Before I begin writing this allow me to provide my frame of reference. I have the good fortune to travel frequently; domestically, internationally and to the Caribbean. This will provide a comparative review based on prior experiences that range from the Ritz Carlton level of property/service to a far more economic property/service. My travel experiences have run the full gamut! Overall, I feel the value for the money spent at this resort was very disappointing. While I was there, a quote from a previous person that posted a review here kept running through my mind: If you thought this place was great, you are urged to travel to other places to see the difference for yourself.

Of course, bearing in mind that perhaps it was the week I was there, perhaps it was the building I was in, perhaps it was an 'off' week...whatever the case, what follows are my perspectives from my week there (10.2.04 - 10.9.04)

The upside: The weather was fantastic and, as always, I made the best of my trip but overall it was a disappointment.

CHECK IN - as many posters stated, my room was not ready (I arrived at nearly 3:30PM and check in is at 3P) when I arrived; no apologies offered.

ACCOMODATION - Room was a good size. I knew there would not be a mini fridge in the room based upon the accomodation I selected when making my reservation but still find this unbelievable at a Caribbean resort. Mattresses were some of the best I've slept on. There were holes in the pillowcase and the washcloths were not white but were tan...if that sort of thing matters to you.

HOUSEKEEPING - Housekeeping was thorough and quite responsive to requests. Additionally, they leaves a bucket of ice each day. Despite their best effort, though, the bathroom had a musty smell daily (perhaps due to lack of circulation of cool air).

PLUMBING - Serious lack of hot water and lack of water pressure...literally a trickle for 5 of my 7 nights. There were two sinks in the bathroom, one consistently did not drain.

AC - was a remote-control contraption (small unit for a good sized room) that did not blow cold air but, rather, barely cool air. The remote had a temp gauge which read 27 degrees Celcius (81 Farenheit)...in fairness, most evenings went down to 24C. Not exactly refreshing temps.

BEVERAGES - Upon check-in you are warned to ask for drinks by 'the glass'...you can't get a can of anything unless you want to pay for it and the plastic cups they serve the beverages in are probably 8 or 10 oz...very small so you're running back and forth frequently, or remain parched. The bars (and restrooms) are a bit of a walk from the beach areas depending upon where you get a chair. The 'house wine' is a bit of a shock to the palate but by the third glass you're used to it. :) There is an afternoon 'tea' for our English fellow travelers which was very nice.

BEACH - Very disappointed. In the off season I was surprised to find that most chairs were 'reserved' by 9AM. No long white beaches here so you won't be taking long walks. Sand is not fine and soft. The beach on the bay side is hard (like very packed sand) and there's not much of a breeze so it gets fairly hot. The beach on the ocean side was littered with drinking straws and cigarette butts. There is a LOT of seaweed and the landscape folks try to keep it clean but it's really a LOT of seaweed and it's always there as more is always washing up. On the upside, the beaches do have some nice shells and there are some cute sand crabs and hermit crabs to watch! There is a beverages cart that makes a round on the ocean beach a few times a day. A nice touch.

FOOD - The breakfast and lunch buffets (at either restaurant) left a LOT to be desired in terms of selection...again, based upon comparable all inclusive pckgs I've had. I did have 3 good dinners (two pork and one lamb). I chose the a la carte restaurants for dinner, not the buffet. I found the seafood to be consistently overcooked and very dry. Even at the 'regular' a la carte restaurants note that there are selections that require an incremental charge. Very annoying on an all-inclusive pckg. Note, the crab salad was also very good.

STAFF - As some previous posters have stated, there were a few folks that were good (Lisa in Docksider and one of the gals at the Service Desk who's name escapes me at this moment) to have working with the public but for the most part I found the staff to be inattentive and disinterested. I was rarely asked if I'd like a refill on a glass of water. My impression was that everything was an effort. The folks at the towel desk were asleep/napping (literally) whenever I was there to get a new towel. Now, I know what you're thinking...you get what you give...be nice and they'll be nice. Let me assure you I am and I was. Further, I am far from a demanding and arrogant traveler but, as a fellow traveler, I think you'd agree that there is an expectation of a minimum level of service.

PHONE SERVICE - note that direct calls to the US are expensive...as is the case in most of the Caribbean. ($31 for 5 or 6 minutes)

SPA - small but clean. I only had one service (gratefully)... an eye zone wrap, that involved placing cotton that had been soaked in ice water on my eyes for a whopping 10 mins for $25.

