Grand Royal Antiguan Beach Resort - Antigua

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We had an unbelievable holiday! Visited: June 2003 Posted by w_ayne_rooney My girlfriend and I have just returned home after two amazing weeks at the Royal Antiguan. Before arriving at the hotel, I was concerned by some of the reviews on this site, slating the hotel quite unfairly. For the price we paid, we couldn't have wished for a better holiday. The food was excellent in Andes and Barringtons, and the pool was lovely and very quiet. The beach was one of the best resort beaches on the island. And the gardens were gorgeous! Make sure you go all-inclusive, it would be very expensive otherwise. What I'm trying to say is...do not listen to any bad reviews about this place. The hotel and Antigua are stunning! We can't wait to go back! 0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful. Did you find this helpful? Serious flaws, but good value if expectations are low. Visited: May 2003 Posted by csviokla We were forced to stay here for two nights. I knew from this site that the place would be far from luxurious. That was for sure. By American hotel standards, both food and service were generally below adequacy. I give them 3 stars rather than 2 because it is a cheap holiday for those who want to eat and drink without having to think about money while on vacation. But please know that the place photographs much better than it presents itself in reality. A good value if you are not picky about food quality and don't mind consistent indifference from the staff. 0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful. Did you find this helpful? Nice, but typical charter package hotel. Visited: March 2003 Posted by pamcg151 Antigua is a great island. Typical of a charter hotel, the Royal Antiguan was a tired, but pleasant looking moderate hotel. An upgrade for an extra charge is necessary if you are placed in a room overlooking a ditch and the trash containers, as was our case when we arrived. The upgrade to a room with a wonderful view and balcony is approximately $20/night. The room was spacious and clean but the television didn't always work and the pillows were made out of lumpy concrete (bring your own if you want to sleep). The staff is friendly until you ask them for something. Everything is set up to cost you lots more money than you would expect. Example: There is not a pay phone in the entire hotel so you will have to make all calls from your room at a sizeable surcharge. Or, You cannot order an a la carte breakfast. It's the $17 buffet breakfast or nothing. The coffee was dreadful. The location is such that if you want to go to the town of St. John's nearby you must take an expensive cab ride ($12 each way before the tip) because the hotel does not have a shuttle except for once a week, and then they charge you $8 for a few hours in town. The Royal Antiguan is owned by a hotel group that also offers timeshares and promotes them in their lobby. The hotel gave the names and room numbers of their guests to the timeshare group for marketing purposes! So much for privacy. The timeshare group however would not speak with single women because they did not believe they could afford a timeshare and had no problem stating that. The hotel has a nice but small beach where vendors frequently approach you selling things, a nice location if you do not like to get out much, some wonderful goats around the area and a fitness room with no equipment. The afternoon tea was very pleasant. The Royal Antiguan has seemed to have mostly charter vacationers there, which meant they came in droves and left in droves. 0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful. Did you find this helpful? Royal Antiguan is a gracefully aged, older "big" hotel. Visited: March 2003 Posted by jsanteus My mum and I spent a week at the Royal Antiguan in March of 2003. I'd say the place was definitely between a three- and four-star place. The pluses were beautiful views from the rooms that showcased the ocean; a private location in a somewhat more isolated corner of the island; relatively large size rooms; a pretty beach and lots of public space for those who like the feel of a big hotel with a lobby, etc. Also, the staff was very friendly, overall. The negatives were the restaurants and the location being isolated. The taxi into town was $12 each way, even though it wasn't very far into the main town, St. John's. So, if you wanted to eat somewhere cheaper or better, and you wanted to avoid the $24 cost of a round trip taxi, you could take the bus. But the walk to the bus was a little far. So, often we ended up feeling like hostages in the hotel. The food was pretty bad and very expensive. Pretty much all the lunches and dinners were at least $25-$28, and it was just bad hotel food. The breakfast was $7 if you just had bread. But if you had an egg, it automatically went to about $18. (I had one egg and a slice of pineapple and the bill was $18.) It really