We were scheduled to be there for 6 days. After the first day we rented a car and started our search for a new place to stay. The Jolly Beach is not "Jolly". While there, three of the people that worked there were able to smile and two were able to provide accurate information (when and where is the orientation ?) basic stuff. There are many more below average places to go in the Carribean that are better than this. Don't waste good money here. However, if you like "hampster arobics", this may well be the place for you.

Just returned from New Year 2005. This was a last minute booking following a 5 star Maldives cancellation. It was all we could get and half the price of our cancelled vacation.

All we can say is that you get what you pay for. We were lucky enough to have a King room so no real complaints on the room front, but having seen some of the standard rooms we can understand why there were daily queues of guests complaining. Overall the complex was tatty and could do with a complete refurbishment to bring it up to standard. The food in the buffet was edible however the 3 additional restaurants were very good providing you did not mind the queue to book.

Although the staff overall were friendly there was very little customer service and we often felt that we were doing them a favour by being there! However they did have to put up with some dreadful behaviour from some of the guests. On most days there was a different group of very drunk people - not a great sight for young children.

The beach was the outstanding point of this resort and probably one of the largest on Antigua. Also the day trips were very good.

Overall, ideal for a family on a fairly limited budget or for a group of friends. Not great for a couple looking for two weeks of luxury in the sun - we won't be back but no real complaints.

Here’s a simplistic view for you, read the UK reviews if you’re from the UK, read the US views if you’re from America. Our expectations are obviously different, this is an opinion formed from reading the reviews on this site and from experience during the holiday.
We had a fantastic time (me, my wife, our two daughters aged 5 and 3) having spent Christmas at the resort.
The flight from Gatwick was on a 777 and took 8hrs 30mins. Arrivals in the airport was a bit slow, but we were met by a Sun Tours rep and whisked away in a cool taxi.
Arrival at the resort was great, we were greeted with a fruit punch (the kids loved it) and after approx 10 mins we were in our room (10 minutes after that we were in the pool!).
We booked a Superior terrace room. The room was relatively large with two large double beds, an average sized bathroom (shower in bath), Sat TV, fridge, an excellent AC unit (a bit loud at times during hot evenings), and an outside seating area facing the beach. We were located in the St Johns building to the north of the complex. We have no complaints about the accommodation, it was roomy, cool and very clean.
We heard some guests complaining about the size of their room – a super saver room. The couple complaining were from the US and both were well built. These rooms are small and priced accordingly.
The beach is fantastic (we’ve visited other beautiful beaches including beaches on the Seychelles, St Kitts, Sardinia etc. – and this is well on par with them). The sand is beautiful, the sea calm and warm, and amazingly blue – though not clear, no point in taking the snorkel and mask to the beach. The water sports are great and the sports staff very helpful.
The pools are great, one large pool and an infant/kids pool. Unfortunately us Brits have picked up the habit of ‘reserving’ sun beds around the pool by placing towels on them (I apologise again if it was your towel I removed!). Don’t bother bringing towels, the resort issues a beach towel to each guest, these can be exchanged for a clean one at any time.
The food was great. For convenience there is a self-service, but the three restaurants were particularly good (reserve a table well in advance if there are lots of guests staying). I love Indian food, I have a curry at least once a week so you can imagine my joy when I had a delicious curry at the Indian restaurant! The Caribbean fish restaurant was my wife’s favourite – the red snapper is great. We didn’t use the Italian much due to having to wear formal wear to dine. What impressed us particularly was how clean and well prepared the food was, even the lunchtime grill staff prepare the food like no other ‘fast food’ service I’ve ever seen. (by the way the lunch grill bar around the pool is just what you need – open from noon till 5pm (and the bar is opposite with good beer and great cocktails (even the Slushpuppy machine has a bottle of white Antiguan rum waiting to be used!).
We arranged three trips, two of them were great. The best was a day on the Wadadli catamaran (search the web for Wadadli (also the local beer’s name). We had a fantastic day – though the snorkelling is nothing like the Red Sea or the Indian Ocean. Second best was a day arranged with a local taxi driver (Anto, taxi 960 !), we visited Falmouth harbour, Nelson’s dockyard, beautiful English harbour and had lunch at Shirley Heights (grilled prawns in garlic… mmmmmm). The other trip was in Franco’s glass bottom boat – the glass was about 2ft by 4ft and not too clean. I almost didn’t get on the boat, but the kids had a good time rolling about the sea (the snorkelling and seabed views were poor).
I’ll list some bad points at the end, but the last thing I’ll comment on is the excellent attitude of the staff. They love kids, and anyone who loves kids can make your holiday so much better.
The bad points: er… Stinging jellyfish – one got my 4 year old daughter (she had her 5th birthday while we were there) and it hurt her (it hurt me when I picked her out of the water), but the staff (there is a nurse on site) were great. Mosquito and sand flies, bring the insect repellent (though there is a great little shop onsite if you forget) it’s essential – come in before the sun sets and put it on before venturing out again. That’s the bad points out the way!
It’s not a 4/5 star marble floor resort, it’s a resort on a beautiful safe Caribbean Island. We loved it and plan to return in Easter 2006

We arrived at Jolly Beach on Dec 27. Check in took no more than 10 minutes. We were escorted to our rooms with our bags. I recommend if you like a nice room to upgrade. We had a King Superior overlooking the beach, it was clean and very nice. Room service was done promptly and well. We found the staff friendly and accomodating. This was a very busy week, still had no problems finding a spot on the beach close to our room. People on beach selling their wares were friendly and when you said no thanks, they left. If you want privacy they are not allowed in the hotel areas, including the pools. On New Years Eve, hotel went all out. Restaurants were decorated. hats and noise makers given to all. Show was very good, lots of dancing too. Champagne flowed prior to midnight. We had a blast, met some really nice people from England, USA, and Canada. Water is not clear, due to I think the undertow kicking up the sand, this was only downfall but no fault of anything hotel could do. Food was good, we were not expecting 5 star, you could not go hungry and especially good breakfasts. We would go back, was a wonderful relaxing time.