Sugar Cane Club Hotel And Spa

“ If you are looking to get well cared for on a romantic or rest and relaxation break you have found the right place! It isn't all marble atrium and freezing aircon, and, if that is what you go for, you probably would be better off somewhere else. If you want unobtrusive but excellent service and a clean and tidy, well-maintained space, this is it.

It is off the beaten track but all the main tours will pick you up there, however, if you can, hiring a car is definitely worth it, to get to the parts you want to see with least hassle. There is a minibus service to nearby Speightstown where you can pick up a bus to anywhere on the island for two dollars ($1US) which is quite fun. Start with the blue “state” buses and work up to the somewhat wilder yellow or white buses as you gain confidence.

Although it never seemed that personal safety was under threat at any time and you could walk around as you pleased, the roads near the hotel down to the beach have no sidewalk and it could be risky to walk to the town – it’s too hot for that anyway! Take the hotel minibus, it’s free!

It also is not a clubbers’ and ravers’ paradise – it is a quiet place where the only thing that breaks the silence in the evening is the occasional bird chirping away.

I am not quite sure where those folk who wrote the not-so-hot reviews were staying, but going by what they have said, they might have been in a completely different hotel. They nearly put me off and I am extremely glad they didn't!

Dinner service seemed to be one of the biggest problems for the detractors, and if that was their experience, and I can't prove it wasn't, then much has changed! We never spent much more than an hour at dinner, and the quality of the A la Carte Restaurant's food was better than any hotel buffet I have encountered in my travels. The service attentive and good-natured. Their buffet - a poolside barbecue or Bajan style self-service, depending on which night of the week, was also of as good a standard as could be expected for that kind of meal, though a little more variety would have been nice it was all served up with a pleasant helping of live steel pan music.

Fair enough, the breakfast selection is not as big as some, but the scrambled eggs were fine! (You could order them how ever you like them as well) and there were a couple of Bajan specialities to go with the other breakfast standards, and plenty of fruit.

There is a new bar which was "christened" during our stay, and there is shortly to be a new restaurant which apparently will serve a "once a week per guest" extra special dining experience.

The shop is not a supermarket but it has a few useful bits and nibbles as well as bottled soft drinks for until you can get to the supermarket in Speightstown.

When you are looking at hotels it is worth remembering that all the rooms in the Sugar Cane Club are little apartments with a large lounge area and fully functioning kitchen – crockery, cutlery, cooker, fridge kettle toaster pans and a microwave – oh and the kitchen sink! That made a big difference to our stay, as opposed to maybe having a large hotel room but that’s all you get – and one that was possibly more expensive.

The gardens are a pleasure to sit in and soak up the sunshine, and as far as the unwanted attentions of any animals is concerned, I only saw two cats in my entire stay, and they kept themselves to themselves. You should get to see Green Monkeys though – quite close up if you choose to! If you encourage the birds they will come back for more...and more. This is not recommended as, although they are sweet, it has a damaging effect on the local bird population because it makes the birds dependent on things like bread and sugar - which they may be crazy for but really isn't good for them – and it makes them more persistent everywhere else too.

The hotel is not actually on the beach but has its own facility a short minibus ride away. This beach certainly isn't one with long white rolling sands but is still OK, but as all beaches by Barbados law have public access - technically even the private ones, then that needn't be a problem, you can go to one you like better. Having said that, the hotel’s glass bottomed boat is worth a go – it doesn’t look much but the turtles come close and seem quite friendly with the hotel beach staff so you get a good swim with them...the turtles, that is.

The hotel doesn’t seem to be a magnet for extreme sportsters, so if you do fancy a bit of exercise the squash court, gym and table tennis never seemed oversubscribed. If you don’t fancy too much exercise then the spa might be more your style! You will need to do something to get rid of those calories you will pile on with all that lovely food!

We stayed in March and the weather was mostly fine – a couple of days with a bit of rain, but it was fresh and bright most of the time with a gentle breeze – I gather that was a good time to be there as later in the year it is stiller and stickier so you could be more dependant on aircon – that may be a problem for those who like it freezing as there is only a unit in the bedroom, but we never found that to be a problem.

Though we weren’t able to get a booking through Virgin Holidays, their rep there was very helpful and set us up with one of their catamaran trips with snorkeling, turtles, lunch and a quick sail around half of the island, which was quite enjoyable. Well worth having a chat with them!

My partner is Japanese and we were staying in March 2011 when the disaster struck – a beautiful flower arrangement appeared in our room with a message of sympathy from the management and staff to help raise her spirits a little – one of the most thoughtful gestures I have come across in any hotel and one which sums up the care you are surrounded by in this wonderful place.

It sounds perhaps silly to say this, but I hope it may give a little pause for thought: “please” and “thank-you” and taking a few minutes to return the personal attention you receive goes a long way towards improving your stay with these lovely folk. Give them a nice smile – it’s good for your face! They have a strong sense of respect and respond to being respected. Something “early British” (pleasantly old-fashioned) about that maybe? Maybe I’m wrong but either way I noticed one or two guests there who might have had a much better experience if they had acted with more courtesy themselves.

On balance, I can only say that the positive reviews you will find here represent, for me, the fairest view of the Sugar Cane Club experience. It really was just what we wanted for a romantic holiday.

“ Top Tip: Good duty free shopping in Holetown a short bus ride away. It's worth getting into using the buses - makes for a cheaper holiday than using cabs and it's quite fun!