The Lighthouse Bay Resort is breath taking and no expense has been spared in it’s design. The beach has the softest sand I have ever walked upon, and it is pink in color due to the pink coral that washes up. One can walk for miles as the turquoise waves gently crash onto the beach; This is definitely eye candy, Paradise, a secluded island.
Restaurants and Bars:
However, The overall experience is one my wife and I will never forget for all the wrong reasons. The accomodations are pricey at $699.00USD + 20.5% tax per room per night for a suite. The only drinks included were beer and house wine. The beer was fine but the Chilean house wine was the worst Merlot I have tasted. Three meals were included.
Other Comments: My wife and I were expecting fine dining, only to receive bed and breakfast treatment for the first four days of our stay. We arrived on Saturday November 22, 2008, and did not see a menu until Wednesday November 26, 2008. The management would ask us what we would like to eat for the first four days. Are requests were rarely granted due to the fact that the management would give the chef’s the night off, and they would cook for us. If this wasn’t bad enough, the management would Rarely cook what we had requested, but instead prepare what they felt like eating. This was shocking to say the least, as my wife and I are no strangers to fine dining on Carribean Resorts. The food we were being served couldn’t hold a candle to the food served by the Royal Hideaway, or even the RUI in Jamaica. It was as if we were staying at the world’s most expensive Bed and Breakfast. We were the only guests at the resort until Thursday November 27, 2008, so we would converse with the staff who were locals. We have always enjoyed talking with the staff when we travel, as they are always friendly and provide us with insights into the Carribean Islands. To our amazement, the management at the Lighthouse Bay resort instructed the staff only to serve us but refrain from Talking TO US! This is absurd! Furthermore, it was all right for the management to tell us everything they knew about the guests that would be arriving on Thursday. We didn’t go on vacation to hear this jibba jabba from the management. They also wanted us to look at their property they had for sale in Florida. Being the only guests on the resort, we decided to get a tour of the bird sanctuary, and do some lobster fishing. The management asked if they could accompany us, and we agreed even though we paid for the excursion. Our tour guide "Goldie Locks" caught us 10 lobster. We asked the management if we could invite the staff to join us for a lobster dinner as we were the only ones on the resort. The management agreed, but the lobster had to be cooked the way the MANAGEMENT WANTED , and not the way we wanted. This trip cost us $100.00USD, but we weren’t allowed to have the lobster prepared the way we wanted. We were appalled when we arrived for dinner only to be seated with the management and a guest of theirs! Instead of eating with us, the staff was serving us. This made us look like fools because we had informed the staff prior to dinner that they would be joining us for dinner. This was the last straw for us, so we decided to eat dinner in our rooms so that we didn’t have to put up with the unprofessional conduct of the management. We even found out from a waitress that the management told them we were eating in our room because my wife and I had a big argument. Talk about verbal diarrhea! The owner of the Light House bay arrived on Wednesday November 26, and just by coincidence, so did our menus! We expressed our opinions to him, but he did his best to defend the antics of the management. Even the chef’s were upset at the fact that the management would tell him what to cook the other guests when they arrived, instead of having the waitress present them with menus. I have never been on a resort where the management instructs the chef what to cook for the guests. This is definitely not standard or acceptable practice.
We spent our last evening eating dinner with the owner who is more in love with himself than his Resort. He is lucky that the infamous K-Club who’s past guests have included the late Lady Dianna and the Prince of Arabia to mention just a few; closed down and the Beach house went bankrupt. If these resorts were still open, no one would want to stay at the Lighthouse Bay, when they could receive far better treatment and enjoy a superior beach that the other two resorts had to offer. I’m also willing to bet money that the management of the other two hotels were top notch!
Resumé: When we arrived home, we found out that the management fired the waitress who kept talking to us. But, all the other waiters and waitresses quit once they found out that one of the fellow employees was fired, because they KNEW it was the managements fault. The management team went on to hire new staff, but they only lasted a day! I wonder why!!! This Resort could be the best in Barbuda, if and only if a top notch management team is hired to run the Resort.
I would not recommend this resort to ANYONE. I could receive better treatment at a Holiday INN.