We stayed in a Junior Suite, #503, which is a 2-story, side- by -side 2- unit building. It faced the ocean, which we could see from the second floor. Both floors had full wall of glass facing the ocean, with nice gardens on first floor. The unit was a convenient 3 minute walk to the beach. The unit was maintained well, nice newly remodeled kitchen and clean. The staff was friendly, helpful and efficient. The main pool near the lobby & restaurant was very nice & clean, obviously remodeled recently. For the few minor problems we had, they were cleared up fast. Since we had our own kitchen and ate all breakfasts & most lunches in room, we only ate at the restaurant Mahi-Mahi one night, but the food was excellent and a better value than most of the nice restaurants in that area. If there is improvement to be made, it would be their gardens & grounds, which could be kept up nicer and remove some of the clutter that is laying around.
Sirena is next to the new Viceroy development, but construction noise wasn't bad. Mead's Bay was very quiet with few people on the beach. There were only huge waves 1 day out of 6. The sand is a "nice walking" sand.
In all, we were very happy with this resort for location and value:)

We also enjoyed meals at Mango's (very good), Trattoria Tramonto (good), Straw Hat (OK), Luna Rosa (good, would be great view at lunch), & Scilly Cay in Island Harbor (the Anguillan cray fish was wonderful, but an expensive lunch)

My husband and I stayed at La Sirena for 3 nights in mid April, 2008. My first reaction was that it was a little too quiet and not right on the water (that was my mistake for not reading the website correctly when we booked). However, by the end of our time there, I really grew to like it and was sorry that I was leaving.

The folks at Sirena helped us get our rental car which was very easy. We did the Monday happy hour but snuck out early to go out to dinner elsewhere. The lobby, bar, restaurant and bar pool were very chic in decor and were in keeping with the upscale and sophisticated reputation that Anguilla has.

I chose this hotel because of the price and the fact that it was boutique and fresh and funky in its decor. We stayed in one of the Junior 1 bedroom suites - #504 which was in a separate building of two side by side suites from the main hotel. It was a very clean, and remodeled suite with two levels. The contemporary European modern decor was very refreshing. We had no view of the water from the first floor but had a nice porch.

The bedroom on the upper floor had a wall of sliding glass with a partial view of the water - it was bright, sunny and happy. We never had to use the airconditioning due to the nice breezes. The bath was huge and airy - although the shower lacked alot of water pressure.

The walk to the Mead's bay beach was very short and the beach was very beautiful. It was one of the rougher water beaches on Anguilla - and when we got our rental car we went on day trips to Shoal Bay East and Rendezvous bay where the water was calmer. Mead's bay wasn't all that rough - I just like to hang out in the water without worrying about waves crashing...

Since we had a kitchen, we had breakfast and lunches in the room and splurged on dinner - which is why we spent more for the suite. Dinner's were pricey on the island- but very tasty. We at at Sirena's Mahi Mahi, which was good and we also ate at Mangos which was also very good.

The whole resort felt like it was still being brought to what it should be , you could tell that they new owners were working sequentially to update the villas they hadn't renovated yet, and working hard to bring the gardens back to what they once were - When we were there, while lovely, it still had the feeling of a work in progress, but it really had a charm of it's own.

The cons were that my husbands side of the bed was very squeaky and kept us up at night. It is not right on the water like the Frangipani resort down the beach. The beach was beautiful, but not the calmest on the island.

We really wanted to stay at Ku which was in the same price range, but it was booked when we planned the trip. We ended up hanging out on the Ku beach on our day trip to Shoal Bay East, and I have to admit that even though Ku was right on the water, Ku felt more like a congested mini hotel complex and not as relaxing and peaceful and charming like the Sirena resort.

Overall, we really liked Anguilla and would go back. It was a flat ,arid island very different than the Virgin Islands, but it is a quiet island and easy to get around and the beaches were just gorgeous and the reefs for snorkeling very healthy.

We would definitely stay at Sirena again. A rental car for us was a must to explore the island. After we left Anguilla we spent 5 nights in Orient Bay in St. Martin, which was totally different than Anguilla. Read my review of La Plantation if you plan on doing both islands.

I stayed at the Sirena Resort in standard double room earlier this month. I posted a complete trip report on the Anguilla forum titled “Trip report – first trip to Anguilla – April 2008”, so I am going to restrict the content here to the Sirena. I am female and traveled solo, and this was my first trip to Anguilla.

Overall, I had a good experience at the Sirena and definitely would consider staying there again. For the price I paid, I feel like the Sirena was a good value on an island where accommodations generally are pretty expensive. The Sirena is well located, well maintained, and has management and staff that are interested in providing a good experience to guests.

