We spent a week at Carlisle Bay (CB) over the Easter period. One of the biggest concerns I had about CB were reports about the number of young children at the hotel. Our experience was that there were quite a few young children but that they were generally very will behaved. There are 3 main areas where problems could have arisen. 1) The beach. Segregation solved this. Couples migrated to one end and families at the other. 2) The pool. We didn’t use this but walked past it at least twice a day. There were a few children there, but most people preferred the beach. 3) The dining areas. The only time I noticed the children was at breakfast, and as I said at the start for the most part they were well behaved. We didn’t experience any problems at lunchtime or during the evening in either of the restaurants (but usually ate in East, which was the more formal of the 2). The hotel has successfully managed the difficult task of satisfying young families, couples and older residents looking for peace and quiet.

The rooms are great, if you like minimalism, which we do. Very large and comfortable with all the facilities you would expect. The only criticisms that I would have are the lack of cupboard space in the main bedroom (I think this is only a problem in the suites, which are 2 bedrooms) and the price of any items from the minibar –USD5 for a can of coke is ridiculous in my opinion, but solved by heading out of the hotel and buying drinks, snacks, etc from the shops nearby – turn left at the entrance an head in the direction of Curtain Bluff. One of the advantages (amongst many) of this resort is that it is relatively small and therefore you don’t have to walk too far to use any of the facilities. Another advantage is that informality rules – bare feet or flip flops and shorts were the order of the day at Indigo for breakfast and lunch. Most people dressed up a bit more for dinner though, but it wasn’t a requirement.

We used the gym and tennis courts every day. Gym is well equipped and hardly used. There are 9 very good tennis courts and tennis pros available. My wife had a couple of massages which she said were very good, but expensive. One of the biggest problems with CB is that it is expensive. The headline price for a basic massage is USD120, for an hour. Add to this the 10% service charge and 10.5% sales tax which means that the true cost is just under USD150. My wife goes to a famous spa in Mayfair which is considerably cheaper. It’s not really a problem, but it is better to be aware of it. I was under the impression from the website that there was a dive shop on site. It’s not a shop, but an office. A boat arrives, morning and afternoon, with the gear to take you out. However, because of this they can only take about 10 divers per trip, and they pick up from other hotels as well. My advice is book by email well in advance. And again be aware of the cost – 2 dives with taxes USD180. The guys on the boat were great though.

The restaurants were pretty good – not superb, but better than average. Our pick was East – Asian fusion. Nice room, good food and very pleasant service. We only had one meal outside the hotel – Catharines Café in English harbour. Simple food, beautifully cooked. (Check on the opening times as it’s not open every day, or every evening).

We were impressed with the hotel’s management. They greeted us (and everyone else) on arrival and were also there when we left. They were also highly visible throughout the stay. Staff were competent and for the most part pleasant, but some of them haven’t mastered smiling yet. Initially this came across as being rude, but I think is more shyness and by the end of the week they were a lot more friendly.

When we first arrived we thought that the place was a bit soulless, ie: it could have been a resort anywhere sunny. I think that this may be true of Antigua generally. It doesn’t have the cultural identity of South East Asia or even the Middle East. However, as the week progressed we enjoyed the hotel more and more and would be very happy to return and to recommend it to others.

We just returned from a week at Carlisle Bay, Antigua. The staff was amazing - true service w/ a smile and no tips expected.

The food was very good - there is something for everyone on the menus. My husband had a wonderful beef dish at East. We have never found good beef in the Caribbean, so it was a real treat. The eggs benedict in the morning was outstanding along w/ the fresh made pastry and mango jam -yum.

The rooms were just ok - kind of tired. The grey color scheme was a bit boring and drab and the TV was an old small one - no flat screens here which at over 1K a night , I would expect better. We had some problems with the in room coffee machine and they immediately replaced it with a smile. THe shower pressure is terrible but they have a nice tub.

