Impressive old world charm meets modern style
The Coral Reef is impressive, it has kept its old-world charm whilst being modern and stylish. My wife and I decided to book the Coral Reef Club as the world came out of lockdown, after watching the old 80’s BBC adaptation of Miss Marple’s ‘A Caribbean Mystery’ which was filmed in the hotel and wanting some luxury indulgence. Our impressions of the hotel were impressive from the start, as I asked them to arrange a three day car hire before we arrived which they did efficiently and with no issues with the excellent Holetown firm of Ballantyne’s. All the staff at the hotel whether in the bar, dining room, housekeeping, gardeners or reception are extremely friendly and eager to help. They always delivered what we wanted, from sorting our bill the night before departure to passing messages on to our travel firm. Our check in was smooth and quick, we were shown to our garden view room and offered a complimentary rum punch. Our room was comfortable and large with a fan and air conditioning, a small wall safe, plenty of drawer and wardrobe space, lots of hangers, hairdryer, a large comfortable bed, cold water and a toaster (in case you want breakfast in your room) and an iron and ironing board. We also had a nice veranda with chairs, table, loungers, rack for drying swimwear and a small fridge, which was very good for storing cold drinks. There are no TV’s in the rooms which we were aware of at the time of booking, but there is a TV lounge somewhere on site. The bathroom was also large, with two sinks, shaving/vanity mirror and we thought we were lucky enough to have a shower/bath as few garden view rooms appeared to. This shower/bath was one of the few downsides to our stay as the bath had a large marble surround, around eight inches wide, which made getting in and out of the bath a bit of a hurdle, but it also meant that each time you showered a large amount of water pooled and because the shower screen was too small, and the rubber seal at the bottom of it too short, unless a convoluted system of beach towels and bath mat was rigged by housekeeping and ourselves, a small flood appeared in the bathroom. It became highly tedious to spend every morning and evening after a shower to mop up this flood. The only other downside to the room was the Wi-Fi, which was fine in terms of strength, but I was thrown out of it every time that I put my phone lock screen on, so I had to keep logging in.
The property has a large pool which was quiet and fine for swimming during our stay, and an excellent beach front, with plenty of loungers, attentive service, and a very suitable stretch of sea to take a dip in. The breakfast offers plenty of choice, from cereals, fruit, eggs, waffles and pancakes made to order, hot choices and toast. They need to work on the tea, it’s a little weak! You can have as much or as little as you want. The restaurant has a menu that changes daily, we ate there once and found the food well-presented and cooked, and there was a wide choice of dishes, but it was pricey even by Barbados prices and the portions on the smallish side. Service was very good. The bar has a great view of the beach, sea (particularly at sunset) and Holetown in the distance, but be careful of where you sit after a rain shower as they don’t move the chairs and I got very soggy trousers after discovering this the hard way after sitting on a seat that I didn’t realise had been left out. The local town in a 15-minute walk by road or beach, and it offers alternative places to eat, pubs, supermarkets and other shops to suit all tastes and budgets. The Coral Reef Club also has on site parking, a spa, a tennis pro and some water sports. It’s a highly relaxing place to stay and we very much enjoyed our stay. Overall it was the luxury stay we wanted and we had a great time.