Well after about a month of trying to find somewhere nice to go for our honeymoon I finally decided on Jolly Beach thinking we would love it. My husband has never left the country and I was excited to show him how nice the Carribean was. I read some reviews that were good and some bad but wanted to see for myself. Well when we first got there at about 3 PM our room was not ready yet so we had to wait 1/2 hour. (check out time there is 12, how wasn't a room ready hours later?) We got a Supersaver room, which we knew would be small but not that small! You dont even have enough room to put your luggage on the floor and still be able to walk. Our first walk to the beach we were immediatly approached and asked if we wanted to buy drugs. You name it, they offered it. I noticed they really only ask the younger people if they want anything, not so much the older crowd. But on the beach they hassle you about taking catamaran trips, horseback riding, waverunners, hair braiding, t-shirts etc. It came to the point where we avoided the beach all together because you couldnt relax. One person who tried to offer us a peice of aloe plant for $50 ended up stalking us onto the resort while we were by the pool and we had to call security to make him leave. How relaxing is that? Our light in our bathroom broke, and our air conditioner had problems eventually too. Now the food...ugh..I dont know what these other people had that they thought was good. The buffet is horrible. I saw some of the same things just reheated the next day and used again. Especially for breakfast. The seafood rest. ended up replacing things. We ordered something with lobster in it, they didnt have it, they used crab instead. My husband ordered the steamed clams, they didnt have them and used mussels. Enough said about that... The indian rest. was ok. We went twice, the first time the food wasn't spicy at all, so the second time we asked them to kick it up a notch and it ended up being good. (we were told the people from England dont like spicy food so they dont make it too hot) (?) Not sure it thats true but oh well. The positives about Jolly beach is the grounds are nice, and the beach is pretty. Although the water is very foggy. I know this post sounds like alot of complaining and let me tell you we went there very open minded, knowing it wasn't a 5 star resort, and we're hardly high maintanance people. We would'nt go back. I liked St. Martin better

PS. There is an embarkment tax leaving the island, $20 pp. (we didnt know about that)

me my partner and our 2 yr old daughter had our first carribean hol to antigua.i must say it was our best holiday ever, we stayed at the jollybeach resort and at first was a little disapointed on arrival as our room was very basic ,not that it really bothered us after a couple of days, everything else made up for it. but we definatley would recomend a room upgrade where u have a bath and a shower, we only had a shower, with a trickle of water that came out of it, our daughter needed a bath after spending the day on the beach, sand got everywhere.the beaches were clean and views were amazing.food was great too and staff were friendly although some had an attitude problem. they were very laid back and do everything at their own pace, which wasnt really a problem.we went at christmas2003 ,however we wouldnt go back at christmas time again as we felt too crowded and staff were struggling to cope, but would return at a quieter time,. we didnt want to come home and one week is not long enough, but we were well rested and well fed.

We stayed Sept.29th-Oct.13th 2004 in Supersaver Room and as others have said it is very small.If travelling alone it will be ok, but for 2 people stay in at least a Standard Room.
The air con and water pressure was brilliant though and we had to call maintenance a few times for minor probs with lights and they came quickly enough. The hotel was built in 1979 and does need a facelift.
The food at all the restaurants was very good and you can eat at any of them as many times as you want. Lydia`s was the best seafood that we have ever been to because the lobster was the biggest and tastiest, and we have been to many Caribbean,USA and Far East Resorts.
The only real complaint we have is that in the evening the only bar open is the entertainment bar which can be busy and some of the staff really rude and miserable. If you want a "quiet drink" you can sit near the Indian restaurant but walk to/from the bar.As a previous review said about no bananas, it is in fact banana liquor that they kept running out of, we got BBC cocktails at Lydia`s as this was the only bar that had the liquor during our 14 nights.
The beach is lovely but the sea cloudy(3 months of year due to winter currents on seabed).
Snorkelling is available by boat trips but we found two good beaches on the island at Long Bay and Pigeon Beach which you can snorkel from.
There is not much to visit in Antigua:-
Nelson`s Dockyard is a waste of time as indeed is Shirley Heights.We had better sunsets at Jolly Beach.

Back in March 2004, my then fiance' and I took a cruise and loved it. However, the only thing that we wish we would've had is more time on each island. So for our honeymoon last week (October 3rd - 10th) we decided to go to the all-inclusive Jolly Beach Resort in Antgua and fully experience the island. I had read some reviews of the resort before going, so I knew it wouldn't be a 5-star resort. We were very optimistic throughout the week telling oursleves that we were on an island & not in America, but there were still some things that we just did not like. The hotel is 20 yrs old and you can definitely tell. It's time for a makeover! Also, be careful & realize exactly what is included with the all-inclusive resorts. Yes you get breakfast, lunch, & dinner if you like the way microwave food tastes. The really good meals you have to pay extra for - tell me now how this is ALL-inclusive??? The only decent restaurant on the property is the Indian restaurant. Same deal with the drinks - no bottled beer, no good liquor and it's all served in a tiny plastic cup. Four out of the 7 days that we were there, I asked for a BBC (Bailey's, Banana, & Colada) and was told that they were out of bananas!! How can an island full of banana trees be out of bananas?? There were 4 things that made our trip worth while. First and foremost, the beautiful scenery. Second, the tours we took (which was not part of this so-called all-inclusive deal) - the Eco Adventure Safari with Elmo & Anthony was excellent, as well as the scuba diving & Wadaldi Cat. Third was the entertainment staff - even if they did not get a lot of participation in their activities, they still made the best out of it. They made it a point to keep people smiling. We also found the local Antiguans to be very friendly as well. And last but not least, the couple that we became friends with from Whales. They were so much fun & we plan to keep in contact with them.
People say to try things at least once....well, we tried it but we didn't like it enough to want to go back. I think we'll just stick to cruising.