Latest Reviews for Antigua

My second trip to Antigua but loved this one.

Lovely, quiet hotel (not suitable for clubbers but wonderful if you want/need to relax) with large rooms, a/c, fans etc and the food was very good. Breakfast and lunch usual buffet style but dinner was excellent - choice of starter, main and pudding from 3 or 4 of each course and all cooked superbly, tho puds a bit limited. Staff were outstanding and rooms spotless. Some of our fellow guests had stayed at larger, posh resorts in Antigua (as had I on my previous trip and my husband on his 7 trips) which can be impersonal - not a charge you could ever level at this hotel.

Will be back!

Having read the reviews we nearly cancelled but we are so glad we didn't as we had a wonderful holiday and feel that the criticism the resort received was unfair. Yes there is building working still going on at the new Meditarian village but we don't feel it effected our holiday in any way and rarely heard any noise, the crickets make far more noise! The new building is at one end of the resort furthest away from most of the facilities although are room was reasonable close. It may be that the builders have now reached the stage where it isn't a problem but even taking this into account we didn't experience any of the other things people had complained about and found the resort justified Sandals reputation of ultra all inclusive and luxury. The staff were friendly, helpful and efficient, our room was comfortable and spacious (we were lucky enough to be upgraded) The food was good with a wide range of choice. The gardens are beautiful and very well maintained and it couldn't be in a nicer location on Dickenson beach.

If you are due to visit please don't worry as we did having read previous reviews.

Well, where do I start ...

Absolutely fantastic, I got married at St James's and stayed at The Beach Club.

The beaches were wonderful, apart from the seaweed but this was cleared by 8.30 every morning. The eating places were lovely, staying at the Beach Club you are restricted to Cocos the majority of time apart from two days which you are entitled to attend one of two other restaurants at St James's.

The staff was all very helpful and willing to help you wherever possible.

Guest Services at St James are cool and helped me have a exceptionally brilliant wedding day - thanks Carolyn and Co.

Shirley Heights is worth seeing!

The whole holiday was fantastic, I could not fault anything (oh but the entertainment could have been better) and I will definately be returning within the next few years!

I just got back from Hawksbill and I was dragged to the plane kicking and screaming. It was the first time I had been to the Caribbean and would definitely recommend it, from reading the previous reviews I didn't know what to expect but the place was amazing. Someone previously said that the place was too noisy, the rooms don't have windows just blinds and mosquito nets, but waking up to the sound of the waves and birds is paradise to me.

The food in the hotel was great, breakfast was buffet which varied from fresh fruit to full English to cereals. Lunch was either a sit down mean or a beach BBQ which was great and found myself at everyday. Dinner varied from waiter service to a buffet and both were great. On waiter service nights the menu had 43/4 main course options so there was something for everyone.
We did 4 trip on our stay, on the Sunday night we went to Shirley Heights which I would thoroughly recommend, the only downside was the bus to bring you back picked us up at 7:45 which for us was too early as the bands had just started, taxis are pretty cheap and can be arranged from hotel so maybe that would be a better option. Condor at the tour desk was a real help with our plans and we organised everything independently.

Another trip we did was a circumnavigation tour of the island stopping off at Green Island for snorkelling and lunch, if there is one thing you do on your stay that would be the one I recommend. The staff made the trip and the journey back from Green Island the music came on and the rum punch was poured. The other 2 trips we did were deep sea fishing and stingray city.
The staff into the hotel were friendly and helpful sometimes your glass of wine came 10 minutes later, but hey you in the Caribbean learn to relax, we certainly did and cant wait to return.

This is a wonderful, quiet resort. Lots of people that we spoke to ,were returning for the 8th or 9th time. This tells you that it is a popular resort.The beach is super ,the food excellent and the staff couldn't do enough for you. Rooms were large , with generous balconies and hammocks and tea and coffee making facilities.We thoroughly enjoyed our time there but it may be a little quiet fot the younger generation.

arrived back from holiday at the beach club at st james, went 17 jan - 1 feb 2007

had a good time, we did have a problem when we arrived, we booked through thomsons with virgin and requested 2 rooms with twin beds, when we got there both rooms had king size beds, we had to wait nearly 3 hours before we knew what was happening, then we had a single bed put in each room, no bedspread on at all only a blanket, after speaking to the virgin rep she showed us her sheet and thomsons had not passed on our request, it was suggested by a guest to email or write to hotel 1 month before going on holiday with any special requests which we will certainly do in future.

