We stayed here one week from 26/6. Most of the other reviews say it all. So here is my summary;
Rooms are fine, but several missing bits, no bath plug (replaced after 6 days), hair dryer u/s and curtain rail fell off the ceiling.
Restaurants OK, not enough staff, so slow starts and service even with buffets. Staff very helpful but stretched.
Lovely beach, but NO watersports, unless you count 7 boogie boards with more paperwork than a hip joint op.I spoke with THE hotel manager who 'promised' to get the hobies in the water.By the time this happened, I was packed and leaving.
Bars- in theory 4, often only 1 or 2 open, not enough barmen for an A-Inc resort.

As of 3/7, one accom block is still being refurbished, and the new block only partly occupied. I do not think the food/drink facilities will cope. On the last morning there was a VERY long queue for breakfast which started late as usual.

My advice; If any problems are not quickly resolved, go to the top manager or nothing will happen.
On the first night, you are pre-booked into Enid's restaurant. This is a contradiction, there are NO bookings in this place.You will have to wait a long time, so ask for a timed seating in the other restaurants.

Overall a nice place, good value at the cheap intro rate, but not good as prices rise.Should be fine, but maybe in six months.

My wife and i have just returned from the renovated Casuarina and i can't say enough good words to it justice.

Firstly we were greeted with a nice cold cocktail when we arrived and taken to our room.

Once we shown in we couldn't believe our luck it looked like the decoraters had just left with lovely colours the biggest bed you've ever seen and great view of the gardens and a nice plasma tv

From this point onward on the holiday just got better, the food is wonderful in all 3 resturants although you need to book in advance and it can be a little slow, but hey i'm on vacation so whats the rush as were on Caribbean time!!!.

The lunch time beach BBQ had to be one of my highlights with beautiful fish served.

Make sure you pay the extra $30 one night for the lobster tails mmm

Everything else really was in keeping with the room and food, the pools are great especially the pool bar which serves gorgeous cocktail and beer to, the beach is fantastic and everyone is so friendly.

We didn't travel with children however the rsorts seems very child friendly .

The entertainment finished at around 12PM each night although you could still get drinks in the late night bar, if this isn't for you then we told the party goes on long into the night in the town, maybe 20 years ago LOL

We visited the other Almond resorts via the free shuttle, however i must admit there not a patch on the Casuarina as there both a lttle tired looking, tho perfect for day trips as the pools and food were equally good.

There is some building work going on which i was told is near to completion this being located on the beach front which will have stunning view.

All in all this resort is terrific and will be the real deal once the service is improved and the beach front block is completed.

I would certainly return to this resort but would stay in the uncompleted block on the beach front as the views are breath taking

We have just returned for a 7 night stay at Almond Casuarina, When we arrived we were checked in very quickly and shown to our room in block 3, a good size but lacking the extra bed we had called the previous week to order. This was sorted out the following day by Joanna from guest services who was very pleasant and helpful.

The food quality was very good and I can honestly say I enjoyed every meal although I found the buffet lunch quite repetitive there was always something to eat. The reastaurant and bar staff vary quite a lot.. Some are clearly new but very helpful and we recognised a few who had moved from ABV..

Never used the kids club as our son loved the pool and boogie boarding but got a warm welcome from Juliette who we know again form ABV.

All staff seemed very enthusiastic about the hotel which is good. The head chef is also from ABV which probably explains why the food is good as we have never had any complaints there either.

My only thought is how are they going to cope when the hotel is full? The pool areas although lovely are not very spacious and the restaurants are not very big..I look forward to hearing for people who go in the summer holidays!

All in all a great holiday, great hotel, great staff, but loads of not so great mossies. Still would not put me off returning!

We arrived at the Hotel on 14th June and were lucky enough to be in Barbados for 2 weeks. We are regular travellers to the island and generally prefer to stay at an all inclusive on the South Coast. The Beaches here are fantastic and in our opinion much better than on the west coast.
Check in was swift and efficient by Barbados standards and we were allocated a lovely 4th floor room at the back of the property. We were a little surprised to see there was no lift and our poor bell boy had to struggle up the stairs with our cases.
Our room was lovely and spacious, all finished, very clean and we had the most amazing view over the wonderful gardens. Imagine our joy when we saw Green monkeys-a mother and her baby in the trees right about our balcony!
Generally all of the staff were extremely friendly and they can't do enough for you. As the hotel started to fill up (the Ocean view block opened on the day before we came home) it became obvious they were under a lot of pressure and it's Almond's responsibility to ensure they staff the hotel adequately as the occupancy rises.
The food quality was superb. The setting of the Dover Grill is amazing, right beside the ocean and all of the meals we had whether buffet or a la carte were excellent in all of the 3 restaurants now open. The beach BBQ was a lovely touch as you could eat in your swimsuits under the shade of the trees on the beautiful white sand beach.
The gardens are coming on really well and 'the garden of Eden' springs to mind as a good description.
The gym and the spa are not yet open and when we were there we could use the gym in the Turtle Beach Hotel next door. The spa is available at the Almond Club and Spa up on the west coast and the hotel runs a free shuttle bus 4 times a day.
As with most resorts in Barbados the mozzies are pretty bad and as somebody who gets constantly bitten my advice is to use a good repellent, keep your a/c on the coldest setting and housekeeping very kindly sprayed our room when we were at dinner every evening. I actually came home with 5 bites which is pretty good going considering I usually return from the island with bites running into double figures!
The entertainment each evening was varied and of a good quality. We were lucky enough to witness a female turtle come up onto the beach and lay her eggs.
Beware of the parasol sunshades on the beach as in the stiff breeze they tend to blow over which can be quite dangerous. I think they are more desgined for the pool areas and I understand that proper beach parasols are on order.
Finally I have seen lots of reviews saying 'slow staff' or 'staff do not know what they are doing. It's true to say that around 50% of the current team have been drafted in from Almond's other properties and the others are learning at the moment. Compared to other hotels we have stayed at in Barbados I would say the staff are not slow at all in fact on the whole we have received the fastest service we have ever received on the island. A special vote of thanks has to go to the hard working bar staff who work very long hours and do an excellent job. It was great to have our cocktails made up with fresh ingredients too.