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Tropical Escape Hotel

5 of 7 hotels in St James

4 out of 5 from 28 reviews
4 stars
Highway 1, Barbados
This attractive and extremely popular hotel offers an extra-special atmosphere. It really does offer something for everyone with the impressive adults-only spa Hotel which was added in 2002 and with its own large freeform swimming pool.

28 Reviews

Traveller Rating

  • Excellent
    10
  • Very Good
    12
  • Good
    3
  • Average
    2
  • Poor
    1

Review Overview

  • Cleanliness
  • Entertainment
  • Food
  • Service
  • Location
Keith
18 years 4 months ago
Our second stay at the hotel. It is now exclusive to First Choice. Almost everybody in the hotel was a returning visitor (some for the 7th time!), a fact which tells it's own story.

It remains the same, brilliant laid back easy going friendly hotel. There were a few teething problems with first choice but the hotel is fantastic. This is a small hotel, just a couple of floors and no lift, also not on the beach so maybe not for you if you are disabled!

It has a small pool and meals are served at set times. It is not a hotel for children being quiet. The beach is magnificent and easily reached across the main road (traffic just stops and lets you cross).

The food is simple but plentiful. The rooms are large with super sized comfortable beds. The staff are fantastic. It is situated on the west coast away from the livlier areas like the Gap but close to Holetown.

I will be back again next year and this time for 4 weeks! cant wait. Just a word of caution, if you are the type who likes everything to be perfect, spotless 4/5 star then you won't like it here!
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Travel operator: First CHoice

Recommended
Big Paul
18 years 5 months ago
Well this hotel is now a awful. It used to be GREAT but it's no more than a 2**+ as it's dirty. It is split into 2 hotels and the beach side is an absolute disgrace but the other side it nice and is worth a 3***+.

Food is nice so no complaints but the rooms are out of the 70s and that's council housing 70s.

Staff are great but watch out for the snidey remarks behind your back someone on reception

Bar closes early in both hotels but brochure states late bar which don't exist. Don't get a garden Villa, I won't explain why as it would take 2 days to explain the faults and filth.


You have to book every night for your meals and put 2 hours aside to get served as its that fast. No food or snacks after meals so eat up and starve until breakfast.

Cataman trip is FREE so take it as you swim with Turtles and the food on cat is spot on.

Go on regaee buses as they are great. The wild birds in the resturant attack your food while you are eating, dropping bird droppings everywhere.

I would NEVER return to this hotel but will go again to Barbados. Best night out is Oystens with pub crawl it the best night out you could wish for, its absolutley FANTASTIC.

Well I've given you a quick guide to this.

Big Paul H
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Travel operator: VIRGIN

MarkJ HT Mod
18 years 6 months ago
This has been our second stay at this hotel after last visited it in November 2003.

The hotel is located on the West coast of Barbados. Transfer time from the airport was about an hour. Check-in was swift with luggage moved to our villa rooms as and when we were ready after enjoying a cooling welcome drink.

Being beachside, it is only a few steps to the hotel's beach where there are plentiful loungers and parasols provided for all guests. No need for 'towelling' of loungers at all! Non motorised watersports are provided within the holiday costs, with additional motorised facilities provided by local entrepreneurs at a price to be agreed with them.

Breakfast and lunch time meals are buffet style with a wide variety of dishes to choose from. Lunch can be taken in either the Garden Room restaurant across the road (which is a-la-carte) or the Seascape Restaurant which overlooks the Caribbean Sea. Evening meals are a-la-carte 5 times a week in the Seascape Restaurant with the remaining two nights buffet style. A-la-carte dining is also provided in the evening 6 times a week in the Garden Restaurant. Reservations are required for all evening dining which is not a problem as these can be made for the duration of your holiday on your first day of arrival. The quality of the meals is best described as outstanding.

The hotel has three bars. The main two bars open at 10:30 and close at 23:00. There is an additional after hours bar that opens at 21:30 and serves the last drinks at 01:00 hrs.

The hotel is split in two sections and you will need to cross a road to get to the Adult Spa section of the hotel where the bigger of the two swimming pools is situated.

Service is excellent. Staff are very friendly and will always make time to have a chat or assist with any queries you may have - just treat them they way you want to be treated and their first impression of being 'grumpy' or 'sultry' will disappear.

