Just returned from two weeks in Antigua staying at Halcyon Cove by Rex Resorts on Dickenson Bay.

Booked the holiday via Lastminute.com just three weeks before travelling so research on alternatives was limited - it was more a case of take what you can get - there seemed to be an abundance of vacancies in Egypt so Antigua stood out as an attractive proposition!!

Accommodation basis was All Inclusive in a Poolside Room for which we paid a small supplement - very well worth it.

Hotel is right on the white sand beach with all the facilities you need including good watersports provided on the beach - Hobie Cats, canoeing, pedaloes are included within the package - waterskiing/wakeboarding extra (around USD25).

A must is the Warri Pier Resturant - it is part of the package but you can only go twice per week - Lobster is fantasitc and the setting superb!! Otherwise it is a buffet service for dinner and a lunchtime beachside grill. Food was generally good.

If you want to be pampered Haclyon Cove is not the place for you - but if you are happy to take things as they are - enjoy the beach, water, sunsets then it is a great cost effective way of seeing Antigua - we paid arounf GBP1,300 each - significantly cheaper than Sandals next door.

Thoroughly recommend circumnavigation of the Island, Stingray City and Nelson's Dockyard/Shirley Heights.

Also recommend a day in the sister hotel at Hawksbill - Ken and Ashton from the watersports centre will give you a boat taxi tour and may also through a guided tour of the area (including snorkelling on a wreck).

Would happily recommend using this hotel to others happy. Caribbean time very much applys but if you need something done just ask and they do it !!!

Dear TripAdvisor
Re: Halcyon Cove, Antigua

I recently spent a week at the Halcyon Cove hotel in Antigua. I was pretty disappointed with the experience from start to finish. The rooms were clean and offered a very high powered air conditioner, coffee and tea, a fridge, safe and television. The air conditioner, in fact, was able to keep the room at a colder temperature than the fridge was able to get down to. The door to our room was often left open by the cleaning staff as apparently, there was only one key to the room in the whole hotel. This likely explains why the door to the room looked as if it has been kicked in a minimum of 5 times throughout its life.

I should note however, that the resort is safe. And only once did the safe malfunction locking in our passports and wallets in it for half a day.

The lobby bar was under construction at the time we were there. This is reasonable, as upgrades to hotels have to take place at one point or another. The fact that the hotel staff knew about the renovations taking place and still put me in a room directly across from the 8 a.m. jackhammering was a little bit of an oversight. I was never really in a rush to go to breakfast either. Nor Lunch, nor dinner. Actually, there is a restaurant on the pier that is quite good, but the all inclusive package only includes 2 dinners there per week. Otherwise, you are left with limited options, and eating in the dining hall was potentially the most depressing part about the entire vacation.

My travel companion and I made a point of spending a maximum of 7 minutes in the dining hall at each sitting. Often, we'd have finished eating by the time our drinks arrived. This is how unpleasant the dining hall is. On one particular day, after lunch, we went to the coffee service area in the dining hall and were told that "There is no coffee today". Upon further enquiry, we were informed that the "Manager was having a meeting, and needed the only two coffee pots in the hotel for coffee service in his staff meeting". This did not surprise us.

The beach area was quite pleasant. Lovely white sand beaches, beach bar and the smallest swimming pool i have ever seen. The towel service is standard for any resort (that is, one towel at a time, per guest). I got a towel on the first day, and never saw a person manning the towel booth again for the entirety of my stay from that point onward. I assume you could have gone to reception and asked for a towel, but I preferred instead to stick with the same towel and add "towel service" to my list of reasons why no one should ever go to this hotel.

The showers did work. It should be noted that if you want to have a shower at a temperature that is neither arctic cold, nor depths of scalding hot, make sure you shower before your roommate. One of you will get burnt or freeze. The water pressure was 'disappointing'. Apparently, this is a problem that the hotel is trying to remedy. Other things they should try to remedy:

Falling Garbage:
When walking back from lunch, we were nearly hit by a bag of falling garbage being thrown to the ground level by one of the cleaners. We weren't hit, but the point is, at this hotel, the cleaners toss garbage bags from floor 2 down to the ground level to be collected at a later time. It rains garbage at this hotel.
In-Room Cleaning:
We came back to the room one day to find that they had changed the linen and towels, except, only 1 towel was left for the both of us to use (there were no handtowels, bath mat, either). We called down to reception and requested more towels and they replied with "We have no more towels". So I air dried. That was fun, especially cause the room temperature from our over powering a/c was a brisk 18 degrees C.

One brightspot of this hotel was the snackbar chef. He was great.

We stayed for a week at the Halcyon Cove and would recommend it to anyone wanting a base by the beach, but not necessarily looking for luxury. The location is wonderful, right on a really beautiful beach with plenty of shades and loungers, with a watersports centre and dive shop at the end. You can also walk along the beach, past the Sandals resort, to a couple of other bars and restaurants.
We had the most basic room available, which was spacious and comfortable with a balcony, huge bed, air conditioning and TV with lots of channels. The bathroom was ok, not gleaming or anything, but all in all considering the price, the room was perfectly fine.
The all inclusive deal was brilliant value for money as, on top of the buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner, you also get 2 dinners at the Warri Pier restaurant (they didn't tell us this though, so make sure you ask for it!) If you have children there didn't seem to be any food at dinner that was particularly child-friendly.
And drinks all day right by the beach. You even get beach towels thrown into the package! You can also get snorkels and pedalos, kayaks etc free from right on the beach. We saw snooks, snappers and starfish.
All in all I would say this hotel is great value for money. I must make special mention of the dive shop as the guy there, Ashton, was lovely and helpful, and took us out to a wreck on a small boat, just the two of us for only $65.

My wife, daughter and my self have just returned from the Halcyon Cove Resort-Antigua and all I can say that, if you are looking for a quiet relaxing holiday, some where you can kick your shoes, switch off and chill out on a quite beach, then this certainly is not the place for you.
It’s a great shame as this resort has so much potential, it could be really lovely.
Unfortunately as some staff felt it was their god given right to play the music in the bar, by the beach, as loud as they liked, despite numerous request to turn it down from myelf and other guests, it would only last for may be 1hour tops. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Elvis or Abba but there is a time and place and when you are trying to relax on a Antiguan beach, it can become anything but relaxing, especially when accompanied by certain staff who think it’s there for their own personal use as a Karioke machine.
Following a cocktail evening to meet the management and General manager, I took the opportunity to have a word with the General manager, (as she suggested during her speech) mid way throught our conversation, we were joined by another guest with the same complaint and to be fair, the following day way fine, you could still hear the music around the bar but with out offending anyone on the beach. Unfortunately it only lasted the one-day, the following day it was back to it’s usual level, showing a complete disregard for the guests and for management. For me personally this holiday was a huge mistake and not one that I will be repeating.