The natural beauty of Hawksbill's location coupled with the lovely tourists who frequent it make it a very enjoyable stay despite the terrible service and the ho-hum food. The four beaches on the property are stunning and never feel crowded - there is no competition for beach chairs - you can walk for miles in either direction on beautiful sand. We stayed in the beach front cottages. I would recommend either these beach front cottages, the main clubhouse or the honeymoon beach cottages - other people did complain about the garden cottages and they are much more tightly packed together. We didn't need our air conditioning so don't worry about the no air conditioning in some rooms as a factor.

I found the other couples at Hawksbill to be very friendly and interesting people and I have to say that one of its main draws for me were the other people we met at cocktail hour and dinner. There are many people who come back every year.

With any all inclusive, I think the food is not stellar and it's not here. You don't have the full range of cocktails you'd have without an all-inclusive. The price is, however, a lot less than we've paid other places.

The service is a disaster, particularly at breakfast. You can expect something between disdain and indifference but your fellow travelers will joke with you about it and you just adjust your expectations accordingly.

We were exploring Antigua during our recent trip and stumbled into this geourgeous beach and the hotel, Hawkbill Rex Resort. Setting was beautiful. We wanted to inquire about the hotel further and went up to the reception. I have never seen such a negative attitude from a receptionist, and I travelled around the world!! She couldn't give me a brochure or tell me about the rates. She looked like very irritated that her tranqule afternoon was interrupted by us... Just based on this experience, I would never go back there, although it is beautiful. But to me, when I am in a foreign country, people you meet and greet are the face representing that country, and in this case, this resort. In this case I didn't like what I saw. I was curious to find out what others who stayed there are staying and was not surprised their rating for unfriendly staff.. I hope managers for this resort read these pages and make changes.. Because this place appeared to have the potential for making you experience one of the best vacations ever, but the staff needs to change!!! Our experience where we stayed (in another hotel) was just wonderful.

If it’s good food, nice beaches and space you want, the Hawksbill is for you. If it’s luxurious accommodation, a great pool scene, vibrant entertainment, or kiddies’ clubs, forget it.

The Hawksbill is an all-inclusive resort, with just over 100 bungalows and rooms, situated about four miles from the Capital of Antigua, St John’s, and some 25 minutes’ drive from the island’s airport. It has a reported 37 acres of landscaped gardens, which are attractive and well-maintained. We stayed for 14 nights, Feb/Mar.

There are four classes of accommodation – firstly the beach club bungalows, situated between the resort entrance and the main bar/restaurant/reception building. These front the Royal Palm beach and feature air conditioning. Beyond the main restaurant are the beachfront bungalows, which look good value due to their attractive position overlooking the Seagrapes beach. Set back from these are the superior seaview bungalows, and there also superior sea view rooms in the main buildings near the restaurant. All these have a furnished balcony or patio, ceiling fan, hairdryer, small fridge and tea/coffee making facilities. Facing inland are some garden view bungalows, some of which have a concrete slab for a patio and some old furniture, some with the furniture on the ground outside the front door. These garden view rooms are the ones to avoid – they are in desperate need of refurbishment and should be taken out of commission until this is done. The room we were originally given (no 55) had only one table lamp to light the whole room, making it dark and dingy, and it looked to us like it was ready to fall down at any time. We moved to one of the superior sea view rooms in the main building – this was light and airy, and actually had three wall lights! Factor into your budget the cost of one of these superior rooms unless you are prepared to tolerate some below-standard accommodation. Generally the rooms do not have TVs or phones – it’s strange at first but you soon realise that you don’t miss them. However, we took a small radio with us for some background music when we were in the room.

The design of the rooms at the Hawksbill is certainly unusual. The ‘windows’ generally consist of mosquito grills with internal louvre-style slats – these slats could be either wood or glass. This means that the rooms are not very well insulated against noise, and this was a nuisance when the early-risers were on their way to breakfast at 7.30 in the morning, but the wind flow through the gaps keeps the rooms well ventilated, and we found air conditioning to be unnecessary. The power sockets are American-style (two flat pins), so adaptors are required for visitors from Europe, and these are available for a deposit from reception. There are free safety deposit boxes available at reception, and room safes are available at US$15 per week. Why these are charged as extra at an all-inclusive resort, I don’t know, but they are worth having as there doesn’t seem to be much of a security presence at the resort. Rumour has it that during our stay, several of the remoter bungalows were burgled and money and valuables stolen, but that these were bungalows whose guests had not hired safes. We also had an issue with the housekeeping service to our room, with towels, toilet paper and shower gel not being replenished reliably, and we had to request replacements on several occasions (I wonder if our maid realised that was the reason she didn’t get a tip).

