We recently spent 3 nights at Cocobay. The stay was the final leg of a Caribbean island hopping trip. This was the only all-inclusive resort that we stayed in - the idea being that we wanted to take it easy after 2 1/2 weeks of travelling.

First impressions were shocking. The lead receptionist had no ‘knowledge’ of our telephone booking. Apparently all bookings ‘have’ to be made by this particular receptionist (not sure what happens then when she has a day off - or maybe we were unfortunate enough to find out).

Reservation errors however can and are regularly made throughout the world which is just one of those things and something that regular travellers expect to occasionally happen. What you don’t expect as a willing paying customer however is to be branded a liar and be frog-marched to the nearest computer and asked to provide evidence of your booking. We really couldn’t believe the attitude of this woman – especially when there were spare rooms at the resort readily available for us to be offered.

Bad start and it certainly left a bad taste in the mouth (compiled by the cheap rum punch that we’d been handed on arrival). As for the hotel itself – we were reluctantly handed a sea view cottage. The view is indeed very attractive. The room didn’t have air con although we didn’t find this much of a problem as the ceiling fan was quite effective. The room was adequate for our needs although the vast bathroom could have been better utilised as living space. The infinity style pool was very shallow but likewise most attractive. Just outside the hotel is a beach – fairly average by Caribbean standards but certainly acceptable.

Aesthetics aside the resort doesn’t really deserve to call itself a resort. Watersports equate to a kayak and a couple of sail boats. There didn’t seem to be much in the way of entertainment and there is nothing outside of the grounds of the hotel. This was our first encounter with the world of all-inclusive hotels so we don’t have anything else to benchmark the food by. Breakfast was undoubtedly the best meal provided. Both breakfast and lunch were buffet style offerings. Dinner was disappointing. Firstly guests are required to book a time – you soon realise this has to be done early in the morning to get a decent time. Portions were tiny by anyone’s standards. What grated us most though was the tightness of the place. All inclusive drinks could only be obtained from the bar – not even from the restaurant when having meals. Drinks from the bar came in ridiculously small glass sizes. Where else do you get beer in quarter pint size glasses? Obviously they are hoping that constant refilling will deter guests from returning to the bar but surely this is the wrong way to impress guests spending their holiday time at the resort.

As other reviewers have mentioned be very aware of the insects at Cocobay. Mosquito’s are found throughout the Caribbean but they appear to be particularly keen on Cocobay. There are some large ponds behind the hotel which may have something to do with it but either way that seemed to be what most guests were talking about a lot of the time. There really were some bad sights with bodies decimated by bites. Finally the resort seemed to be a bit of a chav hangout. Without trying to sound snobbish Adidas tracksuit trousers and large tattoos seemed to be the order of the day.

In summary, maybe we were unlucky during our stay but there just seemed to be too many negatives to make it all be a coincidence. Cocobay has a really nice outlook but I’m sure most other resorts in Antigua do as well. This view gets a lot less attractive though when you add in constant attention from mosquitos, the rudest receptionist in the Caribbean and kid sized glasses from the bar.

We just returned from a week in Antigua. Our first three nights we stayed at Cocobay in an Seafront room (our last four nights were at Hermitage Bay). This resort is a very nice resort, however, it is not a luxury resort. The prices are also however not those of a luxury resort. It was a very good resort for the prices they charge.

The seafront rooms all now have air conditioning, however there was an extra $10/night charge for the air conditioning as they said the room prices do not include air conditioning yet. This seems like a reasonable cost for added comfort. The seafront rooms are in the process of getting plunge pools, however, as only three of them appear to be finished, I doubt they will all be done by their goal of the end of December. The rooms are basic, but clean, and they had a hammock and nice view (what else do you really need).

The food service was ok. Breakfast and lunch were buffet, and not very good buffets at that. Dinner was better. Most days they served a nice dinner, however one night they also had a buffet (again, not a very good buffet).

