Staff generally friendly but apart from that, wouldn't recommend this hotel at all.

Food in the restaurant varied, but uncovered / very unhygienic conditions for the buffet.(food spoons left in the actual food trough - no where to put them). Goodness knows how many people got sick from eating from the buffet.

Birds flying around the Hemisphere restaurant landing on food & tables and pooing everywhere. Cheeses left uncovered at room temperature i.e 30 degrees!

SuperSaver Rooms really tiny -(the room wasn't even big enough to hold 2 large suitcases - and my partner had to put their suitcase outside on the veranda to open it!). Room certainly not big enough for two people - and then we had to actually pay for an upgrade to a room that was only marginally bigger than the tiny room we were given in the first place!

Hotel is very basic - could do with some refubishment (showers in bathrooms not great and very small).

There are not five restaurants open every day/night - the Indian was only open every other day. Italian was shut most of the time we were there. Hemispheres was the only one really open every day/night.

Hotel is not really near anything - nothing much to do in the area (also heard rumours from the locals, it was a bit unsafe to venture out)

Vendors selling trips on the beach were at rip off prices!

Despite that fact that we paid £1,200 each for this holiday - and then had to pay for an upgrade for a larger room, the unhelpful guy on reception still wanted to charge us to stay on for a late check-out as our pick up was not until 6pm. We did manage to stay on but only after complaining to another member of staff who put a "good word in".

Conclusion: Very expensive for what it is - You could go to other parts of the Carribean/ world for much cheaper and got much higher standards. (ie the Far East). Don't waste your money!

I got married at JBR last week and was less than happy.

-Upon arrival most of my guests had to carry their luggage (there are no elevators so this is a task)

-My upgraded room had ants everywhere and the AC didn't work. Upon reporting this to the front desk, they sent 2 men to look at it at 10:30 at night, call me crazy but that is unsafe. They didn't do anything to fix it and didn't allow us to switch rooms.

- Beverly who helped us set up our wedding at the resort was horrible and didn't follow through with any of our requests. We only received half of the package we ordered an dupon complaining they didn't refund us or even offer an apology.

-The photographer was horrible and the wedding album we bought (prior to seeing the pics becuase you have to) was horrible. With people cut off and low-grade printing, we were very disappointed. To top it off, the album leaves out some of the pics we requested and purchased. Upon complaining again we were told there was nothing they could do.

- My husbands parents and grandma were put in the wrong rooms and upon bringing this to resorts attention they were very rude and not accomodating at all. They ended up spending the week in smaller rooms yet paid for the bigger rooms, we are still trying to get our refund from this but we are not making any progress.

-The Italian restraunt manager was very rude to my wedding party after the wedding and didn't allow us to eat because Beverly had removed our purple bracelets prior to the wedding and did not give us knew ones. The manager was rude to me and my husband stating he didn’t believe we were a wedding party and wasn’t even sure if we were staying at the resort. After an hour of arguing with him we were moved to the seafood restraint to eat. Needless to say we never went back their to eat.

-Overall we found the employees to be rude and unapologetic for their mistakes. Overall we found the employees to be rude and unapologetic for their mistakes, which happened so much I lost count. Twice our dinner reservations were lost (even though we had our receipt from the booking people). All 20+ people who were there for my wedding will never go back and we are now taking action to have refunds for the things we paid for and did not receive. I would recommend spending a little more money and going to a different resort.

We are informing our travel agents and others of our stay in hopes of others not having the problems we had, they honestly made these promises and took our money and gave nothing in return.

BUT the beach was beautiful!! Which is great since the pools close at 6!

