My husband and I stayed at this apartment (on 2nd floor with 2 bedrooms) in February 2015.
First the good:
—This is a quiet relaxing location, if you have quiet neighbors in the other two apartments.
—The pool is wonderful, clean and refreshing. Reading a book on a pool float was one of my favorite activities.
—You can walk to everything in Barra, and it is only 1/2 block to the bus stop to go to Melaque.
—The garden areas are beautiful and maintained daily.
—The apartment was very clean, with no bugs inside. (We heard of problems with bugs in other properties.)
—Ample hot water.
—We felt very safe at the property and throughout the town.
—Unless you have a car, you will walk a lot. The write up says it is 1.5 blocks to the beach. That is true as the crow flies, but it is 1/3 mile to public beach access, and about 1/2 mile to downtown. We walked an average of 3 miles a day, just going to town and back. Great as long as you’re in good shape. And it is flat, which is nice.
—There are beach chairs, bicycles and snorkel gear available. You may need to ask the housekeeper to get these for you.
--The owner helped us arrange a cab from PV. It would be easier to fly toManzanilla.
And the not so good:
—Beds are listed as queens but are really full beds and quite hard. With small beds and hot rooms (fans but no A/C), my husband and I decided to sleep in separate rooms for the first time in our 30+ year marriage.
—Kitchen is minimal, similar to camping gear. Silverware, knives are corroded. Pans were also corroded. We planned to do some cooking, but decided against it and ate all our meals out, given the quality of kitchen ware. Also there is no table in the 2 bedroom apartment.
—The furniture is not very comfortable, except for the shared table and chairs outside the 2nd floor apartments.
—Maid service is approximately weekly.
—There are no working safes in the apartment.
Bring (or plan to buy) sunscreen, bug repellent (lots of “no see-ums”), beach towels (instructions say you cannot take their towels to the beach), all your own personal products (no soap, shampoo, tissues etc. are provided).
Overall we enjoyed our stay but would not stay in that apartment again. We thought it was too expensive for the value. The downstairs two bedroom apartment is much nicer and we would prefer that if we visited again.
Many people (mostly Canadians) have been going to Barra for many years. We found plenty to do and enjoyed ourselves.