The beach was nice, and never too crowded. They provided some watersport activities, but the watersports attendant was the one person on staff whom we were not very impressed with. I think he would have rathered we didn't bother him during his day on the beach.

The grounds of the resort were very nice and well maintained. Flowers were, of course, in bloom everywhere, and birds and small lizards were everywhere.

Overall we had a good time at this resort. The concierge was great and helped us plan our diving trip (we used Jolly Dive, and they were very good). Again, Cocobay is not, in my opinion, a luxury resort, however the prices are very good for what you get.

Having read the 2 reviews below, I and my partner could not agree more with them!

We all probably stayed at around the same time, as my partner and I got back 2 days ago and witnessed the same.

This place is far too quiet for anybody, if you want to travel 4000 miles to sit in a Caribbean library with a pool and ONE small bar surrounded by chavs and do nothing, then this is the place for you,
why do they travel this far and pay over the odds to sit on their backsides, pay £199 for Benidorm, bargain!!!

There is NO entertainment apart from watching the track suited bottomed, gold chained, baseball cap wearing brigade getting bladdered on the watered down beer, YES it is watered down as are the soft drinks, all you Stella and Kroni drinkers out there beware of the beer as it is like half a fosters mixed with lemonade and you would get drunk easier by drinking gone off apple juice.
The location is spectacular, with views that most resorts could dream of and like the two reviews below we looked at the pictures and rave reviews, but the views is all you are paying for as you will find out. You have to ask for drinks, if you are sitting in the quiet lobby area DO NOT expect staff to come along and fill you glass up, you don’t ASK you DON’T get in the resort, if you have stayed in other resorts you will know that this is not the norm as they would never leave your glass empty.
Sit perched at the bar and you will get drinks, more than 4 people and the bar is a tight squeeze, the drinks DO come in small cups for take away (similar size to a tea machine cup) and in small whisky type glasses for staying. Our advice is order soft drinks with no ice as they come out chilled anyway and with the ice you will get half a cup. There is no beach bar, so if you are like us and like to walk around on the beach swim in the sea then to get a drink you will have to walk up a series of steps, through reception, up another load of steps weave in and out of the gold chains and baseball caps and eventually to the bar, then get your drink and walk back down, by the time you get back you probably finished the drink. .
I suggest going onto the valley church beach or the beach round the other side of the Fryers beach, these two are deserted and much better (well worth the extra walk)
The main beach is not very good due to some coral which limits some access and is infested with dodgy tour reps selling you catamaran trips, one guy called “Wesley” will even go into the resort bar area unapproached and hassle the guests while they sit and drink at the bar, we was amazed the hotel let this happen ? Book trips with the hotel you will get your money back if you cant make the trip .

The FOOD !!!!
Normally you would think to make the most of your holiday being all inclusive, WRONG here they make the most of YOU being all inclusive. The ala carte portions are tiny (see pictures), you get about 3 starters 3 mains and 3 deserts to choose from, and they are all small, you get a big plate with a bit of food in the middle,you can order other food on the right hand side of the menu but you have to pay, ironically we saw a couple who ordered off the menu and they got a lobster meal which looked more the ticket, but you have to pay 18.50 USD for it, now you can see what I am talking about ?
The buffet is so small and is cramped into a small corner, where the guests line up quietly with their plates like school dinners. We called it the buffet bundle as they did not top up the food much, and once it went it was not replaced much, there was a chef at the end of the buffet who would ready cook some meat (normally fish) who im my opinion was there to regulate the portions,as I asked for two peices (small fillets) of sea trout and she said no as only enough for one per guest !!
Our advice is that you use the breakfast and lunch buffets to fill yourself up as the Ala Carte would struggle to feed anybody , the earlyer you get to the buffets the better as you get the best choice of food, I would also book your table early as well as you seem to get the better service. If you sit in an area with male waiters, you are in luck, if female I am sorry to say they did not look interested and the male waiters were friendly and kind ,they were not. (thanks to Sheddi,Rennie,and Jermaine)

