Hi , I just got back from Jolly Bay and I really don't know what all the fuss is.............

I went for 10 days on my own and had a blast. After a little trepidation the first 2 days I quickly fell into a great holiday. I had a supersaver room which was perfectly adequate for me , I changed rooms the first day as they had put me in a ground floor room which I felt a little insecure in as I was on my own , no problem the front desk moved me straight away.

I stayed on the beach every day it is so beautiful ,I don't like swimming pools in general but the freeform pool looked good fun. The entertainment staff were there every day getting people who wanted to to get involved .I played beach volleyball at 5 in the evening "what a workout ".
The hawkers on the beach are great fun and very friendly but if you don't want to be disturbed they soon walk off.If Alex offers you massage Go For It he is amazing and half the price we pay at home...

I found the food very good I did'nt eat in the Indian but the buffet was very varied and I always found something I wanted (their homemade soups are great) Bocciolo's was average I dont think the dressing up is a big issue more for men than women I saw alot of women in flip flops.............Lydia's was fab and the fresh fish was yum I wouldnt pay extra for Fillet Steak ( I can get that at home..........)

The entertainment I didn't really go see it ,only 3 nights only reason was because I was so tired from chilling out I needed a good nights sleep...........lol

Only complaint I would have is the water in the showers I had to run around mine to get wet !! a quick check of all the shower heads wouldn't be a bad idea......

I did a few tours ...The Zip Line tour is great in the rainforest book at the guest services hut the lady (can't remember her name is an absolute gem and very helpful)

so all in all IMO it's a great place for a no hassle GREAT holiday and if you are on your own you will have such fun the staff are great ........and Shane,Theo and Terry really made me have fun

I would definetly go back !!!!


I think some people only go on holidays to pick fault with things it's NOT a 5 star hotel please remember that !!!

We are a family of 4 (kids 10 &14) who like to travel to the Caribbean for spring break. Past vacations were to the Bahamas,St. Johns, Mexico, and DR . We like to try out new places and knew Antigua would be a more expensive island (we paid approximately 30% more compared to Mexico and DR). Although we had a nice time, there are some real issues with this resort:

Room: We had a superior room. First impression was that it reminded me of a room at the Jersey shore - basic but functional. Furniture was worn wicker and bathroom had stains in the tub. No fan, just a small screen window.

Food: Was OK. We were disappointed with the restuarants primarily because at least a quarter of the items had a hefty surcharge $20-30US (seafood, steak). Ordered the veal piccata and got a piece of tough veal breaded and fried?? The restaurant had an extensive wine list, however all except for the house wine had to be purchased by the bottle at high prices. The seafood restaurant had better, but not great, food and the Indian was OK. The buffet was fine, although by the end of the week it was tiring to look at all the torn seats in the inside eating area and the bird droppings at the outside area.

Staff: This is where we had the most problems. Overall, not very friendly except for a few exceptions. The beach bar had a surly looking woman that wouldn't smile no matter what you said and believe me we tried to strike up conversations. They need some training on good customer service. A perfect example is what happened to my husband at one of the restaurants. The keg of house beer had not arrived yet, so the waitress asked if he wanted wine instead. He declined and suggested that they give him a bottle of one of the other beer brands they had at no charge. (which normally you have to pay extra for). The woman just glared at him and left. Finally, after 15-20 minutes his beer arrived - it was the house beer. Seems silly that what would have cost the resort almost nothing was worth annoying a customer for!

Entertainment: Very limited, at least during the day. Few organized activities. In the evenings had various bands perform but we rarely stayed long.

Beach: The highlight. Beautiful, long, and uncrowded. Many non-motorized sports available.

To sum up, we were glad we had the opportunity to visit Antigua and had a nice time despite the issues with the resort. Besides doing some renovating they really need to learn what customer service is all about! Plus they should reconsider all the additional surcharges - it defeats the purpose of going to an all-inclusive! Needless to say, we won't be returning and probably wouldn't recommend it to friends.

I have always said never go to the same place twice but I am planning on going back to the Jolly Beach resort ASAP. I found the hotel to be above average but the staff and locals made it feel like a 5 star resort. We found that we could get all the trips via the guy's on the beach saving us a few pounds but make sure they are the same people working the excursions. The local buses were interesting but fun and very cheap to get into the capital. We decided to get a taxi on the way back and the service from a Keithley Roberts (available through the receptionists at Jolly beach) was very professional. He was able to work around the group when we went to Shirley Heights on the Sunday allowing us to come back in our own time. A beautiful large beach for the resort and great food always supplied by all of the restaurants on the grounds.

Got back from this resort this morning. There are positives and negatives for this resort then main plus being its location the beach is fantastic and is everything that you would expect a carribean beach to be, there are beach vendors but they are no trouble and once you say no they go on their way, they also sell trips and i would recommend that you give them a try as the tour co can be a bit more pricey for pretty much the same trip, the other plus is all rooms are a stones throw away from the beach. What I will say is if you like to chill out then this is a good place to go ,my husband and I feel as though we have been away from weeks. Now unfortunately the negatives which outweight the pluses. On arrival check in staff weren't the most cheerful then we were taken to our room and have to say that we were disappointed on reading reveiws knew that rooms were quite small which is acceptable but they are in need of updating to get a good shower we cleaned the head ourselves, the air con unit looked like it should be scrapped as bits had fallen off and wasn't working effienciently and the mosquito net was on its last legs,bed ok but the linen didn't fit and was on the move I am also sure that I was bitten in the bed by insects and invested in some insecticide spray, also the ceiling fan worked but wouldn't work if you wanted the light on with it. Once settled in we went for a stroll around the grounds and although in some areas it looks tidy but the resort clearly needs some money spent on it as it is out of date and some things are just falling apart. Now the food breakfats and lunch were Ok (although not a great standard) but the evening meal was never good and it was hard to put together a complete plate of food also we did not feel that there was not enough choice.As with most reviews Lydias and location fantastic,Indian not to my taste but knew other people who enjoyed theirs, the Italian similar. What I will say is most of the staff in all of the restaurants and bars are friendly and polite. Now the entertainment in the daytime we didn't get involved but my main gripe is the evening for one thing in the brochure it says that there is a disco but this has since been shut down, the evening entertainment therefore is the responsibility of the "entertainments team" who try hard but all if consists of is steel bands,dancers (once you have seen /heard one you have seen them all) also you feel like all they want you to do is go to bed early more thought needs to go into this so that the holidaymaker gets the most out of their holiday on our last night a disco was held and it was the best night of the 2 weeks why this can't be done on a more regular basis i don't know.
My husband and I had a good holiday but this was not because of the Jolly Beach resort it was because we made it a good holiday.
On the whole we do not consider this resort as being good value for money and think that it appears that it is being run down if it was given a lick of paint and some remedial repairs/upgrading ,thought into menus and entertainment rethink it could be an awesome place to go to.