I visited the Jolly Beach Resort for the first time in 1998, long before it had been refurbished and the new pools installed. My holiday with a friend of mine was one of the best I ever had.
Yes, the rooms are basic, but when I go on holiday I tend to spend most of my time outside and only use the room for sleeping!! It was spotlessy clean and the staff were fantastic.

My second visit to Jolly Beach was with my husband in 2004, after the refurbishment. Yes the rooms had had a coat of paint, but all in all the staff were fantastic and couldnlt do enough for us.

The restaurants were great and the seafood at Lydias, fantastic.
I could not fault them, and am returning in September for 2 weeks.

Don't expect pure luxury and you won't be disappointed.

We visited Jolly Beach from Dec 3-10,2004.There were 2 couples and 1 single person..We had been to Jolly Beach 3 times prior once when it was Club Antigua.It is a 3 star property and do not expect anything more than that..Our rooms were on the small side but very clean with a balcony and great view.The door to the bathroom was a bit annoying as it is a shutter door on a slider and it comes off the track very easy..The window in the bathroom is only covered by a screen so you can hear everything outside that is going on..Stand up shower was small and water pressure was low.The buffet was fine and the other restaurants were wonderful..Did not dine in the Indian one but heard it was good.We found the staff very friendly and the beach was still just as beautiful as before.The swim up pool bar was great,but the tables in the pool need cleaning and tiles need to be replace or repaired..Be careful of mosquitos or sand fleas on the beach..THEY BITE.My husband was covered in bites first time this has ever happend and we travel the same week. Also beware of the Jelly fish as one of our friends got stung pretty badly on the last day.If someone is traveling alone,the single supersaver rooms are very nice.Small,but perfect for one person. little larger than a cruise ship cabin as they state,but very clean..If you are looking for fancy this is not the place to go..It is clean and simple.
We had a great time and would go back again.feel free to email with any questions as I am a travel agent.

My husband and I just returned from Jolly Beach Resort, February 5 after a week and must say that we had a great time. First of all, we had a room on the first floor in the section called Grenada, each section had an island name. The room was just fine for 2 people, as others have said how big of a room do you need... The room was very clean and the maids were just great in making sure we had plenty of clean towels along with soap, shampoo and lotion. The beach was just awesome and very beautiful with the mountains all around you, not over crowded maybe because it is quiet a big beach but no problem with getting a chair or a nice spot on the beach. The water was just beautiful and the beach sand very fine. The two swimming pools were very nice and alot of fun. The larger pool had a waterfall and the wedding chapel was above the waterfall, very cute. The larger of the two had different activities going on, a bar grill there where you could order french fries, hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken burgers and other items, swim up bar and above that had a place you could eat. The other pool was more quiet if that's what you wanted. We did try all the restaurants, Italian, the service and food was very good, the only dressy place where men had to wear pants, our waiter was Kenyatta, he was just great. The Indian restaurant was also great as well as Lydia's, the seafood restaurant on the beach, the buffet, Hemisphere's was always great with a real good selection of all kinds of food, if someone went hungry than something must be wrong. Salad bar, desserts were also excellent. As for the people, I must say they were the most friendly people I have ever met, always smiling and talking with you and the service was great. The really made you feel so welcomed. Every night they had entertainment and shows and they were all different so it was great. We did take 1 tour, it was the Adventure Safari which you rode in Land Rovers around the island, they pick you up around 8:30 and return around 4:00 and that was excellent, we had a blast. Our driver was Leon and some of the place we went were unreal, the meal that is part of the package was very very good, the sights were just beautiful and you really got some great views of the island, well worth the money. We walked across the street over to the Jolly Harbor to look at the boats and little shops and the Casino which we checked out a couple nights, it was fun. The vendors on the beach were not pushy at all and very friendly. I must say that we would definetly go back there in a heart beat, we had not problems or complaints with anything. If you have any questions please feel free to e-mail me at nanof4@comcast.net.

We just returned from a week at the Jolly Beach Resort. We found the Island and the beaches absolutely beautiful. We had read reviews about the resort prior to going. I must say, on some things the reviews were very accurate.
On the positive end, we found the staff to be extremely friendly and alot of fun, specifically the dining and bar staff at Hemispheres. The entertainment staff were very good as well. The grounds were very well kept and the resort is quite large...thankfully. As Americans, we were the minority. I must say...we did not mind that at all. Most of the guests were very friendly. We met nice people from all over the world. Speaking of nice people, hopefully "Bert & Ernie" had a safe trip home. We planned one day drip sailing around the island...this is a "must do", and was the highlight of our week. We could not have asked for a better day.
For the negatives, our room was just as all the others have described it. Small, very small with concrete furniture built into the walls. The TV was hung from the wall. The bathroom was not very accomodating. There was a small corner shower, no bath tub. I had a very hard time trying to shave my legs in there, and I am not a big person. We did upgrade to a better room, and it was like checking into another resort. This room was lovely and large with anything you could want including a bathtub, and a refrigerator. The up grade made all the difference in comfort. We were not impressed with the food, but that is not a huge problem...we did not starve. The Jerk chicken is great.
All in all, vacation is what you make of it, and we made ours great.