great breakfasts - the fritters are something that must be tried.....staff incredibly friendly, the tour desk bloke lennox kept us entertained for hours.
Lunch on the warri pier is dull dull dull, and the awarak restaraunt for dinner not really a plan! on the upside the beach bar (and the staff down there) is cool, and the beach is beautiful, white sand, palm trees and the bluest of blue seas (a much better spot than sandals which is next door and twice as expensive) The entertainment is limited and if it rains it is boredom to the extreme, also there are loads of mosquitos (so pack the repellant) and no air conditioning in public areas and so can get very hot. The taxi guys are helpful and loads cheaper than the jeep tours for a much better trip (say hi to Business from us both)....if you get offered a trip with miguel to prickly pear island than go for it the lunches great snorkling cool and company entertaining.....the beach bar down the beach and the lobster pot at runaway bay is excellent. If you get the chance to see roland prince and calypso val perform then we recommend it for a really chilled out and talented jazz exeperience. Antigua itself is very relaxed, friendly and a great holiday, at times expensive but well worth visiting. When we go back (note the when, not if) we would not go all-inclusive as it really wasnt worth it, and would probably rent a house or self catering place as the local people, food and entertainment outclasses anything a hotel could ever provide.

Having read some of the previous reviews, I did wonder what to expect however I can honestly say that I and my party had the best holiday ever and that was despite the few days of torrential rain which we experienced! Unusual for this time of year apparently.

The hotel was great, location perfect, beach amazing, loved the food ( we were all-inclusive), staff were friendly and helpful. I cannot find one thing to fault! We had superior garden rooms which were fine, well serviced, nice fluffy towels, including the beach towels- perfect. Can't wait to go back.

We booked 'Cat' trip to Cades reef through Logan of Treasure Island Cruises (on beach) that was brilliant and we definately recommend it.

We went horse riding ( booked through James, also on beach) that was an experience paticularly as we were caught in a rain storm, but even that did not spoil it, what lovely beaches and scenery.

We used the taxi service based at the hotel and our driver was called Welton Gilead, what a lovely man, he took us on the historic tour and he made our day so special, he was very knowledgeable and considerate.

You may be wondering if we are easily pleased but this is not the case. Yes we are realistic travellers and do not expect UK standards when abroad and we have suffered some pretty indifferent accommodation with the stoicism of the British, but this place is the best so far. Please try it and enjoy yourselves. Do not go as so many Brits do, looking for faults and complaints, if you are like that, do every one a favour and stay home. There are enough 'moaning minnies' without you joining them!

We have just returned from 2 weeks at the halycon rex in antigua. We found the resort in need of some TLC but the location was wonderful and if its a beach holiday you are after this beach has everything It is situated next door to Sandals If you are not a beach lover you would be wise to look round before choosing this resort. We stayed in a basic room It was clean 2 queen size beds a nice size bathroom with shower lots of mirrors and plugs clean towels most days no tv no hair dryer no fridge no tea tray terrace with table and chairs.
The restarants no choice really as one open for lunch and of the 2 for dinner one was a la carte and a supplement was payable we didnt try it as we found the choice in the main restarant was ample although you didnt need to be a big meat eater Ive never seen a joint of meat feed so many people but then I cant calve wafer thin meat. Breakfast was exceptionally good and Edwin did a fine job with fresh eggs in any way you preferred. Ifound the staff in general to be very pleasant I did tip a few dollars here and there not a lot but noted it helped when you wanted quick service at the bar but I dont think you really need to tip although it was appreciated. I diidnt use the swimming pool as the surrounds lacked brollies and shade. On the beach there were sellers but they didnt really bother you I found them quite good although I was approached to get one of them free food and drink I declined and wasnt bothered again. Beach towels were changeble every day if you wanted . The watersports from the beach were excellent We would recommend the Kimonno catamaran trip a ful day drinks and food inc in price and good party atmosphere on way back absolutely brilliant captain and crew To sum up smashing holiday arranged by spencer at Kenwood travel depending on what you pay we paid £1199 each AI for 2 weeks and thought we had value for money We are young 60ish so dont know if midnight might be a bit early for closing the bar for the young people also only one bar open at given time .

My hubby and I have just come back from spending one week at the Rex, and as previous reviewers had mentioned how horrendous everything was, I was expecting the worse.........and was pleasantly surprised our first impressions were good.There were a couple of negatives, we had booked a superior room with a garden view which we'd paid an extra £100 for the week. All I can say we basically paid for air cond, a TV & hairdrier!! I dread to think what a basic room consisted of!!!! But our room was cleaned daily and we got fresh towels, the room can be described as clean but basic. But hey you don't spend all day in the room do you? not when you have got a gorgeous beach to lounge on all day, the beach was fantastic, and exactly how you'd imagined it to look turquoiuse sea and white sand.

If you go you need to get a coconut filled with rum from Mr Coconut Man,he's a permant fixture on the beach and sums up the Antigua way of life. All the beach sellers and hotel staff were extremely friendly and helpful, we found if you treat them with respect then you get on fine!!! Also a couple of dollars tip always keeps a smile on their face!! We did go all inclusive, we found the breakfasts to be very good , the lunches were a bit samey each day the same menu, and we ate in the Warri Pier on a couple of evenings and the standard of food we found was restaurant quality.We ate out quite alot at both the Beach & Cocunut Grove both of which served yummy food and the beach walk along on an evening sets the scene. However, I would not pay the brochure price for this trip, we got a very good deal so therefore didn't mind paying to eat out. We also flew with BWIA (British West Indian Airlines).....never again we were delayed by 6 hours going there and two coming back, they were not the best. Also another little warning we had mega problems hiring a car from the rental place within the hotel grounds, in a word they didn't have a clue what they were doing and we left empty handed without our open top jeep, and went elsewhere for a jeep!!! Basically we had a fantastic week and loved every minute, if you are going then you'll have a fab time, just don't expect 5* quality.