Latest Reviews for Antigua

Nice enough resort. We found the locals friendly and we felt safe at all times.

On first reaching Sandals we were greeted with a welcomed refreshing face towel and a cool drink of our choice. We were then informed that we had been given a free upgrade, whether this wass because we are Signature guests or not I am unsure!! However, we were very pleased with the upgraded room which was very clean, spacious and has an awesome view. The mini bar was very well stocked although re-stocking sometimes did NOT happen and on several ocassions we had to phone for drinks and also sugar, coffee etc. The service itself was definately on go SLOW. We felt that due to the new building etc and the increase of rooms the Staffing levels were very inadequate and certainly not trained to the "usual" Sandals standard. Waiting times for Breakfast, a Pizza and The Beach restaurant was too long and became annoying. The restaurants themselves were good and the food was nice but again booking a table was a pain in the A*** and in the end we gave up on the 2nd week. The pool area was very nice but if you were not down at the crack of dawn the beds were taken, there were not enough beds or Shaded areas on the beach and some beach sellers were ok but others were too persistant and became rude. Beware the Aloe Doctor Man as he ripped us off and was not a very nice person. The beach itself was clean and the sea pleasant but not very clear if you want to snorkel.

Dickenson bay is great the beach is fantastic and the sea so clear and warm. There are a few hotels but these are all inclusive so at night entertainment centres on these.We did 2 trips whilst there. One was an escorted island tour which was very good the other was to St Johns to do some shoping this was also good.

We stayed at sandals antigua from the 11th to the 18th of May this year, before going to the BVI for a week, it was our 20th wedding anniversay.We booked with kuoni and travelled with BA upon arrival one of our cases did not turn up for 3 days which was a bit inconvienient. We booked a grand luxe beachfront concierge room in the caribbean village side.The room was ok but nothing to write home about the minbar was good as was the bottle of champagne we had every night.One minor point that annoyed us was that the room should have had robes supplied, at the meeting on the first day several people pointed this out and the concierge said he would see to it 3 days later with 3 phone calls still no robes it is the little thing like this that you remember .The location of the room was the best thing it overlooked the beach and the pool for this block of rooms.The pool was great hardly every anybody there and if you wanted the beach you just walked through a gate.We went to most of the restaurants apart from the cricketers.They were all ok but again nothing speacial, you always seemed a bit rushed especially in the Japanese.We did the candlelight meal on the beach which was good. We used the spa for a double massage which was expensive but I would recommend as it was very relaxing. All in all we enjoyed the hotel but for the money you pay I think you expect a little bit more.

overall antigua is a beautiful caribbean island perfect for couples and honeymooners.

we stayed at this hotel 20th june 2008, we thoroughly enjoed the romantic side of the island.the people in Antigua are extremely helpful and friendly. we cannot say anything bad about this country,we are regular travellers to the caribbean, and we found this country one of the most beautiful and romantic. When staying at this hotel, we thoroughly recommend you book at the hotel tour desk adjacent to the reception, and experience " ELMOS LUXURY SAFARI TOUR" to see all the sights of antigua in one day with an all inclusive drinks, snacks, and a tasty lunch at a local beach bar. This is the best trip in antigua.

It seems to be a bit strange that many of the poor reviews for Sandals Antigua have gone missing. We went on a wedding/honeymoon in March last year and it was awfull. We did get some money back for our troubles and persistant complaints but it will never replace the awful memories that will stick with us forever. When we got back I was told about this website and there were lots of poor reviews for Sandals in Antigua, they would have put me off from going and with good reason as I eventually found to my horror.

Now they have all gone missing???????

I kept a copy of them but they will not fit on the allocated space on this page. I have attached some phrases from them though.

Sandals - Antigua Operator and Date: nov 2006

Opinion submitted in December 2006 by : mandy and mark 34, 35

Resort Rating: Poor

Accommodation Rating: Poor

My/Our Holiday Opinion: 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. Book this Hotel Direct Package Holidays Holidays Direct Last Minute Sandals - Antigua Operator and Date: (Virgin Direct) Virgin Holidays - August 2005

Opinion submitted in May 2006 by : Tracy & Richard - London (44, 42)

Resort Rating: Good

Accommodation Rating: Poor

My/Our Holiday Opinion: We arrived in Antigua after a 5 hour delay, consequently this meant we arrived late evening rather than the afternoon. Tired and rather deflated after journey we took to our beds. We were woken at 7.30am by machinery noise. When opening the front door, we were horrified to discover that we were adjacent to a building site! This continued throughout the week from 7.30am to 5.00pm (not Sunday). We were more than happy to pay for a further upgrade but were apparently in an upgraded apartment already. Having been shown the room we would have had, which were shabby to say the least and were definitely in need of refurbishment, not what we would have expected from the 'Honeymoon grand deluxe suite' that we originally booked. Customer service were very dismissive and extremely unhelpful. The Bay View restaurant was incredibly filthy and unhygienic. Constant visitors included Gulls, Lizards, Ants and Blac

