Imagine my surprise when I realised it had been almost a year since I'd last posted - quelle horreur!
Needless to say, my own wedding day has come and gone - and went swimmingly! (and very, very quickly).
I'm a simple girl, so I chose a simple wedding day arrangement - ceremony at church (and I was on time :D), breakfast buffet at a hotel (where we also took our wedding photos) and honeymoon at home. Yip, I said it, home. Believe me, when a weekend staycation will cost as much as your monthly rent, home sounds sensible!
We will try to do an overseas honeymoon sometime in the future, however, for those of you who are coming to Barbados for the whole shebang (wedding and honeymoon), you have some lovely options.
The South coast of the island features quite a few restaurants, hotels, supermarkets, beaches, public transportation and nightlife. On the South coast road, if you begin at Oistins (which has a fish fry on the weekends), you'll travel past Massy Supermarket, multiple hotels, St. Lawrence Gap (which features more hotels, restaurants and cafes), Trimart Supermarket, Accra Beach, more hotels and guest houses and restaurants, the boardwalk (which is a mile long), Lantern's mall (with restaurants, clothing stores, a bank and a mini mart), more gas stations, hotels, restaurants...you catch my drift.
*malls here aren't like malls in the U.S., Canada or U.K. - they're small. Most of these places I list are googleable and have Facebook pages, so do your research:)
The West Coast, also called the platinum coast, is a bit more limited - and pricey. While there are still many hotels and restaurants, it'll cost you alot more than in the South. This is where you'll find Sandy Lane, a Massy supermarket, a few gas stations, Limegrove mall, lots of villas and the beaches are fewer.
Heading North and into the East Coast, there's less of man's infrastructure and more nature! The beaches in the East are not frequented by swimmers, but you'll see surfers, nature lovers and folks liming on the weekend with lots of food and drink. Here, you'll see mostly guest houses and seaside restaurants, such as the popular Martin's Bay restaurant, Bay Tavern (it doesn't sell Albanian food, not sure why it lists that) and The Village Bar at Lemon Arbour. There's also the famed Crane Resort (which is in St. Philip, so it's more South than East), which recently won USA Today's Best Beach in the Caribbean Award!
Guesthouses/Vacation Rentals/Villas
Now, it wasn't until a few years ago that I realised how many guest houses there are here! Since the advent of sites like airbnb, HomeAway (with over 1200 properties listed, egad!) and vacation rentals on trip advisor, visitors and locals alike realise that hotels are not the be all and end all. I believe every parish (we've got 11) has guest houses or villas by now so you can definitely find something to suit your tastes.
Hotels
Even as a local, tripadvisor is my friend. It's great to see which properties score well for location, service, food and price and while I may be familiar with some of these factors, it's always great to hear (or read) first-hand accounts. There are about 100 hotels listed for the island on this particular site and what I can tell you is, choosing a hotel (like choosing a guest house or all inclusive) depends on what you want from the experience.
All Inclusives
Unlike its Caribbean neighbours, like Jamaica and the Domincan Republic, Barbados is not known for all inclusive hotels. However, this seems to be slowly changing, with the recent re-opening of Sandals (South Coast), SoCo (South coast) and the continued presence of other properties like Mango Bay (West Coast) and Almond Beach (North). I'm yet to experience any of our local all inclusives, so I can't offer an opinion; however, if all inclusive is your preferred type of accomodation, be sure to check tripadvisor or similar sites to see how these locations rank.
