My wife and I had the most chilled 10 nights at this wonderful hotel in August and I feel I have to post having read some of the stuff on here.

With regards to comparisons to other hotels in the area, we have also stayed at Cobblers Cove, Eastwinds, Malliouhana and La Sammana and would have no desire to return to any of them.

We have returned to Sandy Lane, Cap Juluca and Carlisle Bay and will continue to do so.

Who are we? We are in our late thirties, both have demanding international jobs and travel all the time. So what are we looking for? Quality time in a comfortable, relaxing place with good food and wine and untroubled by other people.

When we arrived home we discussed that you could write 2 reports on this hotel, you could be negative and complain about the fact the shower is very average, the service somewhat slow, the food perhaps not quite as good as it had been previously, the hotel cars that collect you from the airport a bit dodgy, the aircon in the gym not always on, the lack of lights when walking from the suites to the restaurants not ideal.

Or you could be positive and write about how you felt at the end of the holiday which was refreshed, relaxed and happy because in my view that is the point of Carlisle Bay.

Our days started with some exercise, a trip to the gym, a game of tennis or some yoga so we could at least return home within a stone of our departing weight. Followed at 10.15 to 10.30 with some breakfast at Indigo. No buffet scrum, a proper menu with numerous choices and friendly staff who knew our names within a day, ok the service was a little slow but we were hardly in a rush.

Retire to the spotless beach for a couple of hours with a book - towels etc provided as are cold bottles of water and other treats, cold fresh fruit, sorbets etc. Suddenly it is one o clock, time for a beer and we haven’t even moved, after a day the beach boy worked out we would order a beer at one, so he would check and then deliver.

Into Indigo for lunch, burger, pasta, salad, whatever we heard plenty of people asking for food not on the menu, a bottle of very nice rose friendly service and back to the beach to read the book, - one day, much to our horro, another couple sat within 10 yards of us on the beach which really annoyed us!

Beautifully made Martinis in the bar at about 8.30 followed by dinner at either East, where they do Asian food or Indigo where they offer more relaxed dining. Last time we went we preferred East, this time Indigo, don’t know why just the mood we were in. Oh and this is a place for linens not diamonds so keep chilling, as my wife said, you don’t feel like you are on display as you do in other hotels.

We have to return, on the last day we realised we still hadn’t been to the beach the other side of Indigo! There had been no time to visit it, we were far too busy doing nothing.

stayed at carlisle bay for 6 nights the week it reopened for the season. The resort is tastefully elegant and all the public areas and rooms are in top condition. I find it hard to beleive that we stayed at the same resort as the person's in the last few reviews because we found it to be absolutely wonderful. The food was very good and presented very nicely. Service was a bit slow at times but we were never in a rush anywhere. Overall had a great time and would go back in a heartbeat. Go and enjoy this beautiful resort.

Carlisle Bay has definitely gone down market. We have just returned from a stay there and was expecting the same quality that we experienced in March 2005. We were bitterly dissappointed. The food was below average, the inefficiency commonplace, it was hard to believe that it was the same hotel. We had to move room after the A/C failed for the third time. Infact it was not working when we arrived. The staff tried to please but having to constantly remind them of everything does not make for a relaxing break. This level of service no way justifies the cost.
Trip advisor member, UK

The staff is very friendly but this does not compensate for the shortcomings of this hotel. Food is very poor, the facilities are spartanic and the beach front resembles in no way the pictures you can see on their website. The pool is tiny and not very clean, which is even more of a problem since there is little to do, so most guests tend to hang around it. I believe we were the only guests paying full fare (over US$800/day) as all other guests were on really inexpensive all-inclusive packages. It is really amazing that this resort managed to be part of the small leading hotels of the the world, it hardly deserves 3 stars. We planned to stay there for 10 days and left after 36 hours... It has been the 2nd time this year that we were fiercely disappointed by a conde nast traveller recommendation.