Just returned home today, May 3rd 2006, had no complaints about our vacation. Weather was very sunny and hot, apart from a couple of refreshing showers early in the mornings.
Staff were very polite and helpful.
My wife Cath and I had a trip into St. Johns on the local bus, Number 20, you catch it just past the security gate, it was an experience to say the least.
We had a taxi driver take us on a trip to Shirley Heights, Nelson's Dockyard, and a trip back through the rain forest and along the south coast, by Boggy Peak then back to the hotel. This cost us $100 US and there was only the two of us in his air conditioned taxi so we were well pleased. Think his name was Peter, does a lot of work for Alexander Parrish and can be found at the front of the hotel most mornings, he is about six feet four and skinny with glasses on and has a wealth of knowledge.
Anyway one tip for you lucky people who are going to eat at Hemispheres, the main restaurant,MAKE SURE that you give your room number to the Staff standing at the desk as you enter the restaurant and wait to be seated or ELSE! You will know what I mean when you get told off by the Headmisstress!
All in all the food was excellent, the beach and views stunning and the staff helpfull. Don't expect a nice photo of the sunset though, as the Monserratt volcano is still spouting so much ash and cloud, that the sunset was obscured each night!
Enjoy your stay in paradise!

Returned from Jolly beach after spending Easter there. Upon arrival we were greeted by very friendly reception staff and transported to our accomodation at Cayman block (which are the Superior rooms with a superb ocean view) by shuttle bus. The room was clean with a fridge and usual wicker furniture, it had 2 queen size beds and a reasonable bathroom with clean white towels everyday. The shuttle service operates all day around the extensive resort until 12midnite and is outside your room within 5-10 minutes of calling reception. The resort is set on one of the rated top three world class beaches and is breath taking. The grounds of the resort are in need of some renovation - so the 3 star rating for the place is perfectly accurate althou' the beach is 7 star!!! Within 5 minutes you can walk to Jolly harbour and the shops, restaurants and Casino. If you are looking for a beach holiday to rejuvenate after a busy year this is the place for you. The restaurants are good and have lots of choice, we had to wait to be seated quite often but we were there during the busy Easter period. It takes 20-30mintes to get to the capital St Johns for some retail therapy! Excursions by sea are a must if you can bare to leave the beach at this resort.

My family and I just returned from the Jolly Beach Resort (April 20 thru April 24, 2006). I use this site frequently to get hotel reviews, so I am going to try and give as fair a review as I can, in the hope others will find it useful. Overall, we were very pleased with this resort.

We are Americans and I traveled with my wife and three children (ages 11 to 15). We are not the most demanding hotel guests, but we do want a clean and well-run place with good food. We are pretty patient if any problems arise as long as they are trying to fix things. I say all that just to give you a little background. After reading some of the reviews here on this site, I think some people will really never be happy. Trust me, I have stayed at bad places and will say it if it is true.

But Jolly Beach was a very good experience. Here’s the details:

1. Food is very important to us, and food here is pretty good. They have a buffet that runs for most of the day. Breakfast is 7 am to 10:30 am. Lunch is noon to about 2 or 2:30 pm, and dinner is 6:30 to 10 pm. The buffet choices for breakfast and dinenr are fine. Little different each day but they do try and have the same staples of stuff each day, which is great with kids who get used to stuff and don’t want to vary much. Lunch buffet choices were a little limited, but still food was good. They always had fruit, bread and desserts, which is important to us. And lots of soft drink choices, and coffee, tea, etc. at buffet.

2. Besides buffet, they had a poolside grill, which the kids loved. Open from about 11:30 am to 4:45 pm. Hot sandwiches (hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken and fish) and fries, and also roasted chicken pieces (jerk chicken, which was good but spicy). Pretty quick service, even though the line got pretty long at times. They are just heating up food cooked earlier in the morning, and tastes great and doesn’t take very long, so even a long line only meant about 5 to 10 minute wait. Only problem was they definitely stopped serving food at their closing time - no exceptions.

3. They also had three onsite restaurants - Indian food, Italian food and seafood. We did not try Indian, but Italian and Seafood were very good. Italian was a little fancy and portions were a little small, but otherwise a very nice antipasto buffet. Seafood restaurant was also pretty nice. They each had several entrees included with al inclusive, but a few entrees that were $15.00 US surcharge. We got a few of the surcharges but otherwise OK. If you have traditional American kids, food choices at restaurants are not overwhelming but we usually found something they liked. Make reservations once you check in as these fill up. If you leave hungry, just walk down to the buffet (we did that).

