This is not for small children.Visited: October 2008
Posted by treva
This place is not a hotel, and it's not on the beach. They they extorted $110.50 from me just to check in. They said this was "unit surcharge" is for A/C, safe, local phone calls, and housekeeping.
However, once I got to the room, the safe required a credit card to use. The ceiling lights were out in the kitchen and in one bedroom. Also, the housekeeping was extremely substandard. I don't think they ever changed the sheets, and they only cleaned the bathrooms once. Only two washcloths for a 2BR/2.5BA villa for a week? I only got more after leaving a note.
In addition, three out of the six table lamps could not be plugged in beacuse they had US-style plugs, and the walls had some other kind of electrical outlets. They provided a stereo/CD player, but it couldn't be plugged in, either. Bring your own adapters!
I requested (in advance) a villa as close to the beach as possible, and it was on the South Finger. However, it was still a good five-minute walk minimum to the beach. For me, it was a ten-minute walk because I had two three-year-olds.
The office and supermarket were about a 15-minute walk. There were no sidewalks, so you're with cars and trucks on a narrow road.
This place was not kid friendly. The villas had steep, narrow, spiral staircases that would scare anyone who has little kids staying there. As it was, my daughter slipped on the tile floors and knocked out a tooth!
The beach was nice, but if you want to use kayaks and pedal boats, you need to buy a day pass at the all-inclusive hotel that is on the beach!
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The hotel is in the heart of the cruise line dock area, and is busy when the ships are in.
Although the accommodations are not overly fancy, they are adequate - especially if you are not staying more than a few nights.
The air conditioners work, and the rooms are spacious and clean. The balcony overview of the busy streets below was pleasant - if you get a sunny side view. There are several decent restaurants nearby, too.
I would come back again - and probably will.
1 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful.
We had a perfect 30th anniversary here.Visited: January 2008
Posted by mrjeb
Book it and enjoy! My wife and I were here January 17-26, and we had a fantastic time! We went for our 30th anniversary, and the whole trip could not have been any better.
The entire staff was fantastic. I never met a single employee who did not say "Hi" and smile. Donovan Dobson, the Director of Guest Services, is an outstanding host and really takes pleasure in making sure his guests have the perfect experience.
The grounds were beautiful, and the food was very good. We stayed in the Med Village section, but we had the opportunity to see several rooms on the CV side, and they looked very nice, too. It was very romantic on the CV side, and there were lots of secluded spots and pools to enjoy. The MV side was also very nice, but was bigger and not quite as lush as the CV side.
The entire resort was 100% booked for four of the nights we were here, but it did not feel crowded. We were able to get reservations to all the different restaurants as long as we were flexible with when we wanted to eat.
2 users found this review helpful. 1 found this review unhelpful.
Blue Waters is majestic and fantastic.Visited: July 2007
Posted by nitebmet
My wife, our son and I stayed at the hotel for eight days in July. We had beautiful weather. It rained once while we were here, but only for a few moments. It felt like paradise. I am saving like crazy so we can visit again.
1 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful.
This is a diamond in the Caribbean.Visited: September 2008
Posted by jezebel
We have just returned from one of our best vacations. This is a charming resort with lush gardens, great accommodations, and is on the beach. It is very romantic for people of any age.
The staff is very helpful and pleasant. There is plenty to do - or you can just get away and relax. We will return to Siboney Beach Club again.
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This is a wonderful holiday spot for a family.Visited: November 2007
Posted by maddog
I'm not sure that others reviewing here stayed at the same resort as us...it seems impossible to have such wildly differing views!
We had inter-connecting ground floor rooms (palatial). They were no more than 20 meters from the ocean via a private deck/verandah and then, palm trees and beautiful white sand.
We would wake and go straight out to swim in the sea before showering and dressing for a wonderfully varied buffet breakfast. Our two boys would frequently watch the cartoon channel and wonder why two adults would want to spring out of bed on holiday at 7 am to swim, before joining them for breakfast.
The staff was kind and friendly, albeit laidback, but that is the Antiguan way and if anything, it made the holiday more enjoyable.
The meals were all of good quality. Although, after two weeks, it was getting a bit 'samey'. There was a noisier extended family that appeared in the second week, but the beauty of two beaches is that we frequented wherever they weren't to escape the five-a-side rather loud games taking place with a distinct brummy 'twang'.
Overall, this was a great holiday, and we would do it again in a heartbeat.
1 users found this review helpful. 1 found this review unhelpful.
