Barbados trip

Hey folks,

Came home yesterday after 16 days in Barbados.
Flew from home to Stavanger, then to London, slept over one night and
continued with BWIA to Barbados. Everyting went smooth, even if we had our
daughter that is soon 2 years old. Traveling with small kids/babies dont
always have to be stressful. They dont always cry. And we were lucky to have
4 seats, so she could sleep on 2 of them. No problem!

We were going to try a new hotel this time, and decided to go for Coconut
court hotel. Located less than 5 minutes walk from the hotel we have stayed
at before. The reason for the change was that Michelle have to go to sleep
early, and then we are stuck at the hotel. And Sierra dont have nothing
going on at night, so we are all alone all the time. That is boring.
www.coconut-court.com is much larger, and have beach bar, pool bar and
restaurant. Perfect for us. And guest can go all inclusive as well. We dont
do that. But since they have that offer, it means that there will always be
people around at the hotel. And that is how we like it. We want to socialise
and meet other peopole. And so we did. Michelle had friends to play with,
and we met some very nice people from britain, australia and canada.
I can highly recommen Coconut court for all people, exept those that is
looking for a party 24h hotel. But for those ones, Barbados is not the place
to go anyway.

We did not do a lot this time. Just took it easy. Did not even go on any
excursions. Not even the catamarans. Belive it or not!
We rented a car and took an island tour. Thats all.

So what is new in Barbados? Well, some things did we see: Oasis has closed
down due to financial problems. Clut Rockley (Rockley resort) had closed
down due to financial problems. And Barbados Pavilleon had closed down
because of financial problems. We did not even know of Barbados Pavilleon
existed. For those of you that know Barbados well, you have probably noticed
a red ruin building across the street of Coconut court. It has been ruin
since 1960s. Last year they built it back up, and was opened as a high class
restaurant and meeting center. Membership club. They opened in december, and
closed down just some few days after we came.
We went to show some people Shells guesthouse, but that was closed. Dont
know what happended. There was a woman at the property, but she knew
nothing. Did not look like Shells had open for a good while. And there were
nothing in the builing as we could see. Shells used to be our favorite
restaurant.
Cacrabank used to be a nice and cheap place to stay. Now broken down and
build up. Large large compared to how it was. And splitted in 2 different
hotels. Blue Orchids Beach Hotel and Coral Mist Beach Hotel. It looked
really nice, so we went in to see. The hotel is brand new, and rooms looked
good. But where were the pool bar? Were was people?
There were no pool bar! So no one was hanging around at the hotel either at
daytime or at night time. That is not how we like it. Not that we want to
spend all our time at the hotel, but we want to have some time there, and
then someone to hang out with there. But not at those hotels. I can not
belive that. In Europe NO ONE would build a hotel like that.
Barbados Hilton is soon finished. Will open this year. Will be more than
twice the size of any other hotel in Barbados.

St. Lawrence Gap look nicer than ever before, and all work up there is now
finished. I was at Ship Inn one night, but we did not go there to eat. Some
local friends told me that the food was not as good as it used to be. So we
went on down to Steak house instead. And to celebrate our 10 years
anniversary, we went to Josefs. Josefs is number one on the south coast!

The low american dollar make it cheaper for us in Barbados. But still:
Barbados is not cheap place to go. While in Thailand and places around
there, you can eat for 3-4 dollars, you have to pay 20-40-60 in Barbados.
And for the price you pay for a 3 star hotel in Barbados, without food, you
get a 5 star hotel in south east asia, including brekfast.

Crime was said to be lower, but was on the rise again. We came to Barbados
in the afternoon, and stayed that night at the hotel. Next morning I took a
walk, and had walked for 3-4 minutes before I was asked if I want drugs.
That is a dark chapter of Barbados. Some people on the beach also bugged me
several times. And when I passed them one day, I saw a british couple
arguing with them loudly. The couple stayed at the same hotel as we, and I
asked them later what happened. Drugs they said. They wanted to push drugs
to the english couple, and they were very offended by that. Sad.

I saw they advertised for a president for Barbados Board of Tourism. WOW,
that is a job I would like to have. Wish I was qualified!


OK, end of story.


Leif Arild
No way

On Wed, 12 May 2004 16:57:09 +0200, "Petal & Leif"
wrote:


So what is new in Barbados? Well, some things did we see: Oasis has closed
down due to financial problems. Clut Rockley (Rockley resort) had closed
down due to financial problems. And Barbados Pavilleon had closed down
because of financial problems. We did not even know of Barbados Pavilleon
existed.

Leif,

Barbados has had bad news regarding hotels. Sam Lord's Castle closed,
Club Rockley also closed a few years ago. Even though the Hilton will
be open soon, the island may have a shortage of rooms for the growing
tourism market and the Cricket World Cup.
--
Visit Caribbean Aviation:
http://www.caribbeanaviation.com/

"Roger Chung-Wee" wrote in message
...

