We can't wait to return to Carlisle Bay for another family holiday. We were with our children aged 6&4 and my parents.

We had a very relaxing time for ten days and loved the soft sandy beach and warm sea. The pool was great fun, particularly in the afternoons when lots of children and their parents gathered to play.

The miniclub was good and enabled me to read lots of books. Our little boy loved the cinema in the hottest hours after lunch and we were pleased because it was near the pool so we could stay outside while he was inside. We had a good evening babysitter for the whole holiday (Kathy-Ann) who was a lovely person. We thought the early children's tea was a brilliant idea.

The room was very comfortable and well equipped. Our children had a separate room at the back. The food was good and the chef Mr Jones was amazing at catering for our 6 year old on a gluten free diet (she is a coeliac). The service was quite good for the Caribbean.

I only wish I'd packed half as much as we didn't dress up in the evening - a treat! The other guests were very nice- and there were 4 other parties of three generations. Can't wait to go back.

A really first class vacation !

The informal yet classy ambience is great enabling a really chilled out break - probably the most relaxing holiday we have had. If you like the glitz or b-list prancing at Sandy lane then Carlisle Bay is not for you.

Went a week ago with our two kids (7 and 3) stayed in a beach suite with great layout and space which opens straight onto the beach. Rooms furnished in contemporary style and very fresh.

Having travelled pretty extensively i would say the beach was nice (not the best) and the sea was fine ( a bit cloudy some days) though it doesnt compare to other aqua marine caribbean waters

The restaurants are good and we were surprised how enjoyable it was even after a few days of going to the same place. East is cool, asian fusion which was nice though not if you are comparing it to Zuma whereas the beach restaurant where you can have breakfast, lunch and dinner was consistently good.

also great that everyone dress low key -often in shorts in the evening. as a previous writer said...pack half of what you think you need...there is no fashion parade but three generations of respectful, successsful nice people

The beach restaurant is also offers the kids the chance to eat earlier from a simple buffet

We thought the staff were incredibly friendly and warm - sure the service is slower than we expect in our city lives or in Asia ..but thats the caribbean

kids club was ok- they didnt use it much but had so many friends to play with on the beach so it didnt really matter

Tennis and spa was very good

will go back
The real winning thing is the ambience .......created by the place - its

Am a little puzzled by some of the other reviewers, but I suppose everyone has their different take on places and the time you visit affects the experience.
Firstly the airport may seem quaint for a 9.40pm flight, trust me it isn't normally.
Ok Carlisle Bay,
Pros. Rooms modern, very clean, bathrooms large and stylish. Overall as good as you'll find in the Carribbean, could do with more storage space for clothes, maybe thats picky but not as picky as moaning about the lack of 'Molton whatever its called' shower gel....come on give them a break!
Staff, again as good as I've found in the Carribbean (with one notable exception which I'll come to in the cons) Service was quick and efficient, from the top down they seemed on top of their game.
Cinema, great idea situated by the pool.
Kids club, seemed clean and well run
Tennis courts, plenty of them and in good condition, Tim the coach did wonders with my fore hand! If only we had coaches like that in the UK!?
Pool, lovely setting nice design.
Complementary early evening meal for the kids was a great touch.
Breakfasts, I have to take issue with the reviewer who wished for more of a 'buffet style' I would argue the exact oposite I found the breakfasts not only very good & relaxing in a lovely location but the service exemplary. I am fed up of paying a small fortune to stay at places like Little Dix (BVI's) and have to stand around making my own toast etc. Here it is brought to your table the minute you arrive. Not only that but they don't charge extra for my particular weakness eggs benedict as some places do.
Food in general was good but not fantastic, which for the money you'd perhaps expect.

Cons
I'd probably have given CB a 5 rating were it not for the beach. Other reviewers have alluded to it, but I'm surprised I'm the only one very dissapointed with it. Yes its pretty, clean and safe for the kids but the water at best is green and at worst brown, particuarly when its been raining. So if you're expecting white sand & turquoise sea forget it. That said there are some great beaches that have exactly that just up the road, Darkwood was my favourite, but the one by Turners is lovely as is Half Moon Bay but thats further afield.
East, the other restaurant seemed a little soulless with the food nothing to write home about.
My only problem with the staff were with some of those on reception and their failure to pass on messages. It took me 4 attempts to arrange a tennis lesson, they failed to contact the car rental firm when I wanted to extend my hire, resulting in me becoming one of Antigua's 'most wanted' and they didn't book half our party on a trip they were organising.
The only possible other con would be if you disliked kids, they have no separate pool and so particuarly during the hols it is full of them. That said, like ours they all seemed to be in the 1 to 7 age bracket and all were very well behaved.
All in all a really nice place well run, I'm a sucker for the white sands turquoise beaches of places like Anguilla and the BVI's so I probably wouldn't go back, but beach apart it was largely faultless.

We have just returned from a 10 day stay at the Carlisle Bay Hotel, Antigua. We are a family of 4 with two girls aged 8 and 6 so I am writing this review from a family perspective rather than just as a couple.

Flew from Gatwick via direct BA flights (timings far more family friendly than Virgin), arrived at hotel at 4.30 pm local time after 30 minute taxi transfer organised by hotel. This gave us reasonable time to familiarise ourselves with the beach, pool, restaurants and our room.

On arrival we were personally greeted by Andrew, the English hotel manager and were allocated our own personal guide. Check in was dealt with in the comfort of our Beach Suite, meaning we were able to immediately relax without the usual unnecessary formalities.