The rooms carry a good view ,the sea view have no air con and the fan is OK ,but this will not deter the Mossy’s, the seafront have aircon and some have plunge pools that carry a closer view to the sea (please note you cannot enter the sea from your seafront room unless you're Eddie the eagle and want to jump) . The shower areas get flooded as there is a small lip to pool the water, however this is not enough and your shower area will be very wet and slippy, also in our room (14) we had two single beds pushed together and then dressed like a double.

The courtesy room was a dump, not cleaned out for a very long time, the shower head produced two drips of spray, it was not a room, it was a hut made out of cane and reeds (YES IT WAS)

We did a lot of trips, and we saw Antigua and how nice it is which we recommend as this saved our holiday, in the end we used Cocobay as place to eat,drink,and sleep and was happy to leave.

I will be posting some videos for the more positive side of Coco Bay

We will be going to Galley Bay next time we visit Antigua, do not take the risk with this resort !

As we approached the hotel, I tried to stifle a snicker as I thought that we had arrived at the resort of the other occupants of the taxi. Wiped the smile off my face when I realised it was ours though. However once in the resort you dont really see the quarry and area of scrubland leading up to it and in my opinion the grounds were well kept and attractive.

Its true the "huts" don't all have air conditioning, sea views ( from what I could tell the lower the number of your hut the more likely this was, with 1,2,3,4,5 being waterfront) or a newly refurbished bathroom, but the fact that I wouldn't have known this if it were not for trip advisor is the fault of the tour operator's "salesmanship" in my opinion not the hotel.

The hut I stayed in was typical of most (standard room) and was basic, but comfortable and clean, with a large bed, hanging area and cupboard, and a small fridge.

All the huts had a veranda with a couple of chairs and a hammock , and due to the incline of the land and way in which the huts were positioned they all seemed quite private and were not overlooking someone else

The mosquito net over our bed was in a poor state of repair, but again due to trip advisor we foresaw this problem and had pegs for the holes.

Being aware of the insects that bite plays a big part in enjoying your stay . There were alot of people with alot of bites ! Repellant containing higher concentrations of "deet" appears to work well at stopping this, though I made the mistake of forgetting to spray hands and feet.

The majority of staff I found to be very friendly, in paticular the reception staff and cleaning staff and the lady who cooks all the eggs every morning with the patience of a saint (some one really needs to give her an assistant).

Service in the restaurant was slow, I think largely because every night you had to book yourself in at half hourly intervals, for ease of processing I guess, however it never opened on time, or even close to it so there was always back log that they couldn't quite catch up with.

Ive read other reviews referring to the eye rolling and sighing when you ask for something and would have to agree that this does sometimes happen at the simplest of polite requests. However it was not the norm and was exclusive to one or two members of female restaurant staff.

The food at breakfast is varied and good with assorted cereals, pastries, breads, fruit as well as bacon, eggs, pancakes etc.
Lunch is a little limited in choice and imagination though adequate, eg breaded fish & pasta, chicken and salad.

Dinner is limited in choice - normally three differant main dishes to choose from - but of a high quality and well presented.
You can pay an extra $18 US for lobster , steak or shrimp.
Portion sizes at dinner are small, you get very nicely presented portions of "posh nosh" , and whatever you order won't be coming with any side dish of vegtables or potato's unless you ask.

The bar, restaurant and pool areas were clean and well kept with great views across the bay.

Just one thing that they've really really let themselves down on is the courtesy room. Thats the room you get to use to freshen up/wash when you've been turfed out of yours but have a few hours left until your taxi comes, ie the very last thing you will see of the hotel and the basis of your final impression.... dirty shed.

Overall I liked it because of its small size, location, quiteness and precisely because the staff's attitude was friendly yet casual.