Barbados has had bad news regarding hotels. Sam Lord's Castle closed,
Club Rockley also closed a few years ago. Even though the Hilton will
be open soon, the island may have a shortage of rooms for the growing
tourism market and the Cricket World Cup.
--

Hey Roger,

Yes, this is a phenomenon that I dont understand. Some hotels are closing
down, while there seem to be a shortage of rooms in the island in general.
Coconut-court was full when we were there. And is so most of the time they
said.
Lots of cricket people were there, and you can imagine it was full party
when England won

We will try to work hard towards getting back for christmas, and the hotel
manager said we must book soon. Hotel is always overbooked at that time, and
that was a big problem he said. Because if all people come, there is very
very hard to find another hotel that has vacant rooms.

Did I mention that Richard Branson was on the same flight as we on the way
home? He sat 6 seats in front we.

Leif Arild

I imagine Sam Lord's Hovel (as a friend called it) shut down because they
had poor service. At least they did for him... he left after two days when
he was going to stay two weeks.

Leif: I would suggest that you're probably more qualified for that job than
a lot of the applicants they will get!

--


Keith
__
It's only unethical if you get caught.
"Roger Chung-Wee" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 12 May 2004 16:57:09 +0200, "Petal & Leif"
wrote:


So what is new in Barbados? Well, some things did we see: Oasis has
closed
down due to financial problems. Clut Rockley (Rockley resort) had closed
down due to financial problems. And Barbados Pavilleon had closed down
because of financial problems. We did not even know of Barbados Pavilleon
existed.

Leif,

Barbados has had bad news regarding hotels. Sam Lord's Castle closed,
Club Rockley also closed a few years ago. Even though the Hilton will
be open soon, the island may have a shortage of rooms for the growing
tourism market and the Cricket World Cup.
--
Visit Caribbean Aviation:
http://www.caribbeanaviation.com/

"Keith" wrote:

I imagine Sam Lord's Hovel (as a friend called it) shut down because they
had poor service. At least they did for him... he left after two days when
he was going to stay two weeks.

Leif: I would suggest that you're probably more qualified for that job than
a lot of the applicants they will get!

If it is a matter of being Bajan, maybe Petal could do it.

grandma Rosalie
http://www12.virtualtourist.com/m/4a9c6/

"Rosalie B." wrote in message
...
"Keith" wrote:

I imagine Sam Lord's Hovel (as a friend called it) shut down because they
had poor service. At least they did for him... he left after two days
when
he was going to stay two weeks.

Leif: I would suggest that you're probably more qualified for that job
than
a lot of the applicants they will get!

If it is a matter of being Bajan, maybe Petal could do it.


I would get a working premission in Barbados....


Leif Arild

"Petal & Leif" wrote in message
Did I mention that Richard Branson was on the same flight as we on the way
home? He sat 6 seats in front we.


Was this a Virgin flight or was he sussing out the opposition?
Surely he wasnt in 'economy'?
Did he get special attention?
(and are you sure it was him? Someone who works with me once visited some
business at Gatwick, and couldnt understand why he was being treated so
well, and getting 'looks' from everyone; turned out they thought he was
Richard Branson - he does look a bit like him)
--
Rita Daggett

"Rita Daggett" wrote in message
...
"Petal & Leif" wrote in message

Was this a Virgin flight or was he sussing out the opposition?
Surely he wasnt in 'economy'?
Did he get special attention?
(and are you sure it was him? Someone who works with me once visited some
business at Gatwick, and couldnt understand why he was being treated so
well, and getting 'looks' from everyone; turned out they thought he was
Richard Branson - he does look a bit like him)
--

It was for sure Richard Branson. I spotted him when I put up things in the
locker over our heads. We had the seat just behind the curtain to first
class. Later on he walked back to go up the stairs to the cockpit. He then
shook hands with passengers on that side. I was of course on the other side
(da...it).
When we landed at Gatwick on the Virgin flight, the captain stressed that it
was very important that we were seated with belts. It was very very foggy
and he said he did not see anything in front. So all people sat still, exept
the man running arond like an ant. When we parked, he grabbed the mic, and
said something like "Good morning, this is Richard Branson. I want to thank
all the crew for doing a great job, and thank you for flying with Virgin".
Sir Branson is not that well known in Norway. Probably because we dont have
any Virgin Records stores, Virgin dont fly up here, and we dont drink Virgin
Cola or use Virging phones either.
I know him from reading the book "Dirty Tricks", and has since then been a
BIG fan of him.

I was in fact also mistaken for being a famous person once. A family in
London mistaked me for being a chelsea coach (think it was chelsea)...

