I stayed at the Verandah for a week in mid November and I have to say I enjoyed the holiday but the hotel has problems.

Firstly the construction of the rooms was poor and I doubt they would survive even a mild hurricane, especially as it's so exposed and the rooms are elevated on stilts!

The resort only had 50 rooms open and when it's fully open with 150+ there will be problems. Lack of sun beds, queues at the bar and crowding of the restaurants etc. It's also meant to be an eco-resort but that's rubbish. They've basically managed to fit as many rooms on the resort as possible with no regard for the countryside and some of the "bay views" are mainly of roof tops of other rooms. I spoke to some locals and they said they never wanted the resort to be built and didn't have many kind words for the developer.

The beaches were small and again only a few sun beds. The sun beds themselves were very uncomfortable and look very cheap. Not what you'd expect from a 4* resort.

The food was good and waiting saff friendly but I would re-iterate that the "fine dining" was the same menu every night and not worth the extra $25 you'll be expected to pay in the future.

They are also building 60 villas opposite the resort called Verandah Estates and that will add to the amount of people using the resort and in my opinion it will be too many.

On a positive note the staff were very pleasant and was the main reason I enjoyed my stay.

My view is to go now before it gets too crowed and don't pay full price.

We arrived back from the Verandah resort on Saturday 24 after our 2 week stay.

After reading some of the reviews I agree with some points but not other but I guess what people want and expect from a holiday do vary, although in my experience the Caribbean is much the same.

We were met by very friendly reception staff and offered a nice drink, we were then driven off in an electric buggy to the rooms. They have made great progress on the resort over the last 2 weeks before we arrived and more so whilst we were there. There seems to only be 2 villa shells left, shame they are on route to the available room, bad planning there even the green shielding around the bases would be a quick win.

Our room was great 176, we paid for an oceanfront room and it was great with a nice view, highly recommend rooms 162 onwards if you are on the front row. In typical Caribbean style the rooms are clean and practical but they certainly look very plain compared to the offerings in say Mauritius or Maldives etc.

During our stay we found the staff very friendly and helpful with good manners and what seemed like a genuine attitude. Some of the restaurant staff need more experience which I am sure will come with time but they need to ensure it is soon as it seems to be getting busier each day.

We were lucky enough that all 3 restaurants were open when we were there and the food standard was above average for an all-inclusive resort. The fine dinning restaurant that currently is included on AI was good but not worth the planned $25 surcharge they plan on charging.

The weather was great with only 1 morning and 2 hours 1 afternoon lost to the rain.

The pool is very nice, clean and had plenty of sun beds, as did the beach once they moved 20 from the other beach near reception.

During the managers evening he announced the kids pool was open along with the kids play area, also the tennis courts would be complete on the 1/11/07. They are all working very hard to get this place ready, we were advised that completion by end of December was now unlikely and end of Feb 2008 was more the case.

Overall and enjoyable stay in a nice resort that in 6 months time when it is all complete the dust has settled and the plants have grown a bit will be a genuine 4 star resort.

Paul

Just returned from the Veranda. Pleasant enough resort. I generally agree with previous reviews. However, PLEASE BE AWARE: My mobile phone
was stolen from my room. Someone with a master key entered the room as
it was impossible to get in any other way. The hotel staff were ok but
I had to insist that they allow me to make a free phone call from the room and also I had to pressure them to call the police. All these arrangements were carried out begrudgingly. Having read previous reviews, it seems this has happened before. This is not a good sign for a newly constructed resort!!!! I will NOT be going back to the Verandah

Just got back from the Verandah resort. Spent a week celebrating my mothers 70th birthday. The resort is nice, but most resorts/vacations away from the cold weather are nice.

Yes, the resort is still under construction. However constuction noise is not an issue. Landscaping is new so you are still going to see some areas were plants/trees have not grown in.

The food is O.K. Typical resort food in my opinion. If you are use to fine dining this is not a resort for you. I did have a fresh tuna starter that I thought was excellent, but besides that I was just O.K. with the food/dining.

Staff was very plesant, but still green. I tipped most of my servers, but I did not see a lot of tipping in general. Needless to say they were very appreciative when you gave them a few bucks.

The beach was o.k.. However there are 42 stairs (I counted) to get onto the beach. Which means there are 42 stairs to climb to get off the beach. Not an easy task for an older person or a person with disibilities.You better not be a smoker. In addition there is no bathroom in the beach area. You have to climb those 42 stairs and then a steep hill to use the bathroom at the pool. The beach bar is also located at the top of those 42 stairs. We only had a server on the beach 1 day out of seven. I was very disappointed about this. The water is nice, but the beach area could have been raked more often. If you want more of a surf beach this is not the resort for you,Stay at Coco Bay. We had no problem getting a lounger or a spot in the shade, but we were usually on the beach by 9 a.m.

The pool area is nice and they do have servers coming around on a regular basis. Plenty of loungers as well.

The rooms are beautiful. We stayed in villa 155 and the view was great. Beds are comfortable and the bathrooms are big. They never stocked the frig, but I'm sure if I made a phone call to the front desk they would have.

This is not a resort for pre teens/teens. My children 14 & 11 would have been bored to tears. Maybe in a few years they will add some activities to draw this age group.

Entertainment is minimal. Don't expect to see big shows. Each night they had a different band/singer in the bar area. Just o.k. nothing special. They do have a casino, but it has not opened yet. Looks small.

We took a day trip around the island which was good but expensive. If you want to book trips do so early because they don't run daily.

Over all I enjoyed myself. It was a very relaxing trip (read 4 books).If your looking for lots of excitment do not go to this resort. As it matures it may be better.