Antigua is one of my favourite places to visit and Dian Bay Resort and Spa is a beautiful hideaway on the eastern coast of the island. We discovered it two years ago quite by accident while exploring the island and immediately fell in love with the site. The next trip we planned, we were definitely staying there!
The resort is on a hill overlooking a beautiful bay protected from the Atlantic by an outcropping of land, which also hosts Devil's Bridge - a definite sightseeing point.
In an Ocean View room, the view is superb, especially at sunrise. The rooms are spacious and comfortable with coffeemaker in the room. There is a balcony with lounge chairs and a rack for drying towels, swimsuits, etc.
The open air restaurant and bar are further down the hill, just above the beach and bay. The food was excellent; full breakfast everyday, lunch could get a bit repetitive but dinner was always delightful. A new menu every night gave you a wide variety of delicious choices. The staff were very helpful, especially Dolston in the bar.
The beach was small and neat, lovely to swim in. We saw a stingray one afternoon right under the bridge. Across the water is the other beach, Lover's Beach, but another hotel was being built right there so we stayed on our side or in one of the three pools.
Overall, we enjoyed our experience and hope to return sometime in the future.

We stayed at this hotel 8 years ago (then called Mango Bay) and returned seeking the relaxed atmosphere and good food that made our first stay so enjoyable, although we had found the hotel a little tatty around the edges. Since then the hotel's name and management have changed and - apart from a small 'spa' in a shed (where you can have an inexpert massage for higher than London prices) - there appears to have been no investment or maintenance.

Staff attitudes varied from cheerful and warm (the room cleaner and O'Connor the waiter) to polite but listless (most waiting/bar staff) to uninterested verging on surly (some bar staff and office staff). The manager was nowhere in evidence - either physically, or in terms of his actually managing his staff or premises.

In descending order of quantity, not counting the crickets and geckos, you will find at this hotel the following: mosquitos, rats, staff and fellow guests and I will say a few words on each. The mosquitos are a problem in the evening - cover skin, use repellent and use insect spray in your room before you go for dinner. We spotted rats on the first night in the bar and restaurant area and reported them next day when our rep visited. She called the receptionist and assistant manager, who feigning shock and surprise gave assurances that this had never happened before, would never happen again, and that the pest control people would be called immediately. Needless to say, we spotted rats most nights, no pest control action was taken, and I note a previous reviewer also reported rats. This was particularly unsettling for my wife, who hates rats, and I was worried about the health implications as the dining area was open with breakfast tables laid in readiness all night.

The staff, I have mentioned above - they badly need guidance and supervision. Our fellow guests, though few, were pleasant, interesting and friendly.

The beach is not kept tidy - seaweed accumulates, and long-disused, broken chairs and water sports equipment are untidily piled up next to the loungers as though arranged by the last hurricane to pass through. Our first room looked down onto a junkyard of old water tanks, pipes, and broken furniture dumped behind the kitchen - rubbish the assistant manager promise was to be removed imminently, but remained in situ (so we changed rooms).

It is difficult to believe that the owners of this hotel are remotely serious about making it work in its present form; occupancy is rock bottom and as a business it is in its death throes.

All that said, there are some plus points. It is quiet and you can relax undisturbed, often as the only occupants of the beach. The lagoon is great for swimming (watch out for the stingrays though) . And some of the rooms are great - we changed to 203 a lovely corner room with a great sea view. The food is most acceptable and served at your table (rather than buffet style).

This may seem a bit strange we stayed in this hotel in 2000

I was just checking out the new resort at Lovers Beach (Verandah) and just had to have a look at Dian Bay.

I remember it as Mango Bay and my husband and two children visited here in October 2000. (It has obviously changed to an adults only since).

I hold very special memories of Mango Bay. It was my first trip to the Caribbean and I do not think that I could have chosen a better location/hotel. It was peaceful, friendly and beautiful. It may be on the atlantic side of the island but don;t be fooled. Mango/Dian almost has it's own lagoon, we loved it. It has safe snorkelling and watersports.

The rooms were clean and comfortable (Plumbing could be temperamental) the staff, restaurant and food were excellent (at that particular time of course)

Location, Location, Location

It was only last year that we saw this come back onto the Travel Agent Books. Originally travelled with Thomson, saw it last year with Virgin under Dian Bay as opposed to Mango Bay.

If you want quiet, restful and fairly secluded, without being out of the loop altogther, I would recommend it.

PS We had a seaview

Beautiful views from dining and bar areas. Food average, at best. Staff need customer care training. Main issue - rats scampering around dining area and bar during the evenings. Local rep. did her best to get the hotel management to recognise and deal with the infestation.