Leif Arild

Sounds like you had a good relaxing time. We go 4 weeks tomorrow to
Casuarina and can't wait.
Surprising to hear about Rockley! Is there a drop in tourism at the moment.
Think there must be considering how much they used to charge.
Interesting to hear you went to Coconut Court. It's always a decent price
and we took time to have a look at it last time. We were impressed and it is
likely we will go there in the future.

Richard
"Petal & Leif" wrote in message
...
Hey folks,

Came home yesterday after 16 days in Barbados.
Flew from home to Stavanger, then to London, slept over one night and
continued with BWIA to Barbados. Everyting went smooth, even if we had our
daughter that is soon 2 years old. Traveling with small kids/babies dont
always have to be stressful. They dont always cry. And we were lucky to
have
4 seats, so she could sleep on 2 of them. No problem!

We were going to try a new hotel this time, and decided to go for Coconut
court hotel. Located less than 5 minutes walk from the hotel we have
stayed
at before. The reason for the change was that Michelle have to go to sleep
early, and then we are stuck at the hotel. And Sierra dont have nothing
going on at night, so we are all alone all the time. That is boring.
www.coconut-court.com is much larger, and have beach bar, pool bar and
restaurant. Perfect for us. And guest can go all inclusive as well. We
dont
do that. But since they have that offer, it means that there will always
be
people around at the hotel. And that is how we like it. We want to
socialise
and meet other peopole. And so we did. Michelle had friends to play with,
and we met some very nice people from britain, australia and canada.
I can highly recommen Coconut court for all people, exept those that is
looking for a party 24h hotel. But for those ones, Barbados is not the
place
to go anyway.

We did not do a lot this time. Just took it easy. Did not even go on any
excursions. Not even the catamarans. Belive it or not!
We rented a car and took an island tour. Thats all.

So what is new in Barbados? Well, some things did we see: Oasis has closed
down due to financial problems. Clut Rockley (Rockley resort) had closed
down due to financial problems. And Barbados Pavilleon had closed down
because of financial problems. We did not even know of Barbados Pavilleon
existed. For those of you that know Barbados well, you have probably
noticed
a red ruin building across the street of Coconut court. It has been ruin
since 1960s. Last year they built it back up, and was opened as a high
class
restaurant and meeting center. Membership club. They opened in december,
and
closed down just some few days after we came.
We went to show some people Shells guesthouse, but that was closed. Dont
know what happended. There was a woman at the property, but she knew
nothing. Did not look like Shells had open for a good while. And there
were
nothing in the builing as we could see. Shells used to be our favorite
restaurant.
Cacrabank used to be a nice and cheap place to stay. Now broken down and
build up. Large large compared to how it was. And splitted in 2 different
hotels. Blue Orchids Beach Hotel and Coral Mist Beach Hotel. It looked
really nice, so we went in to see. The hotel is brand new, and rooms
looked
good. But where were the pool bar? Were was people?
There were no pool bar! So no one was hanging around at the hotel either
at
daytime or at night time. That is not how we like it. Not that we want to
spend all our time at the hotel, but we want to have some time there, and
then someone to hang out with there. But not at those hotels. I can not
belive that. In Europe NO ONE would build a hotel like that.
Barbados Hilton is soon finished. Will open this year. Will be more than
twice the size of any other hotel in Barbados.

St. Lawrence Gap look nicer than ever before, and all work up there is now
finished. I was at Ship Inn one night, but we did not go there to eat.
Some
local friends told me that the food was not as good as it used to be. So
we
went on down to Steak house instead. And to celebrate our 10 years
anniversary, we went to Josefs. Josefs is number one on the south coast!

The low american dollar make it cheaper for us in Barbados. But still:
Barbados is not cheap place to go. While in Thailand and places around
there, you can eat for 3-4 dollars, you have to pay 20-40-60 in Barbados.
And for the price you pay for a 3 star hotel in Barbados, without food,
you
get a 5 star hotel in south east asia, including brekfast.

Crime was said to be lower, but was on the rise again. We came to Barbados
in the afternoon, and stayed that night at the hotel. Next morning I took
a
walk, and had walked for 3-4 minutes before I was asked if I want drugs.
That is a dark chapter of Barbados. Some people on the beach also bugged
me
several times. And when I passed them one day, I saw a british couple
arguing with them loudly. The couple stayed at the same hotel as we, and I
asked them later what happened. Drugs they said. They wanted to push drugs
to the english couple, and they were very offended by that. Sad.

I saw they advertised for a president for Barbados Board of Tourism. WOW,
that is a job I would like to have. Wish I was qualified!


OK, end of story.


Leif Arild
No way

http://clubrockleybarbados.com/
according to their site, they have closed for renovations.

"Petal & Leif" wrote in message
...
Hey folks,
Clut Rockley (Rockley resort) had closed down due to financial problems.