Harbour Village Bonaire

We love to dive, but aren't satisfied with the generally mediocre diving you find elsewhere in the Carribbean. We also love good food and wine, a quiet, intimate resort, and a beautiful room on the beach. If this sounds like you, you will love the HVBC. Without question the finest accomodations on Bonaire. And you will not find better diving in the Caribbean. The large beachfront suites are well worth the extra money. The dive shop is professional, friendly, and knowledgeable. We will definitely be back.

Neat place with a friendly helpful dive school, as everyone else has said, although standard guest rooms are as small as they come, but two gripes that really rankled. Firstly, they did not do enough to keep the mosquito population at bay that made any meal at Chez Lucille restaurant (only place open for breakfast and dinner) an ordeal - wear long trousers, long socks, long sleeves and slap on the Deet for breakfast and go someplace else for dinner (La Guernica in town recommended). The beach restaurant La Balandra was fine for bar snacks at lunchtime, but closes late in the afternoon. Secondly the "Continental Breakfast" included in some of their packages is truly miserable - breads and Pilsbury style pastries, ersatz jam, Marmite, tea, coffee and fruit juice (not always fresh), that's it, no fruit, no cereal, no yoghurt, no cheese, no eggs, no cold meats, which might be almost acceptable in a down market French Youth Hostel, but not what you would expect in a top notch international hotel.

We stayed in Harbour Village in December 2004 in the court yard room and thought the resort and Bonaire was excellent. The resort itself is very pretty between the harbour and the beach. The beach is nice but small. Although a 10/15 min boad ride from the resort itself is the stunning Klein Bonaire (or little Bonaire) an amazing beach and clear blue waters. We were one of two couples on that beach. Highly recommended. Food is good at the resort but its location is also near the town so exploration of the various good restaurants in town is easy.

Overall well worth a visit.

I just returned from 9 days at Harbour Village Beach Club (HV). What a beautiful resort! We stayed in a beachfront villa comprised of a massive bedroom with sitting area, spacious bathroom with claw-footed bathtub and a separate shower, a small kitchen, a living/dining area, and a 1/2 bath. The kitchen includes a stove, small oven, refrigerator, microwave, and mini-dishwasher; the resort could be more generous with pots and utensils, but it was enough to make a simple meal. All rooms are decorated with lovely, plantation-style furnishings and cool terra cotta tile flooring. Beachfront rooms and villas have French doors that open directly onto terraces with lounge chairs and hammocks; open a small gate at the edge of your garden, and you're on the beach.

HV has by far the best beach on Bonaire replete with swaying palms and white sand. In addition, there are two pools on the property, although we saw no need to use either. The hotel has two restaurants, one of which serves breakfast and dinner, and the other which serves lunch and drinks during the day. Breakfast was included in our package; we didn't find the breakfast buffet particularly impressive, and were occassionally aggravated when trying to communicate with the staff, who don't speak any English. The beachfront restaurant, La Balandra, was great. Drinks were overpriced (non-alcoholic beverages start at $4 each), but the food was nice and the service friendly. The restaurant sits on a sea wall, and while you're eating, you can watch fish and eels swim between the rocks. Iguanas are regular beggars at the tables. We did not have dinner at the hotel, but heard good things about the restaurant from other guests. With a few hours notice, they will set up a torch-lit dinner directly on the beach for you.

The dive operation at HV, Great Adventures Bonaire, is great. Their boats are very nice and well-equipped. Gear was in good condition and rates are standard for the island with some very attractive dive packages. The divemasters were open to suggestions about where to go, and provided excellent guidance above and below the waves. We really enjoyed getting to know the divemasters and had a great time with them. We recommend Great Adventures wholeheartedly.

A previous poster griped about the lack of a reef off the hotel's beach. We wonder if they were staying at the same place! The dive site Something Special is about 50 yards from the beach, and some of our best finds were here--multiple sea turtles, a 5+ foot long green moray, gorgeous reef fish including many balloon fish, and all of the usual suspects (parrot fish, angel fish, damselfish, trumpet and trunk fish, etc.). To get to the site, you enter at the beach and follow a convenient rope sunk at 30 feet deep, which leads you across a sandy bottom filled with garden eels. In addition, there is a wreck sunk at about 60 feet 10-20 yards from the beach. It's also an easy swim to the Bari Reef and Buddy's Reef slightly north of the resort--twice during our stay we snorkeled down to Buddy's and then dove back home along Buddy's and the Bari. Wonderful diving! There is also nice snorkeling along the seawall at the edge of the resort--spotted and moray eels, octopi, and lots of different fish, including massive tiger grouper and snook, hang out here.

Our only gripe is that the hotel staff wasn't always very service-oriented. When we arrived, the hotel had failed to arrange for our transfer. They claimed they didn't have our flight information, but I had sent it more than a week prior, as had another couple that was also forgotten. The delay was minor--about 30 or 40 minutes--but I was annoyed that they didn't apologize. We found trying to arrange a rental car through the concierge so frustrating that we gave up and did it ourselves. We also had problems with our final billing statement. Finally, upon departing, the hotel insisted we transfer to the airport more than three hours before our scheduled flight departure; ultimately, we decided to pay for a taxi so we could go when we wanted to.