weather
rained heavy on day of arrival, can dodge most of it, had a couple of nights with heavy rain, 1 day (heli trip )was overcast and windy, had a couple of very light showers 10 mins max.
sun most days temp high 80s

rooms
upstairs (standard room) hugh, pleased we didn't upgrade to downstairs because of the number of children, if we had been on ground floor it would have been so noisy as they were usually up at 6am running around all the time, we were in mango (the middle block) in room 337, on the end room nearest beach reception, we got sun from sunrise till sunset ( it came in the side of balcony because we were on the end), the view from balcony was wonderful.
the room itself was very spacious with a small kitchen unit in passage with a fridge, sink and coffee maker, tea bags and coffee to perk (not a kettle) we also had a hairdryer, iron and ironing board, loads of storage space,lots of hangers and lots drawer space too, our room was sometimes not done till 5pm !!! maid also missed 1 day, some days some towels or bathmat were missing, but it didn't really matter.

bathroom 14' x 11' with 2 sinks and a 3ft wide bath.
balcony 14' x 11' 2loungers and table
room 27' x 11' with high vaulted ceiling

the view from papaya rooms might have been because they were higher than ours, they had about 9 steps from beach our block only had 3 steps and pineapple had about 5 or 6 steps, we were the lowest

food
on weds and sunday it is a la carte in cocos, on monday you eat in rainbow (buffet), on thurs eat at docksider (buffet) menus usually on display in cocos or in main reception (I am limited what I can eat and if there was nothing suitable on the a la carte nights I would have a word with maitre d, I prefer buffet there is always something suitable for me. look out for crab racing in cocos on a friday night. Dress code was NOT adhered to , it was sad that it was not enforced on an evening, lot of people coming in to dinner in shorts both men and women. lots of children running wild.
lunchtimes was ok if you go in before 1pm, after that there was usually a queue, people coming over from st james, cocos has a lovely outdoor lounge which seemed to be the only lounge outdoors.

comments from other people who had been 3 or 4 times before
they said food selection had really deteriated and they would not return.

pools
childrens pool usually none in
adults usually children in there
cocos, good enough for a swim if no one in, usually empty till after 11am
large pool, rather a disappointment, there are no views over the bay because of all the building work going on, they are building 2 blocks of 1 bed villas for timeshare and 1 block of rooms for st james right on the beach so all you can see are the roofs, there is a tremendous amount of noise all day long, pneumatic drills and hammering no peace at all, I would swim then go onto beach for a bit of peace and quiet, usually there are lots of unsupervised children so you can't have a decent swim, there wern't so many children our 2cd week.

beaches
beach club , i preferred there was always a breeze although it was sometimes rough, some seaweed, unpleasant to swim in, snorkelling poor.
mamora beach, calm but no breeze very hot, water murky, not v good to snorkel.

taxis
we thought v expensive to go from our hotel to dickenson bay for a trip was 70 $ similar price to get picked up for helicopter trip, 4 of us to shirley heights 30$, 4 of us to nelsons dockyard 30$, same rates apply for 2 people, most trips you have to make your own way there.

rep
seemed efficient, but was not, we booked 2 trips on days when other guests were going as we wern't bothered when we went, helicopter trip 30 mins,I had to tphone other couple, they didn't want to share, was going to cost us 70$ on top of the 300$ for the trip, our trip was for the afternoon, 10 mins before we left to get a taxi we had a tphone call to say trip was cancelled due to bad weather, we wondered if we had already left in taxi would we have got a refund for the 70$, probably not) I even had to tphone the heli company to find out when we were going (not good) If you decide to go on a heli trip make sure you say it has to have only 4 passengers, if not there could be 6 passengers and you will be crammed in.

I went to see rep on the friday and said we had decided to cancel trip, she said no problem, I had paid for both trips in full with my mastercard and she said she couldn't process it until the following weds at the office so I asked for written confirmation to say trip had been cancelled, was told no that virgin was a reputable company no problem, went out then went back to ask again she still said no, however when I went back to our room there was a note confirming trip had been cancelled, saw her at chillin checkout asked for refund slip she said she had it but couldn't find it!!! so I am now going to write to virgin with a complaint and a copy of the note, if they can take your money with a credit card I can't see why they can not give you an immediate refund

trip 2 the eco tour 100$ pp, same predicament re sharing taxi, I had to tphone other couple to arrange to share taxi, they said the rep had not confirmed their trip was going ahead so we paid 70$ for taxi to dickenson bay, boat was 45 mins late we thought we had been forgotten. when boat came there was no jetty, we had to wade out waist deep to get on boat, if our friends had come with us they would not have been able to get on the boat, I really think you should be notified when booking trip if you get on at a jetty or have to wade in the sea.
we both enjoyed this trip some snorkelling stopped for lunch at bird island, visited hells bridge, you have to swim to it, there is also tuition in snorkelling.

