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Adventure & indulgence with Sandals Barbados

07-14-2015 3:31 pm

There’s something about the Caribbean air that makes it impossible for me to sleep past 6 a.m. Maybe it’s waking up to the sounds of tropical birdsong, or maybe it was the excitement of it being my first time in Barbados, but when the sun crept over the horizon first thing Friday morning, I was already up, scoping out the breakfast menu on my room’s television and getting ready for the day.

As I mentioned last week, my hosts, Sandals Barbados and Visit Barbados, had PAX out to the island following the recent opening of the new resort, which took place in January 2015 after a $65 million renovation.

Located in the middle of the St. Lawrence Gap off of Dover Beach, Sandals Barbados is the only resort on the island exclusively for couples, and is a stone’s throw away from the shopping, dining and entertainment available throughout Bridgetown. Indeed, venturing off the resort grounds is actually encouraged, and guests are given a pass upon arrival to present to the front gate when they inevitably leave.

After breakfast, venture off is exactly what our group did, climbing into the back of an open-air truck for a tour of our surroundings. Barbados’ size allows visitors the opportunity to travel the entire island within a day, and although ours was a condensed version with little time for browsing, our group did manage to zig zag from the Atlantic side to the Caribbean side – and see plenty in between – before lunch.

One highlight of the tour was a quick stop at a Cliffside lookout, which provided an amazing panorama of Barbados’ Atlantic coast, and although it was a great opportunity for picture-taking, photos (like the main one above) hardly do the view justice.

Back at the resort, I returned to my room with plans for a quick shower when I found a candlelight bubble bath, complete with rose petals, champagne and cheesecake, waiting for me. My butler Nicholas, who had my itinerary and knew where I would be each day, had anticipated that I would need some time to relax after my bumpy ride along Barbados’ back roads. He anticipated correctly.

Later that evening, we headed out again to Oistin’s Fish Fry, a popular weekly event for both tourists and locals where booths offer up the day’s catch, fried and grilled with sides of macaroni pie (a Bajan delicacy) to hungry patrons while dancers entertain diners in the square. Between the music, the people and the food, Oistin's is a must-do for anyone looking to mix a bit of local authenticity with their all-inclusive stay.

Saturday was a day of leisure, giving me a chance to explore the resort and balance Friday’s excitement with a bit of indulgence. I began with a long breakfast at the resort’s buffet restaurant, Bayside, which offers ocean views to be enjoyed with regional dishes such as fried plaintain, beans and flying fish filet (there are also staples such as eggs and bacon if your tastes are less adventurous at 8 a.m.).

Following that, I headed to the Red Lane Spa, where my masseuse, Carla, treated me to the resort’s newest menu offering, the Night Blooming Jasmine Massage. The treatment consists of having an aromatherapeutic body mask applied with a soft brush, in addition to a full body, face and scalp massage, and by the end of the hour, 'relaxed' could hardly describe my state of being.

In need of a place to sit down, I took in a cappuccino at Café de Paris, the resort’s coffee shop, which serves up excellent espresso, peanut butter cookies, and perhaps most notably, gelato (I often have a hard time finding really good ice cream at all-inclusive resorts, but this café dishes up a dynamite sundae).

Thoroughly indulged, I set off to explore the grounds. Everything is within a two-minute walk from each other, and the placement of gardens, furniture and decorative buildings – as well as the unrelenting friendliness of the staff, who all seem to know you after the first day – makes the resort feel more like an idyllic kind of village rather than simply a Caribbean destination. Or more appropriately, as the resort staff say, a place to come home to.

Indeed, as the weekend – and my time with Sandals Barbados – came to a reluctant end, it wasn’t the white sands of Dover beach, the beauty of the landscaping or the taste of the daiquiris that stayed with me throughout the flight home.

Rather, it was the impressions left by the excellent staff, from the gardener who happily took my photo, to Nicholas, who was always one step ahead of my needs, and those who bid me farewell with a song, that left me with a feeling that was about more than relaxation or luxury - it was a feeling of belonging, a feeling that were I to return, I might be remembered. I guess that's what they mean by 'Bajan hospitality'.

Check back tomorrow for a full overview of Sandals Barbados!