Grand Pineapple Beach Reviews

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.

We stayed at this hotel from the last week in Sept for 2 weeks and can honestly say it has been the best holiday we have ever had! Please ignore all the bad reveiws you read about this place as they are just not true!

We flew with First Choice and upgraded to the Star Class Premiew service which was good value for money, would certainly recommend it, the hotel is only 30 min away from the airport and we had no problems with immegration or our baggage.

The hotel is beautiful and the staff are very friendly and always said hi and asked how you were.

We upgraded our room to a beachfront (number 226) and think we had the best view of all! It was right in the middle of the beachview block of rooms and the view of the sea was amazing! Its well worth upgrading. The room was large and nicely furnished and the maid kept it very clean and we always had clean towels by lunchtime.

The food was wonderful too, the Pineapple Grill restaurant wasnt open for the 1st week we were there as it was quiet but they served the food in the Topaz restaurant instead (the Topaz restaurant is nicer than the Pineapple Grill as its by the sea, whereas the Pinapple Grill is inside and the air con very cold!)
There was always lots of choice of food and so much cake!

The night time entertainment was very low key, with local bands and limbo dancing/fire eating but that didnt spoil our holiday as we got so tired laying out in the sun all day we didnt want any late nights, the free flowing champagne was also very nice1

The beach is fantastic, its a public beach but has security guards 24 hours a day, there are a couple of beach vendors but they are not persistent and very polite.

You MUST visit Marys Outhouse and see Mary and yes the other reviewers were right - she does cook the best ribs!

Overall, we would certainly recomment this hotel and are hoping to go back next year. We cannot find one bad thing to say about the place and are very upset to be back in England - we didnt want to leave!

Resort fab, staff brilliant. No kids club advertised but daily activities on offer from nature treks to crab racing. Food couldnt be faulted, something for everyone no matter what time of day. Kids loved the pool and the beach - there is a well stocked activity centre for games to keep them out of the sun. Choices of sunbeds around pool or on beach or both. The only minus point was that the shop didnt hold enough stock of buckets/spades - if you have room I would recommend taking your own (thats if you have kids).

Antigua Airport is chaotic and we had to queue nearly an hour to get through immigration. Don't let the redcaps take your luggage as it is only a few yards from the baggage belt to outside the arrivals hall!

We paid for a transfer to the hotel as it was not included in our holiday package, but it was easy to get a taxi and we were told it would be US$28 before we accepted the ride.

Hotel reception staff are friendly and we were offered a rum punch at check-in! We were given an upgrade to an Oceanview Room which was lovely and spacious with a huge bed and views over the pool and sea.

The main problem with this hotel is that you have to book a table in any of the restaurants EVERY night and you can only book a table at one of the speciality restaurants (Chef Pietro's or Pineapple Grill) the day before. The main restaurant (Topaz) is very good, offering a wide selection for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The a la carte meals there are particularly good and they do a buffet on two nights of the week. I would give Chef Pietros a miss as the menu is very limited. Birds are a problem at breakfast so make sure you don't leave fruit juice or water uncovered on your table while you go to get food.

The drinks are very good with named brands of alcohol (plenty of cocktails to try!) and both the red and white wine served in the restaurants is good. The service at the Piano Bar was usually slow as they certainly work on Caribbean time!

Mary's Outhouse is a great place to go for lunch - Mary doesn't talk much so just help yourself to drinks from inside the kitchen area in the fridge. Salad and hotdogs are laid out with plates and plastic cutlery and Mary will be cooking the chicken and ribs on the BBQ! Don't wait to be offered, just go right ahead and take what you want!

The beach is lovely with clear blue sea and white sand although there can be seaweed when it is rough. Walk along to the end of the beach by the Long Bay Hotel for the clearest water and the best place for snorkelling around the rocks.

There are stalls set up on the beach selling jewellery, T shirts, sarongs, etc so you should not be bothered too much by beach sellers while you are sun bathing. If you decide to buy anything make sure you haggle. The shop at the hotel is very expensive - newspapers are US$7! There is a library that is well stocked with books and magazines so you don't need to weigh down your luggage with a lot of reading material.

There is not a lot to do around the hotel but the walk to Devil's Bridge is well worth it. It only takes about half an hour each way and is not too strenuous. Make sure you take a camera to take shots of the waves breaking against the rocks. I would recommend you go on a day when the sea is rough to get the best effect.

Overall the hotel was good and the quality of food and drink made it good value for money.

We have just returned from a fantastic 10 day Honeymoon in beautiful Antigua.

We chose the Pineapple Beach Resort over others as the All Inclusive package included premium brand drinks and they also assured all rooms had air conditioning.

On arrival at the airport, you have to complete a small immigration form and queue to get it stamped - no problem at all. Then we went through and were collected by our rep and put into our own taxi transfer to the resort.

