Where I do start... my boyfriend and I had saved up for a 2 week holiday to stay in the Jolly Beach Hotel in February 2008. We were really excited but slightly worried about some reviews we had seen. A few weeks before our holiday we were so worried we nearly cancelled but decided to experience it ourselves.... I WISH WE HAD CANCELLED!!!!!

The Room
We paid just over £3400 for a 2 week AL holiday including a room upgrade from the super saver to the junior suite. Upon arrival the first thing to be noticed was the balcony mosquito mesh was ripped in various places; these holes were blocked with tissue. Further to this the general cleanliness of the room was totally unacceptable. We had ants in the bathroom and if you left anything open or on the floor in the main bedroom the ants would swarm to it. (Im not just talking a few ants i mean 50 to 100) When we complained, the reception told us that the hotel was currently full. The ants in the bathroom were not the only problem; the curtain did not cover the whole window which was clear glass, therefore we could be seen from the cricket fields. Also, on a number of occasions we had our dirty towels taken by the cleaner but none were replaced. When we called house keeping it took a number of hours and phone calls until they arrived, in one instance the towels arrived after dinner when we were going to bed at 10:30pm. Overall, the room was totally unsatisfactory with everything mentioned above we also had on going problems with our air conditioning and toilet throughout our stay. (toilet - for one day all the toilets in the hotel broke!)

The Restaurants
The restaurants for an all-inclusive hotel were extremely poor. The main buffet restaurant ‘Hemispheres’ lacked in choice and quality, several times the restaurant ran out of food. There was mesh surrounding the main restaurant to prevent the wildlife from entering, however as there were a number of rips this allowed the birds to get in and sit on the food.
Although one of the restaurants ‘Utsav’ the Indian was very good, we ate there a number of times and were never disappointed. Whereas, Lydia’s fish restaurant was terrible; the food was under cooked and poorly presented for an ‘a la carte’ restaurant. The most shocking of all, was the waitress, Sharon, served our starters, then stood the other side of our table and proceeded to belched out loud, walked off with no apology.

The Hotel
The hotel itself was in great need of a refurbishment, one of the main bars had a number of broken stools which had rusty screws sticking out of the top. Around the bar/pool area there were broken slabs which were very dangerous and on many occasions we saw young children stubbing there toes. Again, this does not suit the description of the hotel that is portrayed on your website. The website promotes a ‘child’ friendly hotel, even though the pool area had one umbrella for shade.

The Beach
It was terrible, we had to be careful of glass, concrete and metal on the sand. The worst part of all was the stall sellers, they constantly hassled us. They even woke my boyfriend up when he was sleeping on the sunbed to sell him things and for him to get food from the hotel. We noticed guests did take food from the hotel to them in return for discounts, even though there are notices up around the pool and beach. But then who cares when the security of the hotel are doing it as well. After our 2nd day on the beach we didnt return and decided to sit by the pool, which made us feel restricted.

The list is endless, I would definitely NOT reccomend this hotel to anyone planning a holiday to Antigua. We saw other hotels while we were there and we consider returning to these instead.

Again we had a great holiday at the JBR. We were there from 31st May till the 7th June 2008. Sadly we had to cut our holiday short and just stay'd for one week instead of two as my Father past away.
We just love everything about the Jolly Beach and was so upset when we left our friends there, that's most of the staff really. The week we were there was a great week, catching up, relaxing, laughing.
Just like to say a warm thank you to all the staff who made the week a relaxing one.
Virgin was great when we went to see our rep and told her we had to go home. She changed our flights and check'd us into check in, chill out within half an hour, thank you too.
I've had great support from all the staff even on arriving home they've been texting and emailing me on facebook.
We're looking to go back to the JBR for Christmas and trust me, we're looking forward to it. The jolly Beach Resort is a wonderful place to have a great holiday.

