The Barefoot at Havelock

An excellent jungle property on the beach. The rooms( tents) were great, the food was top notch. The only reason i gave it a 4 is the tardy checkout experience where the front office staff made us wait for 45 mins for some inane reason. The front office checkout experience is the only weakling of this otherwise great property.

Our stay at Barefoot was magical. Everything exceeded our expectations from start to finish. Firstly, I would like to thank the staff at Barefoot for making our stay a memorable one. Their dedication to their roles shows through their hard work, attention to the small details (such as remembering our coffee order!) also bringing me food to the room when I was feeling unwell. A special mention to Jack and Suresh - their restaurant service was immaculate. Dev the bartender & his team with their amazing cocktails.Trilochan the chef, he would come and chat to the guests during dinner which was a nice touch. Prathamesh & Rubin the onsite knowledgeable and friendly naturalist guides, with their passion for nature and wildlife. I celebrated my 30th birthday during our stay, my partner and the staff at barefoot organised a surprise dinner on the beach under the stars - a birthday to remember! The rooms are comfortable, rustic and close to nature. The nicest beach on Havelock is a stone throw away from the rooms and you can hear the sound of waves crashing in the early morning. The restaurant food quality is some of the best we had during our time in India (lobster curry is a must!) Highly recommend Barefoot for those looking for a memorable experience on Havelock Island!

We stayed at Barefoot for 5 nights of our honeymoon - a perfect place to come and relax after some touring in Chennai and Port Blair. Overall we loved our stay and would highly recommend for the following reasons: Pros - Location: perfectly located on the best beach on Havelock - you have to walk through a forest to get to the beach and the scenery and nature is just spectacular. - Rooms and decor: great rustic rooms, comfy bed, clean, great areas on balcony to read. The communal areas- bar and restaurant also very chilled! - Food: all our meals were excellent - we ate breakfast and dinner at the restaurant everyday. The staff were very efficient. - Some staff were really friendly and helpful (like Wohid) but there were a couple who were really unhelpful and had bad attitudes. - Sunset tea - best part of the day! Watching sunset at the beach and the hotel provides a delicious, sweet tea. Loved this ritual! Cons - The Spa - this was EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING AND I DO NOT RECOMMEND. This is the worst treatment we have had - disappointing as it's very expensive (same price we would pay in Sydney) - there was no communication upfront on the type of massage, strength, focus areas and it seemed the 2 young guys (whilst friendly) who gave the treatment were not trained at all (not their fault). - The staff didn't wear name tags and so it was difficult to refer to others we had spoken to or mention when we had good or bad feedback (we suggest getting name tags). There is also no manager on site (we heard the GM stays in Port Blair) - there should be someone who is the overall manager and visible as the key contact for guests if needed.

Let’s first say a lot of things went wrong here. Most of it was fixed, but there is a lot to improve here. On arrival the toilet did not flush properly. This was resolved by replacing the entire bowl for a new one (leaving a nasty stain on where the old bowl used to be). Then there was hot water for like 30 seconds before it stopped. Mentioned it 2x, they ‘fixed’ it 2x, but in the 4 nights I stayed here I only had cold showers (lukewarm would be a better description). Then the airconditioning broke after a power outage. This was solved by replacing some part of the device. I have to say at this point they aknowledged the fact that a lot of things went wrong and they gave us free dinner, which was very nice. Then the next day: I booked a diving trip via barefoot scuba, their sister company. At the desk of the hotel I discussed with them that pick up should be at 7. No pick up. ‘Sorry mam’ was their reaction. They could arrange a pick up an hour later. I was so disappointed by this that at first I cancelled, reconsidered 5 min later and went anyways. Diving was amazing, but the pick up at 13h went at 13.30. The next morning at check out, although it was said that the reception will be staffed 24h, apparently not with people that can let you pay the bill. So I had to wait until someone showed up that could ‘help’ me with that. Leaving us with 30 min to have breakfast (which is served, so it takes a bit longer than a buffet) and check out. The hotel furthermore is just not properly cleaned (mentioned this, part of it, the hairdryer was sort of cleaned, but not really). The main parts like the toilet floor, the bed and shower floor are clean, but don’t look at the walls or deviced like hair dryings or hand dryers. Which also makes us a bit less enthusiastic about taking your shoes off whenever you enter the reception or restaurant. On a positive note and the only reason why it gets a second star, is that the in house naturalists are amazing. We did two intertidal walks with Prathamesh and we really enjoyed outselves. Also Ruben helpt out whit arranging the shuttle for my diving when they did not show up. All in all, I will not return here.

An amazing resort right on the stunning beach a definitely one of the best beaches we have experienced around the globe. Staff were exceptional, rooms are lovely and set back in the jungle with wonderful soundscapes. Wonderful range of activities on offer - we were only there for 2 nights so opted to enjoy the beach mostly, but did use the spa which was basic but excellent value for money and a very good massage was enjoyed. We also experienced the sound meditation which was an amazing experience! On site restaurant is good and tries to offer a range of cuisines; they also accommodated our vegan diet. The bar is also great. Their logistical team also took care of every aspect of our transfers which was an added bonus & very much appreciated. 100% recommend.

Having come here 18 years ago, this time I was afraid the magic would have gone. But it hasn't - truly lovely spot, bright stars, beautiful forest, morning birdsong, fantastic beach. And the restaurant is good too, with lovely, friendly staff.