My husband and I travel twice a year to the Caribbean for vacation. We are pretty laid back, easy to please, and like to think that we're reasonable. My review of this hotel is honest and fair.

Wedding: My fiance and I got married on November 20, 2008 at this resort. The wedding is free if you book an oceanview room or higher. The hotel did a pretty good arranging the wedding. We wanted a really low key, quick and painless event, which is pretty much what we got. They decorated the ceremony area (although if you choose the beach for the ceremony, there WILL be people sun tanning all around you). The Minister Vaughan was great. Novella the wedding coordinator is friendly enough.
It costs $250 for 30 of your favourite 4x6 pictures which they give you the next day. The photographer didn't appear to like her job, and I don't think she was a professional photographer. They only give you the hard copies of your photos, not on a cd....that costs $100 more!

My husband's birthday fell on a day we were there, and we also filled out the form upon check in that advised them we were celebrating his birthday. The day came and went, and they did not acknowledge his birthday. We don't care, but what's the point of asking you if you're celebrating something while you're there if they don't intend on acknoweldging it?

Rooms: We stayed in a beachfront room, closest to the ocean. These rooms are smaller and older than the ocean front rooms. If you want to stay in beach front, ask for the rooms nearest the restaurant as these rooms have a private patio, unlike the rooms near the shops at the other end of the resort.
Water pressure was average as long as you weren't showering between 5 and 7 pm, in which case it trickles out and nearly stops flowing altogether.
We heard lots of people having toilet clogging problems while we were there, although this didn't happen to us. The maids did do a good job cleaning the room. But don't expect any animal shaped towels on your bed or chocolates under your pillow!
There is no bar fridge in the rooms, and they do not provide bottled water, which is a bit annoying. When we first arrived in the room, there were no towels whatsoever, but they brought some as soon as I called the front desk. We also borrowed an ironing board and iron, which both looked like they were purchased in the 1980's.

Food: Food was sometimes average, sometimes very good. We didn't like the Pineapple Grill much, and preferred the Topaz Restaurant which is buffet some nights, and a la carte on others. There were only 3 desserts available at the Topaz every night, a cherry tart, some cream puff things, and some mocha flavoured cake. I enjoyed the breakfasts, there were lots of choices, omelettes, eggs, bacon, sausage, french toast, pancakes, yogourt, cereal, etc.
The soups tended to be quite good, the chicken was good, but beef was kinda odd and had a different flavour. They also served quite a bit of fish and goat meat which my husband enjoyed.
The birds do fly around constantly and land on people's tables and eat their food at the Topaz. So if you plan on leaving your table unattended, cover up your glass! The little birds especially love drinking the orange juice.
Not a good selection of fresh fruit, they even served canned pears and peaches which seemed strange.
We didn't like how you had to book your dinner reservations daily with the front desk. You can only book one day in advance, and it's not clear which restaurant is open on which day. There really are only 2 restaurants, the Topaz open air restaurant, and the Pineapple Grill which is near the reception. I never starved, and some nights I thought the food was really great...it was kind of hit and miss.

Service: The culture in this resort is that people don't tend to tip the servers. In some resorts that we have been to, tipping is necessary to get good service, but here it didn't seem to make a difference, so hardly anyone tipped.
the service was average, no one really went out of their way to serve us or anyone else from my observations. The female waitresses didn't seem to have any sense of humour and sometimes acted as though you were irritating them if you asked them for something. There were quite a few occasions that we had to get up and get our own coffee in the morning as they never brought us any, even after we asked!
Service at the bar was ok. They did have some premium brands available. They had Red Stripe and their own local beer on tap.
They make their frozen cocktails with a mix, no fresh fruit.
The staff's attitude seemed to be very apathetic. Things to buy at the gift shop and the shops along the beach are very expensive. $18-25 for a t-shirt, $15 for a mug, etc. They don't really barter, and don't seem to care much if you walk away without buying anything. The locals appear to make a pretty good living and aren't desperate for your money.
The lobby is very small and open air. There are only 2 desks with workers, so if people are checking in or out, you will wait.

