There are few holiday destinations that evoke feelings of familiarity without ever having visited the island quite like Barbados.
Despite never having travelled to the Caribbean, once my flights were booked I could already taste the rum punch, hear the Bajan beats and feel myself slip into the deliciously laidback lifestyle of long afternoons spent under the hot sun.
The truth? It’s everything you’d hope it to be and more. Everyone from the Beckhams to Beyoncé, Gwyneth Paltrow, Prince Harry and of course, Rihanna, has made it a must-visit vacation hotspot and it absolutely lives up to its reputation.
I stayed at two of Marriott International's Elegant Hotels, The House and Colony Club (pictured above). Both located in St. James, arguably the most popular of 11 parishes on the island, they sit on the west 'Platinum' coast just 4km from each other, either side of the prestigious Sandy Lane. If you're planning a romantic holiday for two or even a girls' trip, I'd highly recommend them both.
Those looking for somewhere intimate will love the adults-only boutique hotel, The House. With just 34 rooms, the all-inclusive accommodation is intended to feel like a home-away-from-home. As the name suggests, it has a kind of luxury Airbnb feel to it.
Our arrival was perfectly timed at sunset and we walked straight through to the beachfront bar - think cosy rattan furniture and sparkling lanterns - where we were greeted with cold towels, welcome cocktails and canapés. Looking out to the white sand and calm, clear waters of Paynes Bay Beach, it's the kind of view that's impossible to capture the serenity of on camera.
Payne's Bay is one of the most loved beaches on the island. Not just a place to sit back on a sun lounger and sip on cocktails, if you prefer your holidays to be a little more lively you can also jet ski, paddle board and sail. There's even the opportunity to swim with hawksbill and leatherback turtles.
It's worth mentioning here that if a party scene if your vibe, we spent one of the days on a catamaran booked with Calabaza Sailing Cruises and it was a highlight of the entire trip. There was dancing, rum on tap, the ocean was an unreal shade of azure blue and there were plenty of opportunities to get in the water.
Despite being a small hotel, bedrooms at The House are spacious, leading to marble ensuite bathrooms with rainfall showers and private balconies, some with views of the beach and several with their own mini pool. Terracotta floor tiles meet cream furnishings, and everything is handmade - chic with Caribbean charm.
If food is high on your list of priorities, dinner options won't disappoint. My personal highlight? Positano, an authentic Italian restaurant on the terrace, serving wood-fire pizza, handmade pasta and a seriously indulgent tiramisu. As part of the Elegant Hotels Dine Around Programme, you can also visit their sister hotels to experience their restaurants. We spent a night at Treasure Beach to try the award-winning Tapestry, where you can dine in their private Wine Cellar for a Bajan feast before heading out to the buzzy outdoor bar.
But it's the little things that really set this hotel apart from the rest, like the champagne breakfasts and the complementary full-body jet lag massage in the spa on arrival. There's no better way to switch off after a long day of travelling (although with direct nine-hour flights from London and a quick 30-minute airport transfer, as long haul goes, it's a relatively pain-free journey).
Half way through our trip we headed up the coast to Colony Club. The 96-room hotel is tranquil and tropical - a huge colonial-style building featuring plant-lined lagoon pools and waterfalls with swim-up rooms. A different kind of luxury, it's ideal if you prefer somewhere with more space and anonymity. Originally a private members club in the 1930s, everything felt a little more grand with four-poster beds and whitewashed stone walls.
Like The House, its located right on the beach, where we spent our days on the scarlet sun loungers while attentive waiters offered rounds of ice-cold drinks, tasty snacks from watermelon to club sandwiches and even complementary sun cream throughout the day.
Later we'd head to the Laguna Restaurant's sunset deck - an idyllic spot to while away the balmy evenings, serving everything from fresh fish curries to lobster and beach BBQs, sometimes accompanied by a live band and always with free-flowing wine.
But the culinary highlight was undoubtedly the hotel's one-of-a-kind Rum Vault. Here you can take part in a private dining experience which pairs samples of rum in the form of cocktails and shots with each dinner course. The food was delicious and there are 150 different varieties of the spirit on offer, from the likes of Barbados (its birth place) to South America and Japan. The hotel's hilarious Rum Ambassador and mixologist will be your host, teaching you about the history of rum, so you can just about get away with claiming it's an educational evening.
If you want to venture outside of the resorts and find out more about the culture of Barbados, the island's vibrant capital Bridgetown is just a short taxi ride down the coast in St. Michael. It's well worth taking part in one of the BTMI-operated walking tours, where we were guided through all of the history and hot spots, including the colourful architecture and must-see food vendors in the city.
How to book
Book The House at booking.com, British Airways & Marriott. Book Colony Club at booking.com, British Airways & Marriott.
The Elegant Hotels portfolio – owned and operated by Marriott International – is undergoing a series of exciting renovations ahead of their assimilation into several of Marriott International’s famed luxury and premium brands. Re-openings and re-branding will take place across 2024 and 2025, with The House set to transition to an Autograph Collection hotel and Colony Club set to transition to a Luxury Collection hotel.