My wife and I have just spent 2 weeks at coco bay to celebrate our silver wedding aniversary, and we loved every minute of our stay, The
food was superb and and the staff all very helpful, david on the bar was a real charmer and will mix any drink you like.

The beaches are fantastic, after breakfast walk the main beach and go round the headland past Dennis bar to the next beach it is stunning and mostly deserted.

Also if you feel like a bit of sightssing have a word with JJ the taxi driver at the hotel, we hired him for the day 80 US Dollars and had a fantastic time taken all around the island, He knows all the best places to eat and drink and is a mine of information.

We had no problems with insect bites as we took vitamin B each day, and the long trousers in the evening help keep the mosis at bay.
Arrived back in england to the floods, so we cant wait to get back to
coco bay next year.

I thought i would write pluses and minuses to Cocobay...

Positives

1. Great beaches. Can't go wrong. Endless turquoise waters.
2. Great food. Unfortunately not completely Caribbean, but tasty.
3. Great rooms. Has all you need: Fly screens on windows, windows for the breeze to cool you, in-room ceiling fan for added breeze, and fly net around your bed.
4. End of September has a great climate. A few showers in the morning, but this is to be expected and a nice break from the hot sun.
5. We barely had any bugs!! (but the season before the rains started was apparently very dry avoiding any bug offspring)
6. Staff was very friendly.
7. An on site spa! Have an hour massage with Judith you won't regret it. Best view when you look out.
8. Very clean and well kept property with amazing views of the coast.
9. Clean beach towels when you want them, snorkels and fins and a hobie cat to sail are all included.
10. Booked last minute (we literally found this place and booked it the day before) and we got a great deal and could spend our savings on many other things to do. You name it and the vendors will get it done for you. DON"T FORGET TO NEGOTIATE EVERYTHING!!!

Negatives
1. Eventhough we got used to it... Men must wear pants for dinner in 80+ degree heat. And we didn't know this until we got there!! We recommend wide linen pants from the men. Don't buy them at the on-site boutique. They cost a whopping US$85!!! Ask them about the dinner dress code.
2. Sunday party on one of the close by beaches. There is a very loud and powerful base booming when you are trying to go to sleep. (of course we were asleep by 9pm every night!)
3. The pina colada machine broke down a lot. And they were really good!
4. Cabanas are really close together. You almost can hear the person next door talking.
5. During our 6 day stay... They ran out of towels twice. So get your towels the night before or early in the morning.
6. Meals were very good, but don't expect a large choice of local fish and cuisine. Our stay, they didn't serve any fresh mangoes or papaya, usually a highlight of my caribbean vacation!

ALL IN ALL
We would recommend this place 100%. We usually rough it at eco resorts, but it was nice to come to a place that has electricity all night long. Hot and cold water whenever you needed it and a really nice choice of beaches so that we could do nothing, but had the choice to do anything we wanted to: scuba, sailing, island tours, horseback riding, rainforest hikes etc. Antigua is an undiscovered gem.

Just back from a week at this great hotel my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed our stay here. Having stayed at all standard of hotels worldwide including many 5/6 star we found Cocobay exactly what we expected.

This hotel seems to get some mixed reviews and I think all it depends on what your expectations are before you arrive. If you are looking for a large luxurious anonymous hotel with plush carpets and air-con everywhere ….. go to Sandals ……. If you are looking for a small , intimate , friendly hotel with great food and service in the most beautiful location in Antigua ……. Go to Cocobay.

With approx 25 individual rooms out in the well maintained gardens the hotel (with max 25 couples) never seems to appear busy . The rooms although basic are adequate with the most fantastic views , extremely large comfortable beds and clean bathroom/shower with great views. Being a huge fan of air-con I was worried about rooms with no air-con however found room was excellent overnight using the ceiling fan and used the floor standing fan when required at times. (September is the hot season).

We also read mixed reports regarding the restaurant however we found the food excellent and any reports written regarding small portions and poor service totally unfounded. If you want pizza , fries , chicken & ribs do not come here if you want quality food well served this will suit. Breakfast and lunch are buffet style with the iced water/wine glasses being kept well topped up. Dinner is 4 course served at the table and service is superb with the staff being very friendly and good fun if guests take the time to speak properly with them. As I enjoy my wine I was worried that the quality or service of the wine would be inadequate , however I thoroughly enjoyed the quality and at dinner each night enjoyed at least 1 - 1 ½ bottles as my glass was never less than half full.

Regarding insect bites we found that using good quality repellent properly meant that both my wife and I had only one bite each and that being sensible with the room ,like not sitting with the doors open and lights on when dark meant our room was insect free.

Location of the hotel is probably best on island and not miles from everywhere it is 5 mins by taxi and only a 15min walk along the beach to Jolly Beach/Harbour (ask the reception on best route)… it is also only 1 1/2 Km to Darkwood and Turners beach .

The overall appearance of the resort is great. We had a sea view room with a big balcony what had 2 deck chairs and a hammock. The chalet itself was bigger than i thought and the bed was big enough for 3. The mosquito net over the bed had holes in it though. Mini fridge in room so able to keep things cool. Bathroom is your bog standard - loo, sink and shower. The rooms were always cleaned by the time we got back from our days out and clean towels in the room

On our first full day there, there were no clean towels for the pool/beach, so we had to wait over an hour, despite the promise that they were only 5mins away.

Despite being an all-inclusive resort, if you don't fancy anything on the menu for dinner, you have to pay for the supplementary meals - which seems a bit of a joke, when we'd already paid for food??!!!

The soft drinks at the bar were watered down and didn't even have any orange juice on a couple of occasions.

The friendliness of the staff is quite hit and miss at times.

No air con or ceiling fan in the restaurant

As we went in low season, the hotel wasn't packed, but when it is, the pool area would be packed. Not a lot of room round the pool anyway and loungers always got bagged by folk putting their towels on them, even if they went out on tours in the morning.

An average sort of place, but think we paid too much for the service we got.