I stayed at the Hawksbill for a week during May 07. First off, I would like to provide some quick background. I researched Antigua many hours, through websites, tripadvisor, books and so on. I was traveling with my girlfriend and I would consider us to be fairly low maintenance, but we do expect what we pay for.

Rooms: B+

We stayed in the beach club room (one of the cottages). The beach clubs rooms are the biggest rooms, and the only rooms with AC. There are beach club rooms on two different parts of the resort. We stayed in the beach club rooms on Royal Palm Beach. The other beach club rooms on Honeymoon cove and on top of a small cliff overlooking the water, but they are not right on the beach, just a few steps away is all. The room was very spacious, and only about 20 steps from the beach. I was pleased with the room overall. The rooms have nice windows with shutters.

Beaches: B+

There are four beaches on this resort. A positive note is that they are spread out and very private. Sea grapes beach is the overall best swimming beach. All of the beaches are somewhat rocky in the water, but very clear, calm waters. The snorkeling is very good off sea grapes beach. Royal Palm beach is nice as well, but not very good swimming because it is so rocky. We ventured over to Eden beach, and the beach isn't very nice so we left right away. It's a nude beach, so it's not for everyone. See attached photos.

Service: C+

The service is the one aspect that is debated about this resort. There is a certain attitude of people in the Caribbean that can be confused with bad service which I understand. The bottom line is the service was fairly good for the most part. The service is very slow, but it really didn't bother us too much. I found that the more we mingled with the staff, the friendlier they became. It is far from 4 star service. Much of the time we were confused on the resort, as it was somewhat disorganized. They don't serve you drinks on the beach, you have to go to the bar and get it yourself. They have a good selection of drinks as part of the all inclusive package.

Property: A

Incredible views around the property. The property is kept very natural, which is one of its highlights. The property is very large, private, and there are only 100 guest rooms. There is tons of space, and lots of beach room to spread out. The resorts are surrounded by natural beauty, gardens, and landscaping. See attached pictures.


Food: B

The food was better than I expected. My girlfriend and I are picky eaters, but we found something we liked at every meal. There is a good variety at all of the meals. They seem to serve something safe at each meal. We enjoyed the fish, grilled hamburgers, and BBQ chicken. The breakfast was reasonable, as there is something for everyone. I was disappointed with the selection of fruits. The dinners were a full course meals, with excellent variety each meal. The service is slow.

Overall Value: A-
The price we paid was very reasonable. I think this resort was a great value, but we did stay during off peak season which reduced prices.

Negative Feedback:

I was very disappointed with some of the activities scheduled by the resort. The majority of the activities planned were not to provide entertainment, but to sell you something. The pool chairs were junk. They didn't event fold all the way down. The hotel shouldn't charge for bottled water under the all inclusive package. A major annoyance was that the beach equipment rental place closes at 3:45 pm. Also, there was no paddle boat. There are goats on the hotel grounds, even chickens in some areas. As you can see, we had no major concerns or problems encountered. I enjoyed my stay at this resort, but I would search elsewhere if I went back another time. Also, we had two cockroaches in our room which was rather gross.

Other Information:

Here are a few more things I want to mention. The resort guests attracts primarily British or Europeans. The bulk of the guests were over 50 years of age. Some very nice people, but this resort attracts older people. They are very respectful, which was nice. The bugs are bad in May, but actually didn't bother us too much.

Highlights:

I most enjoyed the beautiful, private grounds, and the fact that it's a small resort that features 4 beaches and plenty of space to go around. The beach clubs were very unique, spacious, and right on the beach. This resort seemed to be a good value, because the price was much lower than most of the other resorts. All in all, a good stay, but the resort could definitely use some improvements. Just remember, Antigua boasts 365 beaches, and many resorts to choose from.

I recommend this hotel to you if you are:

Not traveling with children
Over 40 years old
Service isn't your number one concern
Traveling with spouse
Don't want to pay 4 star prices
Want a quiet, secluded place

Hope my review helps.

