Reeds House Penthouse #13

We stayed in Reed's House #13 in January 2019. This was our second trip to Barbados and Reed's House. We stayed in Reed's House #10 in January 2018. Reed's House has an excellent location with a nice beach and beautiful views. Right on the water facing west for awesome sunsets.
The staff at Reed's House is very accommodating and trustworthy. In particular Marcus at the front desk was wonderful. He was always there to help with anything we needed from setting your chairs out and making sure we had an umbrella (we didn't ask for this, he just did it) to arranging for a ride to a restaurant or letting us know when someone was there to see us etc. Marcus was great, and all of the associated staff were just as friendly and helpful. It gave us great piece of mind to know he and his associates were there if we needed anything. We felt very safe and at ease.
Overall the #13 Villa was nice. However, since we had something to compare to, we both agreed it was not as nice as #10. There was less furniture and places to sit around the villa. There was limited place to eat meals with very small patio style tables for eating. It was just my wife and I so it worked out. If we were sharing with another couple, we would have been cramped for meals and relaxing on the patio. All of the furniture was rather dated and the bed was very hard. The main room on the main floor was not air conditioned, however, both bedrooms were so that was not as big an issue. The
bathrooms were beautifully updated.
The penthouse style patio was beautiful and very private with a nice dip pool (think unheated hot tub). The dip pool provided a nice way to cool off in the heat of the afternoon and was naturally warmed by the sun. The patio was in full sun from about 1:00-5:00 pm every day. There was an air conditioned room with a bathroom by the penthouse patio that was very convenient. It was a bit of an inconvenience having to walk the narrow winding stair with food, drinks or other items. However, the privacy of the penthouse made it worth it.
The Villa also lacked many simple amenities. For instance we had to purchase a table cloth to go on the small square patio table we used for eating our meals. For lack of better word, the furniture was cheap and uncomfortable. On the main level there was a tiny little cheap couch and a single chair to sit on. That is all.
We spent most of our time on the beach and on the penthouse patio but a little more accommodations for furniture would have been nice. Reed's House #10 was much more favorably appointed and a little bigger with air conditioning in every room, adequately sized tables for eating, more kitchen amenities, and adequate furniture to be comfortable. It is on the second floor so you sacrifice a bit of the privacy of #13 but it still felt private.
The location is awesome. It is just a short drive from both Speightstown to the north and Holetown to the south. Holetown has a fully stocked large grocery store where you can purchase any and all food and necessities. It is very convenient and makes it worth the stay.
As for pre-booked services I highly recommend the VIP arrival service where you are greeted at the airport by a representative who ushers you through immigration, to your bags, and through customs. There are dedicated lines for this service and you can avoid the long lines if you arrive with other flights. Definitely worth it. We also prearranged our transfer from the airport to the villa. That was flawless as well. However, we learned that arranging for travel to the airport for departure at the end of our stay was better handled when we were there. Our first trip we had prearranged the transfer back to the airport. The driver showed up at about 9 AM to take us to the airport. Our flight was not until 5
pm or so that afternoon and the airport is less than an hour away even in "bad" traffic. We asked him to come back in a few hours so we could enjoy the last bit of sun and ocean before we had to leave. He said he was booked, we either go with him then or find our own ride. We chose to have Marcus arrange for our ride later in the day. It worked out great except I was out the money I prepaid for the transfer.
We rented a car so that we had the option to go anywhere we wanted at any time. However, a rental car is unnecessary. You can go anywhere on the island very easily using the local bus system ($2 per person) and and private taxis available at all times. They were friendly and safe. We used the taxis when going out to dinner so we could comfortably and safely have drinks at dinner without worrying about the ride home.
I definitely recommend you do NOT use the grocery pre-stock service as it is quite expensive and they just buy whatever they think and not necessarily what you ask for. If you do use the service, be very specific about what you want or you may end up with 2.5 lbs of sugar and gallon of whole milk etc like we did. We learned our lesson about the prestock in 2018 so just went with having the first meal prepared by our housekeeper/cook in 2019. We asked for fish and fresh vegetables and rum drinks for our arrival meal. Having the benefit of experience, we asked our driver to stop on the way to the villa so
we could buy a few groceries. We arrived with an armload of groceries only to find that there were groceries there that we hadn't ordered. Later that week I got a bill for those groceries totaling roughly $200 USD with the explanation that it was the necessary cost of our modest first meal: pan fried fish, rice, and vegetables. $200 USD is roughly $400 bajan dollars. You can have the finest meal for two at the finest restaurant on the island with plenty of drinks for far less than $400 bajan. I felt taken advantage of. Again, my advice is not to have them buy you anything or be extremely specific. The grocery store is a 10 minute drive away and easy to access.
We had Jillian as our housekeeper and cook in 2018. She was fantastic. We tried to rebook #10 for 2019 but it was not available. Sheree was our housekeeper and cook in 2019. She was great also. You just have to let them know what you want and they handle it. Great service!
One last note: my wife and I booked an afternoon/evening cruise on the Silver Moon catamaran. We opted for the semi private (limited to 12 people) adults only cruise. It was the best thing we did on our vacation. The boat was beautiful. First class all the way. The captain and 3 man crew were knowledgeable, friendly and accommodating to our needs. We swam with sea turtles and snorkeled a wreck. Then a freshly prepared dinner was served in a bay while the sun set. The food was fantastic and our glasses were not empty the entire afternoon. I highly recommend this.
Overall I was left disappointed with how the grocery bill was handled by the company, but other than that the place is great. Barbados is wonderful. The water is warm and blue, the people are happy and friendly. I would highly recommend it as a top island vacation destination. - Matt F.