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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
Andrew D
20 years 2 months ago
Booked this as a late availability. On arrival staff were very friendly & helpfull. Location of hotel is superb, no problems crossing the road to the beach even with 2 children.

Only disappointment was that even though it was all inclusive once you had eaten in the restaurant in the evening there were no snacks provided, so kids sometimes went hungry !

On a positive was the drinks which were all branded and not the usual "local" cheap stuff. Staff were helpfull but did take offence if you pointed out things like the lack of snacks. Excellent value for money.
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Travel operator: Virgin

Recommended
Tracey Spires
20 years 3 months ago
We stayed in the Escape Hotel and Spa and it was wonderful.

The staff at the hotel are kind and welcoming, the food is excellent and the beach although small is kept very clean by the beach staff. My son who is 12 was made to feel very special.

This is an excellent hotel for anyone who wants to relax and enjoy the easy going lifestyle of the caribbean we have been twice and many of the guests we met were returners.
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Travel operator: Virgin

Recommended
20 years 5 months ago
We stayed at Escape Hotel & Spa, Prospect Bay, Barbados for one week commencing 8th May 2004. First time in the Caribbean and won't be the last. The location of the hotel was great for the main building, as it overlooks the beach and sea. The room was a good size and cleaned daily, with both bath and beach towels provided. The food was very good, the choices were changed daily with a very good selection for all meals, especially the a la carte dinner. The hotel staff were very friendly, efficient and welcoming. The entertainment was of a good standard, it got us up dancing anyway! The hotel offered complimentary bus shuttle service to Bridgetown 3 times daily, but you need to book for the drive there. Would go again to this hotel.
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Travel operator: Virgin

Recommended
J. Tindall
20 years 7 months ago
This was our first visit to the Caribbean & we loved it. True, the hotel could be better situated & having the hotel split on either side of the road doesn't do it any favours. That said we had a deluxe room with a sea view which was fantastic. The beach & watersports were great & the food in both restaurants was excellent with plenty of choice. The hotel was very clean with maid service daily including the change of towels (beach & bathroom). Very friendly staff who went out of their way to help you. Nightly entertainment was OK but nothing to write home about, but Holetown a town only about 5 minutes taxi ride away has loads of bars were you can party the night away.
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Travel operator: Virgin

Recommended
Richard Newitt
20 years 9 months ago
We had a fantastic time here (all 14 of us) and could not fault the hotel at all. The service from virgin and all the staff at the Escape was superb, and we could not have wished for a better holiday.

The hotel is all-inclusive with a buffet breakfast and lunch and a la carte most evenings in the main restaurant. There is also another restaurant, which is open for lunch and evening meals. The food in both restaurants is great and you could probably never eat the something twice on a two-week holiday. The drinks that are included in the all-inclusive package are great; the house wine was really drinkable, as was the house beer.

The beach is OK if a little small, however as all beaches on Barbados are public you only have to walk around the corner to find a perfect stretch of deserted sand. You can walk for quite a long way in both directions along the beach before you can go no further. If you walk to the right from the Escape's beach you will eventually reach a point were the sea reaches the cliff face. It is possible to wade through the water and reach the beach the other side and eventually reach Bridgetown (the capital) although you should be prepared for crabs large and small covering the rocks and at one point you will have to walk through a small cave waste deep in water with crabs crawling across the ceiling a couple of feet above your head (great fun).

We stayed in the deluxe rooms, which had the best view you could possible hope for. Some of our group stayed in the spa rooms, which although they did not have the view were just as nice as the deluxe rooms inside.

There is really very little not to like about the Escape and I would highly recommend this as a safe bet for a holiday to the Caribbean. It easily out does most accommodation in this price range.

As stated above we travelled with Virgin and the flights were excellent. Each seat had its own TV with around seven films playing at the same time. There were so few people on the plane (747) all fourteen of us could have sat at a window seat or slept across a row of three seats for the whole flight.

