Divi Southwinds Beach Resort Reviews

The flights were very comfortable due to the extra leg room in Star Class Premier. Even the other seats had good leg room. The seat back entertainment was also good.

The apartment was very nice with a really comfortable enormous bed in a separate bedroom. The lounge had a tv and the kitchen area was superb with new equipment including combination microwave, electric can opener, coffee machine, a lovely electric hob and fridge freezer. All the crockery, pans and utensils were also new. We didn't make much use of the kitchen because we were all inclusive.

We chose a garden view as we thought a pool view apartment might be a bit noisy. Our top floor (5th) apartment, Room 511,overlooked the main road which went into Bridgetown, so we didn't use the balcony because of the traffic noise, otherwise we couldn't hear the traffic at all. The pool view apartments weren't noisy at all as it was fairly quiet around the pool which we used mostly because the sea was a bit rough. There were palm trees on the beach which were nice to sit under.

The hotel and gardens weren't at all noisy and there wasn't any noise from the surrounding area. The hotel was being refurbished but the noise was negligible.

Walking from the main road you come into the hotel reception. Through the hotel to the pool then through the gardens and across the Gap to the beach restaurant / bar. The Gap was a narrow strip of road with restaurants and bars but it was very quiet during the day and not really noisy in the evenings.
There were 20 First Choice guests but no others from England and the majority of guests were timeshare from America and Canada and they normally went out to eat in the evenings. Unfortunately because of this there were only about 3/5 couples in the poolside restaurant at any one time most evenings so there wasn't really a holiday atmosphere. It was busier on the night of the weekly floor show which was repeated during the second week and on the other nights there was music and singing.

The food was good on the whole. Breakfast and lunch were taken at the beach cafe/restaurant where there was a buffet evening once a week. The downside of the hotel being mainly timeshare was that even the all-inclusive guests had to sign for everything; food, drinks, coffee, so that we wouldn't be billed.
The swim up bar was closed because of problems. Fortunately we were pleased about this as they opened the bar above it. If the swim up bar had been open, the only way we could have got a drink would have been to get in the water. Just because we're sitting by the pool and want a drink doesn't mean that we want to get in the water to obtain one.

The bus stop (buses very frequent) was on the main road outside the hotel and for approx. 30/40 pence we went right up the west coast. Bridgetown was about 15 minutes away but we were disappointed. Maybe our expectations were too high knowing that cruise ships visit there. Barbados was okay but apart from the sun and palm trees, much of the island is like England so we probably won't go back.

Hope you enjoy your holiday if you choose Barbados.