Arrived at hotel Wednesday afternoon - the check in receptionist proved to be not very welcoming did not mention the in room safe facilities, no smiles etc - but glad to say that was the end of any bad welcomes the rest of the staff were all very friendly and just couldnt do enough to make your stay warm.

Booked a superior room which was fab with 2 queen sized beds and good bathroom facilities, only steps away from the most gorgeous beach. Room was kept immaculately clean by the staff with soft fluffy new towels each day.

Food was excellent and plentiful at all the restaurants (found Hemispheres to be a little canteenish though). Italian was beautiful with lovely surroundings, Lydias was set by the beach how romantic with good choice of food, Utsav (indian) lovely for a change of cuisine).

Entertainment staff - well what can I say, really friendly always remembering your names, thanks Victor, Anne Marie Shelana etc etc.

Booked a snorkel trip with shaun on the beach 3 hours of bliss which cost 50 dollars per head, good value. Full days also available for about 110 dollars.

Got the bus right outside the Supermarket 2 mins walk outside hotel to St. John only cost about 3 dollars us, good entertainment value and took approx 20 mins, not a problem at all, very frequent too.

Plug sockets in room bit strange could only get 110 volt which is awkward for straightners girls dont get hot enough !!!

You can also make your own Pina Collada at the pool bar with bottle of rum at end of bar to make as strong as you like ( good idea).

Just to say what an amazing holiday which I would class more like a 4 star hotel with plenty of amenities, good service etc.

COULD NOT FIND FAULT WITH THIS HOTEL - AND HAVE STAYED AT SOME GORGEOUS HOTELS IN THE PAST.

ENJOY !!!!!! WE DID !!!!

Hello!

Before we left, we were a little confused as to where we were actually staying - I believe there are two parts to Jolly Beach - the actual resort (which is a hotel) and then there is Jolly Beach Vacations (which are condos). We had booked ours through our time-share so we stayed at Jolly Beach Vacations.

After we arrived at Jolly Beach Resorts and figured out that we needed to be at Jolly Beach Vacations (short ride on the golf cart) - check in was a breeze. The lady that checked us in was very friendly. Our room was lovely and clean. Not fancy but really nice. Kitchen with a medium-sized refrigerator, sink, toaster oven, stove-top, coffee maker, blender, pots, pans, etc.
There was a living room with a sofa, couple of chairs, coffee table, end table and a cd player/stereo.
Bathroom - shower only. Behind the living room was a spacious bedroom, nice king size bed, two closets, small t.v. and dvd player.
Outside of the bedroom was a very nice patio with a table and chairs and a couple of chaise lounges. View wasn't great - looked over to some apartments but it wasn't dumpsters or anything like that! Lots of trees.

We stayed in the building called Caribbean Dream. It was a little walk to the beach but not bad.

The beach was beautiful! Hardly anyone there all week! I don't remember ever staying at a place with so few guests on the beach! They were a few vendors but not nearly as many as other places we have been. Watch out for the guys selling aloe, unless you want them to rub it all over you and then expect some money.

We visited the grocery store quite often - had a lot of fried chicken!
Jolly Beach will tote you back and forth in a golf cart but we walked most of the time.

Definitely do the trip to Shirley Heights (you can register at the front desk, I think it's only once a week). We had a blast! Good food - good music and a good introduction to the island by having a nice little road trip to get there (this excursion was at the beginning of our stay). Also, don't be afraid to go to the breakfast/informational session they invite you to - we thought for sure it was a time share presentation but it was actually what they said it was! It was nice to be able to get some advice on what to see and how to get there!

I would recommend the Bee Hive restaurant which is really close to Jolly Beach. We ate there twice and it was really good.
Another recommendation is to get out and see the island - visit other beaches. Half-moon bay is beautiful! And we thought our beach was empty? The other beaches we visited had from 0 - 2 people there. It was awesome!

We had a wonderful time in Antigua and at Jolly Beach Vacations and would come back!

We just returned form a 2 week stay. I must say reading some of these reviews im stunned. People saying the staff were rude im stunned. The best thing about jolly beach is the peopel, they are so polite, happy funny and cant do enough for you. All i can say is people must have been rude to them in order to recieve rudeness. totally shocked. Not forgetting, these people live in such poverty have nothing and still they are such happy lovely people. The beach is outstanding. And as for the wedding well what can i say.....great. we had isha, beverlys assistant she is adorable very lovely girl. We seen beverly a few times and she was lovely too dont understand the reviews. If people are expecting better srevice than jolly beach then i suggest you go in sandals resort and pay a heck of alot more money , some people must be expecting royalty treatment or something. The staff at jolly beach are fantastic. Any how i think my wedding photos speak for themself. We had a young girl do ours, i was totally taken a back she was fantastic. The only problem i had was the mosquitos, second week i was bit to hell and am still itching now. The food i enjoyed, but come second week i was bored and was sick of burgers or rice. I think the restaurants didnt have enough options and variety. Hemispheres was good and coconut grill.The beach venders were great i though they get the hint eventually when you dont want to buy. Llook out for krysal shes so funny. The entertainement was good. I got a bit bored though end or second week , i think maybe a few more seperate bars for night time would be good, We met some great people, saying a big hi to lee and veronica who got married same day as us, lovely couple with a great dad who can dance his [--] off ha ha ah. great stay . Its not the ritz so dont expect it , remember your in a very poor place. We had a great time just look at the pictures they dont lie.

