Hotwire Hotel: 2.5* Barbados Silver Sands Resort

[bigbuy]

Did not see any hotel info for Barbados so I decided to test the waters. Got the Silver Sands Resort for $84. Found a $66 rate at onlinehotels.com and immediately requested a double the difference guarantee for the 2 rooms. Got an email back from hotwire in less than 3 hours saying they would credit me $144. They show a suite icon, but many of the accomodations are just rooms. Will be interesting to see if I actually get a suite.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Thank you for sharing your results with the board.

Can you please add all the amenities that Hotwire associates with this property as it will best help others identify it before purchase in the future. You can still view the amenities by going toHotwire and clicking the MY ACCOUNT link near the top right of their home page.

Thanks!

[curiousx]

I have been comped at the Silver Sands thanks to my airline that screwed up a flight connection. SS is the courtesy hotel this airline uses in such situations.

SS is on a spectacular strip of the south coast very popular with kiteboarders and surfers owing to the strength of the winds and the waves that give good ramps for jumping. Take your binoculars as this makes for spectacular viewing. OTOH, the wave action makes actual swimming a bit of a challenge ! The hotel has a very pretty lobby and simple attactive pools in an interior courtyard that is sheltered from the pervasive wind.

Our room was on the ground level, very small and very musty. And this was supposedly a double! The bathroom facilities were small but adequate. A nice feature was a sliding door that let us just step out of the room into the courtyard.

We were there through a full meal cycle - buffet dinner, breakfast and lunch. Without doubt these were the most indescribably awful meals that I have ever had in Barbados or almost anywhere forthat matter. Even free, they weren't worth it. As we were only in transit and tired, we did not look around for alternatives at the time but I certainly would, if staying there for more than a day.

Here are a couple of suggestions for you, just in case things have not improved. About 3-4 minutes walk from SS away along the seashore path is a small hotel called the Peach and Quiet run by a couple called Margaret and Adrian. The hotel, built in moorish adobe style is very pretty, the chef is excellent and the meals are very reasonably priced. In my opinion, P&Q is a much nicer spot to stay than SS and P&Q's posted off-season rates for a double are good value at $69 (noting there are ceiling fans but no a/c).

Also, at SS you will be only a short drive from Oistins where the fish-fry on Friday and Saturday nights is great fun.

Finally, if you want a good swimming beach to hang out on, go to Miami Beach, about 10 minutes away by local bus or taxi. Very nice spot with lots of shade, no aggressive vendors and no jetskis. Beach chairs are for rent at reasonable rates (as opposed to the west coast beaches where this is a scam). There is a friendly little cantina serving local food. Little Arches boutique hotel is across the street and has an excellent roof top restaurant if you want to indulge.

So, bottom line, I think you will enjoy your time at SS, but have alternative strategies if swinning, lying on the beach and good food are among your priorites.

[bigbuy]

Hotel, resort, suite, beachfront, restaurant, pool, laundry. What are my options, if any, if I don't get a suite since hotwire shows this icon? That was the main reason I selected this property.

[thereuare]

Bring Hotwire's Customer Service number as well as a printout of your win (that shows the Suite icon). First show to the hotel if you're not given a suite, and then call Hotwire if you're still not satisifed.

Thank you for updating with the amenities.

[bigbuy]

Thanks a lot for the info. I will post an updated review of this property. Only needed 2 nights on island as I am catching a cruise from Barbados.

[bigbuy]

Update on hotel experience. Assigned 2 rooms beachfront instead of suites which was shown on hotwires website. Showed clerk my hotwire reservation showing a suite. She said they were full and could not move us. Strange since the parking lot was almost empty. The next day, the reservation manager sent a note to my room stating we needed to pay for the rooms. I took a copy of my paid reciept and note from hotwire saying we were guaranteed a suite. Mgr said she had never heard of hotwire and we needed to pay for the stay. I gave her hotwires ph # and planned to exit the hotel by a side door on the departure date. My other party advised that we may wind up in jail, so I checked out the normal way with no problems. I emailed hotwire when I returned. Am awaiting an answer. Hotel is OK, with nice ocean view, but entire hotel staff is without a doubt, the dumbest bunch of employees I have ever seen.

[thereuare]

Keep us updated as to the outcome.

I'm a bit confused as to why the manager would send a note to your room to pay for the stay... didn't they take a credit card upon your check-in? (maybe they discovered they had not done this upon check-in and this was there way of trying to get the credit card for any incidentals)

I probably would have called Hotwire myself once i was not given a suite, as shown via Hotwire's amenity icons.

Let us know what Hotwire does to resolve this.

[bigbuy]

They did not take my credit card at check in for 2 reasons. First, I told the clerk the rooms were prepaid. Second, they have the strangest way to pay for incidentials. They give you a debit card in the amount you want. In my case it was $50 per room. They charge your credit card for this immediately. They DO NOT take cash or credit cards on the property for anything. As for calling Hotwire, I gave Hotwires PH # to the reservation manager to sort the bill out, but I did not want to pay for a long distance call back to the U.S. and be on hold forever. It was only a precruise 2 night stay. Had it been for a week, you bet I would have made the call. FYI, when I checked out, my debit card balance was 17 cents. I'm tempted to do a charge back on my AMEX card for the 17 cents.

[bbbb]

Please call or write to Hotwire and report the problems that you had at this hotel. I don't think they were all as dumb as you think. I think they were trying to see how dumb you were. Great job holding your ground.

[curiousx]

I feel for you - I was staying at Peach and Quiet the week after your stay at SS. I decided to walk up the beach to SS to check it out again - ordered a soft drink at the bar and, when I went to pay, was told to do this at the front desk...there I was hit with a user fee of some 20BDOS fee for access to the grounds (please!) on top of the drink. The 'grounds' in question consisted of the pools and beach I mentioned previously, but they were absolutely teeming with noisy children and there was music blaring everywhere. The stuff were slow, non-responsive, and surly. Later I learned the whole charging thing is new and they resent it too, but that's no excuse.

For future reference, do consider P&Q - offseason room rate of $69US and very reasonably priced, excellent, meals plus a 'no children' policy, honour bar and no canned music.

[bigbuy]

Update you requested on the outcome of my complaint to Hotwire concerning this property. As you will recall, I took advantage of hotwires price guarantee and recieved a credit of $144.00 before I left for Barbados. When I did not recieve a suite as promised, I complanied to Hotwire upon my return. Today, I recieved a hotdollar credit of $199.02 or half the rate I originally paid. I also had previously recieved a hotdollar credit of $50.00 while I was on my trip. This makes the total cost of 2 rooms for 2 nights each a whopping $5.03!!!! Hotwire has informed me that they removed the suite icon for this property.

[thereuare]

Seems like a good compromise... are you satisfied with their remedy? (the HotDollars and removing the icon for future users)

[bigbuy]

Yes I am very satisfied. They told me they adjusted the icons to more accurately reflect the amentities, so they may have removed more than just the suite icon. The 2 &1/2 star now listed on hotwires site shows the hotel is near the beach. If this is the same property, that is incorrect, as it is on the beach. Thanks for your help. I will be using the links in the future.