I usually try and write succinct reviews, but I'm making an exception here in the hope that Bay Gardens management will read my comments and take suggestions on board. My one-sentence review though is that this place could be an absolute gem if some tweaks were made!

The good

- The overall value. The AI package made St Lucia affordable for us - we wouldn't have been able to visit otherwise. If you don't go AI, the food is extortionate. Being AI also meant we could tolerate the restaurant's shortcomings more easily, so were less stressed!

- The dine around package means you can escape the hotel restaurant (and who can blame you) and sample some really great local restaurants, with a hefty discount. We went to Buzz and Jacques and heartily recommend both, the food and service were top notch. There is a shuttle service but we didn't use it as the restaurants were so close.

- Safety was good, there's a barrier at the entrance which is always manned. Police regularly patrol the grounds (though you do wonder why?!)

- The grounds are beautifully maintained, with signs about the local plants and flowers. We also loved the traditional feel of the place, with open air dining and low-rise buildings.

- We stayed super hydrated, thanks to the bottle filling stations, which were an absolute godsend: I can't emphasise this enough. The hotel won't serve you bottled water, as it's more eco friendly to refill your own bottle. We also loved how the huge glasses of water at meal times. We had absolutely no trouble drinking the water.

- Beatrice, who we booked our trips with, was great to chat to and so helpful. When another guest missed his trip, she tried to track him down and promptly booked him onto the next one with no hassle. On one occasion we were sent on the wrong trip, but Beatrice refunded us part of the excursion promptly and efficiently.

- Our beach view room was really lovely, with a sea view, super comfy bed and pillows.

- The spa. Our free massages were sensational, so we booked full body massages immediately, which were world class.

- The beach location is gorgeous, yes you get approached by sellers but most will take 'no thank you' for an answer and not bother you further. We met Liz Roti on our last day and wished we'd tried her food, as she gets rave reviews. We will miss the sunsets!

- The cleaning was excellent: both in our room and in the restrooms in reception and by the pool.

- The pool is large, clean and warm. If you can get a bed (see below) it's a great spot to relax.

The bad

- The service. the service, the service! I agree with a previous reviewer who says that some staff were annoyed to serve you - particularly the bar staff. I just couldn't understand it. We were always patient and polite, and tried to embrace the laidback Caribbean lifestyle, but had to chase one meal in particular which took almost an hour to arrive (and was terrible when it eventually came). It felt intentionally slow, and sometimes intentionally rude (Fabiola needs to go on a customer service course, we were waiting for a table at breakfast once and she just curtly said "Yes?!"). Most servers are excellent and try their best amidst the chaos (Michael, Kelvin, Jarral, Curtis, Alice, Hilaria) but there's clearly a lack of management (in the kitchen perhaps) which is letting them down. On some mornings we were asked how dinner had been the previous night, and people apologised for the wait a lot, so they are obviously well aware of what is going on. Bad service means people don't eat at the restaurant, which in turn leads to a lack of atmosphere. Sort it out though and people will spend money! It's very short sighted.

- Reception staff were quite unhelpful and often unprepared for requests: for example we asked them to book us a table at nearby restaurant, but they forgot to give us the dining voucher (we didn't know to ask for it) so we had to pay full price. They also told our taxi driver we weren't staying there when he came to collect us, so we nearly missed our airport transfer (we had of course checked out at our allotted time, but they had no record of this). Another time we paid for laundry and they forgot to give us the detergent, or tell us the dryer wasn't working. We didn't feel welcome when we arrived, we were just told where to stand and given our orders.

- You have to extract a lot of information from the hotel, other guests or TripAdvisor to make the best of your stay. When we check into a hotel we're usually given the restaurant times, a map, info about what we're entitled to on our package etc, but all of this was missing. We wouldn't have known about the dine around package without TripAdvisor.

- People reserve sunbeds on the beach and around the pool. Easier to deal with this on the beach as there's loads of spares, but space around the pool is limited, particularly if large groups reserve their spots early like they did when we were there. We usually got up early and were at the pool by 8.30, but if we'd left it much later we'd have struggled some days, as we weren't prepared to join in with the bagsying game.

- Beware the beach seller who makes hats out of palm leaves. He hassled us on our first morning and caused us to abandon our breakfast as we felt so uncomfortable. If you're sat on the deck and he can get to you, he'll hassle you until you get annoyed and drink your water once you've left. The beach is fair game, but staff should intervene when it's happening on their property and to their guests.

- Entertainment is very hit and miss, and the hotel don't seem to take note of what works and what doesn't. They took song requests around the pool a couple of days, which was a fun way of making everyone feel involved and varying the music choices, but then they seemed to forget all about this idea and played some really odd stuff. Karaoke is not karaoke: it's the entertainment lady singing along to the machine, and it was so bad I'm surprised the local dogs didn't show up. The limbo dancing/fire eating and the Island Cowboy singer were really excellent, but there's no proper seating so people drift away in the evenings instead of staying at the bar. Perhaps intentional so they don't have to serve you, but really bizarre!

- Maintenance is lacking in places. Spotlights on the deck were out, our TV remote needed new batteries, beach umbrellas were broken, tiles were cracked, our shower had broken and been replaced but the old unit hadn't been removed and the replacement holder was too low...little things that could easily be sorted, but together make a poor impression.

- Most food was good, but some was dire. We aren't fussy eaters at all, so could deal with the repetitive nature of things, but one chicken wrap from Lo Tide was so salty I couldn't eat it. Fish was overcooked, one pasta dish was bitter, eggplant was also bitter, and some meat was incredibly tough. I also ordered a jerk chicken salad one lunchtime and they'd clearly run out of the ingredients and given me whatever they could find, as it was missing most of what was promised.

- The transfer from the airport was long, and most attractions were at the other end of the island. We hadn't appreciated how long it would take to get there, but traffic on St Lucia is bad, so you don't get anywhere fast. Not the hotel's fault of course, but worth bearing in mind.

All in all, we didn't regret booking Bay Gardens as it was good value, and meant we could visit the Caribbean. However, there is clear room for improvement - the hotel could be really great if it tried.