Almond Beach Village 2004
We departed on June 18th from Philadelphia International on USAir. We arrived at the airport 2 hours prior to our flight. We hoped to have time to grab a quick breakfast before our 4 hour flight to Barbados. No such luck! USAir had several Caribbean/Mexico flights leaving at the same time and we had an hour wait to check in. The flight was uneventful. USAir’s Airbus 319 was the usual cramped seats and stale bagel breakfast. They now charge $5 for the headphones which they toss in the trash at the end of the flight so feel free to save them for your return trip.
We arrived in Barbados the same time a Virgin Atlantic 747 was arriving from London so we had to wait about 30 minutes to get through customs. The drive to the resort was approximately 45 minutes. The island is not a lush tropical island. It was pretty dry. Be prepared for a variety of views from rickety shacks to a shopping mall.
When we arrived at the resort we were greeted with a nice cool rum punch (just plain punch for the kids). There is no front desk. You are seated at a small desk and your host explains the lay of the resort. Some of the restaurants at the resort require reservations. The hotel made our first night dinner reservations for us at the Beach Barbeque. We were then escorted to our room.
We had a 1 bedroom pool view suite which consisted of a master bedroom with a king bed and a living room with a sofa bed. Without my asking they gave us a twin size cot. In the room there was a refrigerator, 2 TV’s, ironing board and iron, and 2 hairdryers. Each room has a balcony with a table and 2 chairs and a full bath. In all honesty the room was nothing special, quite plain in fact. In the end we spent very little time in the room so it did not matter at all.
The Resort
The resort is nicely laid out. It is separated into several villages. One side of the resort is adult only while the other side accommodates everyone. Each village has its own pool within easy reach. We were in St. Bernard’s village. There were 3 pools close to our village and the kids club was in our building. We were traveling with friends and their air conditioning was not working properly. Maintenance was not able to fix it and guest services promptly moved our friends to a new room. We did not ask for the new room they offered it. Problems will occur the question is how quickly will they fix the problem? Almond scored high points for their attentive service. When ever we requested more pillows, new towels, etc. they came almost immediately.
Activities
There are many activities available to guests. The water sports center is located on the beach near the adult village. At the water sports center you can get kayaks, snorkeling gear, windsurfing, sunfish and as well as make arrangements for water-skiing, hobie cats and reef fishing. The guys that work at the water sports center were wonderfully patient. Both my kids learned to water-ski in 1 lesson. My oldest Zack was weaving in and out of the wakes and was even trying to ski on one leg by the end of the week.
The snorkeling gets a special mention. I love snorkeling and would spend all day in the water if I could. The snorkeling right off the beach was incredible. I saw several eels, a hedgehog fish, several gars, tangs, sergeant majors, blue wrasses, etc. At one point I was surrounded by 100 + blue tangs. I was in heaven.
The resort also offers tennis, golf, shuffleboard, ping pong, billiards and several fitness classes. You will not be at a loss for things to do.
Children’s Program
The Kids Club was located in our building. Generally my kids do not wish to participate in these types of activities. This time however my youngest son Matt (age 12) decided to participate. The offered Nintendo 64, bingo, dance contests, etc. They could even eat dinner with the Kids Club or go for a swim as well. He seemed to really enjoy meeting new kids. Most of the kids were from England so they had a bit of a challenge understanding each others accents. Matt did announce that now he understands the difference between fries, chips and crisps. He also made some friends that we hope he will be able to keep in touch with. Though we did not participate in the Mini Kids Club for the very young children I did go take a look and they had a very nice setup for the little ones. I would feel comfortable letting my kids stay there while I went to the beach or for a swim.
The Beach
Almond Village has a beautiful mile long beach. While we were there the hotel was between 85-89% full. There were plenty of beach chairs and umbrellas available. The beach is also dotted with several trees which offer good shade from the hot sun. We situated ourselves close to the water sports center each morning. This was close to a restaurant and bar as well as bathroom facilities. You are given beach towels when you arrive and you may exchange them for clean ones in the kids club or at the water sports center. At the end of your vacation you must turn your towels into the water sports center and get a receipt to show at check out. Be warned if you do not do this you will be charged for the towels.
Weddings at Almond
We witnessed at least 1 wedding per day at Almond. They offer 2 venues for a beautiful ceremony. They have a lovely white gazebo on the beach and an old sugar mill in the middle of the grounds. Both are beautiful locations for a wedding. Some of the ceremonies were small and intimate while others had quite a few people attending.
Restaurants
The food at Almond was outstanding. They offer 4 main restaurants and 2 buffet restaurants. Breakfast is always a buffet but lunch and dinner is available a la carte restaurants. Please note that gentlemen are required to wear pants at all restaurants in the evening. Kids 12 and under are exempt from this rule.
Enid’s - One of our favorite restaurants, is a Bajan style restaurant. They offer a cooking school to guests of Almond Village. The chef Sofia was wonderful. Our favorite dish the flying fish in a Creole sauce. The best desert (bread pudding) was also at Enid’s. They top bread pudding with rum raisin ice cream and then pour a sauce made from coffee cherry jam, whipping cream and rum over it. It was incredible!
Horizon – The largest restaurant which offered a different menu or buffet each evening as well as a full buffet breakfast and sit down lunch. The food was excellent. For breakfast each morning they offered individually prepared omelets as well as scrambled eggs, bacon, pastries fruit, etc.
