Fairmont Royal Pavilion 5 stars

Other than taking a taxi from the airport, as third party services can be unreliable, this hotel is serene, exquisite, and very comfortable. Special kudos to Harcourt (desk), Berkley W (management ) and Serena (housekeeping), with smiles forRegina, Alljah, and Nafae. Views! Cuisine! Personal service!

There are many reasons I would give the Fairmont in Barbados a 5 star review, in particular after having experienced other ‘5 star’ hotels in the Caribbean. A few key points for me: 1) The hospitality and employees - every person knows you on a first and second name basis, even those who you haven’t yet met. Employees of the hotel consistently have a smile on their face, they are polite and they try to go the extra mile, where possible. 2) Ability to deal with allergies - as someone who unfortunately has to deal with numerous food allergies I often get nervous when travelling abroad as I don’t know how they will cater and facilitate for my difficulties, and the Fairmont is the best I have experienced to date. Having been lucky enough to stay in many 5 star hotels, the Fairmont has set a new standard I have not seen before. Every waiter/waitress was aware of my dietry requirements before taking my order and they were able to change any dish (apart from the obvious) so the ingredients were suitable. This filled me with the confidence that I would not have any isssues throughout my trip which is a big bonus for myself. 3) The beach - we did a boat tour down the west coast of Barbados and saw the other hotels, and I can say with confidence that the Fairmont boasts the best beach of all hotels on the west coast. Many of the guests return to the hotel year after year and it is clear to see why. We plan to be one of these guests next year.

We had an amazing time at Fairmont. Above all the staff were fantastic - always helpful, attentive and really friendly. The room was really comfortable and had great views of the beach and sea. The pool area and beach are very well kept and comfortable with lots of staff on hand to help. We really enjoyed all of the meals we had in both restaurants - there is a nice mix of food on the menus and everything we ate was cooked to a very high standard. We would definitely recommend staying at the Fairmont and would like to thank all the staff for making it such a great stay.

Rooms- a very comfortably sized property where all the rooms face the beach. We had a room on the main level where we enjoyed the conveniece of 2 lounge chairs on our balcony. Some rooms have a small overhang which is The rooms have been feshened up but the main hotel spaces are tired. Food- the breakfast buffet was excellent and we enjoyed the food at the beach bar for lunch. The hotel is conveniently located to many good places for dinner (highly recommend walking down the beach to 'Lone Star' for lunch or dinner). Service- for the most part the staff were friendly and efficient. One bartender wasn't up for a visit and I was disappointed that the housekeeprs didn't vaccuum the room everyday. (Need to pick up that sand). Beach- best in Barbados. Soft and sugary white. Easy to get in and out of the water. It is much wider than the narrow strip at Sandy Lane where I stayed last time. Summary- there is a nice clientele (mostly older) and we enjoyed our stay but the hotel needs an injection of cash. I found it expensive for what we got. Maybe that is Barbados but it feels above the market in other Caribbean Isands.

The Fairmont is well rated judging by the many guest returners however, we felt the venue was in need of an overhaul as many of the room facilities did not function or were non existant as advertised. The breakfast system was very chaotic leaving many guests waiting whilst the breakfast reception staff guided guests to the tables or whilst they flipped tables. Our biggest compliant would be the butler service which is certainly not as advertised, the package offered all sorts of benefits such as unpacking and packing of guests luggage, ironing 2 garments per day or delivering fresh tea or coffee to your room! The most disappoining aspect of our experience with the Butlers was obtaining knowledge of activities on the Island during our stay they almost seemed reluctant to pass on their obvious knowledge of things to do mostly this information came from other guests or from the Barbados Iphone App. When we arrived we asked if there was on Polo matches on the Island to be told the Polo season didn't start until February and to our chagrin when flicking through a brochure in the departure lounge we noted there was a Polo Match between Denmark & Barbados on January 21st! Our biggest criticism with the Beach Suite was the outside decking there was no lighting and I stumbled down the three tier steps as I could just not see them - we was promised by the Butler he would rig something outside to address this issue as the outside was with maintenance and remained so during our 14 day stay - we did point out to senior management that some sort marking on these steps would be advisable to save on future guests having a nasty accident. Other breakfast in the palm we only dined in the Tarboras Restaurant and have no complaints to food was of good standard and no complaints about the service however the bar service is a totally differant matter! During peek hours they wait at the bar was lengthy as the single bar man deployed single priority appeared to be supplying drink orders for the dinners on particular bar man who we shall not name revelled in the fact that he could ignore us which was very frustrating . The other disappointment was the bar was closed down before 10:30 PM not 11PM as advertised and let the Hotel experience down.