We booked a Honeymoon Cove Beach Club room with air. We were getting married during our 12 day stay. When we arrived we were told that nothing in Honeymoon cove was available. Everyday we asked to be moved from the first beach club rooms for a couple reasons. 1. We used Eden beach more than any other. 2. Our room (#109) was directley under the entertainment gazebo, and on many nights it was too loud!! 3. We liked the longer walk to and from meals, you got to walk off your food.
After being there a week, we decided to speak to the man in charge, Mr. Michelin. He was very understanding, and tried to do his best. We were moved to #140 4 days before we were leaving. The room was lovely, and especially QUIET! The beds in both of the rooms were not the most comfortable, and yes the decour could use some work. However it was simple and we enjoyed not having a t.v. We had a coffe maker, but only instant coffee. I do believe that the resort can afford to give you 2 small bottles of water daily, instead of buying the HUGE ones they sell for $3.00.
The meals were good, and some were great. My husband loved the hamburgers at lunch, I loved the fish with salad greens or if they had pasta. We both couldn't get enough french fries. Breakfast was your typical menu, but the girl who makes your eggs, pancakes, etc. was a doll! Dinner was sit down and buffet 3 nights, and Wed. is bar-b-que. BRING OFF!!! The options at dinner always included a fish, something vegetarian, and dessert. All of the sweets looked good, however we don't enduldge. I would have liked to see a big salad for dinner, or more not so spicy fish, and not so much lamb or duck. They do have an ala carte menu you have to pay for, but we thought for the price, it really wasn't worth it.
We met lovely couples. Some whom have been there year after years. The older crowd didn't bother us at all. We found them to be informative, tactful, and considerate. Unlike some resorts we have been to where a lot of youg people just want to party! If you are looking for a party, this is NOT for you!
We ended up doing the wedding paperwork ourselves. This was both of our second marriages, and we didn't want all the bells and whistles the resort offered. It couldn't have turned out better. It was only $150 for the liscense, $50 for the certifiacate, and $40 for the marriage officer.
As I said before BRING BUG REPELENT, and SUNSCREEN!!!
We brought an ipod with docking station we listened to in the room. We are already looking to book at the same time next year for our 1 year anniversay! It was totally us. Just like the caribbean used to be 50 years ago.

We rented a jeep and explored the island and other resorts. If you're
a five star luxury person you won't enjoy Hawksbill. It has a friendly, homey atmosphere. If that's what you like, you'll be back dozens of times like many of the Brits and German travelers we met. No room phones or tv's (bummer) but if you have a laptop you can play dvd's and music. We stayed in the units about 100 feet from the ocean and an animal farm behind us, you could hear them bleating at night but that wasn't a bother. A couple of nights the sheep invaded the resort, but the staff was quick to clean-up. We snorkeled three other places on the island at beaches and resorts and found the best was at the main beach in Hawksbill. If you like to explore and get a native feel,rent a jeep and drive on the wrong side of the road, but
a word of warning there are little or no roadsigns. You'll have to stop and get directions from locals who are very eager to help hapless tourists. We took a side trip to Montserrat and saw the active volcano. If you can swing that it is worth the 500-700 extra dollars. Get Thomas Lee to take you around the volcano, he's a great person and very proud of his beautiful island.

Funny how you always get worried about what people you don't even know write about a resort you are going to visit! Well that is how we were considering a couple reviews that started showing up before we were ready to head to Antigua. Once we got to the resort we knew that this was going to be the place for us. Situated on perfect beaches tucked away behind mountains, this is truly a gem.
We had the same feelings that the rooms could be updated, but we were 20 feet from the beach so we were only in the room to shower and sleep! The food was great, from the buffet at breakfast, the grill at lunch and finishing the day with the wonderfully presented dinners at night. We also felt the staff was interested in your enjoyment and relaxation.
The other guests were very friendly, we enjoyed talking about their experience at the resort as well as other places they have been too. We didn't have a problem with the wide ranges of ages at the hotel, I mean don't we all have something in common here?
So disregard the bad reviews, make the reservation, come stay at the Hawksbill!