felt like the hotel made it so that any other form of transportation would not be available. When we returned to the hotel one night via a non-hotel run taxi that we picked up in town, the taxi bunch practically snarled at us. The negatives were strong, but the place was okay - I liked Antigua more than I liked the hotel. If you stay at the hotel, definitely rent a car or motor scooter so you can get into St. John's at will. Then, the hotel would be pretty nice. Great things to do/places to eat were: * The little shack called "The Pensioners" at the foot of the big hill (where the hotel was). It was definitely worth trying for delicious local food, cheap! * The Middle Eastern resturant called "Ali Baba" in town; it had delicious food for a fraction - literally - of what you 'd pay at the hotel. *The Torturer's Gym just outside of St. John in a neighborgood called Grace Farms. It was the funnest gym I've ever been to with lots of both women and men working out. * Cafe Napoleon at Redcliffe Quay in St. John's...a world-class cafe! * Running from the hotel into St. John's in the morning...these were the best runs of my life...the friendly people and the goats and the dogs made the miles melt away. Antigua and those funny goats all over the island were great! 0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful. Did you find this helpful? Good food and good location, but some rooms need updating. Visited: March 2003 Posted by jackson_189 The location of Royal Antiguan was very good, the gardens and surroundings were nice, they had a good beach, the restaurants were lovely with excellent food and wines. Also, the staff was very nice, helpful and friendly. The only improvement would be the refurbishment of some rooms. But if you did not like your room, a change was offered. We would also suggest going all-inclusive. It was an excellent value and we felt we couldn't have gotten better food in a five-star hotel. We preferred it to going room-only as taxies to restaurants outside of complex could add a lot to the price. Overall, we thought it was an excellent value for the money and well worth a visit. 0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful. Did you find this helpful? Offers a nice location and beach with friendly staff. Visited: February 2003 Posted by kevin_a_gilbert We enjoyed our stay at the Royal Antiguan with some reservations. We booked the 'all-inclusive' package for the first week, but changed to 'room only' in the second week as we felt we were not getting the value for our money at $300-per day. The menu in the waiter service restaurants did not vary throughout our stay, the draught beer tasted weak and the locally brewed sprits were not very strong either. We found the quality of the food served in the restaurants generally average and sometimes good. In the second week we lunched at a beachside cafe (Pensioners Corner) located about half a mile ouside the hotel grounds. Food was cooked while we waited and the bottled beers and soft drinks served were of much better quality than the hotel drinks at about a third of the cost. The problem with the slow service in the hotel was mainly caused by the system whereby all customers had to sign a bill for anything they purchased from the hotel restaurants and bars - regardless of the package they were on. It was frustrating when you had to wait 10 minutes or so for a drink when there were three barhands with only half a dozen customers at the bar. Young children do not like to be kept waiting this long for a drink. By replacing this unnecessary time-wasting system with wristbands issued to AI customers, the waiting time would be significantly reduced. Waiters could 'fast-track' service to AI customers and focus more resources on the customers who are on RO basis. Although most of the staff were very friendly with my children (ages three and one), we did not find the hotel child-friendly, as we discovered a few dangerous electrical safety hazards and neither was there any children's entertainment program. Evening entertainment provided for adults was not much better. Overall, we found the hotel to be a reasonably good, budget taste of the Caribbean experience. We would definitely return to Antigua but we don't think we would return to this hotel. 