Room

The Beach Suite (24) was fabulous accommodation for a family of 4. Our girls had the twin bedded bedroom and we had the enormous double-bed in the main living area. There was plenty of room for the 2 sofas, table, TV and various ambient lighting fixtures.

Wardrobe accommodation was limited to the bedroom and was rather small for a family of 4 - however, we soon discovered that we'd brought far too many clothes, as the Carlisle Bay is not the usual dinnertime fashion parade that so many higher end hotels display.

The TV and DVD player were useful on two rainy afternoons - the hotel has an extensive library of free DVDs for adults and children, including a number of up to date releases as well as some old classics.

The maid service was efficient although it was slightly frustrating our room was never made up at the same time on consecutive days - 11.00am one day, 4.00pm the next!

The bathroom products were truly awful - bring your own! Overall, the rooms and bathroom were fresh, modern and very clean. Even insect repellent and mozzy machines were provided as standard. These rooms have won international awards and you can see why.

Food

The hotel puts on a free kids buffet from 5.00pm to 6.30pm, which is ideal, especially for new arrivals. The choice of food was usually quite good (Pasta, fresh vegetables, chicken, with fresh fruit and home made pastries for desert) but you need to get there by 5.30 at the latest to avoid the feeding frenzy! Once fed, the kids were happy to continue playing by the pool/beach and didn't need further feeding.

The Indigo By The Beach restaurant served breakfast, lunch and dinner. The East Restaurant served dinner only.

Breakfast was usually excellent - an a la carte service with something for everyone. The service was usually poorly organised although the staff were quite friendly. For example, there were normally only 4 or 5 tables set for 4 people even though we were there at half term with countless other families. You're best advised to be seated by 7.30am before the rush, as breakfast took an hour and twenty minutes (really!) when we came down at 8.30 one morning. Orders were muddled on more than one occasion, but not really worth worrying about. Lack of managerial cohesion rather than inadequate staff.

Lunch was usually great. An extensive light menu was complimented with one or two staples (burgers, etc.) and the specials changed daily. There was an excellent wine list with many available by the glass. A family of 4 should budget for £75 per day for lunch.

Complimentary afternoon tea was served wherever you happened to be (beach, pool, lounge, room), fine china, cream scones, etc. Nice touch.

Dinner at the East Restaurant was very good, food being an eastern fusion of Japanese, Thai and Philippine cuisine. We dined there 3 times over 10 days by which time we felt we'd exhausted the menu.

Dinner at the Indigo was an interesting experience. Again, service was friendly but patchy. The food was usually competent but our personal opinion was that it was 10 years out of date in terms of style - rather fussy, lots of cream sauces and some truly bizarre combinations (seared tuna and fois gras for example!). The menu needs to be less complex but having said that we didn't have anything truly awful.

Everything was from the a la carte menu - no buffets here! The only exception was the Friday night barbecue that had lobster, huge prawns, local fish as well as chicken, lamb etc. Very good salads too, but at $80 per head it needed to be! Average dinner bill for 2 of us was $175 including bottle of wine.

Having 2 children we took advantage of room service on three or four occasions. Again, the orders were muddled (some didn't even arrive), but the menu was good for both adults and children. Room service allowed the family to relax into the evening after a hard day's sunbathing without having to get dolled up. Bliss!

As previously mentioned, no evening fashion parade required. Hotel and clientele happy in casual clothes (not shorts and T shirts but jeans, casual shirts were fine) but older residents tended to make the effort. Just be yourself and you'll feel comfortable.

Pool and Beach

Absolutely stunning beach, powder white sand right outside the suite. Very safe for children and no surging waves or back current. Unfortunately, there were insufficient sunbeds and umbrellas for everyone so we had to resort to allocating ourselves sun beds before breakfast. The beach boys make up the beds with towels etc. without the tiresome towel allocation usually operated by hotels.

The pool was lovely too, very child friendly but again not enough sun beds. However, everyone seemed to find something to suit and the attendants were quite helpful if beds needed to be moved around.

Activities

Kids Club well organised and staffed by very friendly ladies. Our girls had so much fun with the other kids at the pool and beach that they only went in for one morning!

Free watersports on the beach were safely and efficiently operated. Family kayaks, hobie cats and dingys were all available any time of day, plus fins, snorkels and masks were also freely available.

Great tennis coaches and fantastic facilities. Very well equipped gym and treatment centre (massages, etc).

Nothing other than a jazz trio or pianist in the evenings, but we were usually asleep by 9.00pm!

Clientele

Around 75% British, 20% American and a few Europeans. Mixture of older post retired couples (bizarre they would choose to come away at half term!), middle aged couples and families (around 50% of families had kids under the age of 3). Definitely an upper middle class resort (if one can say that these days!), one chap likened it to a public school boy reunion!

Pretty much everyone was friendly and many families doubled up for meals (service permitting!) and the older guests didn't seem at all bothered by the children - to their great credit! Most families stayed in the Beach Suites (near the restaurants and pool) whereas the couples had the rooms a little further away from the main hotel area.

Summary

We've been fortunate enough to stay in a fair number of supposed 5 star hotels and I would probably say that, all in all, the Carlisle Bay Hotel is the best family hotel we've stayed at. If you can make allowances for some service niggles, the hotel offers your family a very relaxing holiday in a truly spectacular setting.

The Beach Suites are fantastic family accommodation, the beach is beautiful and the clientele also play their part in creating the right ambience.

Our 10 day holiday cost around £12,000 including flights. Not cheap by any means but, in our opinion, worth every penny. We will certainly be returning same time next year.