My husband and I just returned from a wonderful, relaxing 10 day vacation at JBR. We originally booked the SuperSaver room but upon arrival, my husband was quite disappointed, likening it to a jail cell ( it wasn't that bad but was very small). We typically don't spend much time in the room but there really wasn't even space for our belongings. We went down to the front desk and were quickly accomodated to an upgrade being given a choice of rooms. Unfortunately, we were told that the twin beds could be converted to a king with a connector but this was never taken care of. We also had a bit of an issue with check-out- particularly they forgot to bring our luggage down.
As stated elsewhere, this is not a five star resort. The rooms are very basic and could use some simple updates like new mattresses, pillows and bed coverings. One other complaint is the curtain for the slider to the balcony is a black out drape so you either have it closed for privacy and get no light or view or have it open with no privacy. It would be nice to have a sheer to allow some light in while maintaining some privacy. Housekeeping was great and took care of the room daily.
I cannot say enough about the entertainment staff. Lady Anne Marie was loads of fun and certainly makes you feel totally welcome. The hotel is fortunate to have her on staff. Victor is another member of the entertainment team who too is nothing but an asset to the resort. Terry and Shelana as well keep you laughing and having a great time. There are activities throughout the day that you can participate in or not without having anyone being pushy or demanding. Thanks to all of you for making our stay such a pleasant one.
The food again is not five star. If you are looking for gourmet, this is not the place for you but there certainly is something you can find to eat at each meal. The waitstaff is also very pleasant and attentive. Lydia's has a wonderful setting and is a sit-down meal rather than buffet. I would certainly recommend eating there at least once. We did not eat at either Bocciolo's or UtSav. Drinks were good- one complaint- get normal size cups- the cups are 6 to 8 oz at best and it is a bit annoying to have to keep going back to the bar even if just for water or a soft drink.
The beach is the nicest I've been to in the Carribean ( have travelled to 8 other Carribean destinations). We had no issue with the vendors at all- just politely decline and they are not pushy. The beach is quite long and great for just walking. The resort has people raking in the early morning daily. There are two pools- the main pool is beautiful and the smaller pool also quite nice. During our stay, however the pool bar closed at 5:00 and the pools closed at 6 pm. We enjoy swimming a bit later and sometimes in the evening so it would be nice to have longer hours.
We found the Antiguans quite friendly and wandered about quite a bit. We are also divers and dove with Jolly Dive which is located on the beach. The dive operation was great- again friendly and accomodating. Paul is quite a character, diving in his bowtie and old horsecollar BC. The visibility is not as good as other islands I've been too but still well worth doing. We also took the bus into St. John's a few times and if architecture interests you, the cathedral is beautiful. Nelson's Dockyard was also quite interesting and the view from Shirley Heights unparalleled. The Sunday evening barbecue was alot of fun with the steel drum band. It's a great place to people watch too.
Overall, we loved the island. JBR was a nice, basic resort that is really made by its staff and location. I would certainly recommend it with the caveat that don't expect luxury.
Thanks again Anne Marie, Victor, and the rest of the staff.

My husband and I ages 27 & 30 just returned from Jolly Beach Resort. We stayed from May 10-17. I really like when other reviewers give as much detail as possible so I will give as much detail for you based on our experience.

Arrival - We arrived at the airport around 1:45 in the afternoon. There were 2 other planes that had also just landed which made for a very long line up at immigration. It took just over an hour to get through the line. After getting through with no problems we set off to find our luggage. There are no signs above the luggage carousels to indicate where the luggage has come from, lucky for me I randomly picked one of them and our luggage was right there. We then went to the desk with all the tour operators and were greeted by our tour operator, we had to wait for one other couple that was also coming to Jolly Beach before we got a taxi. (Note: if you book your vacation with Air Canada your transfers to and from the aiport are included as is your departure tax). The ride to the resort is about 20-30 minutes.

Arrival at the resort - Once we got to the resort (about 3:30) our bags were unloaded and check in was quick and easy. A porter came and carried our bags to our room (as previous reviews have stated there are no elevators). We were in the Barthlemy block in room 3320. We had a great view of the grounds, large pool and the sea. After doing plenty of research and reading as many reviews as we could, we were prepared for the small, basic and outdated accomodation (we were in a standard room). However, what I was not prepared for was the bathroom. It wasn't horrible but all it had for a door was a sliding slated door which gave very little privacy while in the bathroom and it also had a weird window. It was basically a design carved out of the concrete with a screen bolted over it (see attached pictures). No one would be able to see in or anything but again it provided very little privacy. You could hear the people a few rooms down flushing the toilet, taking a shower or blow drying their hair. All not a problem for us as we were not in our room a whole lot. After settling in we went to explore the resort.

