Well, going to Barbados in Jan/Feb for 9 nights was never going to be cheap, but we were determined to make it as cheap as possible. We had 3 absolute musts; a room right on the beach, we didn't want all-inclusive as we like to eat in different places each night, and a great beach for swimming.
Discovery Bay has had lots of bad reviews, but it did meet all our requirements.

First the negatives;
-Definitely seen better days- we stayed in a refurbished Beachfront Club Bungalow( basically a room and bathroom!), which had some nice touches eg new shower head, bathroom mirror and stand, new TV(didn't even turn it on !) and air con(didn't turn it on either), but still needed a new bathroom door,bath, tiling and a few other things which didn't work.We were on the ground floor and the area beyond our balcony looked rough with stones, bits of litter,cigarette ends and was generally unpleasant. ( Would recommend a first or second floor club beachfront room)
-Although we didn't try the food, it looked a bit basic,bland, and institutional, but perfectly edible.
-Entertainment was only on a few evenings and again somewhat basic.
-No cushions to put on beach loungers ( only hotel on this stretch not to provide them!)

The positives.

-The beachfront rooms are closer to the beach than any other hotel on this stretch of coast- almost on the sand, so you can hear the waves lapping as you go to sleep if you prefer to have the air con off and window open as we do! Oh- and few mosquitos this time of year.
-Great stretch of beach, nice light golden sand, calm sea and best swimming beach we've been to in a long time.You can walk a couple of miles in each direction taking in Sandy Lane one way, and the Coral Reef Club/Colony Club and Fairmont Pavillion the other way.
-We found all the staff incredibly helpful and courteous.
-Cold water permanently available to all guests at the garden bar.
-Rooms always cleaned exceptionally well .
-Comfy beds and pillows with nice bed linen and Ok towels.
-Safe which worked .
-No problem with staying in room until 2 pm on departure day.
-Great location for restaurants-many to choose from within close range. Sad, but to make sure we had a cheap and enjoyable breakfast we took our own favourite cereals and coffee, supplemented with fresh orange juice and fruit from the nearby supermarket. Lunch was particularly local- a veggie's dream of food prepared by the wonderful Rasta chef out of the back of his car opposite the hotel for Bd$10 a portion, or a veg burger from the lady next to him at Bd$ 5. Amazing! Evenings we made our own 'sunset' cocktails with rum and juice+beer from the supermarket. Eating out in the evening wasn't cheap- all the restaurants charge a minimum of Bd$ 50 for a simple main course- say catch of the day or chicken. We enjoyed Ragamuffins, the do it yourself 'Grill Place', and especially Zacchio's- the same price but on the beach. Wine also min.Bd$ 50 a bottle. For a splurge try The Sandpiper ( next door) Sun eve BBQ- Bd$ 150 a head but great food, tho not so great one man steel band! Two upmarket restaurants- Tides and The Beach House, served London style food at high prices.Even being a bit frugal, but with the Sandpiper BBQ and an eve at the Beach House , we ended up spending around £700 for two of us with food over 10 days, taxi transfers and a couple of gifts to take home-but we did have nice local food lunchtime and restaurant food in the evenings.

To those who complain about this hotel , I'd point out the following. I looked up a selection of rates for hotels plus flights/transfers on the West Coast for 9 nights this time of year.
On a (garden) room only basis( or in some cases B+B);
Discovery £1250 pp, Colony Club £2300 pp,Coral Reef £2700pp, Sandy Lane £4600 pp.
All Inc;
Discovery £1400 pp, Almond Beach £1500pp. Mango Bay £1800pp,Crystal Cove £2400pp

Remember- you get what you pay for ! (Almond Beach also has very mixed reviews) If you can afford the extra , then Mango Bay next door has great reviews. The entertainment sounded good, the hotel looked well cared for, and they provided lovely cushions for the loungers. But otherwise Discovery Bay is priced in the budget category and that's what you get, but with reasonable garden rooms or beachfront rooms(if you pay extra) right next to a lovely beach, nice staff and restaurants close by if you go room only.We'd definitely go back and put up with the hotel's shortcomings as long as the prices remain comparatively low!

We spent 2 nights at the hotel as we arrived in Barbados early and our booked hotel could not accept us early due to being fully booked. Discovery Bay is probably beyond renovation and requires a full rebuild. The rooms, whilst a good size, are in a poor state of repair. We had an ocean front deluxe, ocean front...yes, deluxe...no way. When we used the hair dryer, the lights went very dim. The shower was either cold or scalding hot. The bathroom fittings were old and delapedated. All the furnishings in the room had been painted with white emulsion and were worn out. The curtain poles were falling off there fixings. We tried to eat one lunch in the hotel but found the food unacceptable. The staff appear to be walking around in a trance and do not respond to any questions or requests for help. On the plus side the hotel is central to Holetown if that is what you require and has a small but quite nice beach access. We know the west coast of Barbados well and there are much better hotels available for similar prices. For us it was all that was available at the time and we were pleased it was only for 2 nights. We can not recommend this hotel to anybody.

We have just come back from a weeks stay at Discovery Bay. We read all the comments about the hotel and were curious to see for ourselves how true were all the negative comments left on Trip Adviser.We chose this hotel because we wanted an all inclusive hotel with buffet meals on the west (caribbean) coast, with a garden and direct access to the beach (not many hotel have a beach any more!) This hotel gave us all of those things.
Yes the refurbishment has yet to be finished, yes maybe things could be improved.But then whenever you go you can find fault if you look for it! Anything you are not happy with the staff do their best to put it right straight away.
For us it was wonderful not to have loud music blaring out all day, no one trying to drag you into pool exercises etc etc. The food was plentiful and again if you couldn't find something the staff were on hand to help.
We are already sorting out our dates for a return visit next year.
If you want a small, peaceful, clean, and friendly hotel this is the one for you.

We have just come back from a two week stay at Discovery Bay. We booked this hotel as we wanted a low-rise all inclusive hotel with buffet meals on the west (caribbean) coast, with a garden and direct access to the beach (not fussy eh!) This was by far the most competitively priced hotel, although having read trip advisor comments after the refurb. we were very apprehensive. We need not have worried. This is a typical Rex hotel and the Rex package suits us. Yes, the refurb has been scruffily finished. Yes, there were a few niggles, but then isn't there always. The bathroom's vanity unit and grouting clearly had seen better days and were in need of replacement. But the bedrooms were of a good size (ours overlooked the garden and swimming pool), with much more storage and wardrobe space than we often find in hotels. The rooms were kept immaculately clean. We enjoyed our meals. There was a good choice and the food was of a good standard. The beach area in front of the hotel was relatively small (although good for the west coast which has suffered from significant erosion). Though we found that with the number of sun loungers packed into the area, it could feel a bit hemmed in. However, there were also sun loungers around the pool and in the gardens, so there was plenty of space away from the beach. It was possible to walk along the whole stretch of the beach, walking around and over the boulders which had been placed to stop further erosion. The staff were brilliant. I understand many of them were new, but they were always polite, willing and cheerful. Many of the hotel guests had been to the hotel on numerous previous occasions, and were unhappy with the changes to the hotel, in particular the relative inexperience of some of the staff and the fact they missed the staff who they had known for many, many years. There was almost a club atmosphere among the returning guests, who liked to talk about the "good old days". We enjoyed our holiday.and thought it was tremendous value. I have given it 4 stars as I do not think you can expect 5 star luxury from a 3 star hotel. Will we return - yes. Would we recommend it to a friend - well .........