Ha Tel Le Courbaril

We had a lovely room looking over the ocean, and the location meant we could walk everywhere. But finding a spot for our rental car was a total nightmare. There weren’t enough spaces, and none were assigned to rooms, so I had to keep an eye on the car instead of relaxing with my family.

For the Caribbean, the hotel’s standard is very good, and the staff were lovely. In Martinique, some French is useful since not everyone speaks English. We managed with a few basic French words, English and a bit of charades.

Courbaril made a handy base for my four days in Trois-Îlets. It was affordable, and with a gorgeous beach right there, I could easily have stayed put instead of using my rental car to explore the island. The beach, convenience store, grocery store, restaurants and bars were all within walking distance. The staff were kind and accommodating, even though I was traveling alone and don’t speak French. My room was small and nothing special, but clean enough. The promised free Wifi didn’t work at all during my stay. I also hadn’t realized this was an “extended stay” place, so there was no turndown service. Guests have to clean their room and take out the trash at checkout. That wasn’t a big deal, just unexpected. Since the hotel is open air, you can hear everything outside the window. I often heard loud, drunk guests coming and going late at night and early in the morning.

Good value and a great spot by a nice beach, though the place feels a little old. We had an AC problem. The manager first tried to lie about it, but eventually fixed it. Make sure you know how to get there from your arrival point, or you’ll spend more than you need to.