Have just returned from a two week stay and can report that it was everything I thought it would be from reading the previous reviews. All in all we had a great time.
On arrival we waited some time for a cart to take us to our room - tiresome after a very delayed Virgin flight and with two small children, but unfortunately we arrived just after two other families so had to wait for the cart to take them to their rooms first.
We stayed in room 182 - fantastic views and close to all amenities. Rooms are large and I found very clean - housekeeping was great even returning a cuddly bunny that my son lost when I bundled up the bed sheets one morning for the laundry. As one reviewer has said - don't leave anything to dry on the verandah - it will blow away! Wouldn't recommend the sofa bed for anyone but small children.
Not sure that they can claim any real eco credentials as the amount of discarded beach towels far exceeded the no. of guests it seemed. More effort should be made to encourage people to think about waste and they use only plastic disposable cutlery at the beach bar! They do use solar power tho' and their own desalination process.
The kids club staff were very friendly - activities were very limited but my kids seemed to like it for the fact that they could watch TV without me nagging them! It is not really a pool here - more a paddling pool. They will also braid the girls' hair. You can take food from Seabreeze or preorder from the kids menu for them to have dinner here in the evening if you want some time to yourself.
The main pool is horribly cold and not good for young children who cannot swim. It's also very exposed and windy, so make sure you don't forget how strong the sun is - several people went lobster! The adult only pool was filled on our last day and looks as if it will be up and running very soon.
We mainly used the beach - great for young ones, as it is small enough to keep the children safe from wandering off. The watersports are good too, we used the Hobie's, kayak's, pedalo's etc. Tip - don't bother buying buckets and spades in the shop - they have lots of these to use down on the beach. There are few parasols but you can generally find shade under the trees. We were told that the hotel was fully booked for our second week but it never felt crowded.
Make sure you prebook the restaurants the day before each evening as when Buccaneers and Nicole's are open they fill up fast for the earlier (child friendly) times. No surcharge for Nicole's yet - the food is very good, esp the desserts. The food can be quite repetitive but generally what i would expect from an all inclusive. One annoying quirk is that they offer coffees at breakfast - latte's, cappo's etc but don't have the facilities to make it there - this is made down at the bar area so chances are you'll have finished your breakfast by the time it comes. We gave up after a couple of times and asked for tea instead! Service is usually very good - Caril particularly but all were very friendly in Nicole's.
Guest services were fantastic - Margaret in particular, and made sure my daughter's birthday was special. Can't praise their heplfulness enough.
If you're confident to drive - do! It was great to get out and explore independently. You can walk to Long Bay where the snorkelling to the right is great - Mama Pasta's is also very good and very picturesque.
The spa was not up to scratch for the price - I was one of three people that had to return the day after a pedicure because it peeled. Did hear that the massage was good - they are offering a 25% discount currently. The shop is also ridiculously expensive for some things - $9.50 for a UK paper!
Finally the owner is quite often to be seen around the resort and is very keen to hear your views - he arranged a kettle immediately for our room as they don't come as standard.

This resort may be eco-friendly but needs to concentrate on being customer-friendly. Travelled with 4 children and booked 2 inter-connecting rooms to find that they inter-connect via an outside door on the balcony. I had to leave the heavy sliding doors onto the balcony unlocked at night in case my children needed to come in. The food was OK-but a distinct lack of fresh fruit or shellfish. Despite advertising 3 restaurants, there was never a time during our stay that all 3 were open on 1 night. Bucaneers a la carte restaurant was a joke as the menu never changed (apparently it does change, every 6 months!) Slightly boring when we were all inclusive for 2 weeks! It was also really dark in Bucaneers, no candles anywhere and no atmosphere. Seabreeze restaurant offered a buffet option but this was not very exciting as the food rarely changed. Apart from a couple of people the waitresses were a bad tempered lot who couldn't wait to clear the plates away-even if others at the table were still eating. Room service is not available. Canned drinks are charged. The shower screens are fixed in such a way that you have to stretch right over the bath to fill it-and it's impossible to bath babies and toddlers in without getting in yourself. There were frequent power cuts, the most annoying being on a regular basis at 7am when the fire sensor would bleep. There were 40 uneven stone steps down to the beach and no way of getting a pushchair down without help (not forthcoming from the water sports guys at the bottom of the steps, lounging on their sunbeds!) Definitely not a family friendly hotel and really shouldn't have more than 2 stars.

LizzieDNJ's review is right on -- but our perspective is quite different because we were not on a vacation for couples or a romantic getaway -- we were with our 2 kids (11 and almost-9 years old) for our winter escape on feb. 15-23. We also did not pay top dollar (got one night free out of 8, so the wallet different suffer too much -- much cheaper island than Turks & Caicos or Bermuda).

The resort is great for families and groups of friends planning a get-away. It is not the place for a romantic retreat. Everything Lizzie said is accurate: good to mediocre overcooked food; poor variety of food; everytyhing done out of one kitchen. Service is average at best, but the staff were all friendly and attentive when you needed it. The Guest Services staff (especially Margaret) were above average and wonderful.