0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful. Did you find this helpful? Experiences at this hotel resulted in a 1-star rating. Visited: February 2003 Posted by nicole_d The island of Antigua itself was very scenic and the beaches were beautiful. You have to go and experience the local villages and venture into the heart of St. John's to really get a feeling of the culture outside of the hotel and tourist areas. If you are an animal lover, there are goat and sheep roaming free on the island, which was very nice to see. This one-star review was, however, based on the Royal Antiguan, which was very disappointing due to the following experiences: - Half the time, no one was at the front desk. - Activities for the next day would be posted at midnight the night before, so you couldn't really schedule your next day ahead of time. - Our towels were taken everyday at 9 am without being replaced, and when we would return back to our rooms late afternoon we still had no towels in our room. Everyday we had to call for new towels. One day, I had placed three calls for towels and did not receive clean towels until 10pm. - There was no carpet, so the floor was always sandy and wet. - One evening our air conditioning completely went out. - The restaurants were only open at certain times. There was no food being served at any of the three restaurants between 10:30-12pm and 5-7pm. Being on the all-inclusive plan, you would think you would have more access to meals without time restrictions. One night, we went to the Lagoon Cafe for a buffet dinner. Only about 1/4 of the restaurant was occupied, but it still took 15 minutes for someone to come up and seat us. When seated the waitress proceeded to rush us thru our meal. I could understand if the restaurant was busy, but it was still pretty empty. She gave us our check half way through the meal. Twice she removed my plate from under me while I was still eating. She removed all our utensils from our table right after dinner, before we even had dessert. And not once did our water glass get refilled, even though our waitress stared straight at our empty glasses as she was trying to clear our plates from right under us with plates half full. - Free unmotorized water sports were provided by the hotel, granted they were provided with no instructions. My husband and I partook in the two-man kayaking. As we were enjoying ourselves, paddling outwards viewing the scenery, a very angry hotel employee came zooming out on a jet ski yelling at us, telling us we've gone too far and we had to come back in immediately. No one told us what the limits or rules were. The next day, we went paddling and again no rules were given to us. I would not recommend staying at this hotel, but perhaps other hotels are better places to stay to see this beautiful island. 0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful. Did you find this helpful? Royal Antiguan is a great hotel in an excellent location. Visited: January 2003 Posted by michellepardey We came for our second visit in January 2003 with our 13-month-old daughter. I couldn't believe the bad reviews I had read. We had a wonderful time. The hotel decor was a little shabby around the edges, but that just added to the charm. They had a fantastic beach, great staff and we also enjoyed the quality and variety of the food (and I'm vegetarian!). Everything was very clean - which is important with a toddler. I wouldn't hesitate to go again. 0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful. Did you find this helpful? Great beach, but food needs improvement. Visited: January 2003 Posted by donlong The Royal Antiguan is a great place to get away to and relax. Accommodations are fine, but the food needs improvement. The Lagoon buffet, one of three restaurants on site, tries hard but doesn't quite deliver a uniform level of food quality. For example, a buffet is not an appropriate choice for fish, which only tastes at its best when eaten immediately after cooking. Even though the menu changes from day to day, choices still were a little repetitive. The Andes and Barringtons restaurants were far superior, but Andes has a fairly limited menu. Both require reservations for dinner and you often had to book several days in advance. One and sometimes both of these were closed any any given day! The snack bar at the beach has an extremely limited menu -- for lunch only. Families with young children may find the strict meal times a problem (i.e. no dinner before 7:00 p.m.) The staff was extremely courteous and, for the most part, very friendly. However, both in the restaurants and among the cleaning staff, there seems to be no organization to their work. In the Lagoon we would give a drink order to two or three different serving staff, but sometimes we never received our beverage. The cleaning staff would keep coming back each day to finish off their job -- first time cleaned, later brought towels, then came back with something else. We took an around-the-island catamaran tour and were able to see many of the other resorts we had considered and noted that Royal Antiguan had one of the more superior beaches and certainly was far better than that of Sandals, as it shares with other hotels and is more crowded. Also, as long as you have an Oceanfront room on a higher floor, Royal Antiguan probably offers the best scenic views from your room. Glad that we stayed all-inclusive. Restaurants off-site would have cost a fortune in taxi rides and besides, there didn't seem to be much choice in St. John's for finer dining. Staff at the beach was superb! Vendors are plentiful on the beach and in St. John’s. As long as you are polite, they are very courteous, but the constant barrage