Beach - Fantastic! Amazing colored water & sand. As all the beaches are public the locals are allowed onto the beach. There are vendors that come around (we noticed that they mostly came around in the morning) and will try to sell you coconuts, aloe, jewelry, horseback riding, etc. We found the ones trying to sell aloe were the most persistant, for the most part a simple no thank you was all you needed to say and they would move on. The watersports were great, you can get a kayak, peddle boat, hobbie cat or even just a mat. They all need to be returned by 4:00pm. We never had any problem finding a lounger or shade. Never saw anyone getting up at the crack of dawn to reserve a lounger.

Food/Restaurants - There are 5 places you can eat at this resort. Utsav, Lydia's & Bocciolo's all need reservations. There are also some menu items at these 3 restaurants that have a surcharge (lobster, steak). Reservations can be made in the Indian restaurant everyday between 9:30 and 4:00. Never had a problem reserving the times we wanted. Note that Bocciolo's has a very strict dress code and they will tell you this when you make your reservation.
Hemisphere's (the buffet): was good for breakfast and a few dinners. Not a whole lot of selection at dinner but always found something good.
The Coconut Grill (by the main pool): was great for lunch or an afternoon snack. The burgers and jerk and honey chicken were great.
We ate once at all the other 3 restaurants, they were all great. Lydia's has a great setting as it is right on the beach.

Bars - We either hung out at the swim up bar in the pool or the other bar where the nightly entertainment was held. Both were great and have self serve daquiri machines (add your own rum). We tried most of the drinks listed on the drink board and all tasted really good.

Excursions - We went to Barbuda for the day. The cost for the both of us was $320.00 US. It included our ferry ride there and back (approximately 90 minutes each way), tour of the caves and cliffs, tour of Codrington, the Frigate Brid Sanctuary and then it was a ride across the lagoon to have lunch and time on the beach. We happened to be the only ones who booked this tour on that particular day so it was like having our own private tour. The best was having the 17 miles of beach all to ourselves! It was well worth the money. We had also booked the X-treme Circumnavigation tour but my husband got a little seasick from the ferry ride and was not feeling well the morning we were supposed to go on the Circumnav tour so unfortunately we had to cancel. We ended up renting a car for the day instead and toured the island ourselves. We rented the car right from the Dollar rent a car right by reception. The cost for 24 hours for a small jeep was $92 US (it included the temporary license). We were kind of scared of driving on the oppsite side of the road at first but got the hang of it quickly. We went to Shirley Heights, Nelson's Dockyard, Half Moon Bay, Devil's Bridge, OJ's for lunch (really nice setting right on the water) and then to Darkwood beach and then back to the resort. This was also alot of fun and worth the money.

Entertainment - Even though we are young we are always in bed early and up early (because of our weekly work schedule). We would usually have dinner around 7:00 and then sit at the bar and listen/watch the entertainment until about 10:00 and then went to bed. What we did see was good. Steel band on 2 nights and the bonfire beach party.

Service - From the moment we arrived to the moment we left, we received nothing but amazing/friendly service. While we were there the resort was at either half or less than half capacity which was nice. I would not want to be there when it's full, I think that if it had been full the service would have been quite different. We also experienced some very rude guests that were barking orders to the bartenders. If you're going to demand things that way then of course you are going to get bad service. These people work hard serving you and others all day long, a simple please and thank you goes a long way.

Tipping - I know that when you pay for all inclusive that means you don't pay any extras for anything else including tips. However, when we recieve great service we always tip a little something. I think we were the only ones who tipped the week we were there, I never saw anyone else tip. They were not expected by anyone however they were greatly appreciated.

Sorry for the long review but I hope it helps you in making a decision on where to stay. We would definitely return here without hesitation but there are so many other places we want to go to before going back to the same place. We had an amazing vacation and your vacation is what you make it... so go and have a great time.