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

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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

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not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

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

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

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...

I recently returned from my trip to Barbados and do not have enough good things to say about Rio Guest House. My friend and I checked the reviews of this place beforehand and were worried about a few negative reviews, but Rio was the best for our budget so we decided to do it anyway. We are no frills travelers, just want it to be clean and safe. When we took a taxi from the airport our cab driver told us "I don't think you will like it there" and my friend and I immediately started to panic. Contrary to all we had heard and read, our hosts were overly accommodating from the moment we walked in. We arrived very late at night and the Dennis told us it was no worries and that we would figure out payment in the morning. Our room was spacious for 2 people and very clean. The tiles in the bathroom were practically sparkling. The free wifi in the room was very strong and we were easily able to connect. The shared kitchen was neat and organized. We often ate outside on the second floor balcony and were able to meet multiple people who were also staying at Rio. Our hosts were happy to help us figure out where to go to the beach (literally less than a minute walk) and where to go out at night (you are less than a minute walk from some of the best bars in the gap) as it was our first time there. By the end of our stay we felt like family, but I never felt like our hosts were overbearing or invading our space. I would 100% recommend staying at Rio. When I go back to Barbados it will for-sure be where I am staying.

Would Recommend Rio to Anyone!

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

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 needed a reasonable place to enjoy the beach and nightlife. It's on the quiet side of St. Lawrence Gap and within walking distance to the beach, restaurants, and bars. The guesthouse was maintained well and our room was clean. We had a shared bathroom and did not have a problem with it. The balcony was a nice touch to just sit back and relax, talk with other guests. Dennis was available if we had any questions. Wifi was reliable. Would definitely come back and stay again. 

Close to everything 

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.

Rio Guest House

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