Apes Hill is a golfer’s paradise within the broader paradise of Barbados, but that is only part of the story.
In fact Apes Hill represents something of a sea change in this Caribbean island, a new outlook which embraces the vibrant natural world, delves into Bajan history and seeks a future that is more equitable and responsible.
For us holidaymakers — my partner and I had our first trip away without our children for ten years (how this happened, I have no idea) — this amounts to good times of a deeper kind. It’s a great place for a luxury trip, but it can also be a profound, even life-changing one. Such is the effect of this island, it’s people, and its legendary air (oh, and alright, the cocktails help too).
Where is it?
Well, Barbados is a small island — as in 21 miles long and 14 miles across, though such is the winding network of roads, it never feels small when you’re driving around — and the most easterly one in the Caribbean. The Atlantic Tradewinds coming straight across from Africa are pure as anything and many people put down its effects to the long life of many residents here. National Geographic just named the island in their prestigious Best of the World 2025 list.
Apes Hill is an elevated resort community close to the west coast of the Island. And when we say elevated, we’re talking 1000 ft above sea level, which means stunning views. At certain spots — notably the 15th hole on the golf course — you have views over both the west and the east coast of the island, which is pretty unique (and results in extra obstacles for golfers at the 15th: proposing couples).
This dreamy setting is a peaceful, spectacular and very Barbados place to escape to: chilled, sociable, engaging. Cool but warm.
Style
So the deal with Apes Hill is that this is a community, one of the hottest real estate opportunities in Barbados with stunning houses built bespoke for buyers on plots across the site. For those of us yet to make sufficient millions to purchase one there is the chance to rent out villas for all your vacation needs.
We stayed in a beautifully chic three-bedroom Courtyard Villa, with a free-flowing design leading out inexorably to the stunning outside space and its infinity pool, and upstairs, the balcony on the master bedroom. The sea views afforded from both resulted in my partner and I spending 90 per cent of our visit taking photos of the sunsets.
The Apes Hill clubhouse is the centre of activity on the grounds, a very sociable place, which is great for watching sport, although for those of us on romantic getaways it’s better to concentrate on the excellent food offerings the two restaurants, lest you receive a golf club over the skull.
Food and Drink
These restaurants are the Noisy Cricket (named after the crickets which are the constant background noise here — oddly, their musical chirping sounds as upbeat as the noise in the bar), and the more informal 20th Hole. Breakfast is at the latter (the smoothies are a must) but it’s perfect to drop in at, with the food cooked in front of you at the open kitchen and making use of produce grown on site. The Noisy Cricket offers fine dining from the same understanding that quality increasingly means care, and ingredients must be local, healthy, and passionately put together.
There is also the opportunity to experience the resulting culinary delights in a more up close setting by having in-villa cining, where a chef and a small team come to your place to lay on a very special occasion. Quite honestly, this was one of the highlights of the trip, with awesome food (seared salmon with crushed sweet potato, coconut emulsion and watermelon salsa for me; roasted chicken with green pea risotto for my partner) and special service, and at the end, we could just collapse on the sofa in a blissful food and drink coma. They even did the washing up. Incredible times.
Outside of Apes Hill, there are many options down by the sea. The Calma Beach Club was a perfect spot for a great lunch in a casual atmosphere: make sure you get the tacos and plenty of Deputy beers, and then float in the warm Caribbean sea for three hours — where grim old London seems like a universe away.
For evening meals, we loved the QP Bistro, a beautiful restaurant right on the sea where the live music is as excellent as the food. I had a classic rib eye steak which was exceptional, along with an equally exceptional accompaniment: a sea blue cocktail called the Bajan Wreck (brown rum, Malibu, amaretto, blue curacao and pineapple juice). Now, anywhere else in the world I’d be embarrassed to drink such a garish cocktail, but in Barbados, it’s like: ’who cares? Relax! Enjoy yourself...’ My attitude too, after a couple of those bad boys.
