Cash or card at hostels in Barbados

Honestly, I’d say always bring cash. I stayed at a hostel near Holetown and the card reader kept failing because of network drops. I had to walk down to Limegrove Centre to withdraw from RBC Bank and pay the balance. It’s a bit annoying since the booking platforms make you think cards are fine everywhere. Barbados is modern, but card terminals aren’t always reliable in smaller hostels. Lesson learned: have at least $200 BBD in cash when you check in, just in case.

I had no problems paying with card at a hostel near Rockley Beach, but I think it was because it catered mostly to European backpackers. Their card machine worked fine with my Revolut Visa. They even let me split the bill when I extended a night. That said, the bus to Oistins only took coins, so I was happy I had some BBD from the ATM near Massy supermarket. If you stick to the touristy areas like Hastings and Worthing, card acceptance is pretty good, but it’s safer to mix cash and card.

I stayed at a small hostel close to Bridgetown bus station, and it was cash all the way. The owner told me her card machine stopped working often with Wi-Fi outages, so she prefers guests paying in cash. Luckily, there’s a CIBC FirstCaribbean ATM right across the road from Cheapside Market. I’d booked through Hostelworld using my card, but the balance needed to be cash. Bring some Barbados dollars early, because some hostels don’t want US dollars for smaller amounts.

In Barbados, some bigger hostels around Hastings and St. Lawrence Gap accept Visa or Mastercard, but a lot of smaller family-run places will still ask for cash in Barbadian dollars. I stayed at Rio Guesthouse near Dover Beach, and they only took cash for the balance, even though booking was online. Scotiabank and Republic Bank ATMs are easy to find along the south coast, so getting BBD wasn’t hard. My advice: carry some cash for check-in and maybe bar tabs, because card machines occasionally go down with power cuts.