Mango Bay

Paradise From start to finish everything about this place was perfect. The food is unbelievable, the beach fantastic and the pool area great. Our special thanks go to Rayden who worked tirelessly in the bar area to accommodate everyone’s wishes, well done him. Hope to return soon

This hotel is in a fantastic location, set on a beautiful beach within walking distance to the shops and amenities in Holetown. The website photos show the sea as being the idyllic turquoise blue you would imagine, however you need to be aware it is right next to a creek, which can get very smelly, and if the sea is a high tide and choppy it overflows into the creek and then the dirty stagnant water from the creek flows into the sea, so no longer a lovely turquoise blue and therefore not safe to swim in.

The rooms, whilst spacious and clean, are tired and in need of some investment, especially the bathroom. The fridge in the room, whilst useful, is very noisy and really does disturb your sleep so we were turning it off every night, not ideal but needs must. Our room was in a quiet location as we were overlooking the pool so that was a bonus. I will point out that the WIFI in the room is atrocious, you get better WIFI on the sunbeds which is ridiculous and very frustrating! for a 4* hotel you would expect a coffee machine not a kettle and a few sachets of instant coffee, some may think this is picky but it is what you normally get in a 4* hotel.

The food was on the whole tasty but not a lot of variety, the catch of the day only seemed to be 2 or 3 different fish over the course of our holiday and the appetisers and desserts were very small, lacking in imagination and variety. The restaurant is predominantly outside, a few tables inside, so it can get uncomfortably warm due to the high humidity and the fans that rotate above are not worth having, some areas not covered by a fan at all and those that are rotate so slowly they don't achieve very much. Flies everywhere and become incredibly annoying. They need to invest in ALOT more fly catchers in the restaurant area as its very off putting. Restaurant staff are on the whole friendly and really helpful. A point to note, you have to book your lunch and dinner slot when you go for breakfast, those that like a later breakfast you will have to take what is available, so much for spontaneity and going with the flow on holiday!

The bar has a decent selection of drinks and cocktails but prosecco is only available to purchase but you can get white/red/rose wine, just no bubbles. The bar area is incredibly small approx 30 seats in total which is not a lot for a 67 room hotel. There are some tables and chairs between the bar and the beach which are used for watching the evening entertainment, but if it is wet or has been wet these can't really be used so you are limited to where you can sit for a drink in the evening unless you are happy to go to your room balcony. Bar staff are really not that friendly, only one or two know how to smile but they do serve you, just not always with any words, just a nod to indicate you are next. One in particular drinks his way through his shift and I am not talking about water! sneakily pouring of beer into a coffee cup when he thinks nobody is looking , well nobody from the staff team anyway, not very professional!

The beach itself is lovely but there is a significant lack of sunbeds, sunbed cushions and parasols so expect to have to get up early if you want to get one. The hotel put a note in the room stating that reserving beds with a towel is not acceptable and action will be taken, but NO action is taken and so the battle continues. It is far too hot to sit on a beach without shade and the race to get the beds is ridiculous with no spares by the pool as they tend to be taken by the ground floor rooms. There were a lot of agitated guests on a daily basis. A relatively small investment into more beds, cushions and parasols by the hotel would alleviate this so I do not understand why they don't do this, there is certainly space on the beach. As for towels, some days there were no clean towels as they had not been delivered back from the laundry, again somewhat short-sighted, just purchase extra and ensure there is always some on site, these are not expensive items yet again caused enormous frustration for guests.

They claim to offer water sports but there is 1 paddleboard & 2 kayaks so good luck with getting to use one of those. If you want to snorkel, and there is good snorkelling right by the hotel due to the reef, bring your own as again trying to borrow snorkels from the water sports hut is impossible. The free catamaran trip that runs twice a week is lovely but this is just a sail along the coast, it does not stop off for snorkelling or swimming which was disappointing.

There is evening entertainment every night, a different singer but they all seem to do the same repertoire so it gets a bit monotonous. It is also far too loud whilst you are trying to eat dinner and converse with who you are having dinner with. Some background music or songs up until a certain time would be better then pump it up after say 9:30 when most have finished eating.

There is a distinct lack of activities. A schedule is placed in the room/given on arrival but in the 10 days we were there I saw one music quiz and 1 aqua aerobics class. If you are offering them, then deliver them, and get someone going around encouraging guests to join in and reminding them that it is starting in say 15 mins etc otherwise do not set the expectation.

If you like small hotels this has the potential to be a little gem but it needs some work and attention and definitely needs that if it wants to comfortably rate itself as a 4* hotel.

The Best location in the centre of the west coast. Holetown. I can't speak highly enough of the staff at Mango Bay from the Servers to Bar Staff, Beach Boys, also Chamber Maid's , Entertainment every night. We preferred al carte to buffet and found the general standard of food very good. We are returners and found they've made a few tweaks for the better. Thanks Mango Bay