The Hotel Review: Colony Club, Saint James, Barbados
Highway 1, Folkestone, St James, Barbados
Review: Julie Ford
Colony Club is one of Barbados’ most luxury hotels and one of the 5 hotels in the Elegant Hotels group, This colonial style hotel is perched on the palm fringed shore of the prestigious Platinum coast. This is a luxury yet family friendly hotel where you can find a mix of families with young children and couples alike. The idyllic private beachfront location is most certainly the jewel in this hotels crown, but be prepared to rise with the larks if you want to secure a front row sea view lounger. There are 93 rooms and suites, some of which feature spacious balconies with stretching ocean views or the secluded privacy of the leafy garden fauna.
THE FACILITIES
LIBRARY | BUSINESS CENTRE | SPA | SWIMMING POOLS | 2 RESTAURANTS & BARS | MOTORISED & NON MOTORISED WATERSPORTS | KIDS CLUB | FAMILY EXCURSIONS | BEACH LOCATION
There are extensive facilities included in the price of the room rates; gym classes such as Hatha yoga, Pilates, Zumba, water aerobics and motorized and non-motorized watersports including water skiing, banana boat rides, tube rides, hobby cat, paddle boating, kayaks, snorkeling and even the fantastic reef fishing off the west coast., there are also free lessons from expert Aqua School instructors. You can book a Colony Club safari, which is a bespoke island tour. The hotel provides a water taxi to ferry guests between the neighboring Elegant Hotels properties where you can enjoy the bars and restaurants and facilities at the sister hotels.
Waiter service is offered beach and poolside with staff bringing cold hand towels and chilled grapes at regular intervals and are always on hand to take drinks orders. There are children’s menus and a seasonal children’s club located in the grounds, so plenty on offer to accommodate and entertain the whole family.
THE ACCOMMODATION
From lovely poolside rooms to luxury ocean suites (which can host a family of four comfortably), there are a selection of room options. We stayed in a Garden/ Pool View Junior Suite which was beautiful; a living area with sofas and TV with French doors leading onto the balcony, which had a set of wicker table and chairs. In the living area there was a stand alone bar area with stools where the mini bar and coffee machine were located. Guests are treated to a complementary bottle of exclusive Colony Club rum punch; the bartenders own blend using the locally produced Mount Gay rum. The mini bar was stocked with a wide range of premium brand spirits, soft drinks and snacks. The bedroom section had a lavish 4-poster bed carved with rich Mahogany finishes and dressed with billowing crisp white drapes. The marble styled bathroom was spacious with double sinks, Monsoon shower and some rooms with sunken baths. Ren branded toiletries are plentiful and robes are provided to keep cosy. The suite was fully air-conditioned with an additional fan in the living room area so keeping cool in the Caribbean heat was effortless.
THE DRINKING & DINING
The Taste of Elegance Dine Around Programme allows extensive dining options to the hotels sister properties. Guests that are on half or full board meal plan can dine at Tamarind hotel for no charge or alternatively at any of the All Inclusive properties for a small extra supplement. The Colony Club has two bars and restaurants; Laguna Restaurant (more formal) is the main restaurant, an open-air venue which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast is a lavish affair with fresh seafood, continental options, English breakfast and omelette and waffle stations, freshly squeezed juices and vitamin packed blended smoothies. Laguna Bar is a great setting to sip cocktails on sundown.
The Sunset restaurant is open for lunch and dinner and specialises in locally sourced seafood and uses fresh ingredients from their own fabulous herb garden. In the evenings theme nights are hosted at Sunset Bar including Steak Night, Lobster & Jazz and Seafood Grill, and in the daytime this is also the swim-up bar. Happy Hour is daily from 4pm to 6pm where you can indulge in house brands and rum-based cocktails half price.
www.eleganthotels.com/colony-club
THE TRAVEL: FLIGHT CENTRE
Flight Centre are offering 7 nights stay at Colony Club from £1,999 per person.
Available for travel 14 – 21 Sep 2017 when booked by 11 Jul 2017.
Book the Colony Club with Flight Centre here
BARBADOS AIRPORTS & HOTEL TRANSFERS: EMMANUEL TOURS
We used Emmanuel Tours for our airport transfers and transfers between Barbados hotels (private air conditioned vehicles). This local family operated company made booking easy and service was friendly and punctual. If you are booking transfers or island and cruise tours, this is a company we’d definitely recommend.
info@emmanueltoursbarbados.com
UK AIRPORT PARKING AND LOUNGE: HOLIDAY EXTRAS
Holiday Extras offers trusted Meet and Greet services at all major UK airports. To book Meet and Greet parking at Manchester Airport from £89.99 for eight days, visit www.holidayextras.co.uk or call 0800 1313 777