If i was going on trips I would book through tour desk at st james reception

timeshare
usually contacted at beginning of 2cd week, worth going to have a look, our tour lasted 45 mins no hard sell, at the end of it all you get a free beachbag, 75$ to spend in shop and 50 $ to spend in casino, we gambled a little and came out with 32$, our friends played safe, 25 tokens on odds and 25 tokens on evens, couldn't lose, they came away with 25$

people wth walking difficulties may find it difficult in beach club because there are steps to ALL rooms, ramp up to cocos

I know this is rather a long write up but I just like to think anyone going there in the future will be aware of the problems we had.

All 4 of us thoroughly enjoyed our holiday and would certainly return to the beach club.

this place is a dive to say the least. we booked to have a wedding and honeymoon here what mistake!! the furniture in all areas is shabby and stained. this is a classic 5 star hotel more like a 2 or a3 star and thats being kind. building is on going and can be heard from 7am till 6pm so dont expect a lay in. please look at all other hotels before choosing this one.

antigua its self is a lobvely resort.

Just returned after 2 weeks at the Coconut Beach Club, found the hotel staff very friendly, rooms kept clean, slightly dissappointed with the food, and felt as it was All Inclusive not value for money.Downside of this lovely holiday was the mozzies and sand flies,no matter how much spray you use, or how much you cover up, you get bitten, even places that never see daylight!!!! as it was the end of their rainy season I think if I returned it would be early in the year.

this was our first time in the carribean and hope it wont be our last! We went for our son`s wedding and renewed our wedding vows whilst we were there.

Rooms;
we stayed in the super economy rooms which were cleaned every day, certainly adequate, and air conditioned. Ample space to hang clothing and free tv and a spacious balcony.
Our son, prospective bride and 2 children had a free upgrade as part of the wedding package which consisted of 2 double beds and other comforts which were far better than our rooms.

Hotel

all staff were friendly and, as expected, laid back (this is the carribean!!). Free transport to and from the local golf course (£40 for a round of golf and a buggy).

Restaurants

stay away from the italian!! This was booked for our evening meal on the night of our son`s wedding and the food was awful and the service far too slow. This was the only down side of the whole holiday.
The indian and fish restaurants are both worth a visit serving excellent food with friendly and efficient service.
Hemispheres is the main restaurant serving a variety of good quality food.

Wedding
what can we say? Beverley, aisha, and elvis are all extremely friendly, helpful, and accomodating. The day went off perfectly but we would recommend anyone getting married has the service in the gazebo by the pool which was where we renewed our vows. The resulting vid and photos are worth it. 11 guests at our wedding (including the bride and groom`s 2 children!!!!) Who all enjoyed the day along with other guests looking on from the sandy white beach.
We certainly wished we`d married in such a lovely place 25 years ago.

Beach

lovely long white sandy beach but the sea becomes quite deep quickly and you may be stung by something in the water, but whatever it is appears quite harmless. All pools are lovely and there are plenty of sunbeds both by the pools and on the beach. Many beach vendors but they do not hassle you and, if you haggle, you`ll get a bargain.

We have been on all inclusive holidays before but this has to have been the best by far. Nobody in our party was ready for home and all wish we were still lazing in the hot carribean sun!

If this wasn't our best ever holiday, it was close to it. We chose the Hawksbill resort for the chance to go on a clothes-optional beach in late November. Just one of the four beaches (Eden Bay) is c-o. All the beaches are good, but Eden Bay is a delight. So clean! Must be half a mile long at least - soft sand, coconut palms, warm sea, about 30 sun loungers (not all occupied) and an ice-water dispenser. We had the odd warm rainshower, but in our circumstances, it hardly mattered!

The resort is all inclusive. We really appreciated the cooking and the variety of food, sometimes buffet style, sometimes waitress service. The grounds are a delight, and Sylvia on the staff does a brilliant (free) garden tour with fascinating info on local plants and culture. There are a few rough edges. After an 8 hour flight from UK, the airport is a chaotic shambles, with (2) unnecessary and irrelevant forms to fill in on arrival. Some aspects of the hotel are a bit well-worn, and there's no gym or fitness room. Most rooms don't have air con. Ours had a ceiling fan, which was just OK for the temperatures we got. Take mosquito repellant and anti-histamine cream (and a cross-point screwdriver and masking tape to improve the fit of your room's insect screens!). But where is perfect? (Eden Bay, that's where!). Take some EC dollars as well as US for spending outside the resort, to avoid any suspicions about the exchange rate when spending US and getting EC dollars in your change. And do go to St Johns - the capital. The hotel do a reasonable taxi-shuttle there for the morning, which is just right. We are going back for certain!
Bob 'n' She