Caraib'Bay Hotel

We chose the hotel for its location close to the beaches and being a short drive to Deshaies. A holiday to combine A level French practice, snorkelling and exploring part of the French Antilles prompted by watching DIP during UK winters. We knew there was a risk of Dengue and although I had been reassured it was “over” I had been reading the French public health bulletins and realised otherwise, so we sprayed some of our clothes before travelling, with insecticide, used bottles of 50% Deet and long clothing, room spray etc. The duplex apartment was well set up for a family, comfy beds and mosquito nets with a well appointed shower room and a mini kitchen in a cupboard. There was a small terrace outside with seating but we gave up trying to sit there to eat lunch, due to the amount of mosquitoes. Moving inside, the glass was frosted in the downstairs, so you couldn’t look out into the garden which I thought was a shame as the surrounding gardens and scenery were beautiful and it ended up feeling quite claustrophobic. We tried to keep all the windows and doors closed to prevent mosquitoes entering, particularly in view of the risk of Dengue, but these were left open when the room was being cleaned which didn’t help. The pool was beautiful, its surroundings similar to a botanic garden - we enjoyed swimming but again sitting around the pool there were also mosquitoes in the daytime, luckily down by the beach it was fine. Lots of information was provided in folders in reception on local places of interest, activities and restaurants which was really helpful and we went on two fantastic snorkelling trips. Deshaies was very pretty and meeting The Commissioner was a highlight. The lowlight was ending up at the Hospital for Tropical diseases in London after we got back as my husband became very unwell the day after we left, and was subsequently diagnosed with Dengue, my son with another mosquito born virus. The irony of “death in paradise” was not lost on us…..