Name: Rio Guest House
Address: paradise village, St. Lawrence Gap, St. Lawrence Gap, St. Lawrence Gap, BB00000, Barbados
Rating: 8

Common kitchen

Meals

Internet access

Internet

Library

Recreation

Free Parking on Premises

Parking

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Location

At the guest house

Dover Beach

Maxwell Beach

Worthing Beach

Grantley Adams International Airport

Rio Guest House

St. Lawrence Gap

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

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4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

I think Rio had a hey day and is a bit tired now. My room was very basic, I had no window, fridge or tv but I had an en suite (with a window). I found it a bit grim, it’s loud and it’s a bit messy but all clean. The roof terrace is very nice, I met some other travellers there but there isn’t really a ‘vibe’ at this place. 

The owners live there and it’s nice to see them go about their normal lives, like an insight into Barbadian life. They really helped me with car hire when I was stuck, but otherwise were generally fairly disinterested. It’s off a quiet bit of the gap, I saw some shady looking people at the end of the road hanging about but no one approached me and I didnt feel unsafe. Its about a 2-5 min walk to Dover beach and bus stops.  I was happy to leave and I wouldn’t stay again.

Fit for purpose but wouldn’t return

I was not on vacation, which I think confused my hosts, who were very kind and gracious (I spent a LOT of time in my room :D ). The hotel was very affordable (I stayed for 8 days), spacious enough for one, with a respectable bath, floor fan and A/C, television, strong WiFi and a good fridge. 

Short walking distance to public transport, restaurants, shopping, and groceries. 

They arranged pick up and drop off to the airport as well. May I point out that my pickup was unexpectedly very late at night and they still came to get me! Very gracious family, and I wish them all the best. Excellent budget option.  I am happy to highly recommend.  (Apologies for this delayed review--2020 was not kind overall! My trip was pre Covid.)

Perfect for purpose

I stayed at this guesthouse on 2 occasions. I love the place, I love its location - it is close to everything! The St. Lawrence Gap is a few steps away, the main roads are close by to get a taxi etc. I would not trade it for the world. The rooms are generally clean, with clean bathrooms and the managers are very courteous. The Dover Beach is a few steps away. Restaurants are close by and the area is always lively and teeming with life.

A cozy quiet IDEAL spot

We were travelling with my friend and stayed here for our entire trip, 10 nights. We stayed in the double twin room which was spaceous enough + bathroom with warm shower (never run out of warm water). The location is calm and St Lawrence Gap bars and restaurants are <5min walk away. The house has a small balkony thats great for evening chill and meet fellow travellers. In case you are surfing, a car is a must and you will have parking space right at the house. No racks for surfboards but we were allowed to leave em inside. 

Great value for the cost

Very good. Full kitchen to work with. Amazing beach a minute away. There is a couple of supermarkets nearby but a very big one with everything you need about a mile away. So with this and the kitchen all is good

Great location

Pictures of the guesthouse we misleading. Rooms are small, beds are hard to sleep, bathroom and bath in the room are not OK. The family that owns the guesthouse is cute, but there is a mess all the time. The location is perfect.

Good location, total mess

Very homely guest house and host Paula and Denis are welcoming and helpful. Ideally located 5 mins from beach and shops and bars. I would recommend room with ensuite shower room. This is a lovely little guest house and as a lone traveller I felt settled and secure in this family run guesthouse

Freindly homely guesthouse

Three weeks here, clean, comfortable, affordable!
A great little guest house, quiet if you accept that chickens are endemic to Barbados....
5 minutes to Dover beach or the bus stop to connect to all areas of the island.
Lovely family looking to help as required, Rio G H is perfect for a relaxed simple base, having access to the kitchen was so good as we could prepare meals for ourself which helped the budget as this is an expensive destination!
We met great interesting people during our stay here which added to our enjoyment.
Limited space as a social area though .

Excellent base

We spent a delightful two weeks here from the 5th to the 19th of February 2019, a holiday inspired by a desire to  escape the somewhat mixed fortunes of the UK and its climate, political and otherwise. We succeeded.
My wife and I were slightly unsure what to expect - we've spent years going on escorted tours - but there is nothing to be concerned about here. The linen is spotless, the floors and fittings are scrupulously cleaned, and the kitchen is, well, a kitchen in use; it's shared and cleaned by everyone that uses it, including the owners. 
My sincere thanks to Dennis and Paula for a great time, and to little Denzil, for the indoor football practice. 
We occupied Room 9, which has its own bathroom. Roomy enough, with sufficient space for an overstuffed suitcase to be fully decanted. And a massive bed with an overhead fan. The communal balcony is a great place for breakfast, with a gentle only-slightly-cool breeze sometimes, and a pair of thick foldaway plastic curtains in case of a short shower. It's also suitable for a few jars late in the evening, if you don't feel like going down to the beach bars or sitting on the sand quaffing rum from the bottle. Terrible of us, but, hey... at our age, who cares?
Within 100 yards in a southerly direction is St Lawrence Gap, giving access to Dover beach in an easterly direction by the food stalls, or, to the west, by the path through an Indian Restaurant. To the north, following Paradise Village round to the west and the north again, is the main highway which all the buses traverse, to Oistins and Silver Sands, Long Beach, Sam Lord's Castle followed by Bottom Bay and Harrismith Beach; or to Bridgetown and even to Sandy Lane, Holetown and Speightstown to the north if you're willing to wait. You can get to Bathsheba on the east coast in an hour from Bridgetown - it's like Watergate Bay in Cornwall, yet is almost uninhabited as far as the sand is concerned. So, the guesthouse is almost ideally situated for access to public transport and the local beach. And you can follow the string of beaches round at low tide, almost as far as Carlisle Bay, right into Bridgetown, with only a couple of diversions onto the road.
Rio's not only for surfers - there are some, but, then again, a surfing airline pilot is still a surfer...and an airline pilot as well; a retired teacher or dentist is still that, but a winter-holidaying Swedish landlord, island-hopping across the Caribbean is a bit of a surprise. And we met all of these and more in our stay here. In sum, if you adopt the philosophy of "Why pay more, this is fine by me?", then you will love this guesthouse.
We did, Thanks again to all involved.


It doesn't need a pool...

We were at rio guest house a couple of weeks ago and we booked through Booking.com. After the stay I wrote an honest review about my stay. In my review I wrote that there is are possible BED BUGS in the mattress as both of us were covered in itchy red bumps all over. I also mentioned about that benefits of the hotel. A few days later I received a hostile and aggressive email from the owner saying that there is no possible way that there could be bedbugs and I should take down the review immediately! She claimed that we got those bumps from laying on the sand, where as we always laid on beach beds. Reviews are supposed to be honest and reflect a true picture and it is pretty unprofessional that the owner emailed me to take down the review. If I wasn’t convinced earlier, now I surely am that there are definitely bedbugs there! The sheets and towels get changed every 4 days, and calling them white would be a disgrace as they are dirty, full of stains, had holes and on the brink of becoming rags. Disappointed with the reaction on the owner. Didn’t get a chance to interact that much with her during the stay, but now I understand why so many people had only negative things to say about her. Below I have attached a picture of my review.

Rio Guest House

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