I guess this is an appropriate time to address the “rating” I assigned to the resort. My actual rating would be somewhere between “3” and “4”, but that option is not available on TripAdvisor. The way I use the rating scale is based on my pre-trip expectations, which I believe are realistic, since I do extensive research before my trips, and I consider price, accommodation class, and what the hotel promises in assigning a rating. If a resort meets my expectations, I would rate it “3”, if it generally exceeds my expectations, it would be a “4” rating, and if it is way above my expectations, it would be a “5” rating. So, considering the discounted price I paid for my room, I chose the “4” rating, but at the full rack rate, I would have chosen a “3” rating.

Check-in, check-out and staff:

Overall, I thought the staff did a good job. Management was great and seemed committed to making guests feel welcome and ensuring they had an enjoyable stay. The manager’s cocktail party on Monday night was fun. Housekeeping did a good job generally, responding to any requests I made and doing a pretty thorough job cleaning the room. The only negative here was that I think they probably left the doors (room door and/or sliding glass doors to patio) open while cleaning, which resulted in flies and mosquitos getting into the room.

There was however, some confusion among some of the staff working at the desk handling check-in and check-out. I had prepaid all my room charges through a third party, so the individual checking me in initially did not ask for a credit card. I signed some paperwork agreeing to a charge for replacing a room key if I lost it, and then was shown to my room. FYI, it was not an issue for me, but I’m not sure about the availability of staff to help with luggage. I had left my luggage in my rental car when I went to the front desk, not knowing exactly where the desk or my room would be, and the woman at the front desk did not ask if I needed help with luggage. I didn’t really need help, so I didn’t ask her if there was a bellhop. A little while later, I got a call that I needed to come back to the front desk to give them a credit card number for any incidental expenses. Also, upon arrival in the room, I noticed that the safe had a big hole (to insert a lock). The front desk staff had not told me anything about the safe, which again seems to be something that should have been mentioned. For other travelers’ reference, they provide a lock with a key at the front desk, and there is another deposit in case a guest loses the safe key/lock. A little more confusion ensued when I checked out because they had not recorded the safe lock deposit on my bill. In the end, it just took a few more minutes to sort it out, and my credit card was charged correctly.

Also, there was some confusion before and during my stay about the in-room coffee makers. Having my morning coffee when I wake up is a big deal to me, so I made a point of confirming the presence of coffee makers and filters before my trip and brought my favorite coffee from home. When I got there, I discovered the “coffee maker” was one of those pod machines (a Melitta one). So, I couldn’t use the coffee I brought. I asked the desk staff to check for the presence of any regular coffee makers and was told there weren’t any on the premises. Also, the “pods” they left in the room were all tea. I asked for some coffee pods and got one regular (a flavored coffee which I didn’t really like) and one decaf (which I didn’t use). There was a sign posted near the minibar and the tray where the coffee/tea stuff was located saying that “coffee and tea were complimentary” and noting prices for minibar items (the room had water, and some other beverages available in the mini refrigerator and also had small bottles of alcohol), but when I asked for more coffee later in my stay, the housekeeping staff left some with a note that there was a charge of $4 each. The front desk confirmed this, saying that only what is left in the room upon check-in is complimentary. Anyway, the whole situation was kind of puzzling. I would not have had a problem with the situation if I had been given correct information when I emailed the resort before my trip.

Room:

I stayed in a standard double room, which is the second least expensive room type (the least expensive is a single room). My room was located on the first floor (my understanding is that all of these rooms are on the first floor) with a patio that opens to a courtyard/garden area. It was a pretty standard size hotel room, with two double (or one king) beds, a small seating area with two chairs and a coffee table, a minibar (cube size refrigerator), and a small cabinet that held the small (12” I think) TV and had some shelves that I used for folded clothes. There also was a shelf in the closet above the hanging clothes rack, but there was no dresser. The room décor was modern, minimalist, and like the pictures on the resort’s website. The bed was OK for me, but it might be a little hard for some people. The linens (sheets, bedspread, towels) were all white and were pretty good quality, and standard toiletries were provided. The bathroom was a good size, clean, and everything worked fine, but clearly the renovations and upgrades at the hotel have not extended to the bathrooms as they were pretty dated, and if you looked for flaws, you could find some broken tiles along the edges. The patio contained a dining table and two chairs. The two things about the room that were problems for me were: 1) the curtains that covered the wall of sliding glass doors to the patio area were just several panels of cotton drapes, and even if you tried really hard to pull them together, there were little gaps between the panels. This bothered me primarily from a privacy perspective, and it might bother others who are light sleepers in terms of light control. 2) The rooms were not very soundproof. I often heard cars on the main road, barking dogs, people in the corridors (which seemed to have marble or some other type of shiny stone on the floors) or the courtyard area, and silverware noise – presumably from the restaurant across the courtyard.