Siboney is a gem! The gardens are fabulously maintained, and the pool is set amongst plants and flowers....so romantic! One can relax in the hammock in the gardens or out on the beach and enjoy the sea breeze.
The staff is extremely friendly and helpful. It's a small hotel, and you are treated like family, not like a number.
The rooms are very comfortable - there's a bedroom, living room and kitchenette. One couldn't ask for more.
I can't wait to return to this paradise!
0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful.
This is a slice of Paradise on Dickenson Bay.Visited: July 2008
Posted by islandtimema
We just returned from two weeks at Siboney Beach Club. We would definitely stay again, and recommend it to our best friends.
If you enjoy a vacation that gets you away from the zaniness of a typical fast-paced lifestyle, away from the herd-mentality of the large resorts, and offers you the feeling of being like a visiting relative, the Siboney Beach Club is for you.
You'll find the other guests, the staff, and the bar-flys at Coconut Grove to be extremely friendly and interesting. The people you meet will stay at Siboney for the same reason, to simply get away from the rat-race and find beauty and solitude.
The area offers convenience to St. John's and shopping. All the watersports are a short walk away, as is a small market for your needs, great restaurants and bars. But then you can put it all away and sit beneath the palms and sea-grape trees - and be swept away.
3 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful.
The security at this hotel is questionable.Visited: July 2008
Posted by meldah
Following this tragic murder of two British honeymooners - where was the security? This is a bad reflection on this hotel - for future tourists. I, for one, would not stay here on a free ticket.
0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful.
A Antigua travel review
It was horrible.
Posted by smileyface
We were at the GPBR Antigua ("we" as in 17 of us) from July 19-26, 2008 and it was horrible!
It was very dirty; the pool was dirty (one of us got an infection from the pool); and one of us got food poisoning. Also, the food was terrible; the front desk and other employees were very mean; there was not a lot of variety of drinks; and the rooms were rundown.
In addition, the resort atmosphere was disgusting. The staff was not helpful; the entertainment was terrible; the bathroom in the rooms and in the resort smelled bad.
It was a waste of money. Please do not waste your time and money by coming here.
0 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful.
They have the nicest staff, and great food and ambiance.Visited: July 2008
Posted by seemagupta
We have been all over the Carribbean, and Galley Bay is the best all over, resort to spend your vacation.
The rooms are huge with soaring ceilings, and all ocean view. The all-inclusive food is pretty good, and the staff is the kindest, most courteous in the Caribbean. I can't find a single thing to complain about.
Our stay was worth every penny. Thanks Galley Bay!
5 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful.
This was a great accommodation.Visited: December 2007
Posted by starrybee
Overall, my stay was very pleasurable. They had great room service. The rooms were very clean, and everything worked - the TV, AC, and bathroom. They also had hot water.
Overall, they provided very good rates, too.
2 users found this review helpful. 0 found this review unhelpful.
This hotel is not what you would imagine.Visited: May 2008
Posted by bolgerval
I have just come back from my honeymoon here.
We were given a beachfront room, which was okay. The bed was very comfy, and it was cleaned every day. The beach was stepping stones away, which was great.
However, the food was not at all good. Most nights, I did not eat. The food was cooked to well overdone, and there was not a good selection at all. In the end, I was sick of hamburgers for lunch.
Also, the staff left a lot to be desired. They all looked so miserable. They didn't smile, and it was as if they didn't want to be there. I have stayed in a few hotels in Antigua, so I know that is not the norm.
One day, the trees where trimmed of their large leaves, and the mess was unbelievable. Everything fell on the adult swimming pool area, and it was just left! We could not use the pool -or if we did, we had to fight our way around the dead leaves. It was disgustingly filthy.
I will not go back. I would advise you to check the reviews so you don't waste your money!
6 users found this review helpful. 2 found this review unhelpful.
I stayed here almost a year ago, and have booked to go May 2008.
The rooms are not great, but so little time is spent in them anyway. The food is very good, as is service - that is if you treat the locals with a tad of respect.
This is a great place for a chill out holiday. Last year, our children, ages seven and 11, preferred to go back to the Jolly than going to Orlando (dolphin swim etc, theme park tickets work out cheaper), so we are back in May 2008.
Overall, the good reviews seem to outnumber the whiners.
6 users found this review helpful. 2 found this review unhelpful.
Keep your money and stay at a Motel 6! We went for our honeymoon. We stayed ten days, but wanted to leave after three.