We stayed at the JBR between 24/05/08 and 31/05/08. The flight out through Virgin was fantastic and the transfer to the resort was approx 15-20mins.(Watch out for the speed bumps, yes even in Antigua.!!).The reception and its staff were smart, although when we arrived it was a bit hap-hazard with the porters.
APARTMENT
Initial reaction on our super saver room was that it was small and basic and possibly the planest room we have stayed in. However, that said, it was clean and came provided with a nice queens size bed, TV(cable), small cast dressing table, wardrobe with cast shelves. The showeroom had a modern haidryer.
AREA/STAFF
The view was great (see picture). The resort itself was spacious and clean.The staff were predominantly friendly even down to the security staff whom always gave you a polite greeting and were always smart and fit for task.
FOOD
The buffest restaurant was OK, however having been spoilt by our holiday last year in KOS it didnt match up too the standard. Food was varied to a degree and the staff kept the areas clean and checked on the food temps.(no dodgy stomachs here !) The ala carte Italian restaurant was a nice change and we booked it twice during the week. The indian alacarte restaurant was OK. We never tried Lydias the seafood restautant near the beach bu heard it was good. The pool grill was OK and I am now addicted toJerk Chicken ! All in all we ate a full and hearty breakfast, lunch, afternoon coffee and cake and dinner, EVERY DAY
Pools/Beach
The pools were clean and the beach was absolutely fabulous, with lovely carribean sea.! The local traders were out each day,but a polite no was enough to have them on their way(they were friendly and polite).

Entertainment
This was a bonus, not always that great, but certainly a welcome distraction at night...Some real effort made by all concerned and the beach show was good. Day time entertainment was mixed between the adults and children.

All in all we thoroughly enjoyed the week and will definately go back .... We would rate this resort a great place for couples of all agres and families... Peaceful and entertaining!!!!

Wonderful vacation! Best island ever! I have to say after this being my seventh island I have traveled to in the Caribbean and two parts of Mexico, this is definitely the best beach/island I have ever been to! It is the prettiest! Definitely a must see!

Beach
No words to describe this beach!!! This is the prettiest beach I have ever seen! The sand is so white and the beach is so clean and wide. The water is a mixture of clear and aqua in color and no waves, so its like being in a swimming pool! Definitely the best beach I have ever seen. There was never an issue with getting a beach chair either like some reviews had mentioned, although the hotel was not very full either. Our weather was 86-88 degrees and sunny every day, some days partly cloudy, but you needed it!!!

Room/Hotel
We had the junior suite and it was wonderful. Based upon the reviews...I would book the junior suite. Almost every review complains of the standard room. Our junior suite was lovely. King bedroom and another separate room that was a living room with a refrigerator, etc. We had to ask for an iron and ironing board, but it was brought to use immediately, so just ask. It also had two balconies. One off of the bedroom and one off of the living room. We enjoyed the junior suite very much and our view of the sea was amazing. We also got a fruit basket and bottle of rum in our junior suite. I highly recommend booking the junior suite and nothing else based upon the reviews and my experience staying in the junior suite. I can agree with some of the reviews that the hotel is older, I believe it was built in 1978 and could use a little work, but nothing that was terrible and that bothered me too much. Your in the Carribean, not the states or Europe!

Restaurants
I absolutely loved the Indian, Italian and Seafood restaurants! All three were amazing with great service. We ate at each of them 2-3 times. We did not attend the buffet other than for breakfast, for we did not care for it much at all. There is such a great selection at the Indian, Italian and Seafood restaurants that one would not even want to attend the buffet. You do need to make reservations for these three restaurants, but that was never a problem. You book your dinner reservations with a girl sitting at a desk in the Indian Restaurant each morning and mid afternoon. The Coconut Grill by the beach/pool during the day for lunch and snacks was wonderful. They had a menu of at least 8 things to choose from. I recommend their cheeseburger. I got the red snapper while at Lydia's (the seafood restaurant). I am not one for seafood, but I had read a review on how good the red snapper was and it was amazing! I highly recommend the red snapper and definitely give it a try! Now that I am home I am going to look for it here! If the catch of the day is still swordfish at the Indian restaurant, I highly recommend it! Anything we tried at the Italian restaurant was great too. The Italian restaurant is the only one with a dress code. In case your travel agent did not inform you...men have to wear a collared shirt with pants and closed in shoes. Women a nice pants outfit or dress with dress sandals, no flip flops at the Italian restaurant. Tip: Lydia's has brunch only on Sunday. Book a reservation for this right away! Very nice to have brunch there right on the beach and on Sundays ONLY! A steel band plays for you while you are at this brunch. It was special. The drinks were always good. They have anything you can think of and the Wadadli beer is great! Much better beer compared to other islands. I was drinking Antigua Kisses throughout the week, a very good drink you should try. You can get filtered water at the pool bar or the other bar by the entertainment any time.