Facilities
Back at Apes Hill, we had a whirlwind tour of the site by Ed Paskins, Golf Course Superintendent and sustainability and nature specialist. This Kiwi is any stray guest’s intrepid guide to the burgeoning environmental side of the operation. You can embark on gully walks with Ed to check out the natural surroundings and kids have the chance to fish in the on-site reservoir. It’s all very Boy’s Own adventure — but, yknow, for all genders — and is something that shows where the future of Apes Hill lies, as a haven not just for golfers but for families who are crying out for activities that entail ditching all devices.
Indeed, wellness is at the very core of things here. We had a couples massage in our villa with two absolute geniuses of the table, Tracey Archer and Kysha Banfield. I don’t even like massages, but Tracey was a magician.
The Apes Hill folk have just announced a new partnership with Oyogo to create bespoke well-being experiences for guests and residents. Think breathwork, painting, free-diving, pottery and other things to prioritise body and mind. Places like Barbados are changing from just pure hedonism, and they’re ahead of the curve here.
It had rained the day before our gully walk so instead we clung on for dear life as Ed drove us around on some kind of jeep/tank vehicle for us to take a look at secret old kilns in the forest, check out the nurseries they have developed to keep the fauna and flora diverse and buoyant (the rainfall and sunshine up here help the lushness), have a view of the expanding on-site produce operation supplying the kitchens, and generally pretend we weren’t scaredy London types scanning for scary wildlife.
Actually nothing in this lush environment is going to kill you as the mongooses killed all the snakes decades ago, and although they are now intent on killing all the birds, they look cute so that’s ok. Even cuter are the monkeys, who I imagine are a nuisance to the staff, but for us visitors, they were a joy.
Ah but in the end, we had to try out some golf — and who better to introduce two people who had never swung a club (bat?) before than resident golf pro, Jody Addison. After he gave us a tour of the award-winning course — designed by the legendary Ron Kirby but tweaked for playability by Jody — one which even the layman can see is spectacular, we headed to the Performance Centre which has state of the art facilities to improve anyone’s game.
To be honest, we didn’t require much of the tech, Jody had his work cut out simply getting us to hit the damn balls at all. Nobody said it was this difficult. Oh, but after a hundred or so swings, when both of us finally hit one in a sweet way. Well, it all changed then! The addiction was instant. Had we not been dragged away we could easily have hit balls well past sunset.
Golf: we get it now.
Exploring the island
One of the musts of Barbados is taking a proper tour of the place to fully grasp its history and check out the huge variety of the island. Steering away from the beach crowds, we headed out on an East Coast Tour with driver Anthony Eastmond, and our guide Ronnie Carrington, who is a legend around these parts, a photographer and expert on the history, culture and people of the island.
Ronnie took us out through Apes Hill, east over the Scotland District, through the various parishes that make up the island, and stopping to take in stunning views as well as those life-giving Tradewinds from over he Atlantic, breathing as deep as we possibly could to blow away whatever Lewisham air has deposited in our lungs.
After a quick taste of spirits at one of the many rum shops by the side of the road — the gathering place for all the men post-work in these parts — we heard from Ronnie about Barbados’s history as effectively one large slavery plantation producing sugar cane run by the British, and how the place developed post-colonialism, after becoming politically independent in 1966 and then a Republic of the Commonwealth in 2021.
The island has its own NHS-style health service and an excellent free education system, including higher education, and with national heroes like Rihanna spreading the word, Barbados is certainly an admirable place to visit and a strong international voice.
We stopped by St Nicholas Abbey, a former plantation dating back to 1658, which is now a traditional rum distillery owned and operated by Larry Warren, wife Anna and their family. It’s all very small batch and hands-on, with the team bottling and labelling themselves — and the rum itself is sensational. The 5-year-old has a smooth, silky quality that made us bring back as much as we could carry. There’s also a steam train on the site that adds to the olde worlde quality of the place.
Really though, as we drove by the east coast surf (no sunbathing this side, watersports only), there’s a sense of moving on from the past without ignoring it, with new houses being built and places like Apes Hill making its own waves, this little place with a big personality rewards your time and attention in deeper ways than your average holiday destination.
Apes Hill in three(ish) words
Sociable, sustainable, super-special.
Book it: Courtyard villas are available from £660 per night. apeshill.com