Overall, we enjoyed our stay again and will recommend it to those wishing to enjoy a relaxing and quite holiday in Barbados
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Travel operator: Virgin Holidays

Recommended
18 years 9 months ago
We are lucky enough to be well travelled in the Caribbean and are a retired couple.

This is without doubt the friendliest and least pretentious hotel we have ever stayed in. Nothing is too much trouble for the genuinely lovely staff. We thought this rubbed off on the guests too, we met people from all walks of life and everyone was relaxed, happy and friendly. We felt that the atmosphere of the hotel was its most appealing quality.

The mostly a la carte food would challenge the most expensive restaurants and was top quality.

It's a quiet location with a deep, soft sand beach.

The entertainment is low key, but honestly, by the time you have spent all day relaxing, you do not want too much evening partying - or you go out of the hotel for it.

There's a late bar on the spa side of the hotel, also a convivial sort of place to finish off your day in. The spa is a real bonus, great treatments, huge pool - and no kids under 16 on that side of the hotel.

We will definitely be back and recommend the hotel highly.
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Travel operator: Virgin

Recommended
Natasha Street
19 years 1 month ago
This hotel was all inclusive which proved very worthwhile.

Entertainment was very low key....but who even noticed with Barbados being laid back so much.

The staff were the friendliest people I've ever met and there were very handsome bar staff named Tony and Dylan.
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Travel operator: Thomsons

Recommended
Penny & Dave
19 years 2 months ago
The Escape Hotel & Spa, as far as we are concerned, is a very good hotel with excellent food, staff and location. We have been to this hotel 7 times and are going back again in September this year.
OK,so the entertainment isn't always fantastic but over the years we have seen some really good live acts. If you want nightlife then this is not the hotel for you, you will have to take a taxi elsewhere for that.
We have met some really nice people there.
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Travel operator: Virgin

Recommended
E Whitley
19 years 5 months ago
This was my 3rd visit to Barbados & so far the best hotel. I previously stayed at the other Escape hotel (Tropical). Entertainment was very low key and could be better. It finished way too early - although there is another bar at the spa which is open til 1pm.

The Spa treatments were fantastic & I would recommend using it.

All staff are very friendly - especially Sandra, Hayden & Wayne (stress).

Food was a la carte most nights, and was excellent.

hope you enjoy it!

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Travel operator: Virgin

Recommended
Helen &les
19 years 5 months ago
The hotel was great and the staff brillant.
The food was excellent we were in the spa rooms the only fault was the main road you had to cross to get to the spa.
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Travel operator: virgin

Recommended
19 years 6 months ago
First impressions were great on this hotel,we were sat down in the lounge bar and given a cool drink and a briefing from the receptionist for checking in, and filled out forms etc in comfort.The room was excellent, we had one of the family rooms on the first floor overlooking the pool bar, clean, bright and very comfy.Plenty of wardrobe space and shelving but no drawers anywhere.Lots of power points for mozzie plug-ins etc.Food was really good, 4 nights a week a la carte and one night barbecue, rest was buffet.Imaginative choice of menu, well presented and wine kept flowing throughout.The staff really were very helpful throughout the hotel, polite and very efficient.The beach is lovely, just across the road and the traffic does stop to let you over.Entertainment was low key, the highlight being the drag act, well worth a look, everyone in the hotel was up dancing the night they played.The other nights we had a band singing calypso and reggae, a steel band and a girl vocalist.The all inclucive is really good value, drinks were of a good quality and those cocktails are to die for.Cannot wait to go back!
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Travel operator: thomson

Recommended
Lyn And Dave Tyrer
19 years 6 months ago
We stayed at the Escape Hotel and Spa at Prospect Bay St James Barbados. We had a fantastic time, our room overlooked the beach it was beautiful to see the sunset in the evening. our room was clean and tidy each day clean towels were provided. The food in the Seascape restaurant was excellent with lots of variety. If you want a very quiet and romantic meal then visit the garden restuarant just across the road, here they serve the most delicious food which is fine dining, each meal served is a masterpiece. The staff are very freindly and welcoming and nothing is too much trouble for them. We both visited the spa and had different treatments, this was fantastic and absolute luxury, the girls there where unbelivable and very well trained in the various treatments.The evening entertainment was pretty low key, we would have liked maybe one or two nights of traditional Bajan music. All in all we had a brilliant time, we made many new freinds both from the UK and Barbados. We will definately go back. Thanks to all for the best and most relaxing holiday we have ever had. see you next year
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Travel operator: virgin

Recommended

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