I am still at the property. I didn't bother to keep trying to get an upgrade. I must say, though, that the management of this property has obviously not understood the HHonors program and why it would make sense to keep Diamond members happy. There does not seem to be any distinction whatsoever between Gold and Diamond. After I inquired about the upgrade, there would have been plenty of time to come back and at least make a gesture for the last few days to say "we would like to upgrade you" - plenty of availability on the exec. floor and suites as well.
Most of the staff are friendly, but some of the employees seem to be uninterested or even have a bad attitude, too (especially around the pool and at the pool bar). The food at the pool bar is not bad, it's terrible (I ordered Pasta and it must have been cooked for like 30 minutes without any salt in the water, I better not talk about the sauce).
Also, our minibar has not been restocked once in 8 days. They also did not supply new shampoo and soap without asking. Sometimes a newspaper (local) would be there and sometimes water would be there, sometimes nothing.
Anyway - the hotel is still nice enough, the beach is great for body surfing while the beaches on the other side (behind the parking lot, Pebbles Beach, part of Carlisle Bay) are already part of the much calmer Caribbean waters, which is much better for snorkeling - and the island overall is great. I would definitely recommend to rent a car.
Some things we did:
- Snorkeling cruise (Cool Runnings): This was the one organized "touristy" thing we did (booked through the hotel). Very nice crew, attentive and good selection of drinks and surprisingly good food, but I had hoped it would go to some deserted bay, instead the boat just went to spots where all the other cruise boats happened to go at the same time. They feed some turtles, so you get to see those, but for my taste, too many people on the catamaran. In Carlisle bay, they led us to a couple shipwrecks with some nice fish around to watch while snorkeling. This was good, but they try to keep you in a group while snorkeling and call you to come over when you go astray, which is a bit annoying. All in all, definitely fun, though.
- Bridgetown: I didn't like it very much, it's okay if you want to do some duty free shopping, I guess.
- Bathsheba: Had breakfast at the Round House (historical house from 1800something, great view) - the beaches on the eastern coast of Barbados have much higher waves, different sand and are quite different from the "bathtub" beaches on the Western side of the island. It's a nice change of pace. In the afternoon, you can watch the surfers try to ride the waves. For some reason, I did not see one single kitesurfer or windsurfer even though I would have thought conditions there are really good for them.
- Andromeda Gardens (at Bathsheba) and Flower Forest (in the "highlands"). Nice flowers and tropical plants/trees if you are into that kind of stuff, but nothing spectacular.
- Some Thai/Indian restaurant for dinner which was very nice, I think in Christ Church (?).
- Brown Sugar: Walked there one day - nice, with some live music. Food was not bad.
- Spago: I would really recommend this place with Italian food close to Holetown on Settler's Beach. Very romantic setting below palm trees practically on the beach, they have good (unobtrusive) live music there as well.
- Crane Beach: Tried to book Sunday brunch at the Crane, but they were fully booked. We did go to their beach which is on the eastern coast, thus higher waves, good for bodysurfing, not so much for snorkeling
- Bottom Bay: Great beach, looks really beautiful, but apparently dangerous currents - were there during the day and were the only people on a huge beach.
These are just a few things from the top of my head. I couldn't get too worked up about the upgrade thing as I rather spent the time discovering the island. If you spend all the time at the hotel on this beautiful island, you make a mistake
.