We just spent a beautiful week at The Hatch. The old house is furnished beautifully, the outdoor spaces and pool are lovely and it is equipped with everything you need for a relaxing week.
I do want to provide some insight to help folks who are trying to make a final decision on a rental home with respect to noise. This house is located in the heart of town so that comes with street and people noise in the 3 bedrooms of the main house. It wasn’t a problem for us and we preferred the very close (and walking distance) to Piggly Wiggly and Coffee Roasters. But, if you are late or light sleepers, you might find this a challenge. I moved the floor fan from the outdoor living area to the master bedroom and it drowned out most of the noise. Also, roosters are fenced in literally 3 feet from the house and started crowing at 4:30 am. But, they are all over the island so not sure you can escape them unless at one of the upscale resorts. Lastly, there was very loud chainsawing going on at the property adjacent to the pool area from 4 pm to 8 pm Tuesday - Thursday. Not sure what they were doing and how much longer this will be going on. So, my tip to you is to ask about noise, construction, remodeling, roosters, etc before you book to make sure you know what you’re getting.
Carol, the housekeeper, is a delight and will keep everything tidy during your stay. There are ample beach, pool and bathroom towels and ample bathrooms to use them in.
Food is the most expensive I have ever encountered in any of my considerable travels. We brought a soft sided Yeti cooler as a carry on bag with some frozen beef, chicken, cheese and vegetarian soy burgers. We used sealed ice packs and the airlines did not object. I would also recommed packing crackers, cereal and snacks...anything that is not a fruit or vegetable. You can’t bring those in. It will help with expenses. You can also buy fresh fish down on one of the docks. We did eat at Rock House, Sip Sip, Blue Bar, Valentines, Coral Sands. Delicious but very expensive.
The use of golf carts is fun but you should know that you are not allowed to drive them in sandy areas or like an suv so you will not be able to explore the north or south ends of the island in them so I don’t know what we missed. I hope this helps first-time visitors.
Overall, Harbour Island is a magical experience and we intend to return. And, again, we thoroughly enjoyed The Hatch. The pool house was perfectly private for the younger couple with us