There are four beaches at the Hawksbill: the Royal Palm beach is just inside the entrance, and tends to be used by the beach club guests, except for one end which is used by locals at the weekend. This beach is very quiet, with no bar, music or activities, but the sea is quite rocky and is generally unsuitable for paddlers. The Seagrapes beach, beyond the restaurant, is the one around which all the activities are based – beach bar and restaurant, watersports, etc, and is therefore the busiest. Although you have use the word busy in context as it’s hardly crowded. Beyond most of the bungalows is a beach which you can almost have to yourself – it was so quiet. Beyond that is the only ‘clothing optional’ beach in Antigua, and if the sight of some ample bare buttocks in the distance has the same effect on you as it did on us, you won’t set foot on it. All the beaches are clean, and a very positive factor at the Hawksbill is the provision of more than enough sunbeds, so that reserving them at dawn is unnecessary (although some people still do that, because that’s the mentality they bring on holiday). The sunbeds are of the plastic type, with material covering, so they are fairly easy to move round, and quite comfortable even without mattresses. There is enough space on the beaches to have your own quiet spot – a welcome change from the row-upon-row arrangement of sunbeds that you get at many hotels. Good quality towels are provided, on a deposit charged to your room, and can be changed as often as you like.

The swimming pool is quite small, and during our stay was hardly used. With its size and the uniform depth of 5’6” it’s not likely to appeal to serious swimmers or divers, nervous adults or small children. There’s a limited amount of space around the pool, with sunbeds, but this area was not heavily used during our stay.

The free water activities available are kayaks, sunfish sailing and snorkelling, and speedboat rides and water skiing are available at an extra charge. We had an excellent 1½ hour ride along the coast in the speedboat, guided by Myron, and it cost us US$100 (but four can share the cost). Other activities advertised didn’t seem to happen – we used to sunbathe near the volleyball net and at no time did we see anyone organising it at the advertised time. With no gym or fitness room on site, it would have good to use this as an opportunity to work off some of the excesses of the food. However, Sylvia’s garden tour always seemed popular, although we didn’t participate. There’s a tennis court and a table tennis table, beauty and spa treatments at the Wellness Cottage, and tours/boat trips, etc can be booked at the tour desk next to the beach bar. Here there’s also a ‘library’ where you can exchange your old books for new ones. There’s a gift shop in an old sugar mill next to the main restaurant, where English newspapers can be purchased.

Food is one area in which the Hawksbill punches above its three star rating. There are two restaurants: the Tamarind Tree (the main one), where breakfast and dinner are served, and the Seagrapes, where lunch is available, and which also doubles as the al a carte three nights a week. The Tamarind Tree has quite a nice ambience, with large tables and comfortable chairs, and you don’t get that ‘crowded canteen’ feeling that goes with the buffet service in some places. The Seagrapes overlooks the beach and has a nice casual feel, but both restaurants are open-sided and suffer from invasion by birds at meal times.

Breakfast is buffet-style, with fruit juices, a limited choice of fresh fruit and cereals, a hot buffet and bread and toaster. Eggs, omelettes and pancakes are available to order, but the queue for these is sometimes off-putting. Lunch is at the Seagrapes, from a standard menu and/or a ‘specials’ board. The catch of the day was usually very tasty, and as an alternative there are burgers, hot dogs, roti and a pasta. The soup of the day and desserts are changed daily, and it is a positive feature of the lunch service that you can mix and match, and have as much of any one or more dishes. Two criticisms of the Seagrapes restaurant: firstly, the general level of service needs to be improved, particularly the speed in clearing tables of old food so that the birds don’t flock round; secondly, the birds create an awful mess, particularly on the chair backs, and these should wiped clean more frequently.

Tea and coffee are available at the Seagrapes on a self-service basis throughout the day, with sandwiches and cakes being brought at 3.30 each afternoon, just in case you haven’t already put on enough weight.

