Some of these reviews make me laugh, i think some people go away to try & specifically find imperfections with things!
We stayed for 12 nights and i found it to be a really relaxing, chilled out holiday. This was our first time in the carribean.
ROOM:
We were upgraded on arrival to a beach front room (304 if memory serves me correctly), i will admit that as we were taken to our room after a long flight i couldnt help but feel disappointed when looking around - it was very grey & overcast and the grounds seemed quite run down, its basically the paving that makes everything look dire-they're cracked red slabs of concrete & the apartments close to the trees are also not very pretty looking, however, the gardens are well maintained.
Our room was in a perfect location - we opened the patio doors to overlook the beach & the sun set literally infront of our eyes each evening. The bed was great, it was mega comfy (quite firm) and about 6ft wide-i really miss it! The room and bathroom were basic and the wardrobe sliding door was off its hinges slightly & there was a knob missing on the set of drawers, little things like that - im sure if we said something they'd have been fixed (it wasnt a remodernised room), however it was always cleaned to a high standard everyday. There is a brand new safe in the room.
We did have a problem with our air conditioning - ie:it didnt work! We boiled for 2 nights-the room was like a sauna. We did complain to reception but no one came out at first. On the 2nd day we complained to our rep whos first reaction was she would get us moved, we said we didnt want to be moved-we just wanted it fixed, she insisted we move but we stuck to our guns and we went to reception again and someone came to fix it, although reception also wanted to move us to another room but we wanted to stay where we were. Once it had been fixed we were left with a bottle of champagne & a basket of fruit which i thought was a nice touch.
FOOD:
We went all inclusive and i have to say we had no problems with the food at all, yes it started to get a little bit repetative but you have to remember, its not a 5*. I think the only critisism i could make with the food is that it wasnt replenished quickly enough - you had to ask and then wait for someone to come-i think they should see something is empty & replace it asap. Also, i was looking forward to eating some fresh coconut-theyre all around in the trees, but none in the restaurant! This is free food they could dish out-melon is available for breakfast, dinner & tea, it wouldve been nice to have other fruit available-coconuts/mangoes etc maybe? The omlettes at breakfast were lovely - the bloke made them better than the woman did (i cant remember their names!).
The Warri Pier food was gorgeous, you get 2meals each per week AI, however, we had 4 each!! Sorry if youre reading this Heleen and co, but it was soo nice & we noticed no one checked how many meals you actually had there, anyway, we spent money each time - there was a supplement for lobster & steak, it worked out to approx £10 each but it was well worth it.
SERVICE:
The staff are all friendly, although some more than others! It takes a while to get used to their pace of life i think, Errol the barman was great-he was efficient and smily. Mario & Fenton are the entertainers, whether they like it or not!
One thing i didnt like was that Management seem to come out at dinner time and push to the front of the queue for the bbq.
ENTERTAINMENT:
Was funny! Im not sure if it was suposed to be or not but i think it was,some were soo bad it was funny. The bar shuts at 12 and there is nothing else about, however, we found this plenty really - we wouldve gone to Ibiza if we wanted all night boozing.
SURROUNDINGS:
There isnt much around at all - the monstrosity of Sandals is just down the beach and that really is about it, i think there were a couple of bars/places to eat. We didnt venture out on the roads, they werent lit and theres hardly any signposts anywhere.
EXCURSIONS:
We done a few excursions. We booked horse riding with someone on the beach (completely forgotten his name as well!) & ended up having our own guide - Rasti, he was brilliant, 'yeh man'! The excursion was nearly 2hours, he chats away the whole time and insists on taking loads of photos - we went in the sea with the horses as well, it was a great trip-cost 50usd each.
We booked the Virgin catamaran cruise around the island, about 110usd each - this was lovely - you got all your food (fish or chicken salad, small piece of cake) and drink (including alcoholic) included & stopped off for a bit of snorkling on the reef. The crew were great again and played classic bob marley tracks out loud.
We also booked the Virgin off road safari (also food & drink included), about 99usd each - this was hilarious! It was great fun, our guide was called Charles - he liked to be called Prince Charles, what a character he was! People like him make holidays/tours. The safari ended up taking us to Nelsons Dockyard and some mangroves where we went snorkling again.
I think the Virgin tours were actually very good - the hotel did some tours themselves but they looked to be the same price as our rep was offering anyway.
WEATHER:
We went 19th June for 12nights. It was grey & overcast the day we arrived and it was dribbling with rain. We woke up to blue skies and hot sunshine the next day though & everyday after that apart from one day where it was black skies & heavy rain from about 11am-4pm, every other day was fine - its always very humid though.
SUMMARY:
Ive rambled a bit..! I think the hotel does qualify as a 3*, perhaps the grounds & look of the place only a 2*. We are lucky enough to normally only stay in 4* places but i took a risk and have to say i am pleased with what we had, the food was nice, the rooms were basic but always very clean & the location was brilliant-everything seemed soo easy and hassle free. I read reviews on 4* places in Antigua and they dont always get very good reviews, they sound run down also so id rather pay 3* prices & get 3* quality than pay 4*price and get 3* quality.
I would recommend this hotel as a place to stay. Feel free to email any questions.