After a dismal experience at another Barbados property, I was looking for something new, and the Courtyard by Marriott Bridgetown Barbados fit the bill.
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Location
The Courtyard by Marriott Barbados is located near many of the island’s bars and restaurants. Across the street, the hotel is permitted beach access and the waterfront is gorgeous. The journey from the airport was approximately 30 minutes at a cost of $70 BBD ($35 USD), to the cruise port it’s about 40 minutes and the same cost.
Address: The Garrison Historic Area Hastings. Christ Church Bridgetown BB-08 BB 15156 Barbados
Phone: +1 246-625-0000
Property
While the Courtyard brand is select service, as it is in a leisure environment, things were a little different than other Courtyards. The pool was of paramount importance. While it was not as large as one might expect, it was never overly crowded and served the purpose. It’s located on the second floor over the outside dining area of the restaurant below. You can barely catch a sea view through some buildings across the street.
As mentioned, the property has a restaurant on the first floor but unlike other Courtyards, all meals are for a charge, none are included in the stay. We opted to eat off-property for less. Of note, and yes, we understand this is an “island time” issue – the hotel ran out of bottled water on the first day of our two-day stay and hadn’t restocked before we left.
The property has a fitness center (with filtered water) that was often in use. I snapped a couple of photos when it was empty.
The access to the beach is not well marked but there is signage, the pathway leads between two beachfront properties. The beach was gorgeous but because it was a public beach and the hotel didn’t provide anything other than access, it didn’t have chairs or umbrellas.
Benefits
During my stay, I held Marriott Bonvoy Gold status but it didn’t provide any discernible benefits. Early check-in is just not an option on the island it appears, and though we arrived at nearly 5 pm, our room wasn’t ready until after 5:30, some in our party even later. I couldn’t speak to late check-out as we departed the property before 11. One person was celebrating a birthday at the hotel that held Ambassador status and there was a personalized cake in the lobby cooler next to where the waters would be.
Room
The Courtyard was as standard as it gets with one small exception, it had a Juliet balcony onto the pool area. What is peculiar about this balcony was that it was on the same level as the pool, but you could not access the pool area from it. The convenience of being able to go straight out to the pool or straight back into the room would have been a plus, though going down one door for entry and exit by key card was not an imposition. It just seemed an unnecessary impediment.
Had the pool area been on the street level, I would have welcomed the limitation as we would not want those outside the hotel to be able to amble up to our door while we were sleeping. However the pool was on the second level, access restricted, and pool closing hours were enforced. It was an odd design quirk.
Bathroom
The bathroom was standard and clean. The shower rod bowed out to keep the shower curtain from groping you while you rinse.
Wall-mounted toiletries are hotly debated across the industry but part of that concern is tampering. Small individual bottles are sealed and you can be confident what’s inside. The Gilchrist & Soames bottles featuring “warm oak” scent was true for the shampoo, maybe for the conditioner. But a pink bubble gum-scented body wash was in the third. It might have been dish soap, I really couldn’t say but I am certain it was not warm oak nor from the same brand as the shampoo. The real problem isn’t just that the hotel clearly just swapped in whatever it liked, but what if there was a skin reaction or an ingredient issue for guests? On island time, the only thing that matters is that it lathers.
Value
Until the 422-room Wyndham Grand Barbados Sam Lord’s Castle opens this summer, the island will remain at a guest room deficiency. Especially as more flights are scheduled, and more cruises begin and end their journeys in Barbados, room availability issues will persist. This allows properties like the Courtyard by Marriott Bridgetown Barbados to look like a great value at $302/nt during our stay when compared with properties that are more robust like the Hilton at $500-600/nt. At around 40,000 Bonvoy points per night, it was a good redemption for the program but generally compared to other island properties the Courtyard is expensive in cash or on points. It’s only when compared to other Barbados properties that it presents a good value.
What do you think?
I didn’t understand the following statement: “As mentioned, the property has a restaurant on the first floor but unlike other Courtyards, all meals are for a charge, none are included in the stay.”
Courtyards don’t offer meals for free. Technically they don’t even offer free breakfast to Marriott Platinum and higher elites, although you can choose a Welcome Gift of $10 F and B credit (up to $20 if there are 2 people in the room). There are Courtyards with lounges only in Asia, but even that would only be for Platinum and higher status. So I have no idea what you’re complaining about with regard to this hotel.