Coconut Bay Resort and Spa
My wife and I travelled to this resort at the beginning of May for a week’s relaxation and some much needed sunshine. Although the weather was somewhat cloudy it was however sunny and nice and warm. It was a different kind of heat which we are used to as we ended up being sunburnt on our first day without feeling the heat too much.
The hotel itself is a nice 3 star hotel with all the trimmings that you would normally get with this quality of hotel. The room had 2 queen sized beds in it a nice fitted wardrobe, tv with satellite channels and comfortable chairs and table in it. It also had a balcony which looked out to the sea and towards the adults only swimming pool and bar.
I would like to add that all the rooms look out onto the sea so no matter which type of room you opt for you will get a seaview if that’s what you are looking for.
The hotel has 3 swimming pools which consist of one main large pool where children can play along with their parents etc, a games type pool where the hotel on busy times would have water activities such as water volleyball etc and aerobics and there is an adults only pool where it is just what it says it is. It is away from the two other pools so you can have some quiet time and away from the hustle and bustle of the two other main pools. There are also waterslides but at the time of our visit one was closed but the other was open. They have supervisors at the waterslides to make sure nothing would go wrong but no lifeguards at the pools. There is also a lazy river which is good if you just want to relax and let the water drag you along.
Other activities at site include pool ,darts, table tennis and they also try to get you involved in other activites. It was quite difficult for the staff to be motivated at the time of our visit as the hotel was very quiet but they do try and get people involved wherever possible.
The restaurants consisted of the main buffet restaurant where breakfast, lunch and dinner are served. For us we found breakfast was certainly the best meal of the day as the food was fairly varied and hot, however at lunchtime and at dinner time it was rather bland ,unvaried and we found that the food seemed to be prepared with peppers and garlic. It was also quite cold so we were rather disappointed at this. We did not venture to the speciality restaurants as my wife is a vegetarian and there were no menus available to be easily seen as to what was on offer at the restaurants. They also have a beach bar which served fries, burgers, various toasted sandwiches from 10 am until 1 am which does come in handy if you are not too hungry at the main mealtimes.
The entertainment at the hotel was good, they had a pirates night at the main stage we missed the pirates show which was shown earlier in the evening due to being away on a sightseeing trip but we did catch the fire eating show and limbo dancing which was entertaining. The hotel serves up the evening meal outside at the front of the stage where the show takes place and they have plenty of waiters/waitresses at hand to make sure you have plenty of drink coming your way. The meal is buffet style and you help yourself. The party goes on well into the evening and the staff let their hair down and encourage you to join in the fun. It is a very good night. On other nights they have live artists playing guitars, pianos , jazz musicians etc and they also have a part of the evening where you can take part in karaoke if you like. On another evening they have a show where they encourage guests to show off what talents they have. It can be a hit or a miss really depends on how brave people are and how good they are at what they believe they can do.
There is a lobby bar which can become quite busy as some of the shows are in the lobby but the staff try and get everyone served as quickly as they can. Crazy Charlie is one of the staff who is always singing away to himself, its like he is on a different planet but he is a good guy. There is a pool bar which can be very busy as the serving area is large but only 2 members of staff man the bar at any one time so it is sometimes better to go to another bar if you desperately need a drink.
The adults only bar is beside the adults only pool which is quiet and away from all the noise of the larger pools. Its where you can relax and chill out and have a chat with the other guests.
There is a nightclub but we never made it there as the sun took all our energy out of us or maybe it was just a bit too much of the free alcohol that’s available to you. It opens about 1030 pm but cant say anything apart from it looks like a large lounge in a big house.
We went on a three trips during our week there. Firstly we went on the Mystic Man Sunset Cruise which is a yacht trip from Soufrierre which is about one hours drive from the hotel. It cost US$ 80 per person. We travelled in minibus which seated about eight of us and it is rather cramped and it can become stuffy as the air conditioning does not circulate too much around the minbus. The yacht trip is nothing exciting I’m afraid. You basically sit down on your behind and the boat goes down towards the Pitons preferably by wind but if there is no wind they use the engines. There is not much room to move about on the boat so basically once you have sat down that’s it until you return to port. We did not really get much out of it as we have been used to catamaran trips at other places we have visited and they play music and there is a an open bar with beer , wine and rum available, but on this trip it was restricted in that you were given a few glasses of rum punch and a glass of fizzy wine that’s about it. It was not very exciting and we were quite disappointed by it owing to our previous boating experiences.
One trip we would definitely recommend is the Couples Escapade Tour it costs US$ 150 per couple. The trip lasts five hours and is a private tour where you are taken by air conditioned car to various points of interest on the south side of the island. You have your own personal driver/guide and if you get a gentleman called Stuart you will be delighted with this experience in your very own chauffeur driven car. He is very informative and conversation with him is great and relaxed, nothing is a problem and he is very aware that he wants to make sure that you have a great time. You are taken to various spots of interest such as the drive in volcano and sulphur springs which really smell so don’t go there with a hangover. You also go to the botanical gardens, now take it from me, my wife and I are not into flowers but Stuart arranged for a guide , Alexander, to show us round the gardens and he was very entertaining. If you are British and can remember David Bellamy he was like him very excitable and a bit eccentric but fun to be with. He works for himself so you are advised to give him a tip at the end of his tour of the gardens which last about 45 minutes. Once you come out the gardens you make your way back to your car where the minibuses are also waiting for their guests and this is where you really feel the difference. Stuart opened the boot of the car and produced wet cold towels for us to wipe ourselves with and then offered us beer and fresh fruits and then opened the doors of the car for us to get back into the air conditioning of the car whilst the other people were cramming themselves back into their minibuses. Call us snobby but to us it was well worth paying the difference in price to see the look on the other tourists faces whilst we were treated like royalty, that’s how it felt. Stuart took us to other spots of interest and made sure we stopped off at good vantage points for some photos. If you do go on this trip make sure you go up towards the lighthouse as you get a superb view of both the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea and the lovely houses up there are something else.
Our final trip was horse riding for 2 hours. We drove for about 10 minutes from the hotel to a small horse stables and went for a ride. We are not experienced riders but do try it each time we go on holidays. You are taken along the cliffs edge and then down along to very lovely beaches. The horses are trained to follow one another but sometimes they have their own minds and veer off a bit but in general they are easily controlled. Remember to cover up in suntan lotion. No need for a hat as they provide riding hats. The cost of this trip was US$ 55 per person.
All in all the holiday was superb apart from the food at the hotel but if you can get past that we would certainly recommend the hotel as the staff were extremely helpful and cant do enough for you. We booked the trips with Maxwell at the services desk inside the hotel as really there is nowhere else to book them. He also comes back to see you on your return to make sure all went well with your trips
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