of sales pitches can be wearying. Don't go expecting any bargains. The pool was fine although with that beautiful beach, we seldom used it. Airport needs improvement with customs; there are lengthy waits with no discernible organization. Be warned about the state of roads and driving conditions if you choose to rent a car -- it's wild! Roads are narrow and unmarked and watch out for frequent speed bumps, goats, cattle, donkeys and dogs. 0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful. Did you find this helpful? Royal Antiguan is a fantastic value for money! Visited: December 2002 Posted by rfield After reading all the reviews from Americans, I was going with an open mind. But it was fantastic! The food was great, the service was impeccable and the staff was so helpful. I e-mailed in advance that it would be my birthday during my stay and I was welcomed with a bottle of champagne. I would recommend this resort to anyone, as long as you don't expect waiter service on the beach and loads of evening entertainment. I'll go back anytime! 0 users found this review helpful. 1 found this review unhelpful. Did you find this helpful? We had a delightful time. Visited: December 2002 Posted by cutemetschic Upon checking in, I was greeted with a smile and a glass of rum punch. The food, while not gourmet, was decent, and plentiful. I cannot stress this enough--go all-inclusive! The two of us (1 adult and 1 child) easily spent $300 USD a day for just our food, probably another $75 for drinks. The air-conditioning did not work well in our hillside room, so we were moved to an ocean-view the following afternoon. I do recommend upgrading to an ocean-view room, the view is well worth it! The service was wonderful and the people were friendly. Terry, the manager of the Lagoon Cafe, would greet my nephew by first name and always made a point to "give him 5." Several other waitstaff stand out in my mind because they were friendly and attentive--Pat, Devon, Edwina, and several more whose faces I can remember, but names have slipped my mind. Mr. Mighty Bottle played the guitar and sang at Andes restaurant and he was a lovely person. He played a special song for my nephew, and on the last night there, he sat down with us at the table and helped me write out the lyrics of two of the songs for my nephew. The beach was beautiful, and it was a good place for beginning snorkelers. I put flippers and a life vest on my nephew and took him out snorkeling along the cliffs. The vendors were annoying, but be pleasant, and you can have wonderful, enlightening conversations. They recognized us our 2nd day there and did not approach us again, except for a quick greeting. Tell them you do not have any money to spend, and they will leave you alone. Visit Agnes on the beach, usually under the grove of trees, to get your hair braided and hand-made jewelry. One note for parents--upon arriving at the resort, we did not realize it was a topless optional resort. When we were here, there were only a few women doing it. Just a heads-up. As far as I know, it was that way at every resort on Antigua. The rooms were large, and ours had a mini-fridge. We purchased sodas and a couple bottles of water from the gift shop, along with a few snacks, in case of late night munchies. Visit the bar after 10 am and get drinks to take up to your room. Our room was clean, and I asked for more towels and they were delivered within 10 minutes. If you are going to Antigua and want a good value, this is the resort for you. You can stay here for 3 weeks for what you would spend at other resorts on the island. At the same time my nephew and I were at the RA, my sister and her husband were at a different resort on the island. They were very unhappy with the management there and left the island with a very bad taste in their mouth, while I am ready to pack up and go back right now. 0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful. Did you find this helpful? It the most excellent place to stay. Visited: November 2002 Posted by judith_bray After returning for the second year in a row, we found that the staff remembered us from the first year, and gave us even better service this time. We can't wait for our next visit. 0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful. Did you find this helpful? Absolutely fantastic place and people. Visited: October 2002 Posted by nikki_sharpe This is great for a perfect relaxing holiday. The hotel and food are great, and the people are lovely. The hotel rooms may need a lick of paint here and there, but are kept spotlessly clean (how long do you spend in them anyway?). The staff is great fun, extremely friendly and helpful people. They are very laid back, but that's the sort of holiday we wanted. Had a wonderful and perfect time. We miss everyone, and will be going back next year. 0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful. Did you find this helpful? An excellent accommodation. Visited: October 2002 Posted by karen_shakeshaft