Last time I stayed in Barbados a few years ago I ended up choosing a different hotel than Fairmont and for my latest stay Fairmont was my first choice but I almost did not stay because the hotel was originally unresponsive but thankfully in the end they made things right.  I am glad I finally got to try this resort; compared to the other Fairmonts in the area (one in Puerto Rico and two in Bermuda) I think Barbados is overall the best of the 4 based on my previous stays.

Pre-Arrival

I had lots of Accor Diamond Suite Night awards to use before they expire at the end of the year so I contacted Fairmont and asked if I could use them to upgrade to a better room.  At first they did not bother answering at all so I cancelled my reservation and booked at a Marriott chain hotel instead, then I told Fairmont to forget it because I had moved on.  Thankfully they responded at that point, apologized for the lack of answer and told me that they would upgrade me to a beachfront suite without the need for using SNAs; in addition they noted SNAs are unusuable at their hotel anyway.  Given the service recovery it convinced me to rebook at Fairmont and cancel my reservation at the other hotel.

Check In

Upon landing at BGI airport, Fairmont immediately makes it clear they are a more luxurious hotel than many other Fairmonts because there was someone with a Fairmont sign waiting for us before going to immigration, the staff escorted us to the fast track lane and then to baggage claim.  Once we had our suitcases we were led to the BMW hotel car for the perfectly smooth transfer door to door.  This was not a special arranged transport; I believe this is the normal procedure for all Fairmont Royal Pavilion guests.

Room

When we arrived at the hotel our room was not ready but we were given another one to relax for a couple of hours which was greatly appreciated.  That first room was on the top floor of the (low rise) hotel and had decent views.  To be honest without an upgrade I would still be quite happy with this room type.

Once our room was ready I was notified that we could move and we settled in our suite.  Some reviews previously commented that the suite is essentially the same room as the non-suites except for the terrace outdoors; I did not find this to be entirely correct.  The space available indoors for the suite was exactly equal to the total space indoors plus the balcony for our initial room, so comparing indoors vs indoors the suite was clearly more spacious.  In addition the terrace outside our ground floor suite was larger than the balcony of the previous room so if comparing the total space indoors+outdoors, the suite exceeded the non-suite by an even greater margin.

By far and away, the main highlight of the room was the fact that we were so close to the beach – very rarely do we find any resort where this is the case, we were possibly 15 meters from the water line.  The main advantage of being nearly on the beach was that staff walking by to serve guests on the beach could also serve us from our own balcony; we also had dedicated chairs for us (obviously) rather than use any random hotel chair.

Service

Not only the service in the hotel was excellent upon arrival, but there were also butlers which provided a higher level of service than most other Fairmonts in the world.  For example in the morning on occasion our butler would make the rounds to greet guests and ask if we needed anything, and it was the same on the beach during the afternoon so the service style was more proactive than reactive.  I would also note that unlike some Fairmonts, this property was quite small: two buildings of 3 floors and around 13-14 rooms wide, all of them facing the ocean so probably around 80 rooms.  It makes it easier to provide personal service with a moderate number of rooms.

Dining

Breakfast seemed to be included in all rate types so it was not really an Accor Diamond benefit.  There was a buffet to go along a quite nice a la carte menu and we were allowed to order whatever we wanted without any limit.  It was clearly not a boring standard North American breakfast thanks to the special dishes on the menu including a breakfast wrap, avocado toast, etc.  

Pool

This hotel is a great fit for beach lovers but the flip side is that the pool was nothing to write home about.  I don’t think guests should travel there simply to use the pool.

Wifi

Wifi was slow with download speed of 2 Mbps although upload was better with 10 Mbps.  In addition there were several interruptions; this was the main and possibly lone issue we encountered during our stay.

Overall

Overall Fairmont Royal Pavilion is not cheap but given the unique position on the beach, the luxury level of service and the above average breakfast, I was pleased with our stay and I can recommend this hotel if budget allows.