Sam Lord´s Castle (Barbados) > Reviews > Great Expectations?

Author's product rating:   

Value for Money
Shopping
Nightlife
Ease of getting around
Family Friendly

Advantages:	Attractive resort
Disadvantages:	Service going down, not much to see in the castle, not a swimming beach

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

The resort around the castle was supposed to be our accomodation for 2 weeks. The place is a very attractive resort and this is mainly due to the great upkeeping by the Marriot Group.

The actual castle is one of the highlights of the island, simply because of its grandure compared to the rest of the island's tourist sites as well as the legend of Sam Lord and his pirate ways. However when you get inside the castle it looks like a mini stately home. It isn't very big at all. Sure the views are very nice but the pictures can be very deceiving.

The resort is pretty nice as well, sporting 3 pools and a large range of facilities. Eventhough it is close to the beach, as it is on the eastern Atlantic side of the island, don't expect to go out swimming there as the sea is a little rough, but there are shuttles to another beach organised which is very beautiful.

The staff there are fairly professional, a reminence of the old Marriot, but recently due to cost cutting by the new onwer, things are just short of what you expect it to be. Service can sometimes be poor and entertainment can get very boring.

From the point of view of the explorer, Sam Lord's Castle is on the other side of the island from Bridgetown and St. Lawrence's Gap, where all the tourist things are. This makes it a real hassle if you want to go anywhere on the island and you have to resort to comparitively expensive taxis rather than the very cheap bus service.

Overall I would say this is a nice place to visit for the castle and a nice place to stay if you like to relax. But it you want to get around the island to sample everything that Barbados has to offer, including its magnificent beaches, stay elsewhere.