Sea Breeze Beach House by Ocean Hotels

The Sea Breeze is the best hotel we have stayed at on Barbados . The staff are excellent and the choice of food offerings through the different restaurant and bars is superb . All along a lovely huge beach and with three pools and two hot tubs. Rooms are huge with two double beds and a good sized bathroom with fridge with bottles of water replenished every day and tea and coffee making facilities . Will definitely stay again when we return . Great value Read less

We ve just got back from such a relaxing holiday at Sea Breeze. It’s in a great location on the South Coast about 20 mins from the airport and 10 mins from Oistins. We used the hotel shuttle to get there for Fish Fry, which we loved (although some other guests took our seats on the earlier return shuttle and this wasn’t checked, the driver came back for us 10 mins later as promised so all was well). From the moment we arrived we loved our added extras of drinks on arrival and in our luxury ocean front suite, there was free flowing alcohol if needed, a beach bag and snacks. Our view was incredible (literally over the sea, which you could hear all the time). We did hear the entertainment when it was in the Mahogany bar below us, but the entertainment moved around the complex each night and was finished by 11 so never disturbed us and, in fact, the standard of the entertainment was fabulous. We went to a managers cocktail party at the Rum Bar which was nice and the steel drum player was amazing. Great modern times and created a great vibe. For us the entertainment was a bit “lacking” in that there was very little dancing and staff joining in in the evenings. Tipsy Tuesday was lovely on the beach, but fizzled out about 8pm and no dancing. I think more people would have been up dancing if it was “encouraged”. You can book your restaurants up to a few days in advance so you need to pop to do this a couple of mornings, but that was never a hassle. We were up and did this before breakfast. Always a place where you wanted to go, but the Cerulean was closed over the weekend for us (I think because it was quiet) so check that. We were leaving our 2nd meal there to our last night, but then couldn’t. Although we did love Aqua Terra too. We enjoyed the food, but some may say limited choice. The staff were great - Marcia with the best strawberry daiquiri! Damian and chisorn and we had a great trip on the Hobbie Cat with Josh. Added touches like cold towels and ice lollies round the pool were lovely and much needed! We liked the water activities - trampoline and loungers in the sea, kayaks (with fish jumping out around us) and boogy boards. Front desk staff also knowledgeable and really helpful when we needed them, which wasn’t often as we stayed mostly at Sea Breeze. We do wish we’d ventured out more - as when we did we had a great time. The vibe at Fish Fry was great (albeit slow service as it’s so busy). Get the earlier shuttle is our tip and we ate at Uncle George’s. We also loved our taxi tour of the island. Such a beautiful place and we hope we get to come back. Other than the first few days, which were busy with kids for half term, it was such a relaxing vibe. Don’t be put off if you’re a couple - an adults only area caters for you! Never a rush, nothing was too difficult and we all had an amazing time (we had an 11, 15 and 17 year old). One thing I would say is that they should enforce their signs for no reserving of sun beds! If they said they would remove towels if left for more than an hour, there’d be more choice as to location and you could move around more freely in the day, rather than staying in one place. But again, this was easier after half term and we managed to find a spare bed on the beach in the afternoon. We loved the beds with canopies on. Another good touch. The buildings may seem a bit tired in places (this just added to the relaxed feel) but not in our rooms at all. All in all an amazing holiday and we hope to be back! Read less

We recently stayed at Sea Breeze and were unfortunately quite disappointed with several aspects of our stay. Firstly, the food options were extremely limited. For a resort of this advertised caliber, I expected a diverse range of dining choices, but was met with a very basic menu that never changed. This made meal times quite monotonous. Additionally, we encountered issues with the door locks to our room. On multiple occasions, we found ourselves unable to enter our room due to malfunctioning locks. The AC was also malfunctioning throughout the week. We immediately brought our concerns to management who were not interested and completely brushed us off. Overall, the value for the amount we paid was not up to par. Given the limited amenities and the issues we faced, I feel that the resort is extremely overpriced. The sunsets and beaches are beautiful! Read less

