Overall, the food and drinks at Hermitage Bay were very good. There were basically four meal times per day. We would start with breakfast, which ran from 7:30-10:30am. We were usually there not long after 7:30am since we are early risers. Lunch was 12:30-2:30pm at the beachfront restaurant. Sushi was available at two set times – 4:30pm and 5:30pm. We did 5:30pm each day. Dinner was open from 7:30-10pm. We had an 8pm reservation the first two days and then just showed up at around 8:30pm the last evening.

For those who wake up with the sun, they have coffee, fruit and pastries available at the main bar even earlier than that.

Breakfast was the same menu every day, but it was fairly extensive.

We would generally start with fruit and pastries along with some iced coffee drinks and juice.

We ordered several different things over the three mornings. Everything was tasty and brought out promptly.

We also ordered a side of smoked salmon to share with the cat that lives at the resort, Snowflake. A newer cat named Tiger, who seems to have settled in the area, also grabbed some salmon when Snowflake wasn’t watching.

The breakfast service was good, although as would become a common theme, the weekend servers were friendlier than the weekday servers.

For lunch, there were changing specials daily along with a standard all-day menu. We would start with some tapas from the Farm to Table section, including things like veggies, hummus, and salads before ordering the main course. Cocktails and other drinks were also available.

My wife’s favorite thing she ate there was the crab salad sandwich the first day. I found the fish I ordered the be a bit dry. Dessert was of course available and encouraged. On the last day, we ordered a burger at the main bar since we were leaving at 12:45pm so we didn’t have time to sit down for a proper lunch. For some reason, I didn’t get a picture of the burger, but it was good.

Sushi happy hour was always a fun and festive time. As we were ordering drinks to go with our sushi, we would chat with other people at the bar. It was probably the most social time at the resort. The sushi came in three courses – an appetizer, sashimi then nigiri/roll. The sushi chef was from the Spanish outpost of Nobu and doing a several month rotation at the resort. Hermitage Bay has some sort of arrangement with Nobu (who have a restaurant on nearby Barbuda).

I didn’t get pictures every day as we were having too much fun socializing and enjoying the sushi. You can order more of any dish you really like each day, but the chef is busy with a lot of couples attending, so it could take a bit of time to get that extra sushi.

Dinner was probably the most disappointing meal, although there were a couple of highlights. The menu didn’t change much each night and we would have probably got quite bored of it if we were there longer. The first picture is the daily menu and then I’ve included a couple of the daily special menus and the drink menu. The wine list was nothing special.

Here are some of the things we ordered. The octopus and scallops were excellent. Every other main dish was just OK although the desserts were usually good. After the first night, we started ordering a side of the truffle sweet potato fries with each meal.

The service at dinner was very uneven. The first two nights it was good to excellent, with friendly and responsive servers. The last night (Monday), it seemed like we were bothering the servers to order anything or ask for a refill on water.

The cocktails were all very good. Between us, we worked our way through most of the menu on the right and enjoyed almost everything. Some highlights were the Rum Punch, Spicy Passion Fruit Margarita and the Lychee Banana Colada. They would make anything you wanted off-menu as well.

Overall the service was good, but not great. The weekend servers/bartenders were much friendlier and more responsive than the weekday folks for some reason. We had a couple of minor service fails. On our last night, I called about the room service menu as we weren’t sure if it was just the all-day menu or they included the dinner options. Someone said they would check and call back. They never did and we just gave up and walked over to dinner anyway. On our last day, we ordered a burger from the all-day menu around noon as our car for the airport was leaving at 12:45pm so we couldn’t have the regular lunch. It took about 40 minutes as someone forgot about it (and my wife’s pina colada as well). We ended up having to wolf it down so we wouldn’t keep the driver waiting too long.

None of these things were a huge deal for us as we booked on 150k Hilton points per night. I would be annoyed if I paid the cash rate of over $2,000 (not that I ever would anyway). I just think if they are going to charge Four Seasons (or higher) prices, they have to provide Four Seasons (or higher) service and quality. From what I’ve heard, this can be an issue in many high-end Caribbean resorts.

The resort was fairly empty on the day we arrived (a Saturday). On Sunday, one of the workers told me they had 11 arrivals, which doesn’t sound like much, but they only have 28 suites so it’s almost half of the capacity. Things definitely seemed busier on Monday with many of the beach loungers occupied and lunch and sushi being at almost full capacity. Perhaps that was a reason for the service level dropping a bit, but with 20-30 additional suites being built over the next couple of years, I hope they hire more staff accordingly.

Bugs are an issue at Hermitage Bay, but it’s not mosquitos, just small biting insects that don’t itch as much. I did have 15 bites or so after 3 days despite using the provided bug spray every time I went out and before bed. Those bugs are hardy! Wear long pants and closed shoes to sushi and dinner if you want to avoid bites.

Our overall conclusion is that we probably won’t be back at Hermitage Bay, especially at the new 190k per night Hilton rate. It’s a nice use of Free Night Certificates (as long as they don’t devalue somehow) and I could see a use case at 190k per night if you have tons of Hilton points. There are just plenty of other places to see in the world.

One thing Is for sure, our decisions to never visit Calala Island or the Maldives were validated after being a bit bored and ready to leave here after three days. Being stuck on a luxury resort for a few days is nice. More than that is a bit boring for us. Add in the travel time (and cost) to get to those places and I don’t think it’s worth the hassle.

Up Next: Executive Lounge V.C. Bird International Airport Review

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