After reading the reviews on this web site, I was worried about what to expect. But when we arrived, we found the hotel lobby and reception area spacious and clean, the staff was all very helpful and extremely friendly. The room was bright and clean with a lovely view from the balcony. The restaurants all served very good food - we found that the all inclusive was the best option, otherwise it could be expensive. The pool area was lovely, clean and very inviting. The beach was just as good. Although there were beach vendors, a simple "no" would be enough for them to go on their way. Butl getting to know them was a good experience - like our friend, "Medicine Man". The garden area was also very tranquil - especially the water features. I would definitely go back and hope one day that I will. 0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful. Did you find this helpful? A great place to relax! Visited: September 2002 Posted by rosehunte I stayed here with my husband. It was for his business trip, so we only stayed for 3 days and 2nights. We had a great time, though. The food was great. The accommodation was uncluttered and clean and very colorfully Caribbean! The view over the lagoon was spectacular! The tennis courts and gym were adequate. I would recommend that you go all-inclusive though, especially if you have kids! We hope to come back soon with our boys. They would love it! It was good value for the money! 0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful. Did you find this helpful? It was much better than I expected. Visited: September 2002 Posted by dccindy I was leary about what I would find at the Royal Antiguan, even though we got a fantastic deal on SkyAuction. Our first impression was a very positive one (of course the rum punch might have helped) - but checking in was painless, and our porter was very helpful and informative in pointing out all the hotel amenities. Our room was nice, roomy and clean with very festive drapes and bedding...nothing posh, but no complaints at all. We got upgraded free to a bay/ocean view which was very nice. We were not on the all-inclusive plan, so did not eat many meals here - we ate breakfast every day and one lunch, and it was very good. But I did not hear any complaints from others, and heard only good things. The entertainment was pretty lame, but with all there was to do in St. Johns -who really cares. We preferred to go out and soak up Antiguan culture, rather than stay in the resort anyway. Chutney's was a fantastic restaurant, and I highly recommend it. The taxi drivers at the Royal Antiguan were great and always there. They would go out of their way for you (and for your money, too, of course). Our favorite was "The General". Taxis were expensive, however. The beach was so beautiful, nice and clean - the vendors were not all pushy, but rather lovely and friendly people with some nice things to sell. We didn't hang out at the pool - with the Caribbean right there, who would want to? But it looked very nice and clean as well. I give this hotel a very good rating, and if it was right on the beach like some of the other resorts, I would probably stay here again - and still may. It was a great experience, and Antigua is a wonderful island. 0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful. Did you find this helpful? A very good laid-back resort. Visited: September 2002 Posted by m_lebreton My first impression was very good - a large spacious lobby (indeed, a large hotel), and the reception staff was very friendly and helpful. We upgraded to an ocean veiw room once we arrived, which worked out cheaper than doing it at home. I would recommend doing it, the view from the eighth floor was wonderful. The rooms were clean, comfortable and spacious - even if the furniture was slightly old. The staff, in general, was great. We found if you are nice to them, they will always be nice to you. But be warned if you start getting impatient, they will remember it, and the the already slow service will get worse. You must remember that fantastic Caribbean laid-back attitude. Nothing happens fast here, but then think about it - whats the rush? Antigua really was a paradise island. We rented a jeep for three days and toured the whole island and its beaches - a definite must! There was also an island jeep tour with a guy called Simon. He tells you the history of the island as you drive round it - it was a fantastic day out. Book it on the beach or at the desk. It was called Estate Safari jeep tours. The beach was excellent. There were beach vendors, but a simple "no thank you" seemed to do the trick. Then they left you in peace to enjoy the sun. The one big thing that the hotel should undertake is the evening entertainment - or the lack of it. There was usually something on, but this area needs to be addressed, as a chap with a hifi wasn't what I would call good entertainment. There was so much they could do to improve this matter. Definitely, the Caribbean atmosphere was