Review: Royalton Vessence Barbados (Holetown, Barbados)

Barbados has seen a number of new hotel and resort openings, with two notable additions in 2026. In this review, I’ll be spending one night at the Royalton Vessence Barbados all-inclusive resort, which is located in Holetown. This site was previously home to the Discovery Bay Hotel, which was sold off to Royalton and torn down to make room for the new resort.

The Royalton Vessence Barbados opened in June 2026, after the site was originally earmarked to be a Royalton CHIC. Instead, they swapped it to the Vessence branding, which is supposed to be along the lines of a calmer, adult-oriented luxury brand, built around art, wellness, local culture and sensory experiences. The Barbados hotel is the first in the product line, with Cancun set to follow in early 2027.

In This Post

Booking

The Royalton Vessence Barbados has 220 rooms and suites, and in this review, I tried the most basic room called the Luxury Junior Suite at the end of June 2026. Even though I booked directly through the Royalton website, you can also book through Marriott’s website to easily link it to your Bonvoy account.

In my case, it took some time for the Marriott website to actually allow bookings, so I went directly through Royalton and emailed them to have my Bonvoy account linked manually.

At the time, they were running a number of introductory promos, and I got my room for $586 with all taxes included. While the booking does not make it immediately clear, there is mention of a country development tax that has to be paid, but I only found out at the time of check in that it was already bundled into the total booking price.

There are somewhat limited booking options on Royalton’s website, so I’d recommend booking through the Marriott site instead as you can get a Luxury Junior Suite with an ocean view without Diamond Club access.

Location

As mentioned above, this resort is located in Holetown, which is on the western coast line in the parish of St. James. It is directly on the beachfront, and is about a 35 to 40-minute drive from the Grantley Adams International Airport (BGI).

There isn’t much to complain about in this review, but from a design perspective, I do think that the front of the resort is a huge let down. It reminds me more of an office building rather than a resort, as there is just a huge white front with a concrete parking area, along with a few plants and an art piece.

Overall, the hotel does not have an enormous footprint, with the designers opting to go for height rather than width given the limited space. This is made clear by how easily you can see the resort from quite a distance away.

Check In

The entrance reminds me of a somewhat of walking in a shopping mall as there is a gift and amenities shop, a number of restaurants and bars, as well as the check in area in the mid-section. There are also a number of sofa and couch-style seats in the central walk way.

Check in starts at 3 p.m., and guests are invited to store their bags while they check in, most likely to avoid crowding the check in area. Unfortunately, my room was not ready until close to 5 p.m. as the turnover staff were still finishing mopping and restocking when I arrived around 4 p.m.

The check in process was seamless, but guests should be aware they will be required to place a security deposit of $200 for the duration of the stay. This hold is in addition to whatever payments will be requested depending on how long you stay. The hold is refunded at the end of the stay, and can take between seven and 14 days to actually return to your card (it took about a week for me).

Once the room was ready, the front desk staff gave me my RFID wristbands. These should also be kept safe as they will charge you an additional $150 if they are lost. I thought that replacement fee was a bit on the high side, given that the folks over at Wyndham Grand Barbados Sam Lords Castle let you keep it for free at the end of your stay (that review is coming up soon).

Once that was done, there are multiple points from which you can access your room.

Room

I’ll admit I didn’t know what to expect as I booked this room solely based on a mediocre 3D render. I also always feel apprehensive when it comes to new all-inclusive resorts, as many tend to feel more like bland office spaces rather than a place I’ll be relaxing at for the next few days.

My room was 2214, which was somewhat centrally located, with an elevator a very short walk away near the center of all the action.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the room not feeling like a boring white box as it comprised of a range of earthy colors, paintings and art work, dark wood accents, and patterned rugs to give the room some life.

There is a ceiling fan above the bed with LED accent lighting along the roof and bed headboard frame. The bedside lamps have shades made of a thatch-like material, with all lighting, fan and air conditioner controls, and AC and USB power outlets below each lamp.

To the side, there is a couch area with a small coffee table. Below the TV area is a storage unit with drawers and slots, and just to the right side was a work desk area with more power outlets and light switches.

In the cupboard, they included an umbrella, robes, yoga mats, Royalton-branded slippers, a steamer, safe and more bed comforters.

In terms of refreshments, they offer bottles of water, coffee and tea options (disappointing coffee options to be honest), a coffee drip machine and a kettle. Many hotels are moving towards using Nespresso machines and pods, so why are we still using these weak coffee packets still?

There are also ceramic and glass cups, and metal spoons, a nice touch compared to other hotels that choose to go with plastic and paper.

The mini fridge included a few sodas, more bottled waters, and a local beer option. There is also a bottle of Mount Gay rum and drinking glasses on the work desk. I’d have liked to see a few snacks as well, and maybe another choice of alcohol.

The adjustable smart TV has a good selection of viewing options including cable channels, as well a variety of streaming platforms including Netflix and YouTube, and lots of information related to the hotel, spa services, other activities, and dining information.

