Southern Palms Beach Club

Loved the location and staff was PHENOMENAL!!!

Struttura favolosa fronte mare ai caraibi

Good and bad points listed below;

Good

* Very clean
* Beach (not sea) is beautiful
* Situated in the middle of St Lawrence Gap (this could be a double edged sword...)
* No problem with getting a sun lounger
* Pools OK
* Late checkout room great

Bad

* Staff are generally stand-offish and slow, appreciate that this is the Caribbean way but this was taking it to the extreme. Notable exceptions are Jenni, Richard, the Water sports guy and most of the cleaning staff.
* St Lawrence Gap isn't a very nice area in my opinion and there are limited options for things to do in the evening. The bars aren't great and the restaurants shut far too early. There is a general feeling of something potentially kicking off at any moment and lots of locals trying to sell you weed/aloe vera/jewellery/tours. Just doesn't feel 100% safe.
* Rooms are dated.
* Food and drinks are RIDICULOUSLY expensive. This is a general comment for all of Barbados, bring plenty of money.
* Breakfast underwhelming and not worth anywhere near the price charged.
* BBQ night hugely overpriced and not very good.
* The sea in this area (Dover Beach) is consistently too rough to swim in, we had red flags 10 days out of 11. It is also very windy on the beach. We travelled up the West coast and the sea was far calmer and it was a lot less windy. This isn't the hotel's fault but worth knowing before you book.
* Very boring around the hotel of an evening (not that we usually stay in the hotel at night but sometimes it's nice to have a break from going out), entertainment a couple of nights a week but the clientele are mostly older people.

Would we return? Yes to Barbados but we would stay on the West coast in a nicer resort. We did have a good time at Southern Palms (believe it or not!) but for the money we spent, we expect more.

This was our 4th visit. The location is incredible. Staff are all fabulous. Great vibe. Wouldn't stay anywhere else

Took my husband to the Khus Khus Bar at Southern Palms Hotel for his 30th birthday and it was so lovely !

From the atmosphere to the live music to the happy hour ( 6pm-7pm ) , to the Southern Platter ( starter ) to the serrvice , it was absolutely top tier and honestly can’t wait to go again ! We didn’t have mains because we were stuffed tbh .

Our server for the evening/night was Ms. Corren and she was such a sweet lady ; also was attended to by Abigail and Suzette and they were also very nice .

100 % would recommend anyone to go and experience there🥰!

Stayed here for 12 nights in a luxury room on a B&B basis, the staff were very friendly and helpful when we needed anything. The hotel is nice but a bit dated and could do with a bit of modernisation but its position on the beach is wow!
Room cleaned every day with fresh towels and you change your beach towels at reception or by the mini Golf.
The breakfast was fine but really you could do room only as there are plenty of places to eat for breakfast. There are plenty of sunbeds on the beach and if the parasols are gone then you can find a spot under the palms.
We saw the beach guy remove sun beds from beneath parasols on two occasions as the towels had been there for hours with no one on them and when the one occasion the people returned to have a go at the people who were on the beds, as they thought they had removed their towels and taken the parasol, the beach guy came over and told them quite firmly that you cant reserve the beds all morning and not be on them, which I though was fair enough.
There are plenty of restaurants for lunch and evening meals, we enjoyed Sharkys, Irie Foods, Mimosa, Castaway, Cafe Sol, Harlequin, Rebell (very cheap), Daddys Restaurant, Sand Dollar Cafe and many more. Some of these require reservations in advance.
We went to Oistins on the Friday but get there early as it was packed and we struggled to get a seat but it was good fun.
We went to see the horses one morning, got there at 6.30am! got a taxi as there uber works very well and then got one of the mini buses to Bridgetown and back only $3.50 per person but they do cram you in LOL, good fun though with loud reggae music blaring out.
Never had a meal other than breakfast at the Hotel so cant comment on that.
As for the surrounding area when out at night at no point was it ever threatening or did we fell unsafe if anything the locals were very friendly.
Would I book this Hotel again? yes I certainly would.

Good location , nice staff and quick resolution to any issues that we had . Full marks to the team for making every effort to keep us comfortable

All in all had a nice time . Rooms were spacious with good air conditioning (. Some drawers would have been good though ) . The rooms and hotel were also spotlessly clean . The breakfast was the best I have ever eaten . The service was good and very professional but some not all staff lacked friendliness and warmth . a smile goes a long way with customers . They have a complimentary afternoon tea this was appreciated and lovely . The entertainment was good and quite varied and the gift shop was excellent. They had plenty of sun beds dotted around and a lovely private beach although a few more umbrellas would have been nice . The pools were nice . . I felt the prices of food and drink generally were pretty steep although I have to say it was extremely high quality and fresh . We went on a few boat trips and these were great . Book early we missed out on a few good ones because we dawdled The rep was nice and very helpful . They had the friendliest cat in the world called Maxine who I believe is a boy . He followed me to my room and decided to sleep on my bed for a while . They have a few hotel cats and terrapins ( I think ) . These are really well looked after by the staff this was lovely to see . Outside the hotel most of the places we ate were excellent and of very good quality and fresh although a lot of shack type places with wooden benches - so not aesthetically appealing . we ate at Sharkeys and Mimosa and Socialites and can highly recommend all . Of these ( especially Socialites ) . The General surroundings outside the hotel .for me felt a little unsafe lots of young unfriendly men hanging around smoking weed . I wouldn’t go anywhere on my own but this may be a little unfair but it’s just a vibe I got no one said or did anything to me . All in all though was a nice hotel / experience

We chose this hotel based on location since we opted not to rent a car and the Gap definitely delivers. We walked to dinner at a different restaurant every night (Tabu was our absolute favorite), got coffee every morning at the Cake Lady and picked up drinks for the beach at the convenience store.

