We stayed at JBR the 3rd to 17th feb, the purpose was a good family holiday to include our wedding as part of our stay.. we are a family of 4 with two young children of 5 and 10. As others have previously described,customs was quite slow but we expected this from a small airport, check in at jbr was also painfully slow and as you would expect after a long journey with 2 small people its the last thing you need !! but they did greet us nicely and gave us plenty of cool drinks whilst we waited..

The room was just ok, two queen beds, a balcony,tv,safe,fridge, not really great on storage for a family, but just ok, it was dated,and to be honest for all of our stay not cleaned so great, we had an ant problem, i called the desk someone came and sprayed the room immediately and we didnt see them again for the rest of our stay!!.. we did have the odd cockroach which mastered the patio doors, but a hard soled shoe soon sorted that out !!

As for the resort, yes it could do with a coat of paint,the grounds however were regularly tended whilst we were there (apart from the coconut trees !!beware!!)it is well spread out with a beautiful long beach, all the restaurants are dotted about and all the time we were there it didnt really feel crowded,Hemispheres was the main restaurant pretty good standard but a bit repetative in 14 days, the speciality restaurants were of a much better standard, food and service wise, but on the whole i cannot fault anyone who worked there, they were polite helpful and friendly, and in no way seemed to be expecting a tip, although i must say tipping the bar staff certainly got you better service drinks wise !!

The pool was large the beach and sea stunning and cleaned every morning, the kids just loved it collecting shells. yes there were regular traders on the beach who were always friendly and did take no thankyou without offence, there were also a lot of resort security guards to fend off unwanted sellers too..we didnt use the kids club we didnt need to during the day although we did use baby sitting and that was great..

We took a few trips, the virgin dundee, an island safari in jeeps, followed by kayaking in the mangroves and snorkelling on the reefs at cades bay, it was well organised really informative the kids loved it and we laughed all day at the guy who guided us,it took in all of the major tourist spots so well worth it.. and the stingray city a trip out in the atlantic to hold and snorkel with rays.. I have to add the most bites i got on this holiday were from the mangroves !! when i forgot to wear insect repellant !! so my fault !!.. the insect problem reported?? well all i can say is my kids have no bites at all, we got a couple each and that was from the sand flies on the beach during the day, if you wear repellant at least 50% deet you wont have a problem.. i did see some nasty bites on others but we were in the same resort so...

As for our wedding Beverley was simply great, i did nothing but pick my flowers and extras, and everything else was handled with precision, we got married at sunset at the pool wedding arbour, a steel band played,we enjoyed canapes and champagne, cut our cake, then had sunset photos taken on the beach, in the evening a table had been arranged for us to have a candlelit meal on the beach,|(lydia's we had the most delicious lobster!! with champagne and the most attentive service all night) and when we arrived back to our room housekeeping had been and decorated it with flowers, made up the beds with petals, and a hotel gift basket.. a nice touch and a perfect end to a perfect day.. so all in all it suited our purpose as a family wanting an informal wedding as part of our holiday,which all of us enjoyed..

Antigua really is a beautiful island, we have travelled to the carribean before, and i have to say i felt so at ease here, even in the capital St Johns i never once felt intimidated by anyone, especially having young children with us, im so glad we chose this island to marry as it has given us all some great memories..