4. Only real problem with food was a slight gap from around 4:45 pm until buffet opened at 6:30 pm. Sounds like a small issue and it is, but we were out one day on an island tour and got back just at time grill closed and before buffet opened. No where on site to buy any food, so a little problem, but just be aware to plan your day, as island tours and cruises that are all day will end just as grill is closing.

5. Beach and pool are wonderful. Huge, wide and very long beach, with plenty of beach chairs, trees to sit under, and some small roof areas to hide from the strong sun. They were very diligent when we there to keep the pool and beach clean.

6. Water activities are pretty good - kayaks, paddle boats, floats are free with all inclusive. And several vendors on site to rent jet skis, banana boat ride, catamaran, etc. They also have a desk to book island tours, island cruises, snorkeling trips, and there were a lot of choices.

7. Staff was really great. We had been promised a set of rooms with a connecting door, which they said was not available when we got there. But they without asking upgraded us to a villa, which had two bedrooms, and two baths, kitchen and living area. No extra charge. We also had minor problems here and there (air conditioning not running right, shower drain sluggish, towels missing), but every time they came and fixed it. I just cannot say enough about their efforts to try and help. They even squeezed us in to the Italian restaurant on my wife’s birthday, and they without me even thinking of it, they sent a bottle of champagne to our room for her birthday (no, I did not take credit for it!). Just very nice and friendly staff who tried to help.

8. Two pool tables and a ping pong table. They also had a kids club, but we did not check it out since it was for kids really under 12.

9. They had plenty of activities planned during the day, but honestly it did not look like many of guests cared to get involved (e.g., volley ball games,. Football games, bingo). The staff tried though. At night they had some entertainment most nights and it was usually pretty good. Nothing elaborate but fun.

10. They had two main bars - one near pool open from 10:30 am to 5 pm. Other was open from 10:30 am until 2 am and was near the buffet. I am not a heavy drinker, and they seemed to make most of the drinks everybody wanted. Beer was yellow and cold, which is all I wanted, and they had the typical tropical drinks and wines, along with hard stuff.

11. I have seen comments about rooms being a little dated and old, and I guess that is true, but clean and working is more important to us, and that was all true here. The hotel grounds are very large compared to others on the island and are really well maintained and landscaped.

12. I also saw comments about the check in taking a while. We did not have that problem, but we checked in on a Thursday. I did notice the lines were long on Friday and Saturday. I think the deal is that only a few large planes come in to Antigua each day, and they are around the same time. So the American Air and British Air passengers get in all together, so it’s a long line. So not really hotel’s fault. My best advice is get your bags fast and try to get to hotel quick from airport.

13. As for the island, we really liked the people and we did a small tour. There are plenty of people selling you stuff on the beach and everywhere on the island, but they are not overly pushy. If you say no they say thanks and keep moving. People are pretty poor here so I cannot blame them for trying. There also are some sights to visit to get some history on the island, which we enjoyed. From what I can determine, people in Antigua were in the past resentful of tourists, but it has now become their largest employer, so they are trying very hard to have a safe and friendly island. We saw no problems with crimes or safety. Other than driving through poor areas, we felt very comfortable there, and even the poorer areas, the people were friendly.

14. Cabs are expensive, maybe $35 US from airport, and they charge more if you want to go from hotel to specific places. Best bet is the half day or all day island tour, where prices are set.

15. Mainly European guests although some Americans. Everybody was in a great mood and we had a good time with the other guests.

I hope that helps. We will not go back there, only because we want to try different islands. But, we have visited Bahamas, Jamaica, Aruba, and I would rank Antigua ahead of all but Aruba,

And I would rate Jolly Beach as best value for money (even over Aruba). I did not give them a 5 out of 5 because it is not a luxury or posh resort, but it is definitely worth the price.

I dont know what kind of people have been staying here, but.... Our trip could not have been better. My husband and I stayed there from april 22-27th and had a great time. I agree with the room situation, small and a little outdated, but how much time do people spend in their room. The food was excellent (based on all inclusive standards) Bocciolos (Italian) was fabulous, we ate there 3 out of the 4 nights. We also ate at Lydia's. but I don not eat sea food, so I had pasta. The beach was oiut of this world, one of the prettiest I have ever been on. We also did a Catamaran tour (check out [--]). Little long, but we sailed around the whole island and snorkeled, they also served a buffet linch and had a n open bar. I am not sure what peopel expected with the drinks at the resort, but no complaints, CHarlie at the pool bar was great and the drinks were really good. I had no problems with bugs, and compared to other all inclusives, the activities and entertainment were great, Ann Marie is the best and everyone else. I have never been on an island where everyone was so friendly and social. I can't say enough about this place and my husband and I cannot wait to go back. Please do not hesistate to contact me with any questions, I would reccommend this place to anyone. [--]