Elegant Hotel The House St. James

We recently stayed at The House (on our honeymoon) and it was a very nice place. The view was spectacular. The beach, however, was less than desirable. Coral lines the floor so you can't get in the water. Our formost observation was that this place was VERY overpriced. Expensive is one thing, ridiculous is another (at about $500 USD per night . . . I mean come on . . . ). When my wife asked for an additional soap, her request(s) were pleasantly ignored.

They advertise a *free* massage when you arrive, but the person who gives the massages is "not in" - - - ever. Anyway, if you are a billionaire, and money doesn't matter to you, knock yourself out.

My wife and I recently stayed at The House at Tamarind Cove for 5 nights. The staff, epecially the manager Olivia were terrific, the concept of having a service ambassador reallly worked and they were terrific. The House is an old 50's style motel which has been converted into an all suite hotel. We had a great room facing the beach. The layout and common areas were wonderful but are in need of a bit of a facelift, ie paint, cleaning, updating. At night this place looked fab, torches and candles everywhere. The beach was nice, wooden beach lounge chairs, pavillions, evian served to you, even the beach peddlers which you can't seem to avoid, were polite. Breakfast was great as was tea time. The location is perfect and compared to the other Hotels in the elegant hotels group this one was definitely the BEST ! The House is not quite fit the luxury hotel catagory just yet (ie. Cap Jaluca on Anguilla, La Samana, St Martin, Caneel Bay,St John, Sandy Lane, Barbados) but it can be with a little refurbishing. Overall a very good experience !

We were transferred to the property after a terrible few days at the next-door Tamarind Cove Hotel. While it was a major step up in comparison, we found the property to be overrated. While we did not incur the added cost of the property, it is highly overpriced. The service can be very slow at times, but then again that is a sentiment we found on the island as a whole.

We just came back from our stay at the House. The service was incredible, the Ambassadors were wonderful (Especially Tracea and Diliah). Most of the restaurants were excellent, much better than most of the Islands. Our two favorites were the Tides and Calabaza but we are looking forward to visiting the others ( Josephs and The Cliff) on our next visit. This is the place to come to if your goal is relaxation and personal service. Our room was decorated for Valentines Day by our Ambassadors while we were out to dinner. We cant say enough other than we cant wait to get back there next year.

My wife and I stayed at The House in April 2003. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay. Very relaxing and de-stressing. The staff were very friendly and always helpful. Very quiet and select and this is what The House is all about. No signs outside to indicate that the hotel there and the front door only opens when you arrive and leave, there is of course another entrance. No children under 12 which is a bonus when you want to relax and chill out. We had our wedding anniversary there and the evening meal on the beach was to die for. We are returning again in April 2004. The Clifff restaurant is only 5 minutes away and is well worth a visit.

From top to bottom this hotel is nothing but an incredible disappointment in every way. Rooms, amenities, and service all are very poor. I could go on with details but it is just not worth it . . . the bottom line is this: if you can pay up for Sandy Lane then do it (we did and it was incredible!) and if not, then you can get the same level of hotel for 1/2 the cost somewhere else.

The House at Tamarine Cove would be on my list for anyone to truly experience. The hotel was all that it says it is a house. Everyone was so nice and anything I wanted was taken care of. So professional and so personal all on the same level. Not even the 5 star hotel Sandy Lane done the street could compare!

Wonderful location and Staff, but the Facilities need some work...

soon. One gets the feeling that everything needs to have a little fixing up. The Tarps were sagging and in some disrepair, many areas needed a fresh coat of paint, the beach could stand to be raked more often. The rooms while comfortable need a boost, they feel 'just off' where a top drawer hotel should be, though the room rate would indicate otherwise!

That said, the staff are very friendly and helpful at all hours of the day and night. In particluar Veronica and Olivia. Daphne's restaurant is was excellent as wa "The Tides".

Overall, a wonderful stay that was overpriced for what one received.

Going to Barbados? I'd step up to Sandy Lane if I had a chance to do it over again.

We stayed at The House in October when we first arrived at the airport we were happy to find someone waiting for us to take us through customs to avoid the long line ups after a five hour flight this was great.The hotel it self was not as elegant as we expected it to be or was our room.The rest was all great from there the service from all the ambassadors was excellent especially Camille and Aundre they were always there to assist us with any needs and wants.The resort was on a great beach that you could walk for miles in one direction.It is situated close to Sandy Lane.We ate at The Cliff every night it was that good. Make a reservation before you arrive to Barbados to get a seat by the rail over looking the sea.We used the beach at Sandy lane most of the time it was a little better.We rented a car and got to see most of Barbados and the resorts, stay in the West coast its the best.We liked the look of Sandy lane the most followed by Coral Reef Club then The House.When we return to Barbados we will stay only at The House because the service was that good and they all treated us like there close friends.

This hotel really is more like a home from home, the staff are fantastic and will arrange everything for you from reservations at local restaurants (always very good) to horse riding on the beach at sunset. The beach is not private but even the occassional local salesmen who walk the beaches don't really hassle you. The constant low key presence of staff will ensure that if you don't want to be distrubed whilst you lounge on the beach you won't be. I would recommend that you don't use Daphenes restaurant next to the hotel, as whilst the food is very good, in comparison to the local restaurants Daphenes is over priced. If you want a holiday to be relaxing and calming then this is the hotel to stay at.