Quick getaways may be short in duration, but the memories made are everlasting. And that's why we don't mind traveling for several hours to quench our travel thirst and experience new adventures, even if it’s only for a 48-hour rendezvous. Two nights on a Caribbean island may seem like a fleeting amount of time to spend on vacation, especially with a five hour flight each way, but the warmth of the Barbados sun still brings about a glow on our cheeks when reminiscing over its amazing beaches.
Several winters ago, we traveled from JFK to Barbados, where we had two nights booked at the Hilton Barbados Resort. The JetBlue flights were booked with TrueBlue points, as the airline was having a good award sale. The hotel was booked one night with HiltonHonors points, and the other the standard rate.
DAY 1:
Our flight departed early in the morning, and arrived long before the hotel's official check-in time. Like true travel junkies, we stored our backpacks with the front desk and snoozed on the couches in the lounge until the Caribbean sun awoke from its slumber.
Though we usually like to explore the places we travel to, this trip was all about R&R. (At the time, Sasha was working full-time, and Melissa had just finished some final exams, so a warm beach destination was the craving on our minds). We spent the full amount of sunshine that day tanning on the white sand beach and washing away our worries in the tropical, turquoise waters. We also enjoyed the pool bar's sips: pina coladas and rum punch.
Fortunately, we got in a little culture and history exploring the cannons at the British base, Charles Fort, located on the Hilton Resort property.
On the first night, we took a cab to a nearby restaurant in Hastings called Tapas. It is a cool two-story, open-air bungalow located by the water and the South Coast Boardwalk. We shared the shark fritters as an appetizer. When in Barbados...
DAY 2:
The next and final day was again split between lounging on the beach and dipping into one of the resort's three pools. We did, however, venture out of our cocoon of the Hilton's leisure zones, and down the beach to the boardwalk.
All of Barbados' beaches are public, thus free to both guest and non-guest. Although the beaches of nearby hotels are undeniably amazing, we noticed that the Hilton's shoreline is the cleanest and clearest; no rocks in the water made for a smooth experience under our feet.
The resort's location right on the beach and its several pools were factored into why we chose to stay there. When you're on a time crunch for a beach vacay, it only makes sense to stay at a beachfront hotel.
For our last night, we took a cab to a nearby casual Italian restaurant, Mama Mia Italian Deli & Pizzeria. The bruschetta is a decent option there.
We were only able to sleep for a few hours that night as we had a late-night/early-morning flight back to JFK. Our flight arrived just in time to allow us to return to the rise and grind of city life.