Not bad at all - small apartment type accommodation with basic kitchen. Balcony (in the upstairs apartments) and pool, all clean and everything worked. Quiet and relaxed with nice garden.

No restaurant onsite but plenty by the beach (The Beach bar/restaurant does great food and good value).

There is a walk down to the beach but the extra you'd have to pay for a room at the Rex, Sandals or the other beachfront places (double or more) doesn't seem worth it unless you can't manage a 5 minute walk up a fairly steep hill.

We went to Antigua for the house-warming party of friends who have built their own house near Dickinson Bay, so we didn't want the whole resort package with meals and drinks. We booked an apartment at Dickinson Bay cottages (once part of the Rex Halcyon hotel nearby) with crossed fingers and figured that our friends were nearby if it wasn't nice, but it has turned out to be one of the best holidays we can remember. The accommodation was very clean and well thought out, with a 'welcome pack' of essentials in the kitchen, air conditioning (essential!), plenty of storage space for cases etc., daily cleaning included, cable TV (mostly American), outside table and chairs on your own little area, as well as a decent pool (underused), and beautifully-kept gardens. You could get by without a car, as the lovely Dickinson Bay beach is a 5 minute walk through the Rex Halcyon grounds and there are a few restaurants within walking distance - keep walking along the beach to the Coconut Grove! We had a car for our stay and would recommend that if you want to see any of the island. Otherwise, you could pick up a taxi at the Rex Halcyon pretty much any time for trips to other parts. Other comments on this site about the roads in Antigua are valid, but don't let it put you off - once you get the hang of it, they're not too bad and 30miles an hour comes to seem fast! Parking at the cottages is not great - just a pull-off at the side of the road with some scary erosion! There is a good supermarket ('Epicurean') just a five minute drive away.

We loved Antingua, and Dickinson Bay Cottages were great for us.

We, a couple, stayed for 8 nights December-January. The location is fine (with a car), good restaurants within easy reach, the quality of the accommodation is comfortable, modern and well kept. We could have had (and were having) a great time until the arrival of two brat families from Bristol, England - the brats were the fathers and the children. I didn't know adults could behave so badly and encourage the children to be noisy and disruptive. The plot was to drive others away from the pool. They largely succeeded and the management did absolutely nothing about it - they were permanently invisible. So you could have a good time at a pleasant venue but as the units take families and there no on site management don't risk unless you have boisterous kids too. For us the holiday was ruined.

Dickenson Bay Cottages (DBC) are budget loft-style apartments which are a five minute walk to Dickenson Bay, one of the nicer beaches in Antigua. We loved the location, the pool (usually empty of people), the full kitchens, and the air conditioning. The hotel was quiet when we there, with the one exception when the sailors descend on DB at the beginning of Sailing Week. The staff were nice and helpful. Be warned that you need to park your car on the street, the fridge in the kitchen is tiny, and the kitchen is somewhat understocked with cooking utensils and dishware. Further, there is no alarm clock, the cable tv had static and a broken remote, and the internet connection is dial up.

Antigua is very beautiful, but has its fair share of problems. The airport is a disaster. They should follow the example of Barbados or Aruba, which have great modern airports. ANU is not air conditioned, and badly needs renovation (witness the missing tiles in the ceiling with exposed electrical wires). Lines are long and tempers are short in busy times. There are few signs on the roads in Antigua , and roads have dangerous potholes. We tried to avoid driving at night for the latter reason. Stray dogs roam St John's and the beaches, and there is quite visible poverty in the city and smaller towns. Having said that, the people are friendly and helpful, and the beaches are as good or better than other islands we visited in the Lesser Antilles (eg St Martin, St Kitts). Restaurants are good but not too plentiful due to the all inclusives. Montserrat is a great day trip, although the situation there is sad since the volcano is still active and the economy is stressed. The only wat to get to Montserrat now is by plane, since the ferry was discontinued.

DBC is a good choice if you don't want to blow your budget on a generic all inclusive. There are a number of expensive resorts on the south west side of the island, each of which charging between 4 to 6 times the cost of DBC (even in low season!). We spent most of our vacation touring the island, visiting the endless beaches, so a fancy resort was not important to us. This is why we give this resort an above average rating and would likely return.