This was my partner and I first trip to the Carribean, and we absolutly loved it. The hotel was superb the service was extremley good. Stayed in Exec. Lounge which was not as good as other Hiltons I have stayed in, but perfectly acceptable.
The beach was brilliant and we hired a couple of boggie boards to make the best of the waves.
The people are so friendly and nothing was too much trouble.
If you want a good hotel with a great location and wonderful beach then seriously consider this one.
Would like to return, but would also like to explore the rest of the islands first.

I've just returned having spent 2 weeks there with my wife & 2 young daughters. In summary we had a great time & I would recommend this hotel. Here's an overview of our experience:

Accommodation: we stayed on the 5th floor of the lighthouse tower. I've got to say that the ocean view was spectacular. I wouldn't bother upgrading to the exec floor as there is little or no difference in terms of room facilities. The bathroom was clean, and a good size, with a separate bath & walk-in-shower. Not sure the decor would be to everyone's taste - walls were painted green. Would give it 4 out of 5 overall.

Food: Breakfast was pretty good & priced reasonably (50 barbados $, approx £13 for the buffet). Lunch is available at the main restaurant & the pool side bar. The lunch menu isn't great as there's a fairly limited selection. However, the food is generally pretty decent - except for the hilton burger, which is average at best. Supper: you can eat at the main restaurant or the fine dining restaurant (the Grill). The food at the main restaurant on themed buffet nights (indian, italian, seafood etc) was pretty good - was approximately £25 per person. We ate once at the Grill - the starter, a beef tepanaki was awful due to the overpowering garlic, however, the main course was nice. Overall I'd score the food 3 out of 5. There are a couple of alternatives nearby for supper - Brown Sugar for one (no more than a 10 min walk) which is excellent. As our daughters are aged under 5 they ate & drank for free at the hotel - this was good as you could pick any thing you liked i.e. you weren't restricted to the children's menu & they were willing to accommodate alterations to the dish (within reason) to fit in with your child's requirements. As for room service, again it was adequate rather than special.

Service: I found most of the staff to be extremely polite and helpful - especially the breakfast team. They certainly made a big fuss over our daughters!! There were certain staff (Donna, Jonathan Boyce, Jonathan - the conscierge, & others too many to mention) who were excellent. I only had 1 frustrating experience with a member of staff (Wilma - at reception) who didn't appear to want to deal with my query. Overall I'd rate service 4 out of 5.

Ammenities: The beach was fantastic - white powder sand. It was well maintained at the hotel front. Having said that if you've got young kids, I'd suggest that they wear the appropriate footwear as there are bits of coral in the sand. There are 2 (man made bays), one is subject to more choppy water than the other - both are great for swimming/ paddling. One thing to improve is the amount of parasols on offer on the beach. There are 2 big pools, 1 hot tub and 1 kids pool. The big pools are very good & thanks to the beach, not at all crowded,. In fact at most times there were no more than 4-5 people in either pool. The kids pool is adequate - a foot deep and no more than 12ft by 12ft. The hot tub is a bit of a disappointment as the jets barely work, and the water isn't particularly warm. The gym is pretty good. Note that all kids aged less than 6 must wear a swim nappy in the pool - a bit harsh if you like me have got kids who have been toilet trained for a while! However, this is due to a couple of kids having accidents in the pool back in April. Personally I blame the parents for this rather than the hotel - how any self respecting parent can let their untrained kid use the pool without a swim nappy is beyond my understanding.

Other Guests: the hotel is known for its conference facilities. I can't say that this bothered us. There were 3-4 weddings whilst we were there - again this doesn't impact other guests in any adverse way.

In summary, I think that this hotel is probably at the upper end of a 4 star hotel rather than an outright 5 star.

Other stuff: we went to Oistins on a Friday night & must say that I thought it wasn't anything great. I suggest you avoid a particular food stall - unfortunately I can't remember its full name, it was called Dora's & .....?, but is easily recognisable as its near the music stage and has multicoloured polka dot table cloths. The food here was nothing short of rubbish. We took our kids to the nature reserve at the north of the island- well worth a visit. We also went to the Ocean Park, which was ok (not quite like Orlando, but that's to be expected!!). We booked our transfer to & from the hotel via the head conscierge (Phillip Bostock), this is a far cheaper way to do it rather than a tour operator. This set us back a total of £28. We also ate at the Mexican restaurant at the Gap in St Lawerence (a 5 min ride by taxi) - this is to be avoided: greasy dull food , no high chairs or booster seats for kids & ropey service.

We traveled to Barbados in May 2008 and had the best time. Everything about the island and hotel was gorgeous! This was definitely the best island we've been to. The Hilton employees were the friendliest we've ever encountered. The trip almost ended bad as we thought my 5 year anniversary ring had been stolen out of our room only to find out that an employee found it in the hall outside of our room and turned it in! This only confirmed what we thought since we arrived - everyone in Barbados is extremely nice and honest. The rooms were very spacious and clean. Overall, we had a great experience and strongly recommend this hotel and island to everyone!

I stayed in mid May for 7 nights and thoroughly enjoyed the whole week. I have read many of the reviews on this site about the rude staff etc but did not experience any of this myself. In fact I thought that the reception, executive lounge and house keeping staff were all great. The property is kept very clean, the beach was not over crowded and the lunch from the pool bar very tasty (and with the pound dollar rate as it is - good value..!!). The room was more than adequate, I could see the sea & the beach and it was cleaned and turned down every day. The first night gift of fruit & biscuits was a nice touch.

It is true what other reviewers have said about the exec lounge being dominated by american business peoples & families with children making meals from the canapes however we were lucky in that this only affected us for part of the week.

I would advise that this hotel is not in the same league as other Hilton 5 star hotels. Having stayed at the Hilton Jumeriah in Dubai previously I was a little shocked that Hilton Barbados did not offer the same. However, when you think about it - Dubai is on a totally different plane to Barbados. In Barbados there is no waitress service in the exec lounge and there are no waiters working the beach. But having met people staying in other Barbados hotels it seemed that the Hilton was doing a very good job.

My one critic would be that the hotel does not offer much choice in the evenings. I went out of the hotel every evening and ate at all the previously reviewed places (Aqua & Champers being my favourites) but when returning to the hotel there was only the one overly air-conditioned bar to carry on the night.

If I returned to Barbados I would stay here again.