We have just returned from a 9 day holiday at Carlisle Bay in Antigua. Having read previous reviews it seemed that we might be in for a mixed bag and that proved to be the case.
The best points for us were the views from our Oceanfront Suite, the peace and tranquility being the only hotel in the bay and the food which particularly at breakfast was excellent. We stayed on a "chill-out" week package which included dinner at either of the 2 restaurants. Although both were good I would have to say that for us Indigo with it's daily specials, fresh seafood and always friendly service was best. East is an Asian Fusion restaurant which is also quite good but doesn't quite deliver, as some of the attempted dishes would be done as well in your local Chinese restaurant.
The room itself was quite good. It was a decent size and with everything focused on the view worked well. For a hotel of this supposed quality however there were many niggly areas which should have been executed better. For example the door to the toilet was not hung straight, some furniture was marked quite noticeably, our mosquito net door onto the balcony fell off and as has been mentioned in previous reviews the coffee machine and also the safe broke down.
The spa was okay and the treatments themselves were good but the actual rooms were a bit basic- certainly not Sandy Lane calibre.
All these little points however we would have overlooked and really given the hotel a good review but for the very poor organisation of particularly the front desk or guest assistants as they are called and one must also assume the management structure.
If you organise things yourself you will be fine but if it is left up to the front desk prepare for disaster.
We organised a sunset boat trip ,via the front desk, on a Monday for the upcoming Friday.On the Tuesday while at the watersports centre organising another trip they said that they thought the trip had been cancelled but they contacted the front desk who reconfirmed that in fact the trip was going ahead as planned. Being a little concerned on the Friday about 30 mins before the trip was about to depart we went to the front desk and they once again checked and reassured that the trip was proceeding as planned and then sent us off to the jetty to wait for our transport. After waiting 15 mins there someone then came up to us and told us that the trip had ben cancelled! Obviously we were rather angry but were told by the front desk that the matter would be investigated and we would receive an explanation.
Of course this never happened and even on the Monday when we checked out, at which time we spent 30 mins correcting the room charges, and supposedly the manager was going to talk to us he never appeared.
Sorry for the rather long review but we felt that it was necessary to show just how poor the running of the hotel is. For the amount of money it costs to stay there basic customer service should be expected.
In summary if you like a good view with relatively good facilities go but do not expect any decent level of customer service and for the money perhaps you are better looking elsewhere, we certainly won't be back.

I haven't been to Carlisle Bay in a while but after reading the reviews feel compelled to write. My husband and I had an incredible vacation at Carlisle Bay -- we focused on the beautiful sea and the palm trees. Every day we padded from our beach chairs to the beachside restaurant. We found the beach restaurant staff friendly, the atmosphere beyond wonderful and the food really good (a glass of rose and a nice piece of fish seemed to the thing for us and everyone around us -- I am used to very high quality food and really thought the food was good.) In the evenings there was the airy bar with music playing. The rooms were pared down but aesthetically appealing with amenities. The resort is small and has an intimate, relaxed, boutique sort of atmosphere. We were really really happy at Carlisle Bay.

That said, Carlisle Bay is not worth what they charge. The service is very dicey. There are a lot of problems with room service, activity arrangements, spa continuously overbooked and noone available to sort out the problems. It is somewhat interesting that so many people cite how great the general manager is. In a good hotel you would never have reason to seek out the general manager -- at Carlisle Bay it is a must. The rooms are not great and they clearly have a maintenance / cleaning problem.

If it is going to ruin your vacation to know that you are really overpaying for what you are getting, don't go to Carlisle Bay. If you want a break to stare at turquoise water and palm trees in an intimate setting that is completely relaxing and you don't mind paying a lot for this -- Carlisle Bay is your place.

My husband and I spent our honeymoon at Carlise Bay and needless to say we were incredibly disappointed. For over $1,000 a night I would expect a lot more. First of all, we spent the entire 5 days of our trip picking up broken glass from the brown sand beach. The water in the bay was brown and we could not see our feet when we walked in 2 feet of water. There were very few activities or outings offered by the hotel and if there were they were ridiculously expensive. Our sheets were only changed once the entire time we were there. We called housekeeping and finally the manager to address the matter and after 3 requests our sheets were changed. There were swarms of birds in the restaurant where we at breakfast every day. There were several occasions that waiters would set down a tray full of food only to be devoured by birds and then served to customers. There are several other items that I could complain about, but my best piece of advice would be to read an issue of Wall Street Journal that was printed the week of February 14-21st of 2005 (not sure on the exact date). There is a large and descriptive article specifically about this resort and it is labeled "Trouble in Paradise".

Over its service teething problems with slick management at the top whose presence was very obvious each day. Wonderful rooms (we stayed in a luxury oceanfront suite), huge very comfortable bed and a great bathroom with a walk in shower and separate bath. The decor is very non-caribbean, more colonial with teak and cream everywhere. The beach was 30 secs from our room with a great view. This is a resort that manged to make you feel utterly relaxed from the moment you arrived, with a well-stocked library, DVD rentals and 8 tennis courts (equipment lent out free). The spa was great, we went on the blue spa offer which I thoroughly recommend as you get 4 pilates/yoga classes and 4 spa treatments per couple per week. The food was very good particularly breakfast (e.g. marscapone pancakes with berry compote and warm banana bread with caramalised bananas). The resort is fairly small which gives it an intimate atmosphere and you were made to feel valued. We would definitely go back again.