My wife and I visited Barbados in Oct. 2007 and thoroughly enjoyed the trip. We stayed at the Hilton on the West Coast which was very very nice.
The highlight of the trip was the WONDERFULLY FRIENDLY People in Barbados..gracious, hospitable abd friendly. To get around the island we used a taxi ( driving is on the left side of the road & automobiles have a right hand drive ) and met a Great Driver named DARREN who was professional courteous and honest with his rates. If you go to Barbados please use him..you will NOT BE DISAPPOINTED ( 246-429-4315 !!!
Restaurant recommendations..The Brown Sugar just outside the Hilton in walking distance..try the Baracuda it is excellent as are all the dishes. Up the West Coast we dined at THE FISH POT ( reservations required ) which was excellent and THE CLIFF Restaurant ( Unbelieveable experience though expensive and definitely must have reservations ).
Beaches are neat & clean and Crane Beach & Bottom Bay are worth some time jusy looking at the beautiful sand. The Bajan people are VERY RELAXED & Stress just melts away !!! AHHHH

Besides the local residents the beaches were the next best thing on Barbados. After travelling the entire island on a tour and by hire car we found so much poverty. The West and South were tourist heaven except for the heavy traffic from 7-9am and 4-630pm and lunch. I did find the drivers to be polite and to "GIVE" all the time. It was 88*F and muggy and felt like 99*F and the night time was 78* still muggy, from 2-8 October. Food is very expensive in grocery store's and restaurants alike. They eat a lot of chicken! Sugar cane is a huge industry and they export it to England all they cannot use. They spoke better English than Cayman or Bahama's and seem to be struggling with construction jobs that just never get done;Maybe their independence from the Queen isn't going as good as it should. The locals we talked to love it there and those staying on the water at all-inclusive places loved it too. The airport is very new and clean and easy to navigate. The local food taste great for those of us that like a little spice up to extreme spice if you so desire, they will accomodate anyone down to no-spice. The water is very safe and is self-filtered through the limestone base, it is sometimes warm as it is closer to the surface but remains great water. The sand on the beaches is primarily White going from the South up the West coast when it changes to golden sand around Bridgetown, the capital. The roads are rough and in very bad condition outside the normal tourist area's. If your driving go SouthEast and then North and meander throughout the countryside and see beautiful churches, monastary, and cliffs with jagged edges overlooking the Atlantic. Barclays Beach is a nice stop on the East side, clean restrooms and a beach and view. Friendly locals that wave as you drive through their villages or bus stops. There appears to be zero crime here but you still have that feeling that its not true. Never be too trusting.

US money is 2 for 1 in Barbados but from the time I spent my first dollar I was cheated.
My resort was fine and the people that worked there, but I did not like the country.

Me and my girlfriend were very excited to go to Barbados we had been planning on going there for over 10yrs but some place else always came up. So on her birthday last October 2006 we decided to go to barbados instead of our normal spot. Well to say the least we did not enjoy it at all. The people were not the friendliest hello, good morning was like pulling teeth. (maybe they dont like americans).

the only good thing well i will say two good things were their museum and the plantation show excellent. but we will never spend another of our hard earned american dollars there!!!!!!!