Enjoyed Discovery Bay
by TripAdvisor Member sooty711
We have just returned from a week’s holiday at Discovery Bay, the hotel is fine; the varied reviews are more to do with individual expectations rather than faults with the hotel. If you want a holiday of a lifetime it wont deliver, but if want a chilled out hassle free couple of weeks in the Caribbean its fine. It is not 5 star luxury by any means, but the rooms are clean and there is plenty of space for a beach holiday. Yes the beach outside the hotel is small but typical of Barbados. The staff are friendly if you make the effort to interact. The food is limited but in general quite good. The location is very good if you make the effort to venture away from the hotel to eat out, we went out to eat 3 nights and can highly recommend Blue Rare, and The Mews. In conclusion we would say the Discovery Bay is a good value for money hotel in a good location, dont forget to pack your sense of humor, remember a week here is far better than a week in the office.
Lovely staff, shame about the sewage!
by A TripAdvisor Member
My partner and I have just returned from Discovery Bay, our second visit. The food was disappointing this time, with little choice at lunchtime (chips with everything!) and poor evening meals. Our main concern however was the sewage problem - due to heavy rain the sewage was seeping into the sea - the smell was appalling. Apparently, the week before our stay, guests were bussed out to other beaches and several became ill. It's vital that this problem is sorted out quickly before the hotel loses more business. On the plus side, all the staff were friendly and helpful, as were the beach guys with the water sports. We are planning to return to Barbados next year, sadly not to Discovery Bay.
Fantastic time.
by TripAdvisor Member GrahamandTammy
Having just returned from the Disco Bay hotel from two weeks' great stay, I can't believe what I'm reading below! What smell? Sure, if you stand next to the creak and inhale you can probably smell it, but I haven't been to a hot resort that didn't have an odour at some point. What about Spanish markets? It's what happens in the heat. Helloooo!
So, the truth about Discovery Bay - it's great. The pool is cute, the beach is awesome, the snorkelling is amazing, the band on Sat. are fantastic, the food is great, the rooms are basic I suppose, but be honest, who goes on holiday and needs a TV, the same sort of person that can't eat unless it's steak and chips. Well, for those people, KFC is just across the road and you can buy your copy of the Sun at the hotel shop. The sunset is stunning, the fish-fry at Oistins Bay on a friday night is unbelievable, the staff are friendly once you get to know them - yes, you can make an effort too - the drinks are free, free, free!! What's not to like? There's more cake than you can eat, you can't beat freshly grilled chicken or fish on the beach for lunch. I would recommend the jerk chicken salad. The locals on the beach will try and sell you stuff, but when you speak to these people they're really friendly guys and often very fascinating. Have your feet done by Malcolm 'X', they'll be baby-soft.
To summarize, we had a superb 2 weeks at Disco Bay. We didn't meet anyone who hated it. It's not 5 star luxury, so don't go expecting it, but it has everything you need to have a great, relaxing holiday. Remember, it's your holiday and it's what YOU make it. Enjoy!! Graham
Truly awful
by TripAdvisor Member MARK069
We arrived to find that there had been an oversight, and that we didn't have a beach front ocean view room as booked and paid for, but one would be available within a couple of days. (We were only staying a week!). We were offered welcome drinks which never arrived, and the receptionist hardly ever looked at us during our conversation. But no matter. We had been to Barbados many, many times before and this level of complacency and surlyness came as no surprise.
On to our room. It was like a worn out courtesy room. The floors were dirty and marked, and there were horrible large brown stains around the sinks and bath taps. The bathroom stank and was in a horrible state. Basic wasn't the word.
We then suddenly realised that there was no TV (I hadn't checked when boooking, I had assumed that every hotel had TVs as standard). There was also no internet access, but that was the least of our worries.
We then decided to have a walk around the hotel. The pool was small and grotty, and looked like nobody had bothered to fill it completely. It was very tired, and what few sunbeds there were, were all occupied. The beach was no better - small, cramped, no space at all and all sunbeds taken. And of course the horrible sewer which stank and was a real eyesore.
We were there ten minutes before going back to our room and calling our agent in the UK and in Barbados and insisting on being moved. We were told that there was nothing that could be done that night, and we would have to wait until the morning.
After one very mediocre dinner and breakfast, we checked out before even having another hotel to go to. We would have rather gone home than stayed another night in this place.
Luckily our agent was very good, and managed to book us into the Tamarind Cove Hotel, at extra cost of course. What surprised me was how appealing the hotel looked on the internet, and how different it was in reality.
Whilst our transfer was being sorted out, another family who had been listening to our discussions told us that they too had requested a transfer as soon as they arrived a week earlier - however they were told that there was nothing else available, and the cost of amending the flights was prohibitive so they stuck it out rather than flying home early.
Only after we had arrived at our new hotel, did our agent tell us that we were her second couple in 3 days to insist on being moved out, but she didn't want to tell us that at the time. She also couldn't believe that her company were still promoting the hotel.
As with everything, you pays your money and takes your choice.
A disgrace
by A TripAdvisor Member
I can only agree completely with all the negative comments I have read about DB. It is truly the worst hotel ever. We must have overlapped part of our holiday with the 1 November reviewer, but we moved hotels (at a great cost) as to stay at DB would have ruined the holiday and left us with the wrong impression of Barbados.
I am shocked to read positive reviews - maybe you are used to substandard hotels but I am not and do not expect a company like kuoni to sell such cr*p.
Food? The same daily, or leftovers from the day before. The bbq amused me - cooked in the kitchen, brought outside and then put on the bbq for 10 seconds! Lunch - well, pasta and salad or maybe the next day pasta and salad. One day the salad was just a bowl of grated carrot!! Or of course you could grab something with chips (burger, sausage, chicken if you were lucky) but only after a long queue. Dinner had me laughing out loud at times.
The pool area and outside bar were just plain grotty, I wont comment on the inside bar and restaurant.
The building works next door were just an added bonus I thought.
Good cocktails? Personally if it says Gordons on the gin bottle that is what I expect it to be - not some foul tasting unidentifiable alcohol.
Staff were rude and uninterested, swiping plates away as soon as the cutlery was put down or slamming food down on the table. Asking for more than two glasses of wine at dinner was met with horror. Staff were badly dressed and sloppy.
Bathroom was the type that I fell dirtier in after having a shower than before. Renovation required!
As for the deduction of money for beach towels until you hand them in when you go - Please! I feel insulted to be treated like a thief - innocent until proven guilty! Who would want to steal one of those worn old things anyway??????? Most days towels weren't available at the designated times and to get them from laundry - well, what an effort the staff had to go to to hand one over (with of course the usual look of disgust at being put out).
PLEASE do not waste any money on this hotel. It is a disgrace.
I was interested to hear the agent said so many others had moved - ours tried to make out we were the first ever to complain. One to add to the claim against kuoni I guess.
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