TL;DR - better options available, particularly if you have kids. I don’t leave many reviews, most resorts/holidays have a problem or two and I usually just shrug them off but with this place it was a constant frustration day after day. The way the hotel is run is just not good enough for the price. First off, this is not a 4/5 star resort. The beach and location is excellent but everything else falls a long way short. It’s much more like a hotel offering half board with drinks thrown in, not the full all inclusive basis that you may have experienced elsewhere. I think my biggest gripe (out of many) is the system they use for the restaurants. Every single evening meal has to be booked in advance. This takes away all the flexibility and spontaneity that is the norm for an all inclusive experience. On a Monday morning I don’t want to have to make a decision on where I want to eat on the Tuesday and Wednesday evening. We were holidaying with two kids and one of the reasons we booked Sea Breeze was the all inclusive aspect with several restaurants to choose from. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. For example, on our first morning here (Monday) I went along to one of the restaurants where you have to book. I was informed the only space available was Cerulean restaurant at 8.30pm. Same again for Tuesday night. Or I could book into the Mahogany buffet. (We had to eat here on the first night and it’s appalling). I informed the member of staff, not sure of her name but surly and couldn’t care less attitude (think it’s in the training manual here) that 8.30 was too late for my kids to be sitting down to dinner. Shrug of the shoulders. Asked to speak to the restaurant manager and to be fair she managed to change the bookings to 6.30pm which I appreciated, although as the week went on I never saw any restaurant more than half full at anytime so not sure why getting a time to suit was such a big deal. Whilst I had her attention I told her that for an all inclusive hotel the booking system was ridiculous. Even the buffet has to be booked. It’s not what I expected and I would never have booked this hotel had I known. An all inclusive should be about guests doing what suits them, not adhering to strict timings issued by the hotel. The food at the main restaurants is just about OK but nothing more. We ate at Cerulean four times across the eight nights of our holiday and it was the same menu every night. Changes every 3 days according to the management…. Aqua Terra, we had one meal here and it was similar to Cerulean, OK but that’s it. The entertainment was provided by a table who had had enough of waiting and gave the staff a bit of verbal on the way out. The kids couldn’t stop giggling at the naughty word that was used a couple of times (rhymes with hit…). Service throughout the hotel is slow. I know you’re in the Caribbean and the pace of life is a bit more laid back but waiting an hour and a half for four mains with no starters is a bit much. I lost count of the number of people who upped and left the restaurant on an evening, giving up on ever getting served. The kitchen closes at 9.30pm so if you were on the 8 or 8.30 booking you sometimes had to order a dessert before your starter arrived. As mentioned, the Mahogony buffet is pretty dire. It’s small with a limited selection of food. First night here and you get booked into this place. I’m surprised anyone makes a repeat visit as we couldn’t find anything worth eating. Breakfast is served here which is OK but it’s a cramped space, you can’t move around it as everyone is queueing for eggs or toast. Also, the heat inside is stifling. My kids couldn’t bear it. There’s no air con anywhere in the hotel other than your room. Yes, you don’t go to Barbados to sit in air conditioning but it comes in handy now and again. Before the manager replies to this with the “that’s why it’s called Sea Breeze” comment I assure you there is no breeze in this place. Just a very uncomfortable place to eat. There are unused air con units in the ceiling but the restaurant doors are always open. The restaurant also serves as the main through route for guests staying in this block to access the beach so I can understand why the doors are open. Just seems like a poor design. There are a couple of other eateries. The first being Flying Fish which is next to the pool. This is the main place for lunch. The website shows an example menu which looks OK but from our second day onwards it turned into an open air buffet with a pretty poor selection. Little bit of salad, hot dogs, burgers and chips mostly. Most of the food is hidden in metal serving containers with no labels so you have to ask what is inside each container. The lids must be really heavy judging by the sighs and eye rolling from the server every time I asked. It was like being back at school, with a