We settled on the St James Apartments having read another positive review in Trip Advisor. We were very impressed. We had a 2 brm seaview apartment which, along with all the other seaview apartments, have stunning views of the Caribbean, beach and the sunsets. I could not recommend the annex rooms unless you are really on a budget as these look out over the carpark and are closer to the main west coast road. You could be anywhere really, although you are still only a few steps to the beach of course: it depends how important a view is from your apartment!

Cecile promptly and efficiently handled all our enquiries from our first contact by email to when we checked out. She arranged car hire through Corbins Car Rentals who were excellent: not only was the car virtually brand new (in my experience a rarity in the Caribbean!) but despite our flight being several hours late they were still waiting at the airport with our car (a small 4WD as requested).

Because of the late arrival of our flight Corbins were good enough to "pilot" us from the airport right to our apartments (45 mins trip) on a wet, dark night, and took the car promptly over from us when we returned it at the airport 7 days later.

Back to The St James: the 2 brm apartments are huge and well-equipped with great terraces complete with chaise lounge and table and chairs. The beach can get a bit hectic during the day what with Turtle viewing day trippers, and cruise liners using it as a shore-tour (possibly only temporarily as we heard they were using Paynes Bay only as a substitute for another on which there is some building work going on). Very little noise from motorised water-sports though so that is not a problem.

Note that there is no swimming pool at The St James.

There are restaurants, one or two bars and grocery shops within easy walking distance of the Apartments so you have the option of eating in or out without necessarily having to drive. Within easy driving distance there are lots of eating/drinking options.

NB: It is worth contacting the Apartments to see if they can offer any discounts depending on occupancy.

Barbados has more history than the other Caribbean islands we have visited so there is lots to see apart from the beaches. The people are very friendly and helpful everywhere you go, and even the occasional beach vendor readily accepts "No thanks" and moves on without any hassle.

Loved Barbados and loved The St James.