Located on the west coast of Barbados, the Coral Reef Club Hotel is a family-owned luxury resort with world-class amenities and sterling service. Eighty suites, cottages, and villas are lodged on 12 acres of landscaped gardens with only two swimming pools between your canopied bed and the Caribbean Sea. Slender yet sandy, the beach offers calm conditions. Closer to the shore and restaurant, the larger pool tends to be busier whereas the waterfall pool near the cottages flies under the radar. For utmost privacy, superior units have their own dipping pools.
Photo: Booking
In Barbados, the Coral Reef Club Hosts Pristine Beachside Accommodations
The Coral Reef clientele leans toward families although it’s popular with young couples, spa-goers, and senior travelers. Hummingbirds flit between frangipani and ylang-ylang trees while monkeys are often sighted leaping between the casuarina pines. This paradisiacal report is a 15-minute walk from the duty-free stores of historic Holetown and no more than a half-hour drive to the island’s headline attractions.
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Family-friendly accommodations in Barbados
Residences at the Coral Reef Club are traditionally designed with wooden balustrading, fretwork, and shutters. Luxury cottages come as one or two-bedroom units. All configurations have a spacious balcony while top-tier domains have private sunken pools bounded by palms. Kid-friendly villas comprise up to four bedrooms and vast lawns strategically placed near the largest swimming pool.
Any infant or toddler apparel – inclusive of playpens, cribs with mosquito nets, and baby monitors – is available at no extra cost. The family program entertains younger children with sailing and swimming tuition whereas tweens and teens can enjoy the complimentary paddle boards, kayaks, and Laser dinghies. Professional babysitters and childminders are only a phone call away.
This barefoot luxury resort in Barbados also caters to couples. Five coveted plantation suites come with spa-like bathrooms and private plunge pools angled at the sea. An adult-only booking period runs between late January and the end of February each year.
Starting at US$855 for two, the A-Class Arrival service is offered to all prospective guests. After a fast-track airport transfer, you’ll be whisked straight to the spa for rejuvenating massages while chilled Champagne and crudités are readied in your suite.
Wellness at the Coral Reef Club Spa
Upgrade or not, don’t miss out on a pampering session. The wellness center sits in a secluded plot with tinkling waterfalls and birdsong supplying the soundtrack. You can’t go wrong with the signature lemongrass and ginger scrub coupled with a customized muscle melt ritual. Other facilities include the external hydro pool and a thermal suite with a crystal steam room. Yoga classes take place on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.
Watersports, golf, and turtles
This award-winning resort gives you the best of Barbados. Non-motorized water sports equipment including Hobie Cat and Laser dinghies, kayaks, and paddle boards come complimentary. Snorkel gear is readily available for making the most of the crystal-clear waters and open-water diving courses and excursions are bookable at the property’s diving center. Qualified divers can explore shipwrecks or splash out on a twilight dive.
Right next door to Coral Reef Club, the Barbados Sea Turtle Project welcomes guests to spectate hatchling releases. Extended volunteering placements are one way to justify a longer stay in the West Indies.
Additional amenities include complimentary tennis coaching and privileges at two supreme golf clubs. Designed by Tom Fazio, the 18-hole Green Monkey at Sandy Lane is one of the most expensive golf courses ever built. This is reflected in its exclusivity: you’ll need to plan ahead to wrangle one of the limited tee times. Over at Royal Westmoreland, you can warm up on the driving range and practice greens before tackling Robert Trent Jones Junior’s championship par 72 course.
Upscale dining at Coral Reef and sister Sandpiper
Perched on the shoreline, the restaurant will dazzle you first with its views, second with its culinary offering. Both are best enjoyed with a freshly shaken Spicy Reef Margarita.
The fusion a la carte menu changes daily while the buffet is loaded with an assortment of such Bajan specialties as fried flying fish, lamb stew, and jerk chicken prepared with mango and chili. And, as with all British-owned resorts in Barbados, bubbly afternoon tea is a must.
Thursday is barbecue night at the Coral Reef Hotel. With sizzling filet and sirloin steaks, pork ribs, jumbo prawns, and fish kebabs dished up alongside catch of the day, you’d be wise to skip lunch that day. Calypso, steel band, jazz, piano, and reggae acts perform nightly during the winter months. Although this is a child-friendly hotel, kids under five aren’t permitted in the restaurant after 7 p.m. but they’ll have a whale of a time with the hotel childminders.
Guests of the Coral Reef Club are invited to dine at the sister hotel, The Sandpiper. Swing by the beach bar and order the Harold’s Smile mixed in front of you by the cocktail wizard, Harold Shepherd. Skip the Mount Gay distillery tour and ask for seconds. 