Editor’s Travel Tips: Fashion & Market Editor Charlotte Marsh-Williams’ Guide To Barbados
Charlotte Marsh-Williams shares the places she returns to, the pieces she can’t resist, and the tables worth booking for one unforgettable night
Barbados, Caribbean
Barbados has always felt quietly familiar for Charlotte: laid-back beach days, sandy-foot sundowners and easy evenings spent with the people who shape its memories. Familiar faces return year after year; holiday friends become lifelong buddies, and the hotel team who’ve known her since she was a little girl still welcome her like family.
Stay: Sandy Lane Hotel, Barbados.
Culture fix: A crash course in Bajan slang that left me understanding roughly half of every conversation!
Shop: Holetown & The Chattel Village – a collection of colourful wooden boutiques featuring independent designers, local fashion, handmade artwork and accessories.
Drink: Fresh juices by day, spicy Marguerita by night.
Best people watching: Sandy Lane Gold Cup Horse Races in March.
What’s the first thing you pack for Barbados?
My twin – what’s a holiday, if she’s not there?
Suitcase Staples
1. Chiffon dresses: For warm, humid evenings.
2. Ray-Ban Wayfarers: A holiday hero.
3. Fragrance: Salty, tropical, addictive.
4. A book: Start with Yourself by Emma Grede, Dhs115
5. Bikini Bag: A post-swim essential.
If Barbados were a look, it would be:
Christopher Esber SS/26
What do you always over-pack, even though you know you shouldn’t?
Shoes or bikinis. I have the most fun with my outfits through shoes. And underwear… because anyone who says otherwise is lying.
Which table would you book if you had one night in town?
An oceanfront sunset table at Lone Star or daytime Sunday Brunch at Sandy Lane Hotel.
Where do you go when you want to feel like a local, not a visitor?
Oistins Fish Fry Market on a Friday night.
What’s the soundtrack to this trip?
At Last by Etta James
The souvenir you’d bring back that says everything about this place?
Shells found on beach walks.
Your packing philosophy in three words?
Accessories. Over. Anything!
Beauty Mvps
You haven’t really experienced Barbados until…
You’ve been swimming with the turtles. A truly magical experience that also highlights the islands efforts to protect these beloved marine residents.
Lead Image Credit: Charlotte strikes a pool-side pose at the legendary Sandy Lane Hotel, an essential stop on her annual pilgrimage to Barbados
Images Supplied
From the Harper’s Bazaar Arabia July/August 2026 issue