The Sugar Apple Lodging

The apartment was perfectly clean, with plenty of towels, including beach towels. As a student traveling solo, I was glad to have such a quality stay at a fair price. This was my first trip to the Caribbean, and I was lucky to have Mrs. Rosita, the owner, as my host. She helped me in countless ways and genuinely cares about her guests. There's no doubt I'll stay here again.

Rosita is a pleasure and goes out of her way to make you comfortable. I love cold AC, and the place was very comfortable, close to Romoro Bay and all the fun. If you're not paying $700 a night for a beach bungalow, it's unfair to expect that level of service for $200. People who don't know the islands shouldn't be able to leave reviews.

Sugar Apple Lodging is three ground-floor apartments in a two-story house, with the owner's apartment upstairs when they're in residence. It's a bare-bones place to stay on Harbour Island, so don't expect resort or lodge amenities. Based on my family's extensive travel experience, we'd rate it between one and two stars, and it should never have been listed as three-star by Expedia. Our week-long stay may not be typical. We believe we were the first guests after the Bahamas reopened to travelers. We booked on 11/5, after the island reopened, for 12/19, giving the owner six weeks to prepare. The apartment still wasn't ready. A full review is on Trip Advisor. Whenever we had no water pressure or hot water, no internet, missing kitchen items, or unclean towels, floors, and sheets, we'd contact the local contact, “Ms. Thelma.” She'd pass it to the owner, who would deny there was a problem. Eventually I texted the owner directly, but got the same denial. Each time, a friend of the owner had to come verify the issue before anyone would try to resolve it. Photos and videos helped a lot. There was no one there to check us in when we arrived around 2pm on Saturday, even though check-in was at 3pm and the two daily flights arrive at noon or 1pm, making an early arrival almost certain. Thelma eventually showed up. The electricity had been off when we arrived and came back by evening, so our first afternoon was lost dealing with the first of many problems. We later learned other guests had run into the same issue. Tourists shouldn't drink the town water, so you'll want bottled water. The water authority may also turn off town water, which is why most homes and lodgings have backup wells. Sugar Apple had one, but the pump needed replacing to provide enough pressure. During the week, we switched between well and town water several times. After our first night, the first shower was barely lukewarm and only a trickle, despite having time to heat. Even that little hot water ran out after one shower, though there were three of us in a two-bedroom apartment. After lots of texts and denials, the owner said she'd recently installed a new heater and that it was all she could find in a short time. We never got enough hot water for three showers. The apartment hadn't been cleaned for a while. It was dusty and smelled stale and damp, with sand on the bathroom floor and smelly towels. The internet wasn't working when we arrived. The company didn't come until Monday because it was Saturday, and the signal still couldn't be used inside the apartment. Things only changed after a maintenance worker's call with the owner was cut off and Rosie did something. It was also quite noisy, which was never mentioned.

The hotel was clean and the garden out back was lovely, but I didn't see anyone on the property after we checked in. There was no front desk, despite the listing saying it would be open from 9am-6pm Monday to Saturday and closed Sundays. This was advertised as a Bed & Breakfast, but no breakfast was provided and there was nothing close by. When we arrived, we were told breakfast wasn't included in the rate we'd already paid. We got a muffin and cup of coffee as a complimentary breakfast one day, but there was no option when booking to choose whether we wanted breakfast.