Beware the tour reps on the beach....we got scammed by 'Marvellous Marvin' from Excellence tours, who told us we would get steak and lobster and fish on the Barbuda tour, which turned out to be chicken or fish. He also lied about the steel drum band (there wasn't one), snorkelling (there wasn't any), and champagne on the catamaran...you guessed it, there wasn't any! Barbuda is a beautiful island, but try to avoid the Excellence tour operator, use Adventure Antigua instead.

The resort is small so it's easy to get from one part to the other without getting tired. There were security guards around all of the time, just standing around. They do have internet access in a room near the reception, and it costs $6 U.S for 30 minutes. The room opened late as did the gift shop. You can't pay cash at the gift shop, they charge everything to your room.

I think that about covers it, if you have specific questions, feel free to email me!

Just returned from a week stay Novemeber 24th. Having stayed over the past 15 years @ 5 all inclusives thru Panama, Columbia, Mexico and Cuba (3 different ) must say the GP is the worst experience my wife and I have had. A 4 star THIS IS NOT. A 3 star in Columbia was far superior to the NOT SO Grand Pineapple. First on the plus side found the GP had a fanatastic Beach. They offer sail boards, Hobie Cats and Snorkle equipment at no extra cost. Great northeast exposure looking out onto the Atlantic Ocean so you may see some big surf ride the beach from time to time. Great for Sunrise but unfortunately the hills obscure the sunset. Nothing like Caribe' Sunsets to make ones day. You will have to taxi down to Shirely Heights to get a good view of the sun setting. The live music preformances were of good quality. We especially enjoyed the "Hells Gate Steel Band" which played on Saturday night.

Our Ocean view room was newer and in much better condition than the older contructed Ocean front rooms. I learned this from a couple who had spent the first three nights in an Oceanview because the hotel had ben over booke by a fair number.

Mary's Outpost was the best place to eat, though rustic very much abundant in charm. The BBQ ribs, chicken, beans, even hot dogs in a tortilla were delicious. Eating lunch's @ Mary's remains our fondest memories. But it takes much more than Mary's marvelous upbeat demeanor to make up for the dreadful and unacceptable shortfalls of this all inclusive.

The food @ Buffet and Topaz Al A Carte was passable but not 4 star or even 3.5 quality. If you don't book early each day (1 day advance booking manadatory) for the next day's dinner you will likley be given a 9:00 pm seating. Beware that many items such as jerk chicken will be un available for the late seatings. All fish dishes during the week tasted as if the fish had been frozen for long periods. The carving table of lamb and roast beef was sliced so thin by staff you can almost see thru it. You will get two thin slices and don't dare ask for a little more. At least the pasta station prepared as you wait was willing to provide an average portion.

The staff we were told has been reduced. They must now work harder to make up for the shortfall. Some staff indicated that because many visitors are on 2 for 1 packages out of UK that management feels cutbacks can be made with no complaints. Well we paid top dollar and received sub standard experiences. The fine dining al a carte menu in the Pineapple Grill was not up to date. Some advertised items had been removed from the kitchen some time back yet was still on the menu. The staff thru not fault of there is little help in deciding what to choose of the menu. The policy of the Hotel is that staff cannot taste the food so they are helpless in provideing advice. I had the Paella that advertised seafood yet only found one sliver of imitation crab, not shellfish. Definetly not Paella nor even tasting like. My wife's marinated strip lion was tough as leather thankfully only 1/2 inch thick, made for great beef jerky.

Most packages at the GP were are told will have a built in tip charge. Unfortunately some staff indicated they see none. They were surprise that the word is out that the hotel has a no tip policy. Please tip for good service. Sandals is a big corportation who may be working very hard to beat the bottom line.