Staff
The staff was always nice and very accommodating. I cannot believe the negative reviews regarding the staff. I never once had an issue with any staff member. The service was wonderful in all of the restaurants and the staff at the bars or anywhere throughout the resort were always more than accommodating. Charlie (bartender at swim-up) bar is very nice and makes great Antigua Kisses!

Entertainment
The entertainment was not so bad. Compared to other places I stayed at, I thought it was pretty good. There were always steel bands playing and they were wonderful. The shows were good and they did their best.

Excursions
We jet skied twice with Lyndon on the beach. He is a wonderful man/native and you should book your jet skis with him. He is under the white tent in the middle of the beach. We jet skied twice because the jet skis Lyndon provides are very new, fast and fun. Also, with this island not having any waves, you can go really fast and it is the best jet skiing I have ever done besides Aruba.

Yes their were beach vendors that other reviews complained of. If you just said no thanks, they went away. Yes the aloe man was persistent. If you keep an open mind and just say no thank you, its not so bad. But I suppose by the 7th or 8th day before going home it did get a bit annoying.

We took a van to St. John (capital) from the hotel and it was $12 a person. This included both ways. It was a great place to go and shop if your looking for souvenirs, trinkets, etc. and was safe to walk around on your own and shop. St. John's was rather big and it's a chance to talk to the natives and purchase really different things. Better to shop there, rather than the hotel stores because you can bargain there and way better prices and much more to pick from. Don't shop at the hotel.

We also went to Shirley Heights and took a van from the hotel for $22 a person and we went Sunday at 4:00 p.m. We were told that is the best time to go to Shirley Heights because there is entertainment, food, etc. there on Sunday nights only. We went and it was great. Shirley Heights is a beautiful view of the island on top of a mountain, great for pictures and there are live reggae bands later on at night. I recommend taking mosquito repellant, our legs got bit really really bad! So definitely take some. Going to Shirley Heights on Sunday night was the thing to do and make sure you go only on Sunday night. Tip: Eat at the resort before going to Shirley Heights, after all you do have all inclusive at the resort, why pay to eat at Shirley Heights. The food there was really really expensive and not so good looking. We were happy we ate good all inclusive food at our resort before going to Shirley Heights.

We also took the catamaran snorkel trip to Cades Reef which can be booked through Myron on the beach or the resort, both the same price. We booked through Myron on the beach and it was fine. The catamaran snorkel trip to Cades Reef is only on Wednesdays, so if interested, book it right away. It was a fun catamaran boat ride to and from. You got to see the Western side of the island and some points of interest. They have a limbo contest and drinks on the way back on the boat. A lot of fun, especially since the winner (me) won a bottle of rum! You get a nice lunch included as well. However, the snorkeling at Cades Reef was not so good. Not too many fish and I was disappointed, but the boat ride was great and the staff on board, as well as the lunch they provide. Tip: I never get seasick, but for some reason catamaran boats make me seasick. I found this out while in St. Martin in the past. This time I took Dramamine and did not get sick. I highly recommend it while being on a catamaran. I never get seasick, but on a catamaran for some reason, I do, and I am not the only one.

So all in all I have to say this was my best vacation and the prettiest place I have seen yet. The beach was outstanding and so were all of the mountains around the island. Just so beautiful! Definitely would go back again. As for the Jolly Beach Resort...I liked it and it was worth the $. Was not Sandals or anything, but I loved it and the food was great.

Hope you have a great time. E-mail me with any questions!