The weather has been "bad" for about three weeks -- "bad" meaning a lot of sun, but also some strong downpours, and very, very windy all the time. The resort is on the Atlantic side of the island, not the Caribean side, so it is very windy, the water is cool and the snorkling is horrible (at least when we were there). If you want a picturesgue Carribean beach don't stay here. But this resort is picturesque in its own right (see description below).

No reviewer has adequately described the facility: It is not a high rise hotel. It is a sprawling "village" of about about 150 two-unit cottages built into a rolling hillside. Our unit was perfect for us(except for the screaming 4 year old next door -- but I blame the kid's parents not the resort for the noise). Our unit was in the 100s - overlooking the beautiful bay. One queen bed and a pull-out sofa for the kids. No privacy, for the parents, but it was ok for us. I could understand people who are dissapointed if they get a unit way up on the hill with a poor view and near the kids club or veranda "mess hall."

The resort is huge. It is beautiful (but not in a "Carribean beach resort" way -- it is not like the "resort row" one would find on Aruba, for example). It is spread out so it will probably never seem really crowded -- except at breakfast and dinner when everyone is forced to eat in the same general location (the big "Verandah."

If you are thinking of not going All-inclusive, think again. There are no restaurants for miles, taxis are expensive and the roads are horrible as are the local driveres (like every other island we have visited). and you have to dodge sheep, goats, donkeys and potholes and speading locals!

I am not disabled or elderly, but my opinion is that The Verandah resort is not good for disabled or elderly persons due to the hills, many stairs and distances between things. One must use long steps to access the main beach. All door knobs are old-fashioned round design -- not the lever type. I don't know if there are specail units designed for disabled persons, but our shower would have been nearly impossible for a disabled person to use.

The resort needs to fix the poorly designed bathroom shower enclosures -- ours allowed water to flood the bathroom and we used three extra towels a day to mop it up. And clotheslines should be installed in the showers -- to dry bathing suits, etc. It is too windy to hang items on the large rear porch, so people put items on the front porches which is unsightlly, but there are no other choices.

The resort is not "eco-friendly:" for example, it does not have any motion sensors for lights or faucets in the public toilets, nor handblowers -- one must use paper towels that come out in bunches. These seem to be shortcuts the resort took to save money in the short run.

The kids club has an amazing playscape. There is a nice gym.

The kids loved the food and frozen drinks and activities (the kids loved everything). But discerning adults will find the resort to be a bit like summer camp -- do your activities, and show up on time to eat fairly average or below average food (always overcooked) at assigned times. Food exception: the soups and sauces were excellent, as were the omelet-makers. Deserts were pretty good too. The food definetely was not 5 star!! Bartenders and their drinks were good and premium if you asked for it.

Our favorite things that we did: Black Swan Pirate Ship Cruise; Zip line through the jungle (not for little tykes, disabled or elderly); renting a car and visiting Half Moon Bay beach, Darkwood Beach and other "carribean-type" beaches. Scuba diving with Aquanauts -- run by an excellent divemaster (thanks John), but becasue the weather was so windy, the visability was poor and we were limited to where we could go. Again just a bad windy weather week -- but this is not a "divers' island." Visitng Nelson's Dockyard (for some history).

The much hyped Shirley's Heights is a great view and a great sunset, but the Sunday night gathering to hear a steel drum band is not worth fighting the crowds or the $8.00 entrance fee. Go when the crowds are not there.

Cons -- driving on the island is crazy!!

Pros -- very nice people compared to some other Carribean islands. Felt very safe and welcome at the resort and on the island overall.

Date: February 19-22
My husband and I along with our two friends have just returned from the Verandah Resort and Spa. We were looking for a relaxing getaway for a few days.
On the positive side, this resort is relaxing (almost too much so!) The weather is warm, but that was impacted by the high winds on this side of the island. It is not a gentle breeze, it was downright windy. The temperature of the water in the pools was cold. At night, the wind made sitting at the bar uncomfortable (at least for my husband and myself). One other positive was that the liquor was top shelf, however you had to be specific about what you wanted. We found most of the staff to be pleasant and accomodating.
Cons:

The pool was not very spectacular. The water was cold. There were enough lounge chairs to accomodate the number of guests. However, this was half term week, and the resort was only 40% full. I don't know how they will accomodate all the guests when they are at full capacity. The beach was manmade, small, not what one thinks of when they think of the Carribean. In order to access the beach one has to climb down approximately 40 steps. The beach bar is at the top of those steps.

There was construction going on, however we weren't impacted by that. The construction was at the front of the resort. This brings me to another negative. In order to use the minimart/gift shop, you must take an electric cart. This means that you have to wait at designated locations or call from your room.

The food was mediocre at best. There were three restaurants. When we booked, we were told there were three restaurants to choose from daily. At best, there were only two. Nicole's is the supposed high end restaurant. It was scheduled to be open two of the nights we were there. When we tried to book it on the Thursday night, we were told that a switch had been made and it was booked privately. This was disappointing, since Nicole's was the best of the worst.

All the restaurants use the same kitchen, as they are all in the same building. There is very little difference between each of the restaurants. The breakfast buffet is adequate, however not spectacular.

The rooms were clean, but not nearly five star., The furnishings were in good shape, but the hotel only opened in October.

I think this resort would be good for young families. I was expecting much more for the price.(we paid top price) All in all, luckily all we wanted to do was relax, and that was accomplished.