Our biggest complaint was the amount of small children swarming about the resort. You cant use the pool because there is always a new Mom trying to teach her child to swim and spash - nice! and in the late afternoon they all come out to swim so forget a relaxing lap in the pool. The children in the restaurant - another issue - The resort has no enforced restricitons on children in the restaurants, in the evening , it was a real challenge to have a relaxing romantic dinner w/ kids clanking their silverware and fine crystal glasses - quite annoying. The staff is too nice to request the Parents mind their manners.

Overall, it was a wonderful location w/ a lot of visitors from Europe - not so many americans. We felt the cost was way too high for the offering. $500 a night would be worth it. As expected in the islands the food was very expensive as were all beverages. They offer a dinner plan for $70/pp I would recommend it.


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My wife and I plus our two year old twins had a wonderful stay in Carlisle Bay in Nov, 2007. The Carlisle Bay isn't cheap but it was a special occasion and we splashed out. I travel a lot with work and am used to a high level and standard of service and also not having to pay for it! Therefore having to fork out my own hard-earned cash on something as ephemeral as a hotel stay isn't easy for me. I was also anxious that I'd be disappointed after spending all of that money

That said, I'd easily spend it again and I can honestly say it's probably the best holiday I've ever had.

On arrival we were greeted by the staff and management and aperitifs. Lovely touch. We were escorted to our beach front room. The staff were friendly and not overbearing. Already we knew we would enjoy our stay.

The hotel catered wonderfully for children, especially young ones, with a great kids club. Overall, the staff were really friendly, right down from the management to the guy that sweeped the beach every morning: all engaged wonderfully with us and were really friendly. I honestly couldn't have expected a better level of service and attention to detail.

If you're travelling with young children, touch base with the hotel beforehand to arrange for babysiters in advance (typically hotel staff). But they'll do their best to help you out if you leave it until you arrive there. (The Kids Club manager visited us minutes after we arrived in our suite.)

If you don't have kids, don't panic. The hotel has families with young kids at one end and couples at the other. And kids aren't to be in the restaurants after 7.00pm. (There's a great dedicated kids' buffet at 5.00pm every evening.) I was amazed at how seamlessly the two categories of guests coexisted.

I'd also recommend taking the half board option. It works out very economical compared to just B&B since the menus and food are not cheap. And you can chop and change you main meal from lunch to dinner as you wish, although we found the wonderful breakfasts adjacent to the beach were enough to see us through lunch with just a little a fruit unitl afternoon tea (complimentary) was served after 3.00pm. The dinner restaurants were excellent: East was the best of the two, although both were excellent and offered good choice. Anything longer than a week though and the choice could get problematic.

Note that Carlisle Bay hotel is quite isolated. There's really no town or village worth talking about that you could walk to, so you're pretty much stuck on-property--not that that's a a bad thing.

There's a little 'shop'/roadside stall that we walked to from time to time to buy some fruit and beer and soft drinks. The prices worked out about 25% of what the hotel would charge for a beer, for example, but our main motiviation for doing so was to put some money into the locals' hands. (We were probably charged 2 to 4 times what locals were charged, but it was still much cheaper than the hotel prices and to be honest I think the locals really appreciated people making the effort.)

I thoroughly recommend the place. We'll definitely be back in 2008.

We had a very restful 10 day break at CB. Our upper floor Ocean Suite was spacious and comfortable and well tended to. Nice bath tub but shower is feeble. The beachside restaurant was very good for breakfast and dinner but the eastern restaurant had a strange atmosphere and local staff didn't seem to know anything about the food there. The Jetty dinner might seem corny but it was done brilliantly and is highly recommended. The only negative was the sheer number of small children even though it was not half-term time. We did not feel able to use the pool on a single day as it it seemed to be permanently colonised by mums and nannies with small children who were, unsurprisingly, very noisy. This was an issue with several adult couples we spoke to and the hotel needs to give this some thought. Spa was very good with excellent therapists but a very small locker room.