The bathroom features his and hers sinks and mirrors, with push pump hand soap, lotion, and bottles of water. There’s also a hair dryer below the sink. The bath itself is pretty spacious, with both a rainfall and hand shower, along with shampoo, conditioner and bodywash. In my room, the toilet was separate on the left after entering the room.

In terms of the view, as I booked the most basic resort view, I got exactly that. Being on the second floor, you could see the restaurant and pool area, as well as the swim out pool just below.

I did notice that one of the power outlets in the balcony area was not covered properly.

Overall, I think they did a great job with the room, and I really wish I had the option to get an ocean view without being pressured into taking the Diamond Club butler service (first world problems). However, that is an option if you book through the Marriot search engine.

Food and Drinks

There are a number of restaurants and bars to choose from, including five main dining concepts. These include Hunter (steakhouse), Moi Aussi (French), Kai (Asian), La Scala (Italian) and Essenza (buffet breakfast), as well as smaller bite-sized options including La Scala To Go (pizza), Petisco (snack bar), Room 21 (snack bar) and Barista Coffee Shop (the name says it all).

There are four bars located around the compound, with one being exclusive to Diamond Club members. What was a bit disappointing is that of the four main restaurants (not counting breakfast), only two were open on any night (except Sundays where all are open). There are other lighter options, but most close around 5 p.m. with the exception of Room 21 which opens late into the evening.

I decided to try Moi Aussi, which is located next to the check in lobby area. As mentioned before all menus are available on the TVs or through the Royalton mobile app. I’ve noticed since my stay, both the opening days and the menus have changed, so what you get will ultimately come down to when you visit.

Moi Aussi has an elegant, polished ambience with a slightly theatrical luxury feel. There’s also a few picture on the wall, which I guess is supposed to reflect the past, but also poke fun at today’s Instagram culture. I’m not art scholar, so I’ll leave that up to you to figure out.

For my starter, I went with the smoked salmon with cream cheese. Then, I had beef tournedos for the main, which lived up to its name as it was extremely tender. I wrapped things up with crème brûlée, but it wasn’t the most traditional type as the top was made of a hard circular sugar lattice.

At the time, menu options were somewhat limited, but I must commend them on an excellent meal. All the wait staff and servers were extremely attentive, so I’ll also give them points for that.

Moving over to the breakfast side of things at Essenza, this restaurant (which doubles as La Scala in the evening) is located on the beach front, offering excellent views of the ocean. Once you’re seated and offered drinks, you can head over to the buffet area in the back.

The food selection was really good, with a wide choice of breads, fruits, cold and hot meats and salads. There were also pre-made eggs and pancakes, even though you could have your own customized to your preference. This is definitely one of the better set ups, versus other all-inclusive hotels which have a limited breakfast selection.

Pool

Not counting the swim out pool running along the ground floor rooms, there are two main pool areas, one on the ground level as well as a rooftop pool with an infinity view. There’s also a small whirlpool next to the main ground level pool.

The ground level pool also has a central swim up bar called Nabu, while the rooftop pool also has bar access, but it requires coming out and walking across to the other side. Both pools have surrounding deck chairs

Beach

Even though the resort sits on the beach front, there isn’t a huge footprint, as they share the space with other adjoining hotels. Realistically, none of the hotels own the beaches as all of Barbados’ beaches are public access. However, there are beach chairs and umbrellas which are reserved for guests only. Guests also have free towel access for both the pools and beach.

As expected with any west coast beach in Barbados, the waters were turquoise colored and generally on the calmer side. Sadly, there is a mad-made rock barrier which does take away from the beauty of the clear waters, but I assume it’s there to help with wave energy dispersion.

Spa and Gym

This is the one area I always seem to fall short on and I’ll do better to cover these in future reviews. In terms of a gym area, there is the Moddo by Royalton FIT, which is below the rooftop level, also offering a great view of the ocean while you work out. They have a range of equipment including treadmills, elliptical machines, exercise bikes, free weights, weight and resistance machines, and other strength-training equipment.

There is also the Royal Spa which comprises of eight treatment rooms, along with other features such as saunas and steam rooms, hot tubs, and more. Spa services have to be booked separately, and are not included by default in your booking. You MAY be able to get spa credit, but it depends on what offers are available at the time of booking.

Service

Besides the delay in getting my room, there really wasn’t anything to complain about. All staff members were extremely attentive from top to bottom, and everyone made the time to greet you even if they weren’t attending to you. It’s also good that they weren’t bothersome trying to over-promote additional services, unlike some other all-inclusives.

Conclusion

I am usually a bit skeptical when it comes to new openings, as hotels tend to still scramble to wrap up loose ends even after launch. However, I enjoyed my time at the Royalton. Everything from the room, food and service was really a great experience.

When I stayed, the staff said the resort was about 50% occupied, and it really did not feel crowded at all, so I suspect even at a higher figure like 80%, it won’t feel like a refugee camp when it’s time to get breakfast.

Even though I managed to get a good rate at the time of booking, rates are pretty much doubled going into the peak periods, and at that price point, I think the least Royalton could do is open all restaurants every day.

Would I recommend this property? Definitely. Prices can be on the high end depending on when you book, but keep an eye out for discounted rates that that run from time to time.