Just returned Oct 1, and this place was above our expectations. After reading some of the reviews I was a little concerned that this resort was run down. We have pretty high standards-and this resort met them. (there will always be a few locals with an attitude, but most of them were fine) The moment we arrived, the front desk was very friendly, our room was a 1/2 hour late so they kept filling our rum punch. They took care of our delayed luggage that didn't make our flight. We did not opt for the all inclusive, since we had a beautiful 2 bedroom villa. (time share trade)Very large, clean-looked renovated. Bay view, next to the beautiful infinity pools. The beach and the bay were both gorgeous and clean. (although it was jelly fish season for the whole island) We ate at the restaurants a few times. Avoid the Rainbow room for dinner-but the Docksider was very nice. Some of the other guests did complain that some of the food was only average-and no shell fish.
We would definitely come back to this resort. We rented a car and went on many of the tours. Rainforest-zip lines is a blast.
Excellence and Eco tours are both great boat tours.
Driving a car is very nerve racking though. Especially for US drivers who aren't used to driving on the other side.
I would pay the extra high taxi fees next time instead of driving.
Or make sure you have good insurance.
And be wary of using a credit card at Turners Beach-someone started using our # and made online purchases. Use cash outside the resort.

We have just got back from spending 10 days at the Beach Club (Virgin Holiday's part of St James Club) and we had a lovely time. I was slightly concerned by other reviews and it is annoying that the hotel is listed twice as St James club and st James's Club but please don't be put off by the comments - having just returned from there I really don't know what they are moaning about!

We arrived on Wednesday and the transfer took around 40 mins to get to the resort. Once we arrived we were greated with a delicious rum punch and shown to our room.

We had a 1st floor room (320) which was a good size - king size bed, sofa 2 chairs and a coffee table, coffee maker, HUGE TV with cable, air con and a ceiling fan (which we really needed!!). The bathroom was large with a bath big enough for 2, the only issue was that the shower curtain seemed to drip all over the floor regardless of how we positioned it!

As we were in the Beach Club we ate at Coco's most of the time. The food and service were great, plently of choice and you never had to wait for a waitress they just appeared. The lunchtime menu was really good alongside the buffet - burgers and tuna sandwiches to die for. In the evening some nights were buffet and some were off the menu but all we very tasty. We ate Dockside Restaurant twice and the Rainbow once and again the food was lovely and the service great.

The beaches were beautiful. On the atlantic side there were some Jellyfish but having been on a trip around the whole island it seems that a lot of places had the same issue. We spent a lot of time on the bay side which was very calm, no jellyfish and spotlessly clean. Some one has mentioned that this beach was hot as there was no breeze - yes it was hot - it's the Carribean!! I'm not sure what you expected! One of the best things was if you were too lazy to walk 100 yards to the beach bar / grill to get a drink, every hour someone come round on a golf cart and stop at your sun lounger - it was brilliant!!

I has a fantastic massage in the spa which I can highly recommend.

The only negative I can think of is if like me you are caught out by the strength of the sun and need to get more sun cream, the gift shop is very expensive.

The grounds were very well kept and loads of trees and flowers everywhere. Yes there are places where it could use a lick of paint but it looked like they were doing that at the moment but you'd have to be really picky to be bothered by that.

There were quite a few pools to choose from but to be honest we prefered going to the beach. My partner took out a canoe and a hobbie cat several times and had a great time - the water sports staff were helpful. All the staff we really helpful, friendly and polite.

We went on the Excellence round the island trip, the Eco Tour and took the hotel shuttle to St John's. All trips were really good and I would recommend them all - especially the Eco Tour.

All in all we had a fantastic holiday in a lovely hotel where we took full advantage of being All Inclusive. We ate and drank loads of the delicious food and drink and I wouldn't hesitate to go back.

I would not recommend this hotel!! We stayed from 9/22-9/29/07. We have traveled to all-inclusives before (numerous destinations) and, by far, this has been the worst place. We originally booked the new VERANDAH, but it was not ready and they just put us @ St. James (sister resort). The beaches were just okay. It was the Atlantic side and the waters were murky and full of JELLYFISH! The beach on the bay side was prettier, but was extremely HOT, no breeze. The other side had a nice breeze, but the water was awful and full of seaweed. They only had two restaurants open @ a time and you had a choice of 5 entrees. Food was just okay, and very different. They never offered any shrimp dishes, which I always look forward to in an all-inclusive resort. Same boring desserts every night! The buffets were very limited. Usually the buffets are huge. The only had a few hot entrees to choose from (again, very different). We also noticed that whatever was left over from dinner the night before, was served in the buffet the following day (kind of scary -- especially when we saw the sushi). We also were very annoyed that you had to pay to go to the nice italian restaurant ($35 pp US); however, we did get to dine there on the resort, considering we had brown, rusty water ALL week. We found the majority of the staff friendly, but there were a few that were very nasty and arrogant. Whenever you had some sort of problem, they blew you off. We complained for 4 days straight about the rusty water and they just blew us off; until, my husband grabbed the hotel manager and informed him of the problem. We feel that this problem was never brought up to him. He compensated us with a free meal @ the italian restaurant (which was excellent). As far as the entire resort, needs a HUGE FACELIFT. The walkways are all broken up, the tiles in the rooms are cracked and have black marks all over them. I have to add this EXTRA in -- if anyone does go to ANTIGUA, take the "EXCELLENCE" catamaran tour. Expensive, but well worth it. Overall, we had a good (not great) time. Very boring resort, not much entertainment, except a few singers @ dinner. We would not recommend this hotel, but we have also traveled to all-inclusives quite a bit.

SJC is a tremendous resort. One definitely does not have to leave here, if so choosing. Five restaurants, a deli, spa and numerous pools, two beaches with nonmotorized watersports (kayak, sunfish, hobie cat, paddleboats and snorkel) included for guests makes it that way. Docksider was very good (as stated above) but Coco's buffet (at least the nite we were there) was just ok. I heard good things about Picolo Mondo but we didn't eat there. The spa and massages were very relaxing and a treat and the pools refreshing.
At the beach (Mamora Bay is calm and Coco's has surf) are well kept, clean with numerous palms, beach chairs and towel service. A drink cart roams the beaches to quench your thirst. Our villa was lovely. 2br/2ba , full kitchen, lr and dr and with large deck, table and sun loungers was more than spacious and in super shape. The grounds are landscaped beautifully and the staff is helpful and friendly.
If you go, AI is a good choice, as the restaurants off resort are expensive and US dollar weak. The AI is $100 pp but there is an additional $35 pp to eat at Piccolo Mondo.