We have just returned from a marvellous holiday at Blue Waters. Having visited other Caribbean islands we did not know what to expect. From the moment we arrived at Reception we felt at home. The bedrooms large, clean, well equipped and wonderful view of the bay. (Oceanfront rooms). Service excellent in all areas, food in both restaurants very good, gardens beautifully kept, plenty of loungers around the pools. Can not fault it at all. Could not have wished for anything better. We live from tourism on a Meditteranean island and wish some of the 5 star hotels on our island gave the same service as Blue Waters. Congratulations to the management and all the staff. Would highly recommend to anyone. Have already booked for next year!

Having just returned from 13 nights with my wife I felt moved for the first time in my life to write a review. We stayed in a deluxe beachfront room which was spacious, very comfortable with comprehensive amenities. The friendliness and willingness of staff was outstanding. The food was superb and menus varied daily. The spacious gardens are tenderly manicured, the whole setting is beautiful. Absolutely ideal for a peaceful relaxing holiday. Management are involved and very approachable. A luxury, caring hotel.

There are lots of long reviews here so I will keep mine short. Suffice it to say that overall the trip was one of the best I have had in recent memory. However, what is good at Blue Waters is very good and what is bad is surprisingly bad. The good: the water and beach were gorgeous, the pools were uncrowded and the guests were mature and well behaved (great for an older or family crowd but, I suppose, not so much for a singles trip). I swam with a sea turtle my first day there and had no problem finding other interesting sea life to splash around with over the course of my stay. Additionally, most of the hotel staff could not have been more helpful or pleasurable to interact with. The bad: the food and the wait service. Breakfast is passable, lunch is mediocre and dinner is downright cafeteria quality - bland, uninventive and always overcooked. Combine this with always slow and occasionally genuinely rude service and expensive-for-new-york prices ($55+ without drinks) and I would highly recommend against having your meals at the hotel.

First of all lets got a common misconception out of the way - a "4 star" Caribbean hotel won't necessarily get you the same level of accommodation or service as a 4 star hotel in Dubai or the Far East so make sure when you're complaining about a hotel not being 4 star you're comparing apples with apples.

After that whinge let me say that my wife and I have just returned from Blue Waters and we had one of the best holidays we've ever had and we've travelled all over the Caribbean. Everyone we spoke to found it hard to fault anything about the hotel so if you're thinking of going don't be put off by some of the other reviews on this site.

We encountered some very minor problems and how the hotel deals with these issues is an easy gauge of how well they look after their guests. We were originally allocated Room 806 which was huge - on an upper floor with a vaulted ceiling. All rooms have huge beds, nice white bedlinen, LCD TV etc. Unfortunately the air-conditioning packed up after a couple of days - but no problem, we were upgraded to a beachfront room (602) without hesitation. On another occasion, there'd been a mix-up in the restaurant and our table for 6 had been given to someone else. Now these things happen so we were all pretty relaxed about it (remember you're on you holiday) but Edgar (the new Food and Beverage Manager) provided us with a bottle of wine the following night (a very nice Pauillac at just under a $100US!).

The food in both restaurants is superb. We had breakfast (buffet style) and lunch in The Palms and ate most nights in Vyviens - couldn't fault it. Vyviens is closed on a Friday when it's International Buffet in Palms and on a Monday when it's Manager's cocktail party and BBQ night.

As for the staff - I just cannot understand some of the other reviews on this site which suggest the staff are unfriendly. I guess I'm reminded of the old saying "you only get back what you put in" - if you talk to them, call them by their name (that's why they wear the name badges) you will find that the staff here are amongst the friendliest people you'll ever come across. There is always someone from hotel management around - either the Duty Manager, Edgar (see above) or Marina (the Deputy GM) and expect to be asked regularly (i.e. every day) if you're having a good time, have you had a good day, any problems?

We were on an all-inclusive basis so a word of warning if you're thiking about going for 2 weeks and save some money by booking B&B. There are no cheap options for eating and drinking near the hotel. A beer at the bar will cost you nearly $6US, lunch (with a couple of beers) will cost $25-30US and a three course dinner for 2 at Vyviens with a bottle of house wine will cost around $150US so my advice would be book AI and forget about it.

St Johns is good for shopping - lots of jewellry and watch shops as well as perfume, clothes etc - expect to save around 30% on the UK costs.

So in summary, we had a fantastic time, would recommend it to anyone and will definitely be returning.