Flight: My sister in law and I went to this resort January 7-14 2007. We flew out of Toronto via West Jet. Flight time is three and a half hours.
There were only 30 people on this flight, and 24 of them were going to Turks and Caicos, so the flight was very comfortable. San Salvador is one of the 700 Bahamas Islands and this is where Club Med Columbus Isle is located. The resort is literally walking distance from the airport, which is a landing strip and a small building for processing passengers.
Flight:
My sister in law and I went to this resort January 7-14 2007. We flew out of Toronto via West Jet. Flight time is three and a half hours. There were only 30 people on this flight, and 24 of them were going to Turks and Caicos, so the flight was very comfortable. San Salvador is one of the 700 Bahamas Islands and this is where Club Med Columbus Isle is located. The resort is literally walking distance from the airport, which is a landing strip and a small building for processing passengers.
Arrival:
From the minute you get off the plane resort staff treat you special. Your bracelets are put on and your room keys are given out when they meet you at the airport. You are driven by small bus to the front lobby where you receive a fruit punch and staff welcome. Your bags are delivered to your room within minutes of arrival.
Property:
This property is beautiful. There are mature trees and flowers all around the property, it was built in 1992 so the vegetation is full. There are approx. 200 rooms in this resort, all two storey bungalows. They are arranged so that they all face either the beach or courtyards filled with flowers and palms. There are no bad views from any of the rooms as far as I could see. The villas are brightly colored in blue, yellow and pink. Each one has either balcony or terrace. Our room was 525, a ground floor with garden view. It had two very comfortable double beds, TV, shower, safe, coffee maker, hair dryer. We could see the ocean and it was close to the beach although not beachfront. The decor is all an asian theme which was very nice.
Pool:
The pool is small, but an appropriate size for the number of rooms. We were hardly there, we spent our days at the ocean.
Beach:
one word: fabulous. The water is a colour of green that you will never forget, the sand is soft and white like sugar, the beach stretches for about 2 miles, and the water is warm and shallow.
Buffet:
I am always amazed to see how people complain about the food selection at these resorts. The selection at the buffet was unlimited, every night they had a different dinner theme, and there is literally something offered for every taste. They have an omelette station and every evening they had a station of some description where you could order up food made fresh as well as the regular buffet stuff. I have never seen so many different types of bread offered, and the house wine, which was very good and is included was readily available. In the morning they had carafes of coffee right on your table.
Berimbao:
is a brazilian restaurant which not only had great food, they had a unique way of serving. When you come in you get your salad buffet style. Then when you are ready they begin bringing the meat. It is all BBQ’d and they serve it to you off long spits. There was a salty but delicious sausage, filet mignon, chicken and pork. They kept the meat coming until you told them to stop.
Watlins:
is a seafood restaurant and the service and food there was truly divine. I can say no more.
Beach Bar:
since we literally lived on the beach for the week we spent a lot of time here. Try the Havana Specials or the Pina Coladas, very refreshing. Many days we had lunch at the beach snack bar which is open from 12-6:30. They had everything from burgers, to nachos, to chicken wraps and the food was good.
Cappucino Bar:
was where we got delicious coffees in the morning. They also serve fruit smoothies and if you miss breakfast they have a continental buffet set up.
Excursions:
There are not many, this island is very isolated, if you like to shop or do the mall thing, do not go to this resort! We took the lagoon tour which is a tour of the unique breeding grounds for fish. It was amazing. We also did the jet ski tour of the island which is a great tour for thrill enthusiasts. You stop at two cays, one has an iguana population that is the only one of its kind in the world, the other is a breeding site for birds. You can also rent bicycles for $15 per person for three hours, and explore the island, it is quite safe and we had a blast.
Staff:
Very friendly, unlike some resorts that rely on the local population, this Club Med has employees from Canada, France and all over the world. The maids and grounds staff are local bahamians and are very friendly.
Activities:
Wide range including water aerobics, sailing lessons, snorkelling daily, dive pkgs, dance lessons etc. We took a couple of sailing lessons on the hobie cat and really enjoyed it.
Negatives:
Really the only negative is that while we were the the resort was nearly 90% french guests, so the staff really catered to them from a language aspect. It was a bit disconcerting at first to have the staff greet you in french before english, but we got used to it. It made for some awkwardness at dinner as well, as we were seated some nights with people who spoke virtually no english, fortunately I speak some french so was able to make small talk. A couple of the nightly shows were also all in french, however the resort did offer an alternative activity for its english speaking guests that night. The entertainment was very amateurish, they tried hard, but don’t expecte Vegas quality.
To conclude:
This is a fabulous place, I would go back in a heartbeat, but do not go if you seek excitement as it is literally the only place on the island and very laid back. This is the type of holiday we needed so my sister in law and I really enjoyed it. There were kids there and they seemed to have fun, but there is no kids club or activities. Teens could be kept occupied with the sailing and snorkelling. We rate this resort a 5 for services, accommodations and food, and a 3 for location if you want action, and a 5 if you seek seclusion.