SPORTS - the tennis courts were plentiful and usually available. The fitness center was basic and very warm. I did not do water sports other than swimming but did not see that folks were frequently using the water sports equipment (wind surf, water ski) that was available. OH, and there is ESPN in the room so anyone traveling during the LCS or World Series...you'll have the scores and some of the games! : )

I did leave most of this info for the resort on the questionnaire they give you upon check-out. I'm sure there's more I could type here now but I feel like quite the grouch in typing all of this! I have posted some great reviews on Tripadvisor but felt like I needed to post this one as well.

Wishing you safe and happy travels.

What a fantastic Island. Friendly people, great surroundings and outstanding weather.

St James Club was well placed, with excellent staff and the service was second to none. We would return tomorrow given the chance.

Don't miss this great holiday. If you are travelling from the UK go with Virgin. Their service was fantastic and the Check-In and Chill-out option gave us an extra day on the beach with no hassel at the airport.

Having read some of the reviews shortly before departing on September 11, I was a bit worried, to say the least. So let me put my views out there on a few of the issues raised.

Location - On the south side of the island, about 35 minutes from St John's, but 5 minutes from English Harbour and Nelson's Dockyard. Taxis are expensive, so if you want to be mobile, you will definitely need to hire a car.

Beaches - pretty much as reported elsewhere, one beach on the Atlantic side, one on Mamora Bay, very calm. We spent our time on Mamora Bay and loved it. Plenty of shade under the coconut trees, no shortage of loungers, and the much maligned drinks cart was sufficiently frequent to keep our thirst at bay. Absolutely no hassle from the few locals selling their wares. Watersports were more than adequate, no problem with availability of equipment or tuition. I found Jody to be the most helpful of the watersports staff.

A note on scuba diving - we wanted to do the intro course and found that the dive centre on the complex was not keen and wanted us to take the full PADI course. So we found Aquanaut in English Harbour, paid much less and had a much better time. They have John's number from Aquanaut at Guest Services.

Food - No complaints. We were at the St James's Club on All Inclusive as opposed to the Beach Club and could eat at any of the restaurants (Piccolo Mondo at a $35 surcharge). We ate at all of them, a la carte on about 12 of the 14 nights. Piccolo Mondo is fine for a change, but we didn't feel it really merited the extra charge, when the Docksider was every bit as pleasant.

Drink - On the AI package, champagne by the glass, premium branded spirits, beer, wine, etc. We like our wine so we did splash out on a bottle of red from the list a few times, anything we tried from $18 up to $45 was nice.

Casino - it's small, but reassuringly so for the first-time or casual, low stakes gamblers like us. If you're used to Vegas style gambling, you might be disappointed, but the tables are there and the croupiers are very good.

Rooms - on the recommendation of another reviewer, I requested a refurbished, upper floor room before we left the UK. Accordingly, we ended up in the Poinciana building (close to everything) and had absolutely no complaints.

Service - I have a theory here. UK holidaymakers are used to a different level of service from our US counterparts. So we're not so surprised by the fairly laid back Caribbean attitude. The reality is that, whatever we asked for, it was delivered with a smile. The speed of service varied from a little slow to far too fast, depending on the restaurant/bar/night. But overall, taking into account the fact that you're on your holiday and you're not rushing to be anywhere else, as well as the fact that the heat demands a slightly slower pace, it was no problem. We left tips, which I assume is a little unusual for AI guests, but to be honest, I'm not sure it made any difference.

Swimming pools - Only spent any time at the main one by the reception block, but it was fab.

Facilities - Apart from the above, the tennis courts were always free, they showed recent movies on the one day it rained, you could borrow books, have a facial, there was nurse on site every day, you couldn't want for much more.

In summary, a very relaxing holiday, probably not for the party animals, but perfect for your average thirty somethings looking for a complete break.

So where do you start? From the beginning I suppose. We flew with Virgin in April 04 for two weeks staying at Beach Club St James. On the whole both in and out journeys were acceptable, kept mainly occupied with the in-flight entertainment and the occasional snooze (only to be awoken every 30 mins by annoucements that various people were going out there to get married....got a bit tedious after the 6th one).

Upon arriving at Antigua the immigration bit was a nightmare, however, walk out to the minibus and the holiday starts! Straight away you get the feel of Antigua, just driving through the small towns reveals what the true Antigua is all about.

Upon arrival at St James Beach Club, you are dropped off at their 'Shack' where you will be treated to your first taste of the famous rum punch. Then by buggy to your room. We stayed at the Mango Block on the ground floor, the room faced the Atlantic, it was clean, very spacious and well......adequate I suppose is a good word to use. We went all inclusive and this was the first time my partner and I had been to the Caribbean, bless her she was really excited! We arrived there early enough so we paid a visit to the beaches. I shall not harp on about what each beach offered, the reviews submitted do a good enough job of that.