Just returned from 2 weeks at Jolly Beach and would definitely recommend it with a few caveats.

[Short version]
Antigua - Superb World Class Destination.
Jolly Beach - tremendous value and world class beach [but water is cloudy]. Rooms a little tired but functional. Good food, great entertainment, lots of booze.

[Long Version]

First of all Antigua. What a glorious place to vacation if you are thing is sun and sand. There's beautiful beaches everywhere and the vast majority of them are near empty. If you like the thought of the beach in the Corona Ad on TV, then you can find several beaches exactly the same - cool white shell sand, brilliant blue sky, aquamarine water and palm trees for the shade. Paradise.

We stayed at Jolly beach. As a previous review stated - the 'standard rooms' are too small , best to upgrade - it doesn't cost a lot. Better still look at the suites as Jolly Beach Vacations , they are really nice and big. The Jolly beach resort was built in the 70's so if you want plush rooms this isn't the place for you. The rooms are functional but more like motel quality than hotel quality. This is reflected in the price, the whole resort is probably overdue a refresh and remodelling but then it would likely cost more. If you plan on spending most of your time out on the beach or on trips then the rooms are functional and pretty clean. Also note there are no fridges in the standard rooms, for us it's a must have.

The food was, on the whole, very good. The speciality restaurants (which you can eat at every night if you want) are above average - there's an Indian (Utsav) , Seafood (Lydias - on the beach) and Boccinis (an Italian). I personally would rate them in that order but all are worth visiting.

Bar service was excellent and attentive. Fast service and virtually no queues. No beach service or waitress service but that's no issue for me.

Entertainment was excellent. There were usually 2 shows each night ranging from Disco, to magician, local dancers/drummers, steel bands and reggae artists. All really enjoyable and fun (or was it the booze......).

We did 3 trips out and all 3 were highly recommended:

Wadadli Cats circumnavigation - if you only do 1 thing on your vacation I would recommend a circumnavigation on a catamaran. We went Wadadli and lucked out with it only being half full. These cruises can get a little crowded but you have to take your chances when you book. The cruise shows you many of the main sites from the water (Clapton's mansion, devil's bridge, Nelson dockyard etc) as well as feeding you well and snorkelling on Green island. Guides were fun and very professional.

Luxury Safari Tours : Run by Elmo. Guided tour by luxury SUV of the main attractions on the island. A perfect complement to the circumnavigation and much much more informative. Elmo takes out a max of 4 people at a time (per SUV) and works extremely hard to make sure you have a great time. He's full of information on the islands history and culture and he's a fun and entertaining guy. Worth every penny and more. Note he'll turn up even if there are only 2 people (most will cancel as it's not worth their time). A class guy running a class operation.

Creole Cruises : my wife and I went out reef fishing with Glen one evening. Had a blast, the amount and variation on the fish you can catch is amazing. Again Glen is a real class guy. Friendly and fun to be with and makes sure you have a great time. We tried to do book his lobster on the beach cruise but it was repeatedly full - I can see why.


Was very refreshing to see Elmo (Luxury Safari Tours) and Glen (Creole Cruises http://www.creolecruisesantigua.com/) as young ambitious service oriented businessmen. I'm sure their businesses will thrive as these guys have the aptitude and attitude to make Antigua a world class destination.

We had talked to a few people and in the end we were very happy with Jolly Beach. It's location was great, the beach is better than the more costly counterparts and much less crowded. Sandals didn't impress me and personally I much prefer the Carribean side of the island, the water is warmer and prettier. Also many of the other resorts don't have entertainment in the evenings.

Last couple of points:

Personally didn't think Shirley Heights was that great. Yes it's a great view but the Sunday Night party should not be the number one attraction. It's basically a tourist destination so if you want to hang out drinking and eating with tourists and savour somewhat of a party atmosphere then great, me erhaps I'm getting old or realise the musicians at Jolly beach were actually better (and free).

We went June which is the off season for them. Everything was much less crowded than I would expect and this is the exact way we like it.

We walked down to Coco's (5 minute walk down the beach) to eat there. Probably one of the most romantic meals we have ever taken. The food is great, the view is spectacular (on a clear night) and if your feeling really romantic you can ask for a private table on the beach by the waves. Much recommended - cost us about $140 US with a good bottle of wine, well worth the money.