Regarding the beach there was a lot of sargassum which obviously can't be controlled but on the west coast where we went on a tour there is none because of the way the island is situated so just FYI for those who may not know. The lifeguards were setup to the left of the hotel so our area was almost always red flagged which requires you to walk down by them to swim. My wife and son are both guards and didn't love the approach of only patrolling that one small area. The hotel also advertises complimentary windsurfing lessons but we were told the equipment broke so that's no longer available.

The pools are tiny...our backyard pool is larger; the drone footage is very deceiving. Would not recommend this spot for those with younger children either as they'd be bored with just basic rectangles and no kid friendly features and the ocean is too rough for little ones.

It's unusual for us not to get to know some staff members but no one went out of their way or made an impression on us. We arrived right at the 4PM check-in time and had to wait for our room so we were given rum punch tickets for the bar and found the bartender to be unfriendly right out of the gate and not much changed.

The gym is a joke. You need to get a key from the front desk; your room key doesn't give you access and it's the size of a closet.

Our third floor room had a great view but we had so much noise pollution from the karaoke across the street and traffic going by. The bathroom is on the street side and the vent is open air so the sounds comes blaring in well past 1AM most nights. The bath is also dimly lit, no exhaust fan so the mirror fogs over and the water pressure is non existent. Beds were lumpy and the pillows were ridiculously oversized. Housekeeping never put the decorative ones back on the beds all week but rather left them in the chairs where we had placed them to sleep. There were also microscopic bugs crawling on both the bath and kitchenette counters.

There's one beach towel per person and you're charged $25 up front for each. We like to put one on the lounger and have another to use when swimming so that you're not sitting on a wet towel and finding the towel hut guy wasn't always easy for replacements.

The Best of Barbados store on site is one of their better features; it has really nice quality merchandise. The 4PM tea is also a highlight with mini muffins to eat as well. There is a water cooler by the restaurant you can fill up a cup but you need to ask a bartender both for ice and to fill your own bottles with water. The WiFi was down for 2 of the days we were there with no gesture of goodwill, just a memo stuck under the door stating the obvious.

Not likely to return due to it being an underwhelming experience.

It’s been 17 years since my last visit to the Southern Palms and naturally, there are some changes - but it still has the best position on a very pretty beach. The sea was rough during our visit so no swimming for us, but it was a delight to see the turtles bobbing in the sea.
The hotel is still the same pink, colonial style building with rooms that are very dated - the beachfront makes up for the outdated room and bathroom. I have to admit I was disappointed in our room. The sea view room was on the ground floor near the small swimming pool. Fortunately, not right in front of the pool which isn’t my favorite room location. Being on the “senior” side of life, screaming kids in the pool right outside my room isn’t my first choice , but it ended up being okay . Not sure I’d spend the extra for that room versus a garden view. We were only there for 4 nights so perhaps better located rooms are allocated to longer stays.
We enjoyed a few tasty lunches at the hotel - vegetarian options are available. Staff were pleasant and welcoming. There’s the occasional staff member who seems unhappy to be there but on the whole almost everyone we encountered was lovely. Happy hour was a great deal.
We enjoyed our stay at the Southern Palms and if you accept the dated rooms - it’s a great choice in the Gap. Near to the restaurants and bars but still quiet.

I saw many good reviews for Southern Palms Beach Club and been wanting to go for a while. I was not disappointed. My room was great (2 floor room) with an awesome view of the beach. The beach itself is incredible. Even got the privilege to see baby turtles. Very grateful as its not the season for them to hatch. Special thank to Allison at the reception who took care of me when my ride back didn't show up. Also to Rodney who was very pleasant and took care of clients very well. Thumbs up SP !

We’ve had a really great stay at Southern Palms overall. The location is fantastic – right on a beautiful beachfront and within easy walking distance to St Lawrence Gap. It’s also directly across from Happy Days Café and My Friends Place which is so handy. The beach itself is absolutely stunning.

The staff are genuinely lovely and welcoming. We also went to the BBQ dinner during the week and the food was outstanding – such a great evening.

The hotel offers really useful extras too. We were able to hire a car directly from reception which made things so easy, and even hire umbrellas when it was raining. There’s also a mini golf course which we’ve really enjoyed playing. The whole setting is picture perfect, and the view from my balcony is honestly incredible.

However, for me personally, the cleanliness of the rooms could be improved. The floors weren’t cleaned daily and if you walk around barefoot your feet get dirty quite quickly. With so many birds around, the balcony fills up with bird mess fast and I do feel that should be mopped away daily. Mirrors (especially the bathroom mirror) should ideally be properly glass-cleaned each day rather than just at the end of a stay.

We also returned to our room at 2:30pm one afternoon and it hadn’t yet been serviced. For guests who like to get out of the sun for a while in the afternoon, later cleaning times aren’t ideal.

The hotel offers a happy hour which is a great idea and the drinks are lovely, but there are very limited bar staff during that time so waiting times can be quite long.

That said, the location and views are fabulous and it really is a beautiful place to stay. With improved room cleaning and a bit more attention to bar staffing, this would easily feel like a five-star experience. We would return.

The location was perfect! The variety of accommodations and buildings made it feel like it was a larger resort. The staff was exceptional. Food/drink options A+!
Special thanks to Shirley, Makala, Elisha for great service with a smile.