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We have just returned from a two week holiday a ABV. There was myself, my wife and our two children.
When we arrived we were welcomed to the hotel with a glass of rum punch (which was nice after a 8 1/2 hour flight) We were then shown to our Superior Deluxe beachfront room which was a major disappointment. It was on the second floor and in the room there was a double bed and a sofa bed which the kids could not sleep on. The room was tired and the bathroom needed plenty of tender loving care. When we complained to guest services about the room which we had been told in the UK would be two rooms!! all they could say was that the hotel was full and we couldn't move rooms. They promised us a proper bed for the children to sleep on but it never arrived. We then had to sleep four people in a double bed for two weeks. As you can imagine, NOT IDEAL!!! We were then wanting to sort the safe out in the room for our money and travel documents. We were told that if you lose the key it would cost you BDS$260 which works out at about £75.00. What a rip off!!! We then decided to make the most of our £13000 holiday.
The food in the Horizon was excellent, especially the Oriental Night which is on a Tuesday evening, it was a buffet style evening but the food was excellent. Enids was excellent as well although the food didn't seem to change on the menu, but the food on offer was good and the staff were very friendly. The Reef restaurant was okay but not our favourite and the staff (a lady in particular) were very rude and off hand. We only went once and that was enough. The Beach barbeque was great with a lively band. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Jacket Potatoes and Corn on the Cob and Garlic Bread. Very Good. The lunch in the Courtyard was good although limited selection, but ideal food for the kids as there was Pizza, Hot Dogs and Burgers etc.
The kids loved the entertainment which consisted of singing some nights and cabaret acts on others.The Carribean Night was unorganised chaos which I wouldn't go too. My daughter had some fish and chicken and woke up in the morning with her eyes swollen, so swollen that she couldn't open her eyes. This has never in her seven years happened to her before. When we went to see the doctor we were told it was the food. Needless to say we didn't go again to the Carribean Night.
One thing that really annoyed us was the fact that you could be sitting on the balcony of your room overlooking the trees and some of the sea and you would then hear someone shout up from the beach (Which are all public) asking if you want to buy some "Powder" or "Green" which turns out to be some form of drugs. This is totally unacceptable when you have got children next to you asking "what is Powder?" I heard people complaining that they got bullied off the beach by two drug dealers because they wouldn't buy any.
The sea was also a disapointment as you could not simply walk into the sea with no shoes on. There was lots of coral at the edge of the sea which went out a fair distance. If you wanted to go into the sea you had to wear shoes.Don't take any towels with you as you can get them from the kids club. Just make sure that you get a receipt when you hand them back at the end of the holiday otherwise you get charged BDS$160 Which is roughly £40 for four towels.
The kids Club was great for the children as they could play Nintendo, face paint, watch movies etc from 9am to 4-30pm (they take them for lunch) re opens at 5pm till 10pm (They take take them for dinner while you go to the La Samaritta Italian Restaurant) The Staff generally cared about the children in their care and it showed when the children finished in the club and told you what they had done.
Any activities that you decide to do i.e Submarine etc. Please make sure that you book through your holiday rep as you are then insured if anything was to go wrong. (The trip didn't happen etc)If you nice to the staff then generally they are nice to you. This didn't happen with them all. Make sure that you wear t-shirts (NOT VESTS) for breakfast and lunch as you will be asked to leave and get properly dressed(This applies to men only) Women can float about with there bits hanging out and that is Okay. Very Unfair in my opinion. Evening dress wear has to be casually elegant which consists of a pair of pants and a collared shirt for the men and skirts, dresses, pants and a top for the women.
When I read the reviews about this hotel I thought they were exaggerating a lot and decided to ignore them. Don't get me wrong some aspects of the hotel are great but others are not very good at all. While we were there Colin Montgomerie the golfer was stopping at Sandy Lane Resort.I have not written this review to put anyone off the hotel. All I have done is written an accurate review of my holiday experience at ABV.My overall experience at this resort was a disappointing one, one which will never be repeated again. If you want to contact me regarding my stay or ask any questions regarding the hotel then please don't hesitate to contact me by email (nickalc@hotmail.com (nickalc@hotmail.com).I have stopped all over the world and this was the most disappointing 4 star hotel I have stopped in.If you have set your hearts on going to ABV then all I can say is go. People have different opinions, some love it, some hate it. Please once again I have not written this to put you off, just because I didn't like it, doesn't mean that you won't like it.
Thanks to Nick (Lancashire, U.K.) for this trip report ...
April 2004
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