When you stay at the Beach Club, your main eatery is CoCo's. It's good, you get what you want, if you don't like it you get something else, it was very simple. The breakfasts were nice, I ate too much of them.....and I am still paying the price! Lunch is good, again, you choose what you want, if its not right get something else.....there is more than one choice! The staff were good with us, we had very little difficulty in getting tables for the evening meal, if they were full when you got there.....you would just go and sit at the bar, have a drinky poo or two and the nice Manager would come and get you when a table was free. You will not suffer from dehydration, at your table, water is topped up as soon as the glass is empty. Entertainment is alright, a bit cheesy sometimes but Hey!......it puts a smile on your face. As already stated you get to eat at two of the other resort restaurants. If you feel really opulant you can splash out and pay more on top of what you've already paid for the AI, and have a feeding frenzy at the Picolo Mondo. We erred on the side of caution and decided against the idea as we were happy enough at CoCo's. As for eating at the other two (Rainbow/Beach Front), just don't make the mistake of banking on a lateish drink cause once the food is finished and the cleaning up is done they close down. Therefore no more drinks in there, CoCo's is shut on those nights so no more AI free drinks. The next and only available port of call is the Casino where you will have to pay for your drinks.....unless of course you are at the gambling tables, the drinks are free then. One way or another they have you by the short and curlies. We bumped into a very nice couple in the Rainbow one night and conversed madly, we would have liked to have stayed longer and drunk more of what we had already paid for, but the staff disappeared. Makes you kind of feel like the 'poor relations' as the guests at St James Club could carry on drinking freely at there own bar. Only 1030 pm....early night then? Good job there was a free bottle of rum waiting in our room with the cable TV.

For those thinking of taking children, theres not a lot to do after dark. Groups of teenagers who were actively seeking to avoid their parents at any cost could be seen wandering the resort at the dead of night, scenes a bit reminiscent of those that I went away on holiday to get away from. Sorry folks, no arcades or discos just plain old grown up type of stuff.

Anyway, I digress.....very humid there, especially at night so make sure that AirCon ticks over. if you are like me and have this strange attraction for mozzies, take and use the strong spray. I got a couple of hits, my fault entirely for inviting one back to the room and not killing it sooner. A five minute sweep of the room before sleeping does the trick and reapply spray after washing....it works! Don't make the mistake of looking for a well stocked shop, you won't find one. There is however, a small closet situated in the main complex foyer that does cater for those that want nothing. Very cool in there though. I believe that the management were contemplating siting a small supermarket amongst the villas, don't know if that has happened yet.

Please do go on the circumnavigation of the island aboard the 'Excellence' catamaran. Its well worth the money and you actually do get get to see how the other guests on the island live. A little vexxing to see that they do have white sand and very clear blue water, but in defence most seemed to have a main road running through them.....nasty! We hired a jeep for three days and that may well have been one of the best parts of the holiday. Not all that expensive and can be arranged through St James. Petrol is so cheap they almost give it away, and you can end up in some very strange parts of the island without even trying to get lost. May I add that driving at night is not to be recommended, if there was an alternative of chopping your left hand off, you may well consider it. Signposts and street lighting are pretty much sparse on most roads.

For those that have lost the will to live after reading this, may I just summarize and say.....you get what you pay for and St James Beach Club could perhaps offer that little bit more. But....please read the last paragraph as I think you should be made aware of one particular occurrence.

The beaches at this resort do have vendors who walk around with various items and expertise for sale. The beaches are not private, and if you are visiting now I only hope that one very sad individual is no longer allowed to trade there. Unfortunately, we witnessed an incident where this particular chap decided to commit a lewd act upon himself right there on the beach. This meant that I had to confront him and explain that this sort of behaviour was not acceptable and politely request that he go elsewhere and show off his filthy habit. Luckily, the guests, young and old nearby didn't cotton on to what had occured. Many thanks to the gentleman that 'assisted' me in getting my message across. I made the St James Duty Manager aware of what had happened straight away and to her credit did everything she could to redress the matter. Upon my return to the UK I quite rightly informed Virgin of the incident. After a anticipated wait I finally got a response from them stating that they would be asking St James to be 'extra vigilant' in future and that taking some course of action against this individual was not feasable. They concluded that they were sorry for what had happened and hoped that it would not deter me from booking with Virgin again.

Take from that what you will, I have my own thoughts on the way it was dealt with. I hope that security has been beefed up, but it does'nt hurt to be just that little more vigilant. I'd like to think that this was an isolated incident, but had I not bought it to the attention of those needing to know, if something more serious had occured in the future then I would have felt very disappointed with myself.

So apart from that, would I go back to Antigua? No I would not, because I've seen pretty much all of the island and its time to move on. I really fancy St Lucia next.