Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
S Club heaven
just want an ice cold, refreshing local Banks lager, that’s on tap.
Massage to the people
The Red Lane spa is a luxurious place to be pampered; I chose a Hawaiian salt stone massage purely because the name was intriguing. Akeila gently massaged me with hot stones and I zoned out.
The creaking noises I heard were not the wooden table legs as I initially thought, but my knotty back unravelling.
Club class
Club Level rooms come with the brilliant Club Sandals Concierge, which is like having a team of friendly, super-helpful human Alexas who assist with anything from check-in and out, dining bookings, resort tours (a godsend for the newly arrived/newly lost), spa bookings and room service.
They also organise regular Club guest cocktail parties, wine and Martini tastings and a snorkelling trip. Every holiday should have a Club Concierge.
Tripping out
Army barmy: In the mid-17th century, when the English began sauntering around the world borrowing other people’s countries, Barbados was becoming a colonial powerhouse thanks to its key position in the West Indies and a huge, safe anchorage.
However, as I discovered at the Garrison with the affable Bajan Wiki-history that is Peter Stevens, it was not without teething troubles as Oliver Cromwell’s republican regime objected to Barbados effectively remaining royalist and trading with the rival Dutch. A naval fleet was despatched to deal with the upstarts.
Unfortunately for the fleet, the upstarts were greater in number, well organised and well armed. Nature’s three-day deluge thankfully prevented large scale bloodshed, and common sense prevailed with that meeting at Ye Mermaid’s Inn in Oistins to thrash out a deal where the island pledged allegiance to Cromwell’s de-kinged Commonwealth in exchange for self-rule and trading rights.
The key phrase in the agreement was perhaps “no taxation without representation”. Could this have been a revolutionary seed sown in the mind of George Washington when he visited the island in 1751?
Of course we’ll never know, but the Garrison tour also takes in the large house he rented, two coastal forts and, the best bit, a walk through a section of the 200-yearold Garrison Tunnels.
They were discovered accidentally in 2011 and were believed to be partly a vast network of storm drains to counter flooding of the parade ground (now the Savannah racecourse) and partly a secret escape route for the military if, say, the French or Dutch invaded. Either way, fascinating and slightly creepy. By the entrance is a nice cafe.
I was lucky enough to go into the Barbados National Armoury to see its collection of 16th and 17th-century cannons, including one embossed with a flag from the Cromwell era, of which there are only two in the world. You would not want to drop it on your foot.
E-bike ride: Guide Roger from E-bike Island Adventures said the tour of hilly eastern Barbados would be ‘’the most expensive excursion you’ll ever go on’’. Why so? ‘’Because you’ll want to buy a $3,000 e-bike when you get home!’’
He’s not far wrong. It’s a fun and informative trip, e-bikes are great and Santa had better pop one down the chimney this year. Snorkelling tour: Complimentary with Club rooms, as is scuba. It’s well worth booking a boat trip from Bridgetown to see fish by the wrecks in Carlisle Bay and, with luck, a turtle or two.
Fry-day
A short cab ride takes you to the legendary Friday night fish fry and live music at Oistins where an exuberant crowd tucks in to tuna, swordfish, marlin, mahi-mahi and flying fish from numerous stalls. A must.
Damp good
It only rained once during the week so, inspired by those 17th-century soldiers, I sheltered in a poolside bar with a Banks beer.
Having finished it, it was still raining a little, so I came up with an acceptable compromise with myself and had another.
Thank you, Mr Cromwell.
‘‘ A lively crowd tucks in to tuna, swordfish, mahi-mahi and flying fish