My husband, adult daughter and I spent a fantastic 6 day break in the Jolly Beach Resort and loved every minute of it.

The hotel rooms were all you needed, comfortable, clean and towels and bedding were changed daily. Perhaps because our rooms were close to the reception we were aware on one night only of people moving bags and making a lot of noise in the early hours, but otherwise we found it peaceful and quiet.

The beach is superb and clean and we always found a sunlounger without any problem. If you go further along the beach to where you book out kayaks etc you can get a free lounge mattress - clean and new looking, and a great item for just lounging on the beach on - or you could use them as floats in the sea.

If you want to eat in one of the themed restaurants you really do need to book a few days in advance. We ate in the Italian restaurant and a lot of effort has gone into presentation and service, and you are expected to dress for dinner in these restaurants. The main Hemisphere restaurant was more casual but the food was very good and it was always possible to find something from the selection available. Breakfasts were very good, so was the grill at the pool which served grilled chicken, burgers and other meals in a basket. during the day. Drinks were readily available. Staff were friendly and helpful. We were on an all-inclusive and found it to all be great value for money.

Beach towels - you get a token for a beach towel but we did find that the towel room did not open until 9.00am and often we were down to the beach before this. If you are up early the best thing to do is change your used towel at the end of the afternoon before so you can start the day with a clean beach towel.

We did a 5 hour island site tour and that was interesting - we had a good driver who gave us lots of information as we went along. We visited the local Casino one evening which was very quiet.

Around the pool there were a few activities organised - we did the aqua aerobics class for 3/4 hour each morning in the pool. They held half hour salsa classes and we also saw boules on the beach and a beach football competition. There were other pool sports, but they did not interfere with other swimmers. The downside for us was when we heard bingo numbers being called, but this was only on one day and for half an hour.

There are beach sellers, but they were all very pleasant and accepted a 'no thank you' and did not pester. Often they would shake you hand and wish you a good holiday as they moved on. The beach sellers in fixed positions are colourful and have some nice beach items. The men's shirts are light and cool - if a little bold in colour for anywhere other than a tropical beach!

Overall we thought it was a great place to holiday and will definitely go back there again some time.

When I was booking this hotel i was alittle apprehensive as to whether or not i was going to like it but all i can say is ignore the negative reviews on this hotel because it was lovely...
HOTEL - had verything you needed, very clean gardens well kept, we stayed in standard room which was basic but had everything you needed and was clean, with towels changed daily.
FOOD - A huge choice of food, there is a main buffet restaurant serving breakfast, luch and dinner, with a themed night every evening, a hugh choice.
Italian restaurant was very nice if you abit of a special nite and get all dressed up, very good choice of food, 5 courses.
Indian restaurant - our least favourite place but couldnt really fault it in anyway.
Seafood restaurant - amazing setting right on the beach, gorgeous food and great service.
BEACH - a long sandy strip of white sand, crystal clear sea and amazing views and sunsets, you do get some of the loocals trying to sell you stuff but a simple no and they soon leave you alone.
ENTERTAINMENT - a good variety, something different every night from steel band, to dancers, to 80s disco!!
DAYTRIPS - a good verity of day trips we chose to do horse riding along the beach which i loved.
Overall we had an amazing stay at Jolly Beach, ignore all the negative comment as i would highly recommend this hotel.

I too was bothered by the negative reviews when we decided to go back to JBR with friends who were going for the 1st time. We warned them that this was an older resort with small rooms but the price was right.

So we returned two weeks ago from our second stay at JRB - 1st was 2003. This is not a 4 star resort but there have been improvements since 2003. Yes the rooms are small - who cares? We did not go to Antigua to spend time in the room. It is a place to change clothes, shower and sleep. We had a standard room on the 3rd floor which had new curtains and was always clean. It also had a hard wired fire alarm which looked new. We didn't rent the safe deposit box and didn't need to. Use a lock on your carry on.

STAFF: I really have a problem with people who found the staff rude. We found the staff to be extremely polite and friendly. This is an All-Inclusive but it doesn't hurt to tip the staff and it doesn't have to be much. If you treat the staff with respect and it is returned big time and they remember who you are.

BEACH: It is fantastic and they have replaced a lot the beach furniture. Vendors - it is a public beach. Just put your hand up, smile and shake your head and they will leave you alone. Don't book trips from the vendors - do it through the hotel. They have new sailboards, kayaks, hobi cats since we were there in 2003.

We always had clean beach towels when we needed them - am or afternoon.

FOOD: good and comparable to other All-Inclusive resorts that I have been to for this low price. They relaxed the footwear requirement in the Italian restaurant - open toed sandals were fine.

WEATHER: seemed to be windier and rainier than in 2003. The occasional rain shower is better than snow any day and the resort or Antigua can't control what mother nature does. Rain never lasted long

VALUE: We have a great vacation - paid for some extras in the restaurants but it was reasonable compared to what we would have paid at Sandals or other all-inclusives we price before booking our trip.

REMINDER: You get what you pay for and you get back what you put out. Smile and you will be greeted with one. Treat the staff rudely or be pushy and expect to be treated the same and most of all remember how much you paid for your week or two at this resort and check out pricing else where.

We had a great time for the money.

Jolly beach was much better than the reviews and rating indicated.
Room was as descibed. I had the super select room. It was about the size of a balcony room on cruise ship. it was clean no bugs, the balcony and view were fantastic the bed was much softer than most resorts.

Food buffett food was above avg. with more selection than most places. indoor and outdoor tables were available. for sun or shade. very few birds to protect your food from.
specialty restaurants reservationsvery easy to obtain, Italian was very good seafood place was better with a sunday brunch!
indian place was poor food was mediocre.
beach grill food was usaul fare. staff in the beach grill are rude! this was the only place i found the staff to be out of line. everyone else were very frendly and helpfull. bartenders to front desk staff.

beach was long. soft sand plenty of chairs. in the shade under palm trees and cabanas. vendors were there but only found one vendor to be too pushy out of the ten on the beach everyday. watersports and dive shop right there.
poor was clean chair plentyfull very little shade.