contagious. Once we started to chill out, we didn't notice if the service was bad or not. But if you can't relax and go with the flow, maybe you should give the Caribbean a miss. Royal Antiguan, thank you very much for a great stay. 0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful. Did you find this helpful? It was better than we expected. Visited: August 2002 Posted by jeneferj I just returned from Antigua with my two sons, and I was pleasantly surprised by the hotel. As others have mentioned, previous posts nearly swayed me against staying at the Royal Antiguan, but I am pleased with my choice. The service was excellent, the food was fine and the room was fine. As mentioned before, some property features were a little rough, but the pool and beach areas were near perfection. Vendors were not aggressive, but very friendly and helpful. We also took a day trip to Bird Island, which was excellent. 0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful. Did you find this helpful? Most staff wonderful - needs lots of work Visited: August 2002 Posted by laverne_gregory Let me first say that Antigua, her people, her beaches are lovely. There were also several beach vendors trying to sell you necklaces, etc. If you politely told them you were not interested they would leave you be. They were not overly pushy. The common areas were well kept, lobby, restaurants, gardens, bars, casino, beaches all have a polished look, even if it does look a little aged. But this beauty is only skin deep, as you’ll see in the following report. The beach at the Royal Antiguan was fabulous. This was probably the best part of the Royal Antiguan. There were non-motorized sports you could participate in like kayaking. The first night was destroyed as soon as I checked on my son at the pool, not even one hour after check-in. A wooden disk had been placed over one of the filter holes around the pool and I soon found myself in pain. Guests came to my aid to pull my leg out of the hole. Ice packs for the entire night, with painkillers. The next day, a makeshift metal cover from an ashtray liner, 2 days later, a plant. Finally on Sunday, a real pool cover was placed on the hole. Night 2, the room is dark. My husband gets up to go to the rest room and is greeted by a puddle of water formed in the hall from a drip in the ceiling. Zoom!!!! Flat on his back. He was unable to participate in ANY activity for the remainder of the trip, except as an observer. The staff, both hotel and tour operator, was initially responsive, and promised much. My husband, cautious about foreign medicine, declined treatment and opted for painkillers and rest. Who wants to spend their vacation with CATSCANs and MRI’s, and what could they possibly do with the information? By day 4, we still hadn't received our orientation that we missed and never received the personal tour promised by management. At departure we learned that our APPLE representative had NEVER called the airline to make the arrangements for the extra space that would be needed to service his back needs. We documented 3 phone calls, checked the desk daily during the hours posted, no help. They did upgrade us to a poolside suite. Well-worn, wooden plank patches to ceiling problems. All the floors are flat, shiny white tiles, good for cleaning, not good for traction. If you do still go, place towels down for rugs to keep yourself upright. The room was cleaned daily and we had no complaints with that. The best meal we had were the omelets at breakfast. I'm not sure if the menu was limited because of the all-inclusive plan, but selections and palatability were average. 0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful. Did you find this helpful? Beautiful beach environment with average accommodation Visited: July 2002 Posted by clavo Once we arrived at the hotel, we upgraded to an ocean view. We had read the standard rooms were too small and look into a side of a hill. The views from our eighth floor room were stunning. In general we were ok with the accommodations, but with some uplifting this would be an excellent property. The funiture is old and the buildings are not well maintained, however with the cost of the room we were tolerant. The service was generally slow and staff behavior was typical as we have found in other Caribbean island cultures. In our opinion, the Deep Bay beach area was the best we found while touring several other properties and beaches during our 1 day jeep rental adventure. We elected the EP over all-inclusive, since we enjoy sampling all the local restaurants. The food in the hotel was reasonably good in the 3 restaurants of choice, however we ate most our meals at the Andes. For the money, I would recommend the Royal Antiguan, if your expectations are geared more to beach and island activities rather than the luxury of the hotel property. 0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful. Did you find this helpful?

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