We have been staying at the Inn at Cades Bay for a few days for several years, and it does have some really wonderful qualities (right on a very nice stretch of coast, beautifully designed interiors of the cottages, superb sunsets) but unfortunately it seems that the Inn never really 'took off' in popularity, and so, as a result, over the years that have passed since it opened in the early 90s, not nearly enough money was spent on maintenance and improvements. The number of staff gradually decreased in recent years, and the level of service also declined. Finally the restaurant closed. The traffic on the new main road is, unfortunately, quite a lot faster and noisier than it used to be on the old road, and Mansa's, the farmstand opposite the Inn, while being a great plus in that it sells excellent fresh fruits and vegetables (as well as cooked chicken and ice cream) is also a negative, in that for the last year or two, Mansa has been playing amplified music, which carries across the road and is far from the ideal enhancement of the ambience of the Inn.

The Inn was sold in 2006, and I am hoping that the new owners can breathe life back into the property and make it what it needs to be, and deserves to be. This will I imagine be a costly and time-consuming process, but I hope they succeed, because I am fond of this hotel, despite its recent shortcomings.

Went for our anniversary -- in November, 2005. NO ONE ever told us that many restaurants were closed, as the one at this place was. We checked in, and the front desk checked out.

Our room was nice, but the clues were there : mosquito coils in the room and ants abounding. Nice hammock on the "back porch," but there was no way to make the thing hang -- only had hooks on one side.

After a lovely walk on the beach, we tried to reach someone with the hotel, to find out where to go for dinner -- was told it was $25 taxi ride to town ($50 just to get someplace & back, that didn't include anything to eat) -- and finally called our taxi back to get us to catch the last ferry back to St. Kitts. (Great dinner on the beach at Mr. X's -- take cash, great food and great atmosphere, but NO credit cards accepted).

Our anniversary was an adventure and one we'll always remember, and we wouldn't go back to Nevis, period.

Norm & Margaret Grabill

PS: We tried to post a review just after our return. Strange, but it never showed up here. Let's see if this one does, nearly a year later.

My enemy... cockroaches. The enemy of my enemy... ants. We stayed at the Inn at Cades Bay and found it to be a nice place, in general. The staff were friendly and helpful, and the location nice. We actually were in St. Kitts for our honeymoon, and did an overnight trip to Nevis, and stayed at Cades. The room we had (#1) was a King which was decently furnished. Our one and only complaint was that there some tiny, but numerous, ants in the room - both the bathroom and the main room. It's the Caribbean, so I guess it's more or less inevitable that you'll get some. They're basically in search of food, so at least they stayed off the bed and went about their business. For all intents and purposes, they are harmless, and to their credit they did bag a few cockroaches. Somehow despite their size, they were able to swarm on and overtake the cockroaches, which was a good thing. Still, it was necessary to eradicate them with the handy can of bug spray that the manager provided. It would have been nice to have maybe a little broom and pan to sweep up the dead ones after spraying (or better yet a little vaccuum). I had to subtract points because of them, but on the whole I'd give Cades a favorable rating..

Thank god for Cades Bay. After a short but terrible stay in St. Kitts (Bird Rock is nothing great), we took the last flight to Nevis and our luck drastically changed. We stayed at Inn at Cades Bay. Eddy and the Cades Bay staff were genuinely nice. The rooms had privacy (except for the European style bathrooms w/o doors), style, comfort, a hammock, and good location (very close to a small beach). The beach had fairly good snorkeling (Cades Bay had equipment to rent) and we enjoyed walking along the beach and checking out the view. What made Cades Bay special was the pleasant staff. They helped us with a inexpensive and easy car rental, gave us great ideas for exploring the island, and cooked exceptional food. I had a steak filet that was to die for. They also gave us a free lift to their restaurant in town, where the food and drink stayed good. Cades Bay seems best-suited for people who want a little space/privacy, appreciate talented and mellow staff, and enjoy taking control of their own vacations. Aside: Nevis was so much better than St. Kitts. We easily ran around Nevis, went to plantations, spent a little time at the Four Seasons, walked around town, and enjoyed the food. Just walking around Nevis is much easier than St. Kitts. Nevis is smaller (good for a 5 or 6 day trip), the people are nicer, and the island's economy just seems to work better.