We rented a villa last Christmas but had to stay for four days in a hotel. By good fortune we booked a West Coast boutique hotel called Treasure Beach www.treasurebeachhotel.com , just half a mile from the famous Sandy Lane celebrity hotel. We were so impressed that following a family bereavement we went back in April and can thoroughly recommend this excellent boutique hotel. Its run by Hamish Watson who built up Cobbler's Cove Hotel into one of the best West Coast places to stay a few years ago. Hamish has succeeded again with Treasure Beach. With only 29 suites the hotel runs like clockwork thanks to Hamish and an evidently happy staff. Happy staff are an essential ingredient for any successful holiday experience and the Bajans are a happy lot by and large. If you can stretch your budget to it, go for an ocean view suite as we did. There is nothing like waking up to the sparkling blue Caribbean or watching the sun sink in the west right opposite your balcony! Sunsets in Barbados can be truly spectacular and we once witnessed the fabled and elusive "Green Ray" shoot heavenwards as the sun sank below the horizon. However even some of the less expensive garden view suites, are also blessed with glimpses of the sea over the garden and pool. Each room has an un-stocked fridge apart from milk for your room's supply of tea or coffee. There is a toaster and kettle so those hankering for a simple tea, toast and marmalade start to the day on their balcony can do so - also useful if you want to buy some of the excellent local Banks beer for ready use in the room! There are excellent supermarkets on the island, the closest is at Sunset Crest close to Holetown so stocking your fridge with what you fancy is not a problem. If you don’t have a car its just 3 dollars Bajan ( about 80p) for the Bus for as far as you need to go - hang on tight tho' if you catch a yellow bus rather than the Government blue buses! One tip - the food is excellent at Treasure Beach. However as guests will see from a note in their rooms each course is cooked to order - no pre-cooked microwave dishes here! Hence courses arrive at a very leisurely Bajan pace requiring patience and interesting conversation between courses! The hotel recommends pre-ordering and relaxing with a pre-dinner drink (or two) at the bar or by the beach under the enormous canopy of an old Mahogany tree which stands right by the beach.

There is a wide range of choice as to where and how to stay on the Island. However, if an intimate well run hotel is your kind of place like us, the Treasure Beach experience left us with the firm conviction that we would stay there again in preference to any of the better known and larger hotels on the West Coast

One thing - Treasure Beach does not have its own inclusive water sports - but jet skis and sailing boats as well as water skiing are available on the beach and via the hotel reception.