Before we left for our holiday to antigua, we came across this website and were really put off about going.

Ignore all the negative comments you read! If you can get a last minute deal, this is a great hotel to stay in. Everywhere is clean. The staff are friendly. The food is fine - and if you want that extra bit of luxury, simply eat at the warri pier for not much more money (if you're on an AI plan). It's a relaxed atmosphere and less formal than some other hotels, which suited us.

If the weather is great - which is normally is in antigua, and the beach is clean - which it is at the Rex, then what more do you need!

Having read some of the reports on here, after having already booked our last minute holiday at Rex Halcyon Cove, we approached the holiday with some trepidation. Our fears were unfounded however as we had a thoroughly enjoyable holiday. We found the staff to be happy and friendly, as you would expect of West Indian people, and even the one or two sterner ones could be  jollied up very easily. Having witnessed a couple of incidents, we could easily understand how they might be upset by the attitude of a minority of British holidaymakers!! Our  superior room was very good and the air-conditioning worked very well and quietly. It was also kept spotlessly clean all though the holiday. We stayed on the all-inclusive tariff and found the breakfasts to be very good, with a wide selection of options. Lunch on the Warri pier was also good, although you could wait a long time to get a table. The other lunch option is a barbecue from the beach (Carib) bar. This is served with salad and is acceptable for what it is. The dinners are served buffet style and although a little  samey were still acceptable with a good selection of fresh fruit always available. The drinks available on the tariff were also found to be perfectly acceptable. There was Caribbean type entertainment laid on every night and we enjoyed it. I would agree with the comments concerning the  towels on seats . We had a room whose balcony overlooked a section of the beach. The first morning we were there, before 6am, we saw British people on the beach moving the sun loungers about and putting towels on them to reserve them, some in their dressing gowns!! It did make me feel ashamed of my fellow countrymen who were committing a crime hitherto attributed to the German holidaymakers!! Without a doubt the hotel should attempt to address this problem as it caused a lot of resentment. This same problem was also apparent around the swimming pool. It would probably help if there were a few more of the loungers available, although there would then probably be a crisis of available shade. We hired a car for a couple of days and  did the Island. We formed the opinion that, without a doubt, the beach at the Rex Halcyon is by far the finest on the Island. The day before we left (27/4/04) there were rumours circulating that the hotel had been sold and that the Warri Pier and beach Barbecue were to be permanently closed from the next day. It was also said that the whole of the gardening staff had been dismissed that morning. So, if it is in fact true, then there could be some changes afoot. Although this remains an unsubstantiated rumour we did here it from more than one source. It is easy to find fault with almost any arrangement (if you really must!) but, in conclusion I would say that this was altogether good value for money, when you consider the fact that I priced a holiday at Sandals in the region of £7,000 for the same two weeks! All in all a thoroughly good holiday and, assuming that things don t change too much at the hotel, we shall certainly return there at the earliest opportunity.

Our vacation to Antigua and staying at the Rex Halcyon was the best choice for our budget. We we're completely satisfied with the staff and hotel managers. "Trust me" compared to NY customer service ~ I found the staff at Rex Halcyon to be extremely polite and helpful. The room was great & kept very clean. We didn't go with the all inclusive.
Instead we enjoyed wonderful meals at " The Beach" restaurant. It was a lovely walk at the end of the beach and having dinner each night at a table near the water was ideal. The Coconut Grove restuarant was ok.
But we prefered eating our dinners at "The Beach" as the menue is trendy, more variety and well priced. Rex Halcyon has a set menue for dinner which doesn't suite us.As far as activities, there is plenty to do at the rex. We had a blast renting water jet skis, horseback riding,renting a car to tour the island for the day (well worth the $70.00). Snorkeling with a personal guide known as the "Master" or Danfield was also good. Overall, everything really met our expectations. The beach was absolutely beautiful! Although, reserving beach chairs before 6:30 am was kind of a downer. That was the only negative thing, only because I like to sleep in a little on my vacation. I would definitely stay at the Rex Halcyon again. But I would make sure I stay longer. Six days wan't enough to enjoy everything there is to do!

Don't ever book a standard room at this hotel as it is the worst room I have ever had to spend two nights in in my life. Apparently, according to the Assistant Manager Mr St Luce, this is normal for a standard room in Antigua. I understand from talking to other guests, that Virgin Holidays always upgrade people who book standard rooms free of charge, I went with British Airways and they don't.!! The walkways to the standard rooms were dirty and in need of complete redecoration and repair. The room itself had a chest of drawers that had a laminate covering which had peeled off and most of the drawers would not shut. Two out of the four lamps in the room were not working and all the shades were very dirty. There was a mark on the wall where a smoke detector had been, at some stage, but had obviously fallen off and had never been replaced. The fan above my bed looked as if it were going to fall off at any minute and had to be coaxed into working every time it was turned on. The shower was very old and was rusty. We did complain about all this and had to pay £150 to upgrade to a poolside room once one became available, it was like moving to another hotel. Do not go all inclusive if you can help it as the food is well below average, and there are plenty of restaurants nearby, they came highly recommended by other guests at this hotel. The breakfast was the only decent meal of the day, so we ate heartily then and just picked at the food for the rest of the day. We had read about Elwyn who organised the activities but although we saw him on two occasions he never came to see us or encourage us to join in anything, in fact if I had not read about him on this website I would not have known he existed. The grass needed cutting on our arrival and during our week's stay but we never saw anyone attending to the gardens. The beach is beautiful, and was the saving grace of this holiday. I cannot recommend this hotel as I feel that it needs complete renovation. Although Antigua is a lovely island if I did return it would definitely not be to this hotel.