We have just arrived home after a ten nigtht stay in the caribbean grove section. When we arrived at the resort our first impressions of the resort were good however this detiorated when we had to wait fifty minutes for our room to be ready which was not what we wanted after long day travelling. When we were shown to our room (a honeymoon grand lux room) we were disappointed, the room was crammed with old furniture, smelt musty, had a view of a side of a building and had abscolutelty no wow factor. Our tv remote control did not work and the following day our tv broke to. We then complained at reception as the room looks nothing like whath they advertise in the brochures, we then got upgraded two days later to a honeymoon ronoval with a plunge pool.

The room finally had wow factor and now had a fully stocked bar, we would never have paid for one of these room ourselves however for the money that we did pay I would of expected all the extras anyway.

The resort itself was fantatstic, the food was delicious and definitely five star. Marios restaurant was my favourite although the Japanese was very good to. We would recommend the treasure island boat trip, free dcrinks all day and great entertainment by by crew and all the drunk Americans on board. I agree that the resort is not five star as advertised, the bedrooms let the resort dxown as we noticed a lot of people comlaining about them. It is a lovely honeymoon resort and sandals impressed us

Went for just under 3 weeks and had a superb time. We went for a Junior Suite which was very spacious with a huge balcony on the 1st floor. Wouldnt advise the ground floor as they are a bit dark. Great views and a beautiful beach. All fully inclusive with a buffet breakfast and lunch and a'la carte evening meal. We were a bit disappointed that the fully inclusive didnt include a 24hr service. The bar is only open until 11pm which is a shame as by the time you have had dinner etc it didnt leave a lot of time to relax around the bar with friends. The staff are soooo helpful and Jahilda and Zauda's cocktails are a must!

If you want a get away from it all holiday then this is the place to go.

We went in January 2007 for a week. We wish we had booked two weeks. The resort has everything for everyone and is constantly kept clean and tidy. The pools are lovely and most of the staff were very friendly.

Outside of the complex there are very few shops so it was difficult to find gifts to take home.

The food in Hemispheres is good and there is a great choice (don't leave your plate unattended because the birds will eat your food whilst your gone, this includes inside as well as outside) and the Indian Restaurant food was excellent with very friendly staff.

We went to the Italian for one evening and were very disappointed with the quality of food and left after the first course. Although we're not keen on seafood, we heard from other visitors that the seafood restaurant was excellent.

The beach is absolutely beautiful. Beware of people selling excursions (someone staying at the resort paid £50 to go on a trip that didn't exist). You are better off booking excursions with the holiday reps even if it costs a few quid more.

The time it took to get through immigration on arriving in Antigua was ridiculous (it took 2 hours)and the airport seemed rather disorganised (the staff were sitting in front of computers which were not switched on and they wrote everything by hand. On leaving it was almost as bad.

Accommodation - we stayed in a standard room which is small and very basic (cracked tiles in the bathroom, not enough wardrobe space, only one pillow each) but it did have air conditioning and it was very clean. We found it very noisy during the night (due to large air vents in the door and bathroom window so we felt we were sleeping outside). If we were staying for 2 weeks we would have paid for a room upgrade but as it was just a week we made do.

Overall we had a lovely holiday with great weather. We would recommend the resort but would advise a room upgrade.

We chose the Grand Pineapple Beach for our wedding, and we were certainly not disappointed.
It is one of the friendliest hotels I have been to. Everything was taken care of with regards to the wedding, we had absolutely no stress or panic at all (Novella the wedding coordinator is fab).
The hotel has a wonderful Caribbean feel to it, and nothing is too much trouble. The drinks flow freely and the food was pretty good too.
We were allocated an ocean view room and it certainly was! The 72 odd steps made sure that I could still fit into my wedding dress!

I would thoroughly recommend this hotel and resort to anyone. It really was the holiday of our life.

This was our first long haul holiday and the first one without the children.

We had one of the superior rooms in the middle block that went straight onto the beach and it was wonderful. Very few children were on the complex during our stay, and it was extremely quiet. It was perfect as all we wanted was to sit in the sun and relax. The rooms were lovley and clean as was the whole resort in general. No complaints about the food at all, on the whole it was excellent. Staff were friendly and polite. The little cart that went along the beaches each day delivering drinks to you was wonderful. We did dine at the dockside and rainbows but were more that happy at cocos. We went on the catamaran excellence for a day trip around the island and would thoroughly recomment this, its a superb day out, although we were a little spoilt as the day we went there was only 28 on board and nearly as many staff, its a superb day out.

If its total relaxation you are after then this is certainly a place to go to. We would certainly return.

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!