Hotel in zona John Smith's Bay Beach, Smith's

October 20th 2024 - this was our second “getaway” trip from the NYC area to this resort the Rosewood did not disappoint. We splurged for a suite and enjoyed zipping around on the golf cart (which was included) to get to the beach and up to the Italian restaurant on property. (Recommend!). The staff here are super nice and friendly. Shout out to Georgie in the island brasserie . She is a total pro! The beds and bedding are luxurious. Turkish towels. Turn down service. All great! They have an “Adults only” pool that is unheated and only gets a few hours of sunlight but they have another pool that was warm like bath water and very enjoyable for kids and us adults alike. The best part for us was our experience at the beach. Amazing! Paradise! Although the water temperature was a bit chilly (maybe 80 degrees and air temperature was about 78) the surf is calm enough for small kids to frolic around but a boogie board still provided fun. Perfect sand with zero shells or rocks and the beach was combed each morning to make the beach just perfect. There are a really nice group of employees who set us up each day in a beach chair and umbrella no extra fees. The beach bar runner guy remembered what beer we drank and the restaurant at the beach also called us by our names. The lunches we had there were yummy and healthy, fresh and you can’t beat the view. What a lovely hotel. We will be back !

We had 4 adults and three teenagers in two different condos. Each 2bd 2bth was clean and updated. The kitchen was smaller but perfectly adequate for making meals and having snacks/happy hour. The A/C worked very well and the rooms were solid with comfortable bedding and good water pressure in showers. The hotel is walking distance to St. george’s and about .7 miles from St Regis (st catherine beach) and tobacco bay….as well as a couple of other smaller beaches. We walked through the five forts golf course and it cut about .25 miles off the walk. There is a free hotel shuttle, operated by Curtis (great guy) that goes to town, at regis and tobacco bay too. There is a grocery store about 10min walk or Curtis can drive you. The pool at the facility was nice and well maintained. The staff at the front desk were very friendly and helpful with recommendations or calling a taxi.

My husband and I spent 5 nights at Coco Reef & Resort at the end of August. Before arriving, I had read some mixed reviews. Now I understand why some guests were disappointed. For us, the overall experience was a good one. I’d go back, but I would hesitate to recommend it highly. The beach is beautiful. Coco Reef benefits from the much larger hotel next door (the old Elbow Beach Hotel) being closed. You have a large stretch of beach to relax, swim, and walk along. The staff was wonderful—hard-working, kind, and helpful. Our room was one of the nicely redecorated ones with a beautiful view. The bed was very comfortable. The AC was very loud but worked in my favor, as it drowned out my husband’s snoring. Some negative aspects we experienced include a huge leak from the overhead AC upon entering. The front desk sent someone to repair it right away and eventually comped us dinner for the inconvenience. However, messages were not relayed to the main manager, and the dinner was reflected on our bill at checkout. This was cleared up within a few minutes but was an example of communication errors. Since the beach is the best aspect of the hotel, they could improve the guest experience there. Every single day, they ran out of towels, and it was inconvenient to have to go all the way to the lobby to fetch them. They lock the towels in a back office, and you have to wait until the front desk is available to help you. An easy fix would be to order more towels and place them in guest rooms or near the entryway to the beach or pool. As a beachfront hotel, this is a basic standard you must meet, or you will frustrate guests. Additionally, there was no staff presence on the beach—no one offering water, cleaning up bird droppings on lounge chairs, or replacing knocked-over umbrellas. The hotel is not for someone looking for nightlife. We were told by the bartender that the bar closes at 10 p.m. On our last night, we wanted a nightcap after returning from dinner. It was 9:45 p.m., and the same bartender told us it was shut down, which was annoying as we really wanted to sit on the terrace and enjoy one last drink on our vacation. The hotel could also upgrade its dining/food services. The atmosphere lacks liveliness. Guests would benefit from an area that sells sodas and snacks for the beach. I’d suggest packing lots of snacks or going to the supermarket, which is about ten minutes away. They provide two small water bottles for free on first day only. There is a mini fridge which was useful. A minor note: our bathroom provided shampoo but no conditioner, and the plastic containers were unlabeled and cumbersome. Coco Reef has many positive features and I hope they improve some issues to make it an outstanding spot to stay in Bermuda.

First off, the pros: the staff members we interacted with were all lovely and kind and the upgrade we received was appreciated. Likewise, the beach was beautiful, and the food in the hotel was very good to excellent. The cons: for a newish hotel, there are certain areas that need improvement. Some of the exterior lights did not work at night, the room felt damp throughout the two days we stayed there, and housekeeping rolled up a wet bathmat and left it for the next day, rather than replacing it with a dry one (as they did with towels). Would not be worth mentioning were it not for the cost of this place. At this price point, one expects slightly better. But worst of all, the very fun sabering of the champagne was a sabering of a bottle of prosecco. First world problems, I know. But tragic nonetheless... A nice place to stay, we'd probably return, but before doing so we'd likely try the Loren or one-two others places on island.