure they do ........glorified Butlins

Hi Richard, do you have any off peak vacancies on Necker in February? Asking for a friend...

DiscoStu

We looked at the likes of St Lucia but it's too much money. Barbados is more doable even though we'll still need £thousands.
We might just get a new bathroom instead 

Kittyfrisk

Have a holiday that isn't in the Bahamas, get the new bathroom, decorate it with a nice muriel (sic) https://barbados.org/barbados-murals.htm ; turn up the heating & enjoy yourselves with the savings 

rsvmark

We stayed here a couple of years ago and had a very relaxing time

https://www.sugarbaybarbados.com/

 Decent mix of excursions, history, culture and lethal cocktails