This Brand-New Barbados Resort Wants to Help You Experience the Entire Island

The driver and I talked the whole way to the resort. We hugged the coast, passing palm trees and glimpsing the ocean, as he told me about his life and life on the island. He told me proudly that he has a son in university and a daughter who’s an anesthesiologist, explaining that Barbados has a free education system that runs from preschool and primary school (down to the lunches) all the way to the university level. Almost as proudly, he talked about Rihanna, who was born in Barbados and is a source of inspiration and adoration islandwide (so much so that the street where her childhood home still stands has been renamed Rihanna Drive).

Our conversation set the tone for my whole trip. Everyone I met in Barbados, from the taxi drivers to the resort staff and the guides I met on various excursions, was effusively warm and impressively knowledgeable about the island. If there’s one thing I’d tell someone before booking a trip to Barbados, it’s that the people are among the best reasons to visit.

But I was there for another reason. I’d been invited to check out Royalton Vessence Barbados a few short months after its opening.

Checking into Royalton Vessence Barbados (and being checked in on throughout your stay)

Photo: Lawrence Erekosima

Royalton Vessence Barbados sits on a stretch of coast that’s known for housing a few notable addresses, including Rihanna’s mansion. The sparkling-new, all-white building stands out against the equally pristine sand, which picks up exactly where the resort ends, landing you right on the beach as soon as you step off the property. It’s a public beach, like all beaches in Barbados, but that kind of direct access makes it feel like a private resort amenity.

Check-in came with a wristband that scans you into everything covered during your stay, and from that point on, staff check in on you constantly. In my case, my swim-out junior suite came with butler service, arranged through a rotating group of three concierge-like staff members who were reachable via WhatsApp around the clock. They handled dinner reservations, booked my mom a spa treatment (a separate charge outside the all-inclusive package), and coordinated outside transportation.

A resort built around slowing down (and sometimes turning up)

Photo: Lawrence Erekosima

There are two standout pools on the property. One’s on the ground level with a swim-up bar, and the other’s on the rooftop with ocean views. If you’re up for a late-night swim during your stay, keep an eye out for a glow that’s coming from more than just the stars. Royalton Vessence Barbados was the first resort in the region to install glow-lit pools, a perk reserved for guests ages 18 and up though the resort considers itself adults-oriented rather than strictly adults-only.

My ground-floor suite had access to its own small pool just inside. That’s one example of how the resort prioritizes relaxation. In fact, creating opportunities for guests to digitally detox is one of the resort’s bigger goals. Case in point: rooms also come with aromatherapy diffusers, yoga mats, and guided wellness sessions loaded onto the in-room TV. There are also dedicated digital detox zones around the property designed to help you disconnect from screens.

Then there’s The Royal Spa, located on the third floor of the main building next to the Moddo Fitness center. In addition to treatment rooms for both singles and doubles, the spa has a hydrotherapy setup with saunas, steam rooms, a wading pool, a cold plunge, and a jacuzzi. My mom went in for the works one day while I was out exploring the island, including a turn in the sauna and steam room and a full massage. She called it the best massage she’s ever had and said it was worth every extra dollar.

Another standout space on the property is The Studio, an open-air creative hub where you can spend the day picking up a paintbrush or trying your hand at pottery, then settle in after dark for a night of live jazz under the stars. It was fun to see what live entertainment the resort had arranged every evening during my stay. There was different music every night, ranging from Bruno Mars covers to local music, and I even saw fire performers.

Dining around the world without leaving the property (but saving room for local Barbadian food)

Photo: Lawrence Erekosima

The dining program at Royalton Vessence Barbados spans 13 restaurants and food concepts, plus four bars. The main building holds Essenza, an international breakfast and lunch buffet; Moi Aussi, a French restaurant; Hunter Steakhouse; Kai, an Asian-fusion spot; La Scala, an Italian trattoria, with a separate grab-and-go pizza counter under the same name; Petisco, a poolside snack bar and grill; Room 21, a sports bar with a late-night menu; and a coffee and pastry shop. An adults-only rooftop level adds Waves for seafood, Catrina’s for Mexican food, The Saffron Hut for Indian cuisine, and Sugar Halo for pastries and sweets. Bars include a swim-up bar, a lobby bar, a rooftop bar, and a lounge reserved for guests staying in Butler Level Suites.

My favorite meal at the resort came from Moi Aussi. My favorite meal from the trip, on the other hand, was at a local restaurant that was built into the Adventure Safari excursion I did (more on that later). Where the resort’s restaurants look like the kind of places you’d pick for date night even if you’re not a resort guest, this spot was no-frills. But the chicken, rice, macaroni pie, and vegetables I had were the best first bites of Barbadian food I could’ve asked for.

Barbados beyond the resort (with all the logistics handled for you)

Photo: Wangkun Jia/Shutterstock

Ironically, one of the most compelling reasons to stay at Royalton Vessence Barbados is the opportunity to see everything outside of it. The resort books excursions through NexusTours (an on-island tour operator that also handles airport transfers). Trips can be arranged directly through NexusTours or through a butler on property, and they run as an add-on cost separate from the all-inclusive package. Excursions range from a half-day garden and pottery outing ($85) to a fully private, custom-built, three-hour tour of the island ($550). I got to experience two excursions: Harrison’s Cave and Adventure Safari.

Harrison’s Cave is a limestone cavern system in the parish of St. Thomas, known for its stalactites, stalagmites, and underground pools and streams. My tour started with wall placards and a short video covering the cave’s discovery, rediscovery, and history as a tourist site, then moved into an electric tram ride through the cave itself. It’s the largest cave system in Barbados, and our guide walked us through the formations as we went. Partway through, he cut all the lights to show us what total darkness looks like underground, then explained that the original explorers who lost their lights took seven to 12 hours to find their way back out.

My other excursion, the Adventure Safari, focused on above-ground Barbados.The tour is several hours long and swaps the cave’s electric tram for an open-sided, stretched 4×4 vehicle that traverses both paved roads and off-road trails to reach historic sites and coastal viewpoints around the island. Though it’s not a safari in the Big Five sense, the ride is its own kind of thrill. It’s bumpy enough that you need to hold on, and you can expect to end the day a little muddy.

Our guide provided context for all the island fixtures we passed, from plants, birds, and goats to colonial-era landmarks across different parishes that by law can’t be torn down. One example was the Lion at Gun Hill in St. George, a limestone lion statue hand-carved by British military personnel in 1868. We also stopped a few times to leave the vehicle, including the lunch I mentioned earlier and a beach stop with a nice view.

Another highlight of the excursion menu also extends to Mount Gay, the Barbados-based rum distillery that dates to 1703 and bills itself as the world’s oldest running rum producer. Tours typically walk through the distillery’s history and the rum-making process, from sugarcane to bottling, and end with a tasting. I don’t drink, so I didn’t take part in any tastings or the distillery tour, but I did notice signs of Mount Gay’s partnership with Royalton Vessence Barbados around the resort (the bottle of Mount Gay rum in every room, for one). And, much like Rihanna, staff and guides across the island speak about the distillery as a point of national pride.

National pride and hospitality were two threads that ran throughout every interaction I had on the island, from the first car horn I heard on my taxi ride from the airport to the relentlessly attentive staff once I’d landed at the resort. As far as I can tell, it all came from the same place: the people of Barbados wanting everyone to love their home as much as they do.