The better brands like Bacardi and Stoli are substituded with the lesser brands like Cavalier after the happy hour pre dinner drink period. The bar closes around 11 so you must trek up to the Pineapple Bar to get drinks. In most cases people will probably forgo the walk and pass on getting a drink. Funny though because the snack bar opens form 11pm to 1:30 pm an it is located right behinfd the closed Piano Bar.

Safety isof real concern. In light of the reported B&E tragedy in April was surprised to find one area of security lacking. In our case prior to dinner, we were reading on the bed @ 6pm when someone tried to enter our room. We had locked the door and had security latch in place. Yet somone had our room key. I yelled and immediately called Guest Services. I was informed that I could walk up to the office and make a complaint. I suggested this was a serious breach of security. That the most prudent action would be for us to stay in our rooom locked until security could attend. The security manager did visit 20 minutes later. Long after the purpatrator had disappeared. Cleaning staff had long left for the day. Never did get an explanation nor follow up.

When you check in the admission form ask is there any special dates. We indicated a rather significant annivesary. Never heard another word as the day came and went. Probably just another way of collecting personal information.

We take no pride nor pleasure in this honest evaluation as I know their can be fallout repreccussions for the staff. Jobs are hard to come by in Antigua. But in fairness to Trip Advisor viewers who use this service to plan vacations must call it the way we see it.

Will never return to the NOT SO Grand Pineapple but will return to Antigua for all it's beauty!

Arrived home yesterday after 2 great weeks at the Grand Pineapple Beach hotel

I was slightly worried about all the different reviews that I had read but we had a great time.

Yes the hotel is needing updated but it is nothing worse than I have seen on other holidays.

Apart from the first night we arrived, the food was really good. Good choice in the mornings for breakfast, husband Derek and friend John hit the snack bar at lunchtime whilst Anita and I went to the Topaz for buffet lunch. Needed to keep the weight down somehow. Enjoyed the speciallity nights at the Topaz. Book the Pineapple Grill when you can, meals were really good. We all had steaks one night which we had to pay $30 extra each but they were worth it. Cooked to how you like them.

The beach was fantastic, lots of sun beds available and not over crowded.

We went on quite a few trips. The canapy tour was good but exhausting. Had to do 9 zip lines and then we did the challenge course. The challenge course isn't suitable for everyone. I nearly didn't do it but one of the rangers helped me at each step. Big round of applause at the end from my family and rangers. The sunset cruise was really good, the crew made the night. We did the circumnavigation tour of the island by boat. Very good and I can honestly say the beach at the Grand Pineapple is the best. We actually dropped people off at the end of the tour on the beach and there is no comparison.

We went to Shirley Heights on the first Sunday. We were all quite disappointed. Not really what I expected. Steel band went on a bit too long but the reggae group was good.

We booked the taxi to Shirley Heights via reception. The driver home Austin gave us his card. Any other taxis needed were booked direct with him or his wife Emily. Good value for money and really friendly people.

We did have a negative experience when we went to St John's to change money. Stood in a queue for 45 minutes to only discover the bank didn't change travellers cheques to US or EC dollars. The bank you need to go to is on the corner before the open air market. We also were only allowed a certain amount of US dollars.

Overall we had a brilliant time and I would certainly go back. If you like beach holidays and want a really relaxing time, the Grand Pineapple is for you

We spent 10 days at Grand Pineapple in May 2008.Beautiful beach ,very sad rooms,The food was average but most of all the staff tend to favor the Brits.Even though we made the required reservations for dinner each day they somehow got lost and then were chastised about that .Most of the staff were okay but alot were very rude.There was a problem with a theft in a room next to ours
which was disturbing and also a man beating his wife .We tried to call for help but our room phone didn't work.There was no apology from the resort.I carried around everything that was important to us for the remainder of the trip.Those little safes do not deter a thief.The island is beautiful....the harbour magical.But we wouldn't recomend this hotel for americans.