Dinner is available in the Tamarind Tree restaurant, four nights a week it’s buffet-style, including the barbecue night, and the other nights are table service. The buffets are varied, and again you can have as much as you want of anything you want and include a soup, limited salad selection, hot buffet and a good selection of desserts, including cheese. A particularly nice feature of the buffet on some nights is the freshly carved joint of meat that’s available. The table service is a pleasant change, and although some big appetites may not be satisfied by the portions served, it was enough for us. Three nights a week, the beach bar doubles as the a la carte (usually the three nights the Tamarind Tree had table service), with some dishes available on the all-inclusive, and some at extra cost. We didn’t try the a la carte as the word amongst the guests was that the service was extremely slow, and the restaurant setting not very atmospheric.

The drinks available are, like the food, generous. There’s a large cocktail list, with non-alcoholic as well as alcoholic drinks, the red, white and rose house wines are very acceptable (although better quality wines are available at a supplement), and the draught beer is drinkable. Premium brands of spirits are available at extra cost, but we didn’t find any reason to stray from the all-inclusive. There are no silly armbands to wear and no signing for all-inclusive drinks. There was no problem in one person getting a round of drinks for four, and trays were available if you needed them.

You would not come to the Hawksbill for vibrant entertainment, but was what provided was pleasant and low-key, and you could have a dance most evenings if you wanted. Local groups, including a steel band, provided music four evenings a week, on Sunday evenings Agatha runs her own brand of crab racing (great for the fun gamblers), and on the other two evenings background music was playing. Most of the music finished by about 10-10.30, and although the bar doesn’t close until midnight, if you’re still there at 11.30 you’re likely to be the only ones. If you have a birthday during your visit, let reception know and they will arrange for Happy Birthday to be played and a cake to be provided - all low-key and not at all embarrassing. What puzzled us was the number of people who returned to their rooms when the group took a break – often around nine o’clock – leaving the bar fairly empty during the remainder of the evening.

One great plus at the Hawksbill is the resort’s smoking policy. All the rooms and bungalows are non-smoking, although it’s allowed on the balconies and patios. The restaurants are non-smoking, and smoking is allowed only in a small part of the bars. It was so pleasant to eat in the restaurants without worrying about getting a table in a non-smoking area, or having people nearby smoking while you were eating.

During the time we were there, I would estimate that the guests were made up of 50-60% British, 20-30% American/Canadian and about 10-20% other Europeans, mainly Italian. The age profile of the British and Americans was generally 50+ and of the Europeans somewhat younger. There were a small number of families with children and they seemed happy enough, but this is not really a family resort.

A few miscellaneous things – generally, you can expect mosquitos in the Caribbean. The hotel provides plug-in repellents, which it is sensible to use. The resort is ‘fogged’ three times a week (you’ll get the idea when you hear the noise of the machine) to keep the mosquitoes down. We used repellent spray on exposed skin before going out in the evenings. Yes, we had a few bites, but nothing nasty, and most of those seem to happen when I was reading on the balcony at about 6-7 in the evening. One observation – there are a number steps up to and down from the main restaurant, and I would have thought this would give less abled guests a problem. However, we saw an amazing number of people with walking sticks or crutches, and I didn’t hear anyone moaning about the steps, so perhaps I was just imagining the problem.

As so often happens in hotels and resorts, the staff either make the experience or break it. At the Hawksbill, the staff are a mixed bag. They are led by the General Manager, Richard Michelin, who makes himself very visible several evenings a week in the restaurant and is very customer-friendly. The reception staff are coldly efficient – I didn’t find one of them remotely friendly, particularly when you had an issue with your room. Agatha, the Guest Relations Manager, was a shining example of Caribbean warmth and enthusiasm, and ran the weekly crab racing sessions with great gusto. Myron, in the watersports hut, was friendly and helpful. The serving staff varied widely. Some looked like they didn’t want to be there, others were friendly and cheerful. Getting drinks at your table, at both lunch and dinner, was very hit and miss. Sometimes a beer would appear on my table before I had finished the previous one, at other times I would order one and assume, some ten minutes later, that my order had been forgotten. I have seen better organisation of restaurant staff at other hotels; at the Hawksbill you can be served by any number of waiters at one meal, and some would be better than others. This made tipping the efficient ones very difficult, although the resort prices show that tips are included in the all-inclusive price. If you were served by only one waiter or waitress, you can reward good service instantly. I wondered if the organisation of service staff is at the root of some of the waiting service problems?