I got food poisoning, we had bugs in our room, and rain leaked in window. The food was horrible. We could not get any seafood except fish (i.e. no conch or lobster).
The only redeeming quality was the dive staff and a few of the support staff.
Most of the guests we spent time with had similar or worse issues.
7 users found this review helpful. 5 found this review unhelpful.
Long Bay is relaxing and romantic.Visited: November 2007
Posted by susank
My husband and I spent nine days at the Long Bay Hotel, and we loved it.
The hotel is designed in traditional Caribbean style. It has been lovingly maintained, but has kept up with modern expectations - such as sparkling bathroom fixtures and plush towels. Our room was spacious and attractive. The four-poster king-sized bed was carved with banana leaves, and was very comfortable.
Service was impeccable and friendly. The food was incredible. It was fresh, inventive, and world-class. They combined local specialties, such as black pineapple, grouper and conch, with treatments and ingredients familiar to US and European diners.
Daily dinner menus were posted, and we checked them hours in advance to contemplate our choices (there were two options for each of the four courses, and the decisions were seldom easy). The most surprising to us were the daily offerings of cold soups, which we found to be refreshing and creative.
Mosquitoes are the scourge of the tropics. The hotel provided mosquito coils and a good personal spray. Use them! Kill mosquitoes in your room before retiring. Consider this the price you must pay for enjoying paradise while friends and family back home are miserable.
In the mornings, I went SCUBA diving with Aquanauts out of English Harbor, which was delightful. In the afternoons, I rejoined my diving widower husband. We enjoyed using the library and game room, but in nine days never got around to using the free kayaks and sailboats.
Our favorite activity was to sit on our balcony, where we were thoroughly entertained by reading magazines and books from the library and letting ourselves be mesmerized by the waves crashing against the rocks where the bay meets the Atlantic.
The big event each afternoon was the arrival of a smiling lady with a bucket of ice to re-chill our Cokes and water, and we had to decide if we were thereby inspired to go for a stroll. Walking was very enjoyable after the mid-day sun was at a lower angle. Our favorite destination was Devil’s Bridge, an archway cut by waves into the rocks at the mouth of the bay, where sea foam flies and the water boils dramatically.
After dinner, we usually strolled the grounds and returned to our balcony to watch the moonlight sweep over the bay. As proof of the romantic charms of this lovely place, my dear husband was inspired to make a photograph in which he wrote my initial in moonlight.
Stay at Long Bay Hotel for a relaxing, romantic Caribbean adventure, and you will be very happy.
5 users found this review helpful. 1 found this review unhelpful.
I was extremely disappointed in Sandals Antigua.Visited: November 2007
Posted by dreamcrazy
I visited this resort on a work trip and was extremely disappointed. I had read several reviews, and many of them were true.
The one redeeming quality the resort had was the butler service in the Meditterranean Village. They were outstanding!
Other than that, the food was definitely lacking; and most of the employees were cordial, but did not have answers to any questions. A large handful of them were very rude and unhelpful. A small handful were above and beyond pleasant and helpful, though.
The resort and the rooms were also infested with mosquitoes - who seemed to love the tourists. Also, there were several power outages on the Friday night I was here. The power outages were to the entire resort, which left us in the dark for several minutes.
Since I didn't pay for this trip (was work related), I suppose it was acceptable (and beyond my control). However, had I paid upwards of $2,000 to travel across the nation for a wedding or honeymoon, I would have been seriously disappointed.
I can't speak for any of the other Sandals resorts. But if you are looking for top of the line treatment and great food - this resort is not the place to be.
And yes, the pictures shown of the resort are amazing. However, they are deceiving.
9 users found this review helpful. 8 found this review unhelpful.
I don't recommend this hotel.Visited: November 2007
Posted by kcdh2002
I just returned from Sandals Antigua.
I thought the service was slow and understaffed. Also, there was no top shelf alcohol. The main pool was closed for a private function, and the guests were never notified. My room never not cleaned before 4:00 pm.
In addition, the beach was dirty and not very big (maybe a 1/4 mile long). They advertised it as one of the best beaches, yet I could not even see through the water to the sand.
The beach rooms need to be renovated. Fortunately, I was on the Mediterranean side, where you pay to stay at the adult-only hotel. Then, I found out that the beach was public.
I feel this hotel is overpriced for what you get.
10 users found this review helpful. 7 found this review unhelpful.
Caribbean 
This is not for small children. 
This is an exceptional little place. 
It was nice, but not fancy. 
We had a perfect 30th anniversary here. 
It was horrible. 