The Reef – A seafood restaurant in the evening. It also served a daily buffet breakfast similar to the Horizon restaurant. They also offered “kid” foods buffet from noon till 8:00 pm every day. The kid’s food included great pizzas, hot dogs, hamburgers, fries, salads and deserts. Next to the buffet they had a self serve soda machine as well as soft ice cream, tea and coffee which were available all day as well. In the late afternoon we would wander over to the kids buffet area for a slice of pizza and cocktail before dinner. For sit down dinners they offered a full menu of mostly seafood items.
La Samarita – The only adult only restaurant at the resort. It is beautifully decorated and air conditioned. They offer a wonderful selection of appetizers. Too many to choose just one so they offer an appetizer platter where you may combine 3 appetizers. Entrees were quite good as well. The service, although quite good, was a bit pretentious for my tastes. They bring your entrees covered in a silver dome and lift the domes all at the same time. The service was perhaps a bit too good. We brought our oldest son Zack to the restaurant and he nearly drowned in Shirley Temples. Every time he got close to finishing a glass they brought him another one. The resort offers a complimentary house red or white wine but we choose to purchase a bottle from the wine list. The price was fairly reasonable for a restaurant (about $30 US for a Fetzer Pino Noir). Dessert was excellent. We had a traditional Tira Misu with Cappuccino
Hamper Lunches –When staying at an all-inclusive resort it is hard to justify leaving to see the island when you know you will miss that all important next meal. Almond offers a nice service. You may order Hamper lunches (picnic baskets for Americans) 24 hours in advance. They come in an insulated container and include sandwiches, fruit, desserts, yogurt and sodas of your choosing. We order 4 hampers for the 7 of us for our sightseeing trip around the island. There was plenty of food and drink for everyone. A very nice touch!
Bars and Nightlife - There were several bars. Each restaurant has it’s own bar and there were 2 beach bars. The drinks were strong and plentiful. When ordering rum drinks ask them to use the Mount Gay Dark Rum. It really adds a nice flavor to the drink. They made fresh smoothies for kids at the bar next to the Water sports Center. All the beach bars had self service soda and a bucket of ice available at all times. Every night there was some type of entertainment. They had a great band that played all types of music. On Saturday night they have a Caribbean buffet with local music and entertainment. They also have local craft vendors come and show their wares. My son Matt bought custom made sandals from a nice man named Bruce. Bruce measured his foot on Saturday and brought the sandals on Sunday. They were a bit too big so he took them back and made news ones and delivered them on Monday. They were only $35. They made a wonderful souvenir . Rachael’s is an adult only night club that opens at 11:00 pm. I am sorry to say I never was able to stay up late enough to participate in the action. From what I heard it was a lot of fun.
The Island
Barbados is a lovely island with lots to offer. We honeymooned in Barbados at Glitter Bay 18 years ago and fell in love with the island. We remembered how wonderful the people were and were anxious to share our love for the island with our boys. We rented a car for the day and drove to our favorite spots. We first stopped at Animal Flower Cave. When we found this 18 years ago we thought what type of a tourist trap is this? It’s basically a hole in the ground. You walk down limestone steps into this incredible cave. Animal Flower Cave is located at the Northern most tip of the island where the Caribbean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean. A guide takes you around the cave and shows you the Animal Flowers(sea anemone) growing in the pools of water left from storms. It is my favorite spot on the island. The views from inside the cave are incredible. Once outside of the cave make sure you walk around a bit to see more beautiful views and stop for a drink in the bar.
Bathsheba - Our next stop was Bathsheba on the Atlantic side of the island where there are tidal pools you can bath in. As we drove there we were flagged down by a teenager who offered directions and wanted us to let him show us the island. He then proceeded to ask for money since he gave us directions. Normally we would have refused but he had 5 friends waiting nearby. This was not what I remembered about Barbados. Had we not been with our kids we would have just driven off and taken our chances but because we did not want trouble we regretfully gave him a few dollars. We mentioned this to the rental car agent and he said the government of Barbados is taking steps to stop this type of thing from happening. It is not island wide just in the northern rural areas.
Now here’s an example of what I remember about Barbados. After leaving Bathsheba we took a wrong turn on our way to the Wildlife Reserve. A nice young gentleman noticed we were lost and asked if we needed directions. When we explained where we wanted to go he said follow me, got into his car and drove 20 minutes out of his way so we could follow him to our destination. He asked for nothing and expected nothing. He was just being kind. This is the real Barbados!
Wildlife Reserve - We had been here before in search of the Green Monkey. It’s a nice zoo with lots of free roaming animals. The price included admission to the Signal Station a historic building that offers wonderful views of Barbados. Unfortunately we still have not seen a Green Money. I guess we’ll have to go back!
Other places to visit- Mount Gay Rum Tour is a great stop. You can sample the wonderful rum while you learn more about Barbados’s history and how rum is made. Harrison’s Cave is also a very popular stop. Visitors are driven in electrically operated trams down through the extensive system of caves and at the lowest level point in the cave, visitors are invited to leave the tram and walk alongside a spectacular waterfall which plunges into a deep pool below .
Shopping - Barbados offers the usual Caribbean stores. There is a Columbian Emeralds store at the Village as well as 2 other souvenir stores. In town there are 2 large department stores that carry a wide variety of goods. Also in town is an artists village called Pelican Village. They offer a large assortment of handmade goods as well as artwork.
Overall Impression –We truly enjoyed our week in Barbados. Almond Beach Village is a wonderful resort. The staff couldn’t be nicer and more accommodating. Zack and Matt both expressed their thankfulness that their Mom is a Travel Agent. They have already asked when we are going to go back to Almond Beach Village. I have to admit I too can’t wait to return.
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