Amenities, facilities, and grounds:

The Sirena has a restaurant (Mahi Mahi) and bar, two swimming pools, and an area on Meads Bay beach set up with beach chairs and umbrellas for guests. I didn’t eat at the restaurant, and I only went to the bar for the manager’s reception. I also didn’t use the pools. The resort grounds are nice, with garden areas and even some hammocks.

I spent part of several days on the beach at the Sirena, and I generally liked Meads Bay beach. First, the walk to the beach is only a few minutes from the building with the hotel rooms and is even closer to the villas. There are signs stating “Beach” marking the path, and the only time I had a slight problem accessing the beach was my first day, when I wasn’t quite sure where to go when I hit a small dirt road with some villas (FYI, turn left, and walk down a small sand covered path, rather than walking into the villa driveway you encounter first). I never had a problem getting a chair (they were mesh covered plastic chairs, which I like). The most “crowded” I ever saw the beach area was when about half the chairs were in use. Meads Bay was a very nice beach, but I preferred other beaches with calmer, more turquoise water. I also was a little disappointed in the location of the Sirena for watching the sunset, a favorite “activity” of mine. From Sirena’s beach chairs, the sun did not set over the water. Instead, it set behind the Viceroy’s construction site. The sunset view was much better if you walked a little down the beach (towards the Frangipani). The construction at the Viceroy did not really bother me in terms of noise (there was some), but if you wanted to get afternoon sun, you ended up looking towards the construction, which was not especially attractive.

The Sirena also has a room (near the office/”temporary” front desk) where guests can use a desktop computer or their own laptops to access the internet ($0.15/minute, and I believe there are daily, unlimited-use rates too). Wifi is available too, but my experience, and what I heard from other guests, is that the signal is often too weak or intermittent to make it effective to get on-line from guest rooms. Anyway, this same room with the computer is the place where you can exchange beach towels, and there are a lot of books there that guests can borrow, and a few things (resort branded souvenirs mostly) for sale there. The Sirena also lends guests snorkeling equipment (no charge), and I saw a sign about cell phone rental ($5/day) but didn’t follow-up about this because I decided I didn’t need a cell phone.

Conclusion:

I think I’m finally done. I wanted to clarify that in the scheme of things, some of the “negative” points I discussed above were not that significant, but they were things that I did not remember reading about or differed from my expectations, so I wanted to share them in the event that these things are important to someone else. I realize the same things are not important to everyone, so this is just my perspective.

Please feel free to send me a private message if you have any questions.

Just returned from a wonderful getaway in Anguilla. This was our first trip to the island, and I had spent a lot of time researching hotel options, beaches etc. Sirena was exactly what we expected based on the hotel website and reviews on this site.

The hotel grounds are very pleasant, with charming gardens - not manicured lawns, but beautiful flowers everywhere, and a pleasant little walk down to the beach. As many have mentioned here, the walk to the beach is nothing, very easy to find, and you have plenty of chairs waiting. Meads Bay is lovely, though we did not spend much time there as we found it windier than other places. We spent most of our day away from the hotel, exploring Shoal Bay, Rendezvous Bay, Sandy Isle, and Maunday's Bay.

The positives:
-Tastefully decorated rooms, with practical tile floors everywhere, large bathroom, and nice accents
-Lovely grounds
-Pleasant open-air restaurant, where we had breakfast every morning
-Good breakfast (American plan), with nice fruit selection, eggs made to order, and decent coffee
-Friendly staff
-Abundant bottled water, reasonably priced, replenished daily

The negatives:
-Squeeky bed (really loud) - avoid room 102 if a couple
-Shower head worked more like a strobe light
-Very slow service at breakfast (the first day it took 45 minutes to get our omelette; this improved significantly by the last day, I think tipping may have been the key)
-Just OK concierge service (make sure you double confirm everything, and remember who you spoke with; we ended up with two sets of dinner reservations, and had to scramble for car rental upon arrival)

Overall, though, we thought this was a great choice for us, and a good value for Anguilla. It was close to all our favorite destinations: Cap Juluca/Pimms for dinner, Blanchards, Mango's, and Rendezvous Bay, which was our favorite. If you like to explore and don't expect to spend all your time at the resort, this is a great choice as much for couples as families.