I’ve Stayed in Lots of People’s Homes, but This One in Barbados Was the Best!

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Airbnb is a website that lets folks rent out their home to travelers, either a single room or the whole house.

Staying in someone’s home might feel a little strange, and even scary!  Several of my travel buddies over the years have been hesitant to try the service because their imagination paints a scene of duct tape, zip ties, and rubber gloves.

But the truth is, Airbnb is very safe!  It’s a great choice for folks who prefer a local feel when they travel, or want to explore off the beaten path.  It’s also ideal for longer stays, like a couple of weeks (or more!).

My favorite Airbnb experience was a gigantic tree house in Barbados.  I highly recommend it if you’re headed in that direction!

I’ll give you a quick review!

Review of Talking Trees House, an Airbnb in Barbados

Link:   How to Choose a Good and Safe Airbnb

I love Airbnb for 4 big reasons:

1. Airbnb gives you the opportunity to live like a local.  You get to stay in someone’s house in the middle of a neighborhood instead of a cookie-cutter hotel downtown.  You can even rent a single room, so you can be with a host family and better understand their lifestyle.
2. There are WAY more Airbnb locations than hotels.  If there are no hotels around the area you want to stay, there’s sure to be an Airbnb.  For example, you can find an Airbnb in remote areas of Alaska, where there isn’t a hotel for hundreds of miles!
3. The price you pay for most Airbnbs is much cheaper than what you’d pay for a hotel equivalent
4. You can stay in some fun and quirky places, like castles, igloos, and ranches.

My friends and I stayed at Talking Trees House in Saint John, Barbados.  The owner, Angelique, was in Spain at the time.  But she has an on-site housekeeper to let folks in.

The house isn’t actually a tree house, but it’s rustic and wooden and looks like the clubhouse of your childhood dreams.  And the canopy of trees that surrounds it certainly makes it feel like a tree house.

The house is NOT airtight.  Many of the doors and window shutters are slatted.  So bugs can welcome themselves all through the night.  I never found that to be a problem, though.

What I did have a problem with was heightened animal activity in the middle of the night.  Namely, monkeys (I assume) yanking on the window shutters and creating a racket.  It freaked me out the first night, but I was used to it by the time we left.

Is It Worth the Price?

Talking Trees House cost ~$130 per night, all in.  We stayed for 3 nights.  There is a minimum stay requirement of 4 nights, but I emailed the host and she was happy to grant us a 3-night stay.  I used the sign-up bonus from the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card to cover the entire stay.

Considering the place was probably 4,500 square feet, $130 per night is pretty unbelievable.  The same experience at a hotel would probably have cost hundreds and hundreds.

I spent the first night in a hammock.  I hated it so much.  It turns out hammocks are not comfortable for 7 consecutive hours.

The second night I spent in the upstairs bedroom.

How’s the Location?

This trip was my first experience with the Caribbean.  Aside from the main highway, the condition of the roads was appalling.  Like the entire island suffered from severe bedhead.  The house was 13 miles from the airport, but driving over the island’s knots and cowlicks took 45+ minutes.

The house is VERY remote.  If I return, I’ll make sure I’ve purchased plenty of groceries, to minimize my driving that scraggly road.

Another feature worth mentioning is that the driveway to the house is about an 80-degree incline.

But Talking Trees House is an excellent place to stay if you want to forget all about city life.  The place is still pretty noisy, but it’s relaxing noise.  Rustling leaves and rambunctious monkeys and lively birds.

There is a pig slaughterhouse within earshot, and we would occasionally hear melodic squeals of desperation.

A 10-minute drive from the tree house is a beachside restaurant called Bay Tavern.  It’s the only restaurant in the area.

The place is insanely popular for its fish fry every Thursday evening.  We were fortunate to be able to try it out.

The meal was pretty great.  And the restaurant had tons of alcohol to choose from.

Bottom Line

Of all the Airbnb locations I’ve stayed, my favorite by far has been Talking Trees House in Barbados.  I urge anyone heading to Barbados to give it a try.  Just know that it’s in the country, far from the beautiful beaches Barbados is known for, as well as “happening” areas, like Saint Lawrence Gap.

I’m always up for an Airbnb adventure.  Let me know your favorite Airbnb, and I’ll add it to my must-try list!