Is Barbados the BEST island in the Caribbean?

We just got back from an amazing nights in beautiful Barbados, we spent 9 nights in paradise at what can only be described as the BEST 4* hotel we’ve ever stayed at, that also happens to be the best all-inclusive we’ve ever been to! Yes, even over 5* ultra all inclusive we’ve been to before, this beat it hands down. We stayed at SEA BREEZE BEACH HOTEL on the south of the island, which is owned by the very excellent Ocean Hotels.

We usually prefer staying at 5* hotels BUT Sea Breeze has excellent reviews on TripAdvisor so we took the plunge and we are so glad we did!

We actually used our Virgin Atlantic airmiles and 2 reward vouchers for this trip, so our economy direct flights from Heathrow to Bridgetown for the 4 of us (and it was Jack’s first flight in his own seat! Although he didn’t love landing and not being on my lap, I’ll post the Travel Day video below of you to see has reaction) and the flights came to £1100 total! Virgin Atlantic now don’t offer free seat selection (annoying) and when I questioned them about it, they said they were actually one of the last airlines to do it, I did tell them they were also one of the most expensive…. so not great. They wanted an additional £350 to select our seats for the way out or £500 to upgrade to Premium Economy (where seat selection is included) so it felt a but like a luxurious no brainer and we took the upgrade! We were able to select seats for free on the return journey so we stayed in economy for the night flight home. Our total flight cost came in at £1600.

After a lovely smooth flight to Barbados, on arriving into Bridgetown Airport, we whizzed through immigration, quickly collected our luggage and made our way out to the front of the airport to jump in a taxi. It was $39 USD one way for the 4 of us and our bags to our home for the trip. It took about 25 mins to get the Sea Breeze Beach House and when we arrived the sun was starting to go down and that magical golden hour light was starting to seep in. Our very first impressions of the hotel were that the grounds and staff were wonderful, we did have some feedback on how to improve the first impression but overall it was an easy welcome to our new home! As part of our Barbados travel vlog series, I made a whole video rating every aspect of the hotel, giving our feedback, including our first impressions so to hear and see what we thought of it and what could kibe improved I’ll pop the vlog below:

It transpires we were upgraded to an ocean view room (thank you so much!) we had no idea until we arrived back home but what a treat that was. Our room was lovely, a great size, clean with a beautiful view of the pool area and the beach.

We honestly had the most wonderful holiday and wouldn’t hesitate to stay at Sea Breeze again, we explored the island from there, its close to the famous Oistins Fish Fry (an absolute must do) and the beach at the hotel is absolutely beautiful. It’s the perfect place to watch the sunrise then sit with a rum punch and watch the sunset.

All our favourite things to do in Barbados actually turned out to be budget must do’s! So I made a video all about our favourite Barbados things to do: snorkelling with turtles, glass bottom boats, exploring Bridgetown, dinner at Oistins Fish Fry + watching the sunset from Oistins pier whilst looking for turtles, the endless sunrises and sunsets… what a place.

But, is Barbados the best island in the Caribbean? We were really surprised by how many brits there were at the hotel, it was mostly British guests, some Canadians and very few Americans. Our other Caribbean trips have always been that there were mostly Americans and that’s what we expected with Barbados, but Brit’s had the biggest majority by a long way! The Americans we did speak to over there told us about the very long journey they had to take, there aren’t many direct flights out of the US to Barbados so that could be a factor. Its also one pf the most southerly islands in the Caribbean so perhaps that longer flight make it less attractive to them? Of course for us from the UK, it’s a long flight but most flights are direct! Both British Airways & Virgin Atlantic offer regular direct flights from the main UK airports, it was 9 hours to get there and less than 7 hours to get home! I could actually have done with a longer flight home, it was a night flight and we all slept rather well, the downside was that it wasn’t long enough so we didn’t get quite enough sleep to help beat the jet lag coming back east!

The people of Barbados are so warm, friendly and welcoming, the service we received was wonderful and clearly a huge part of why so many return to Barbados time and time again. The food was absolutely excellent, we ate wonderful steak, fish and lobster. Sea Breeze Beach House actually do a Lobster BBQ on the beach every Tuesday (called Tipsy Tuesdays) and it was fabulous! It meant the boys both tried Lobster tails, and at only age 5 and 2 I think that’s pretty amazing!

The drinks of Barbados… well I can only tell you about the rum because other than water and Prosecco I honestly didn’t drink much else! Ohm, either than Banks Beer, because you can’t go to Barbados and not try the local brew! Which is light, cold and oh so refreshing under the warm Caribbean sun. Shout out to the staff at Flying Fish at Sea Breeze Beach House for keeping us well beered up during the day, shout out to the staff at De Rum Cafe who kept us well rumnmed up during the night!

There is a never ending supply of gorgeous rum and all the punches, sours and cocktails you could want. We never had a bad one! We always just asked the staff what they suggest we had, they made, we drank it, it was always delicious!

So would we go back to Barbados? 100% YES. Is it the best island in the Caribbean…. hmmm that’s a harder question. I’ve bene lucky enough to go to 12 different Caribbean islands so far and Barbados is absolutely up near the top. Whilst all the islands offer something totally different, they all have their own identities, their own vibes, Barbados is one I would absolutely wish to visit again. We want to try a Bajan 5* and see how it compares (Sea Breeze has left a strong mark, it will take an awful lot to beat it, which is amazing considering its only a 4*), I want to explore the north of the island, I want to see the horses on the beach at sunrise and I want to visit the Mount Gay rum distillery!

Have you been to Barbados? What are your favourite Bajan things to do? Would you say it’s the best Caribbean island? If not, which is your favourite? Let me know below!

Thanks so much for reading/watching, I’ll see you soon! Sam x