My wife and I stayed here with our 10 month old boy for 6 nights. The accomodation was clean and plenty big enough (we chose the superior room). The room was cleaned daily, with fresh towels etc every day. We had a patio, from which we could see the ocean, and it was less than 1 minute walk to the resort's pools and main reception / eating areas. The gardens are lovely and well maintained. All staff were courteous, friendly and looked after us really well. The pools were great and the swim up bar is perfect for quenching that thirst ! ;)... We wanted a relaxing stay, away from any nightlife or a busy resort and this is exactly what the Jolly Beach offers. The food was ok, not brilliant but ok. Don't forget, this is the Caribbean so you can't expect everything to be as back home. Plenty to chose from though from salads, fruit, lovely desserts, meat, fish etc etc. Make sure you have long trousers if you want to eat at the Italian restaurant on site as they have a dress code. The Indian was good although we found the main self service restaurant perfect for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Coconut Grill (poolside eatery) is great for Jerk chicken and Burgers should you feel peckish after your swim! .. All in all, I would give this resort 8 out of 10 and recommend it for a relaxing family holiday. Perhaps 2 weeks could be too long but I guess that's down to the individuals ... Hope you found this review helpful....

We arrived in Antigua; we stayed at the Grand Antigua for 3 nights but left, as we were one of a handful of people there.

We made our way to the Jolly Beach and what a Jolly it was.

My daughter made a friend quickly, which was great.

Now, us on the other hand we had the pleasure of being part of the WHOLE TEN YARDS even though we were not on the original bus drop of... we formed into what was a mass group of loud and lively OLD youngest with endless digs from pool VIP rights to airplane food parcels.

I must say, we have travelled many places and met many people but really everyone on this complex was FANTASIC. Ian included,..

Staff: - some could do with a "smile injection",

Entertainment staff: enthusiastic, happy, keen, fun and most of all seemed to love what they do.

Services and facilities: - Loads to do for those that want to get out and about. otherwise beach and pool are great. You will never go hungry. My only complaint is drinking from a beaker for two weeks, wine and cocktails just don’t taste the same.
Overall 8/10

We stayed at Jolly Beach this year from 8th September for 1 week, predominantly as our friends were getting married here.
We first visited this hotel last year in April (over Easter) and had a fantastic time.

Sometimes when you return to a place you've really enjoyed previously, your 2nd visit can be a little dissappointing...not here though - it was superb yet again.

On our 1st visit, because it was peak season, the pool areas were a bit crowded - still found a sunbed ok even for late risers like us though! - but this time, we had a choice of lots of different areas we could sit and the beach had dozens of empty beds every day too.

Our room was fine - slightly better than last year, as we had a standard room then which was perfectly adequate, this time we upgraded to superior so had a few extras such as a fridge, tea/coffee maker, bath and shower, and a few more storage drawers.

The night-time entertainment had been moved from the usual stage area as the hotel are currently doing something to that part of the grounds (not entirely sure what as we never saw anybody working behind the roped off area, and we certainly didn't hear any noise disturbance!) but they did put on a few shows, live bands and a karaoke night near the main pool bar which were all quite low-key but good fun. In the daytime there was always an activity to join in with if you wanted to, but they still don't pressure you to do things if you're not keen on that sort of thing.

Food was great - I've changed my mind on the best a la carte restaurant this year though. Last year my favourite was the Italian Bocciolos, but this time around I think Utsav beat it (this is the Indian restaurant). Lydias at Crab Hole Village is still the best for atmosphere & how lucky are we? 2 years running we got the best table at the front of the restaurant overlooking the waves on the beach - it's just soooo beautiful!

During the day you can get free watersports from the beach and at certain times of day there are free lessons too. We only took out the kayaks this time and that was great. The beach is the most beautiful soft sandy beach I've been to (there are a few places where shells get washed up sometimes and they can be a bit sharp if they're broken) and you can walk up and down the beach without getting too much hassle from beach hawkers. The Antiguan people are so lovely, laid-back and friendly & luckily they haven't learnt how to be rude yet...another bonus.

The kid's club was very quiet, obviously as it was out of school holiday season, but our son (10) still requested to attend most days. He especially liked the crab catching/racing, tie-dying of t-shirts, sandcastle competition and treasure hunts. Sharon who works here is very good with the children.

We only did one excursion this time (saw most other sights last year) and that was the helicopter 15 minute half-island trip. It cost $85 per person and was totally awesome - well worth doing!

Overall we had an excellent holiday (a week wasn't long enough for us - I think we'd all live there if we could!) and my friend's wedding was the absolute best wedding ever.

Were do I start. My self and my partner were married here at the beginning of Sep. We booked through Virgin, great experience, premium ecomony is great loads of room.

30 of us went out there and everyone had a great time. Yes the resort is 28 years old but you are not in yours rooms at all. Everything is spotless. The food is amazing loads of choice for fusy eaters. Lydias is great the best of the speciallity restraunts. The staff are great, Terry and Anne Marie the entertainment staff are brilliant. A special mention to Elvis who helped us out on the wedding day, what a top man always smileing.

Do not let the negative reports put you off, the beach is fantastic, watch out for jellyfish, they sting but only lasts for 5 mins, the harbour great. They tell you not to book off any thing from he guy's on the beach, we ignored this advise and book two trips from Tony. No problems at all, everything went well with the trips.

Get you jet ski off Plastic Fantastic great guy, even wet to Shirley Heights with us.