The roads aren't as bad as people make out, yes, there are pot holes here and there and there are no road markings or road signs, but remember where it is and how small the island is! It's not a problem at all.

Pineapple Beach Resort is breathtaking on arrival. It did look exactly as it did in the brochure. We checked in and found that we had been given a free upgrade to the best rooms possible on the beachfront!
The welcome rum punch was certainly most welcome - and very strong! Something you got used to very quickly!!

There is a porter service for the cases to your room, but the resort isn't that large and the walkways are wonderful so wheeling your case isn't a problem either.

The room was clean, had everything you would need (no fridge but not really needed as you're AI), air con was superb - we even had to turn it off sometimes as it got too cold indoors! The room was literally on the beachfront, about 10 steps from the sea and totally idyllic!

Don't be alarmed by the low key security guards on the beach, they're more for show than actually doing anything, the beach itself is private to PBR but there is a public beach alongside so I guess they're there incase of any trouble, but we experienced no issues at all - there is such a low crime rate in Antigua as they have a high employment rate. We felt totally safe wherever we went, everyone was so happy, relaxed and wanting to help you with any questions.

The restuarants were superb. There was the Topaz which is the main one used for breakfasts, lunch and dinner. The Pineapple Grill and Chef Pietro's are open various days of the week and you get given a timetable on arrival. You need to book any of the restaurants a day beforehand at the Tour Desk or Reception.

The Topaz breakfasts are amazing, they cater for everyone and even have an order cook in the main area where you can get eggs cooked however you want and order the most amazing omlettes.

Lunch can be taken in the Topaz although you need to cover up swimsuits and wear something on your feet, but most of the time we grabbed a snack from the Pelican Bar (burgers, nachos, chips, etc) or hiked up the hillside (really not that high! Great views along the way) to Mary's Outhouse which is an amazing hillside chillout. Mary cooks ribs, hotdogs and anything else from 12 - 5 - the fridges are a help yourself to beer type affair and you can sit and watch the sun pass over ..beautiful!

There are activites during the day if you want to take part, and there is an air conditioned gym, but we never made it there! There is no pressure to join in, the beach volleyball was always a good laugh to watch - at the time the resort was 50/50 USA/UK so there were some great games USA vs UK to watch and cheer along!

In the evening, Topaz has 3 sittings, 6.30/7.30/8.30 - you don't have to be in and out in an hour, they just like to control the seating. The food ranged from A La Carte to Buffet to themed nights and we had no complaints at all. The table wine was fantastic and the waiters would come round to see if you wanted anything from the bar.

The Pineapple Grill serves mexican/caribbean food like fajitas, enchiladas, etc and makes a nice change. Chef Pietro's is the Italian restaurant next to Topaz and was good for a change of scenery too.

The Pelican bar opened at 11pm until 1.30am if you missed dinner through sleep or got a case of the midnight munchies!

The bar staff were amazing - they would take 3 orders at the same time and deliver them perfectly to you. They had all premium brand drinks and I would suggest that you gradually work your way through their cocktail menu!

There was another bar open near the beach during the day, the Aqua Bar, which was superb as you didn't have to walk too far to grab a quick rum punch.

They have a shop where you can buy and post postcards, they sell suntan lotion, aftersun, swimwear and flip flops and various gift items.

There is also a library area next to the tour rep desks - this is a great system - you can just go and take books or leave the ones you've read and don't want to take home.

The resort is well looked after and very clean. The staff were so friendly and we cannot find any fault whatsoever with our stay.

If you're going for a wedding, then you have the choice of 2 gazebos - we saw quite a few weddings out there as we had some people moved to us from Cancun since the devastating hurricance. I believe they offer fanstastic packages and you have the Pineapple Grill for your Wedding Breakfast afterwards.

I would definitely recommend going on some trips to see the island otherwise you might as well have gone to the Canaries! We did the jeep tour around the island which was superb - takes you around all the major sites and through the rainforest. Then we did the Catamaran Circumnavigation which was a day spent going round the island - this was ok, they didn't describe the places you were going past very well but great fun all the same.

If you're flying with Virgin I would definitely recommend the Check in Chill out service both ways - superb!

Other than, the only things I can think of that will help you make your mind up are things that I was thinking and looking for when we were booking - did it have air con? Yes. Do they have premium brand drinks REALLY? Yes.

We do feel that we booked the best place on the island as the south and west are slightly more developed but it's more humid there and we heard about people being bitten by mozzies all the time. Also, some people at Cocobay moved to Dian Bay for this reason and also because Cocobay didn't have aircon.

Otherwise, I seriously recommend this place if you want to relax and be treated like royalty. The All Inclusive was definitely all inclusive, we only took an extra £200 worth of US dollars and didn't spend it on anything other than gifts and trips.

Have a great trip!