What about Antigua generally? A typical Caribbean island, with its own local flavour. Like most of the smaller Caribbean islands, all the tourist hotspots can be done in one day. Cars and jeeps can be hired by the day, although it’s expensive when you include insurance and the local driving licence – try to get a four organised when you want to go out and it’s half the price. Don’t expect to see any road signs and you won’t be disappointed – make sure you have someone with you who can navigate by the sun. Visit English Harbour, Nelson’s Dockyard and Shirley Heights on the south coast. Go on a Sunday afternoon if you want to savour the atmosphere of the barbecue and steel bands at Shirley Heights, but arrive at 4-4.30 to get a seat and enjoy your food, before the crowds start flocking in. Visit the capital, St John’s, by all means, but don’t expect much. It’s a cacophony of traffic congestion, noise and pollution, and that’s on a quiet day. Go when one or more cruise ships have docked and it’s mayhem. Cruise ship shopping (at cruise ship prices) is available at Heritage Quay, and there’s a cathedral and a museum; shuttle taxis are available from the hotel three times a week for US$8 per person return.

The currency of Antigua is the Eastern Caribbean Dollar (EC$), but everything is priced in US$ and converted at a standard rate, so it’s quite possible to avoid the local currency altogether. If you want EC$, don’t change them at the resort; we bought ours at M&S in the UK at a rate of 4.92 to the £, but at the resort they were quoting 4.50, a very poor rate.

We were a little disappointed with the weather during our stay – having been to the Caribbean several times in November we expected drier, less cloudy weather in Feb/March. Although we are planning to return to the Caribbean – to try one of the other islands – we will probably go in November, when the prices are considerably cheaper, and the weather no worse.

My biggest criticism of the island is the distinctly underwhelming welcome they give you on your arrival. A 50 minute queue at Immigration is not the way I want to start my holiday, and apparently this was a short queue, compared with others’ experiences. The authorities need to do something to improve this if they want some credibility for their claim of Antigua as a friendly holiday destination. In contrast, checking in for our return flight was no problem. We arrived at the BA check-in desk three hours before our scheduled take-off time (excessively early, but worth it) and took just a few minutes to complete the check-in formalities. If you want something to eat, go to the restaurant upstairs before you go through passport control and security. The restaurant serves reasonably-priced food and drink (but also loud music), and is much better than the airside snack bar. Remember to pay your airport tax before passport control – US$20 per person or the equivalent. Airside are a small number of gift shops, but not much else.

Overall, we enjoyed our holiday at the Hawksbill. I’m not sure that we will be joining the band of people who return year after year as we like to visit different places (one couple were on their 29th visit!). But if you can put up with the slightly strange accommodation, you should have a good time.

Myself and my husband with two special friends had our first visit to Hawksbill on the 27th Feb for 2 weeks. We booked the holiday approx 10 months ago and then started reading the trip advisor reviews and at that time they were very negative with regards to the rooms and the staff to the point that we almost changed our booking. How glad are we that we didnt, the location of the hotel is perfect, the 4 beaches and gardens are beautifully maintained, the low rise accommodations blend in so well. The only negative would be that the rooms are rather tired and could benefit from an upgrade which wouldnt cost the earth, but they were kept clean. We stayed in a superior beachfront room and the position and outlook more than made up for the interior.

The food was very good and it was nice that you could combine the main restaurant with the a la carte. I would agree with the comments in a previous review that the lunch time menu could benefit from a little more variety.

The icing on the cake for this hotel is the staff, from the moment we checked in until the day we left we were greeted with friendly happy staff who were always a delight to have a chat with and a laugh. I have always found that if you interact with those around you it rewards you with some lovely memories of happy times.

One of our party was ill for 4 days and it was so nice that the restaurant staff noted his absence and genuinely seemed concerned, David and Shenneth in particular were very helpful. But, I couldnt write this review without mentioning Sylvia and Millie and also a general thank you to all the staff frontline and behind.

I can see why other guests have returned year upon year, it really does have that relaxed happy low key charm that is a good ingredient for any holiday.