All in all a superb holiday and we will all be going back as soon as possible.
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Travel operator: Virgin

Recommended
20 years 11 months ago
Having just returned from a fortnight stay at Escape at Prospect Bay and having reviewed some of the comments on other websites posted we went with mixed opinions. When we first arrived at the hotel our hearts sank as the first impressions were not that great. Thankfully we proved to be wrong! We stayed in one of the villa rooms. The room was basic but kept clean on a daily basis with towels refreshed daily and new sheets on a regular basis. As we did not spend a lot of time in our room it was sufficient for us. All communual areas were clean at all times, as were the two pools. The gym was working, so was the steam room and the jacuzi. Although the hotel is beachside, the beach is rather small for the number of guests staying at the hotel. Although sufficient loungers are provided for all guests, they took up most of the beach space making it feel it little bit cramped. Nightly entertainment is provided 6 times a week which is best descibed as low key for our age group (30's). All staff were very courtious and friendly and would go out of their way to make you feel comfortable. During our 14 day stay we can honestly say that we did not have one bad meal. The quality and presentation of the food matches that of any more expensive hotel. Both the Seascape Restaurant and Garden Room Restaurant provided excellent a-la-carte meals in the evening. Breakfast and lunch were served buffet style from the Seascape Restaurant and these meals were also of good quality. An extensive cocktail menu is also available from the bar which served the drinks without having to wait too long. The watersports facilities are good so was the complimentary catamaran trip to swim over a shipwreck provided for Virgin Holiday guests. Overall we would recommend the hotel to those wishing to stay in a relaxing environment with good quality food. It is excellent value for money baring into mind the price you pay for the holiday. If you want to spend 14 days in utter luxury, you could spend easily 5 times the amount of money and stay at the Sandy Lane Hotel! You pay what you get for and for what we paid we received excellent value for money.
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Travel operator: Virgin

Recommended
Sarah
20 years 11 months ago
I would never stay at this hotel again and would not recommend ever.

When we travelled I was pregnant and on crutches. We had booked and paid extra for a delux/superior room as this would be our last special holiday before our baby was born. On arrival there were no delux rooms left so we were put in a standard room and told we would have to change rooms after 3 days. When we complained to the Virgin rep she was not remotely interested it was only through our own complaining and battles that we were finally mopved the following day, not sure how the room suddenly became available???

Among the events whilst we were there included, out of date cokes in the mini bar. Chicken served up pink (not helpful to eat when pregnant). A man on the next table to us in the restaurant picking a live catapillar out of hs salad starter. Plates were not cleared regularly at breafast and lunch encouraging birds to eat off off of them in the restaurant. Sugar and coffee were not replaced daily so often ran out and had to go and collect from the restaurant. On the one occaision we did ring down to reception and asked for some to brought up after 45 minutes and 3 phonecalls still no joy so gave up!!

3 burglaries from the villa rooms whilst we were there 1 whilst the guests were asleep in the room. Got friendly with several other guests. Several of which also had to move as rooms were smelling of sewage, 1 couple were moved 4 times in a 10 night stay!!

Only 1 bar with 1 barman so took ages to be served when you wanted a drink. We used to get 3 at a time to save on hassle also not enough seats in the bar if you ate late you had nowhere to sit. Had to book eating time in reatusrant so you had to queue up daily to do this sometimes taking up to 20 minutes out of the afternoon. Food vey average and not a lot of choice also quite repetitive. Garden reatsurant was better although you can only visit once a week. Also be aware the hotle is split in half with a very busy main road between.

Only plus point was being located on the beach so lovely views from balcony although get up very early if you want a sunbed either on the beach or by the pool.

Have travelled to the Carribean and with Virgin several times before and found this to be without doubt the worst holiday ever. Disapointed does not even begin to cover it longest 14 days of my life I think.
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Travel operator: Virgin

Ruthiebaby
21 years 8 months ago
We chose this hotel for the location and value for money - we were not disapointed!! The position on the beach is perfect, it was lovely to go to sleep listening to the waves lap the shore. The food was excellent and the staff just could not do enough for you - really nothing was too much trouble. The only down side was the "firm" beds and inadequate amount of parasols on the beach. Towelling was rife, if you didn't get on the beach before 9.00 am, you had no chance. I did complain to the rep and she told me to just take the towels off and hand them in to the beach shack. I did this once after sitting in baking sun for a couple of hours watching an unoccupied parasol and 2 "reserved" loungers. Entertainment was good - don't miss The Divas! We will be back!!
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Travel operator: Virgin

Recommended

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