My girlfriend and I spent a week in Martinique. We know very little French. Hotel Bakoua offered a nice home base for the exploration of the island. The staff was very friendly and helpful. The facilities were nice and in a great location. We travelled all over the southern and eastern portions of the island and didn't encounter anything even close to the quality Bakoua offered. It was a safe environment located close to shops and restaurants. There was a ferry to Fort de France, a casino, and a marina in close proximity to the hotel.
The rooms were adequate and clean. The beach was nice and well maintained. The breakfast buffet was always a nice start to the day. I really have no complaints about this hotel. There were no vending machines but there was a mini fridge in the room. With a little planning you could buy drinks and food in one of the shops downtown and stock the fridge with late night snacks.
We didn't eat in the hotel's restaurant mostly due to our desire to explore the island. It did seem a little expensive but I'm sure the quality was very high. The bar was open late even if there were a few people there. The prices at the bar were reasonable and the servers were very attentive.
The new manager met us the first night and was very helpful. The staff seemed to work very hard and long days but seemed cheerful.
If we go back to the island, we will definately stay here again. I would recommend it to anyone.

There were only a few hotels in Martinique with good recommendation (there were only few ratings) so we decided to take this hotel because the rating was ok. not too far from the airport (50€) and on the way to Marin, where we picked up our yacht after 3 days in the hotel. The Welcome was friendly. nice rooms. Everything was clean except some big leafs on the grass and seldom one piece of rubbish on the beach. Breakfast was good but 1day i had to wait long for coffee, one day i did not get any; for an omelette i had to wait until somebody wanted to cook something. The Diner was extra and very expensive. The quality of the food was ok but not worth the price. On 2 of 3 days the waitress who put us on the table doesn't seem to like us although we never did complain about anything. On the third evening there was an other waitress. I would eat at the Marina or at the little shopping street nearby next time.

First the positives: the grounds, view, beach access are really beautiful and make it worth staying here, if you can look past the hotel's shortcomings Excellent walking proximity to shopping and restaurants as well a ferry to the capitol. My eight year old son learned to snorkel in the shallow cove of the beach hotel. Food is quite good with a mix of French and local influences, although dinner is expensive compared to walking distance restaurants.

However, service is well below international standards for four stars and there were some serious management problems. This is a very relaxing place, and the service is also relaxed. Sometimes too relaxed. Don't expect a multi-lingual concierge. You'll need to be a bit resourceful if you don't speak french. The front desk person always spoke some English, but not necessarily well. Bar service was very slow and sometimes non-existent. Amazingly, the pool side bar adjacent to the lobby, with stunning views was "closed" afternoons. You could sit there of course, but you couldn't served without some special arrangement and that involved at least a 10-15 minute wait for someone to show up. One day that person showed up only to tell me to go to the beach bar/snack bar, instead of just serving us. I had already been to the beach snack bar, which was so busy and understaffed that it was extremely difficult to get served.

One incident was quite disturbing. One evening at sunset, when the lounge was open, there were a couple of drunk, unruly and belligerent people at the pool (I believe from outside the hotel.) One of them punched and shattered a plastic pooside barrier! At no point did security, manager or any one from the hotel step up to deal with this. The bar did however continue to sell these "guests" more drinks.

Sea view room offered a nice vista to the ocean through palms trees and hotel landscaped grounds. However, thes room are well set back from the water compared to the beachfront rooms. Rooms were reasonably clean, spacious with comfortable beds. AC functioned well and plenty of hot water. TV worked half the time and only 1 or 2 channgels in English. No flat screen, pay per view, DVD or game console common in U.S. luxury hotels. But who goes to Martinique to watch TV? No screens on patio window no keep out mosquitoes.

Hotel maintenance and cleanliness was inconssitent. Room was cleaned fair well daily, but there were ashtrays in public parts of the hotel that went unemptied for da