I'll start this by agreeing with the several hundred people below me who have said that Marta and Barry are the nicest people.
And then I'll go a stage further and say that being nice has nothing to do with it, they're warm, they're friendly but most of all they're hospitable. What do I mean by that? Well they treat you as guests, rather than as customers and that means that nothing is too much trouble. They'll never sigh, they'll never roll their eyes and they'll never flash you a plastic smile while they try to palm you off on somebody else.
When you're at Harbour Club Villas and Marina - you're family. And these guys will do anything for family.
Here's an example. We arrived, a little frazzled because the airline (WestJet) had managed to smash our stroller into a couple pieces, meaning that our 9 month old baby had nothing to sit in. Within an hour of hearing this Marta and Barry had called around, managed to find a loaner, had been to collect it and had it waiting for us at the villa. You just don't get service like that elsewhere - and it's not atypical of these guys. Scan the other reviews and you'll get a pretty good idea of what we mean.
The place itself. Well HCV is pretty close to all of the places that you might want to be. No it's not on a beach, yes you are going to need a car but if you have one you're never more than 10 mins down a (bumpy) road from where you want to be.
The Villas are clean, decorated in the Caribbean style (wicker!) and have AC in the bedroom, 4 rings to cook on, a decent fridge / freezer, coffee maker and a microwave. There are lots of utensils, a flatscreen TV and some pretty decent pay cable channels too. Modern luxury it is not, but it's functional, the views are nice, the breeze nicer and everything is well maintained.
The landscaping is really lovely too. Sitting out by the BBQ by the small (but again immaculate) pool was an absolute joy as you're surrounded by a mature garden that's obviously loved and you stand a good chance of running into the couple themselves (a joy in itself)
So why only 4 stars? It sounds idyllic.
Well there's my reluctance to give anything 5 stars and then there are a couple of tiny things.
When you arrive the refrigerator is spotless, but empty. A bottle of water in there would have been really welcome (you CAN drink the tap water I know but so many people tend not to). A 'first hour' welcome basket (say water, some fruit, enough coffee for two cups, a mini milk) would be fantastic.
Then there's wireless internet. Yes it's available, but not from the villas themselves. You have to head out to the BBQ area to pick up the signal. Which during the day isn't an issue at all, but at night when the bugs are biting outside (everywhere on the island) it would be nice to be able to get online from within the villa itself.
Tiny points though. I'd choose Harbour Club Villas over a hotel on the island any time. Yes it's more remote but it's also quieter, more personal, more relaxed and much, much more friendly. The place is well run by people who seem to like people, who will go the extra mile for you and who have built their own little piece of heaven from scratch... and love to share it.
Highly recommended