miserable dinner lady slopping food on your plate. Another place is the Tipsy Bar at the other end of the resort. Nice place to sit and have a beer but the food, again, is terrible. Ordered some fish tacos and received dried out fish with the consistency of leather in an Old El Paso taco shell (economy box of taco’s behind the counter). It was disgusting. God knows how old the fish was. Nothing is cooked at this bar, the ‘food’ is just kept in metal serving containers all day. Interesting to note that there are usually five or six staff hanging around here doing nothing as it’s pretty quiet, while there is one bar staff run off their feet at the main Mahogany bar. A couple of nights there was a beach BBQ, again this had to be booked. We went to the first one but it was just the Mahogany buffet served at the beach. The only thing actually BBQ’d were some lobster tails. One of the other features that looked appealing on the website was the cute little ice cream cart “Freezy Breezy”. Great, the kids can grab themselves an ice cream anytime they want.. No, they can’t. Asked a member of staff about it and was informed that you can only get something from Freezy Breezy from 3.30pm onwards. Received the obligatory shoulder shrug when I asked if they were joking. So took the kids looking for it at 3.30 and found it tucked away in a corner by the adults only pool with a cover over it. It had obviously been there for days if not weeks. Asked a member of staff about it and he was very nice, told us the ice lollies had only been delivered that day, needed to freeze them so come back the next day and the kids could have as much ice cream as they wanted…. The next day comes and sure enough, there it is still under the cover tucked away in the corner. Now I know it’s not the end of the world, but when you’re booking a holiday and you’re showing the kids where you’re going to get them excited and they see the little ice cream cart and they can’t wait to get there it’s a bit disappointing when it’s not available. Especially when it’s “yeah come back tomorrow and you can have one then… “. Eventually managed to get an ice lolly on the Saturday, just the six full days after we arrived. As mentioned, the beach is spectacular and lives up to expectations. Kids loved jumping into the sea from the inflatable. The view from the room is gorgeous (luxury ocean view suite) and the balcony is large and provides a very pleasant place to take in the surroundings. The room itself is nice, a good size with plenty of storage. Unfortunately, the air con isn’t up to standard. We had it on full blast since arriving but we couldn’t get the room temp lower than about 22c. It’s just about low enough to be able to sleep OK but I would much prefer it to be cooler. The room is the only place to benefit from some much needed respite from the heat so it’s a shame it’s not quite as good as it should be. The pool areas are small and because of that there aren’t that many loungers around but we spent most of our time on the beach anyway. There are a few sellers trying to flog weed and cocaine but not too pushy. Can’t comment on the quality of either. There have been loads of little niggles throughout the stay - not being able to get a beach towel, mini bar not being topped up, hotel information on the TV a week out of date, not enough towels left in the bathroom, pool cues broken…..the list goes on and on. All minor issues but added up just made the holiday less relaxing than it should have been. There have been a few nice staff - Romero at the Mahogany bar in particular is a lovely bloke, always with a smile. It makes all the difference to your experience when you’re served with a smile and a bit of chat. Unfortunately, most of the staff had an attitude which ranged from indifference to outright rudeness. I did speak to management when I was there, rather than just writing a poor review once home but the response wasn’t great. I know I wasn’t the only guest to feel dissatisfied and some had much more serious complaints than mine. No one I spoke to was happy with the response they received. One of the managers stopped short of calling me a liar regarding some of the issues but the implication was clear. There appears to be a general lack of responsibility amongst both the staff and management. It’s just a shrug of the shoulders, always someone else’s problem. With the location that this place has it should be an absolute gem but it’s not. It’s a 3 star hotel with 1 star food, 2 star staff, 4 star room and 5 star beach. If you’re looking for an all inclusive family holiday there are better options out there. In particular the larger resorts in Mexico, Dominican, Jamaica etc may be more suitable with more flexibility and better options for food and entertainment. If all you’re bothered about it is a lovely beach this may be for you. Read less