This resort has many advantages:

1. A secluded site, but in close proximity to St Johns, which was handy for going in to town by taxi;

2. A discreet, relaxed and quiet tone (and clientele), which contrasts markedly with the disco-driven, alcohol-soaked party life of some resorts;

3. A good range of accommodation choices to suit different budgets;

4. Very good food -- nothing fancy, but having fresh fish, local fruit and very decent table wine, beer and mixed drinks is more than acceptable, and fits with the general ambience, which is restrained and quiet.

The beaches are nice -- one is sandy, and therefore easier to swim in than the others, but all are lovely and quiet. The service is good in comparison to other resorts at which I have stayed: any oversights can be easily remedied, and do not mar the overall experience. In July I was looking for a quiet, attractive and secluded site that offered good value, and on all of these counts Hawksbill by rex delivered. I would both return and recommend it highly to others.

Resort is nicely situated and seems a good place for repeat visitors. Not so much for newbies. We've been to the Caribbean several dozen times in the past 25 + years and are well acquainted with the pace and ocassionally matching service. We are not new at this. Some observations you should be aware of:

Rooms: We chose to upgrade to a Beach Club ocean front bungalow. So we could have airconditioning and be on the beach. We were certainly on the beach if you want to lay there and soak up the sun and get a nice view from the room. You cannot enter the water anywhere near, however, due to boulders and concrete piers having washed up sometime in the 90's. These are just at the surface and climbing over them is not an option. Yes, the rooms could be upgraded and cracked and broken furniture and fixtures could be replaced, but that's certainly not a big issue. We even had the use the security chain to keep the door closed (not locked, but just closed), but that was OK too. The A/C was a bit misleading. The 7 windows were extremely "porous". so much so that you could tell who was walking by or what the weather was. Again, not a huge problem, except that 4 of the 7 were sealed with plexiglass. That virtually eliminated any breeze, while the other 3 insured the ineffecitveness of the A/C.

Food: Meals were fine. The food was nicely presented and very good. The only problem here was that men had to wear long pants for dinner. You eat outside (for the most part) and it can be pretty uncomfortable. We've been to places were dinners were this "formal", but then the accomodations were less "casual" as well.

Beaches: For all intents and purposes, there is only one beach if you want to keep your clothes on. The Honeymoon beach is very small and a hike. When we looked at it there were 4 couples on it and it looked crowded. The main beach was very pleasent indeed and the few hundred yard walk from our bungalow was not excessive, but we did not expect it. Oh yeah, there is a 4-5ft barracuda that lives nearby and visits the shalow water frequently! We were assured that he's friendly and his name is Sam. While attacks are very rare, that's small comfort when you have some kids (or anyone) in the water. One of the workers even walked near it in the water and it just slowly swam away. When it stopped, they guy quickly left the water saying "see, no problem".

Service: The service was fine for the most part with one glaring exception. There was a woman bartender that was rude, to the point of being confrontational. We're used to having to wait a while to get peoples attention, but she just seemed like she wanted to pick a fight! Sadly, it turned out she was the bar manager. Result of this is that you need deal with her daily and the hotel really doesn't care about her attitude. When asking one the repeate guests what they thought her problem was, they laughed and said I should never ask her what kind of daquiries they make. I just have to order and quickly go away. My wife actually asked me what she should order that would not anger her, while my 7 year old daughter was scared to death of asking for a soda. While the "Soup Nazzi" may be funny on Seinfeld, I don't need one on vacation.

Overall: Indeed there were a lot of repeate guests. We met some great people who've been there 15 or 20 times and like it. I have to add that they are treated a bit differently. They have their own dinner and party one night, and are genuinely appreciated by the management. Certainly not a bad marketing position. When checking out, I looked to speak to the general manager (as did other new guests), but he was busy hugging and thanking the repeate guests. Lesson is; once you get used to the facilities and "service", it may be a good place. One last note: amid some chuckles we heard more than once that the reason they cannot get rid of the barracuda, is that he's related to the bartender.

My new husband and I spent our 2 week honeymoon at the Hawksbill in June and we had a fantastic time. We had seen a few poor reviews but we weren't too worried (from past experience we know that some people will moan about anything!)
and I can say we were pleasantly surprised by what we found.

The accommodation is basic but what more do you need than a comfortable bed and a good shower?! The food was good for the whole time we were there, the menus are varied and tasty. We found that the staff were all very friendly and helpful.

If you can't afford to pay for some of the more expensive resorts on Antigua then the Hawksbill is perfect for you. A few things I would advise is to take some mosquito repellent, something to put on any bites you do get and a lot of high factor sun lotion (unless you are used to the sun) - it is very hot and the sun is very strong!

Live the Caribbean way of life while you are there - relax, don't worry and drink plenty of rum (the pina colada's are delicious)!

My new wife and I visited Hawksbill in June 2007 and were very impressed. So, it's not all 5* accomodation and immaculate but we found our room was fantastic, the food was great and nothing was too much trouble for the staff. The head chef even typed out one of his recipes for us and left it at reception. He said to us that 'they wanted to treat their guests like Kings and Queens'! The entertainment wasn't great but it was, definitely, fun. Special mention to the Halycon Steel Band and to the Rio Band (how those 4 guys are still standing at their age is hard to guess!!). They went out of their way to make things as good as possible for us and it was a very, very relaxing and stress free experience. The beaches were wonderful (the nude one was great and almost empty!) and the sea was blue and warm. I read one review that moaned at the size of the pool, it's small but so what. After all, The Caribbean Sea is only 20 yards away from it! All in all I'd really recommend it for older people, children would get bored fairly easily I think. We'll be back!!