BREAKFAST AT THE FAIRMONT, BARBADOS

The Fairmont Royal Pavilion was originally built in the 1940’s and was the first hotel to be constructed on the West Coast of Barbados. Although it has expanded in size over the years, the overall architecture of the hotel is Mediterranean, the buildings enhanced by tropical gardens originally designed by the renowned South American landscape architect Fernando Tabora.

The sweeping drive of majestic palms lit from the coast road had always held a fascination for me so I booked myself in for breakfast and a tour of the gardens with head gardener, Winslow Greaves, who has spent the last 25 years of his working life tending the plants around the 11 acre site and knows each plant intimately.

Open air atriums, pathways and courtyards are all lushly planted with a huge array of plants ranging from Crotons through to Ixoras and Philodendrons with plenty of treasures in between - a scented white Gardenia had reached shrub-like proportions in one shady courtyard and a yellow chalice vine scrambled up and through a trellis in another more sunny spot.

 

 

The native bearded fig after which Barbados was named by the Portuguese explorer Pedro a Campos (meaning  ‘the bearded ones’ in Portuguese) towered over a pathway and a banana was fruiting above an understorey of star jasmine. 

 

 

 

Bushy Acalypha dripping with its red tail-like flowers made our own very British summer bedding offerings seem pathetic in comparison.

Away from the hotel buildings there are more botanical treasures to be found within the grounds –over 50 different varieties of palm to be discovered and one in particular, the silver fan palm, was shown off well by some brilliant textural plantings.

 

 

 

The gardens were full interesting plants but, for me, some parts of the grounds were a tad too neat.  I have a personal preference for plants to spill naturally rather than be clipped into hedge-like uniformity.  In some areas (but not all) of the gardens, this particular style of maintenance made some parts of the garden feel a bit clinical, less relaxed and thus detracted from the atmosphere.

But onto the gastronomical element of my visit which, in this case, was breakfast.  Every variety of fresh fruit, breads and pastries were the continental offering along with a selection of hot dishes and eggs cooked to order.  But you could have a bit of everything and eating al fresco with an exceptional sea view was a perfect excuse to linger over as many breakfast courses that it was possible to have and for as long as possible, although 8am to 10am is the norm.  Garden tours are every Wednesday from 10am to 11.30am and can assist in working off the calories once overindulgence has taken place.

NOTE: Fernando Tabora was involved in designing the Parque Del Este in Caracas, Venezuela, and the Aterro Do Flamengo Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 1968, Tabora and his partner, John Stoddart, received the National Venezuelan Award for Landscape Architecture. Tabora is still consulted on landscape design at The Fairmont Royal Pavilion.

You can also book for Sunday buffet lunch and the special evenings here –the Tuesday night Gala dinner and the Thursday night West Indian cookout.

www.fairmont.com

Fairmont Royal Pavilion, Porters, St James