In spite of these issues, I am giving the Harbour Village Beach Club an "excellent" rating for two reasons. First, it is without a doubt the nicest resort on Bonaire. We had a chance to see many of the other hotels on the island, and none compare in terms of architecture, decor, room size, landscaping, and, especially, the beach. Secondly, while we had some service issues, I find this is pretty typical for travel in the Caribbean. I have stayed at many top-rated resorts in the Caribbean, and consistently find service to be average, as we did at this resort. Nothing went terribly wrong, but we felt the staff could have done more to make things wonderfully right. With a little more attention to the details, this resort could be a true star.

Just got back from a week at the Harbour Village. This is a beautiful property. However business was very slow with only approximately 20 or so guests registered. The staff did inform us they are booked for Christmas. We stayed in one of the courtyard rooms.

Pros: Soft sandy beach, very nice rooms (though small), excellent food at the dinner restaurant (did not eat at the lunch restaurant), small intimate resort about a 15 minute walk from downtown (or a $10 taxi ride), dive shop with very friendly and accomodating staff, hotel staff was very accomodating as well

Cons: No reef directly off shore, the beach is almost too quite (at times we were the only people on the beach), resort is very pricey (diet coke costs $4).

If you're looking for a very quiet resort to relax on the beach and soak up the sun then this is the place.

My wife and I dive and snorkel and the fact that there is no reef off the beach was a disappointment (although there are areas of dead coral where fish can be found). When we return to Bonaire we'll most likely go back to the Plaza or a different resort.

This was our fourth trip to Bonaire and our first time at Harbor Village. We can not imagine staying anywhere else. The rooms (beachfront suite) beach and amenities were far superior to other resorts on the island. Harbor village was almost too quiet, though - our only concern is that the property may not be thriving and available for our next visit - can't recommend it highly enough and we really want them to remain in business!

My friend and I just returned from a wonderful week in Bonaire. (July 04) Harbour Village was a great place to stay. We had a marina-front room which was very nice, with a beautiful view of the small harbour which had very interesting boats. We saw the inside of the beachfront suites which were very beautiful, but pricey. Would have loved to stay in one if we could have afforded it ! I am a non-diver and was really looking relax. Harbour Village and Bonaire in general is the perfect place to do just that. I was not overly impressed with the pool, but the soft sand beach was amazing. Great view of Klein Bonaire and perfect for watching sunsets. The grounds and architecture of the hotel were very pretty. We enjoyed the hotel's Balandra restaurant, a boat shaped deck over the water. Very fun having breakfast with Iguanas roaming around ! They will eat out of your hands, just ask the staff for some lettuce. Food was good and mango margaritas even better. The stafff was lovely and very pleasant. Emeline at the front desk was particularly helpful and went out of her way to find us a rental car when there were very few available. Would highly recommend renting a 4-wheel drive vehicle and exploring the island. (Try to reserve in advance)There are many beautiful sites to see, in both the Southern and Northern parts of the island, including the National Park in the North. Taking this adventure gave me a totally different perspective and great appreciation for the beauty of the island. We found the wild donkeys roaming the island to be very funny and had a great and goofy time visiting the Donkey Sanctuary !

I had a couple massages at the hotel. Spa was closed, but they have a private suite set up for treatments, which was lovely. Would highly recommend booking with Ethel, she was fantastic.

We ate at some fantastic restaurants and would highly recommend Chez Lucille, Donna and Georgio, Blue Moon, Casablanca and Garden Cafe.

My friend who dove seemed to enjoy that aspect of the vacation. Bonaire is not a party island, but if you are looking for a relaxing, peaceful vacation, it is a perfect place !!

We spent a week at the Harbour Village (June-July 2003) and felt treated as if we were royalty. The staff was cordial and polite, one bartender even asking how long we were staying when we ordered sangria so that he could make a pitcher of sangria for us to try three days later to compare with what he served us--what he called "same-day" sangria. The dive-master and dive staff were excellent, providing a wonderful and humorous overview of what we could expect to see and what we should be careful not to touch when we went diving (to protect Bonaire's ecosystem). The dive-master even called his mother to check on the times of Mass at the church in town for us as well as telling us about where the locals go for entertainment on weekends. The staff in the front office was helpful with any services we requested--a rental car, an island tour. I loved the free use of a computer for checking email in the lobby, too.

And the white-sand beach right there steps away from the rooms is well-maintained; the 100s of fish seen within seconds of going into the water are incredibly beautiful and diverse--octopus, reef squid, angelfish, parrotfish of all kind, too many to name them all. Lounging on the beach after returning from a dive afforded a secluded view of Klein Bonaire, too.

The rooms were spacious, the cable tv provided easy access to favorite shows for down time, and the bathroom well appointed with the usual amenities plus fluffy white bathrobes. This hotel is a great place for relaxing in luxury after a day of diving or sightseeing.

The harbour Village Hotel is one of the most incredible hotels i ever stayed at. Nice sandy beaches Blue water and an AMAZING swimming pool. The service on the other hand is poor. THEY GOT TO GET BETTER PEOPLE. You can not have this staff at a 5 STAR HOTEL. IF it wasnt for the poor service i would give the hotel a 6star quality.

This place offers complete serenity, beautiful water for swimming and snorkling. The suites are spacious and the decore is tasteful (I would stay ground level for access directly to beach). The food is just O.K but that goes for the whole island...try the Lighthouse (creative chef). If you are looking for total peace and quiet this is it...if you want the party scene...go elsewhere!