We stayed at the Galley Bay for 11 Nights. One of the most idyllic places we have been to and we have been to many. From the moment we arrived we were greeted by two friendly receptionists, cold flannels and a rum punch. Is there a nicer way to be greeted after a long journey from England? Things could get better and they did.

Our room was lovely, fantastic views out to the ocean (just like the website), we stepped from our terrace straight onto the white sand and our sunbeds.

The staff were extremely friendly and accommodating. Nothing was too much trouble. The food was great in all the restaurants. We loved Ismays for lunch and the Sea Grape for dinner. Just writing this on a cold wet August afternoon makes me want to be back there.

We had a fantastic time and will return in the near future.

We stayed at Galley Bay the end of June beginning on July for our honeymoon. We weren’t disappointed. If you want music, several activities, take your young children, and loads of noise this isn’t the place for you! It was absolute heaven, a quiet restful place and no children! There is nothing more we could add to this wonderful resort that hasn’t already been said. However I suggest you bring a larger size in all your clothes as the food is wonderful which so hard to resist! I also requested for my food to be cooked simply without any dressings, which they gladly did. All food was cooked to order and not the usual buffet style meals.

Be aware when booking any trips, we had to pay a cash deposit fortunately we had some cash but not very much as we were hoping to use our credit cards and not have too much cash in our room. US$ seems to be the norm and they happily accept them. (Remember you will need US$20 each to pay departure tax at the airport.)

We went on the Treasure Island cruise around the island which was a little disappointing the commentary wasn’t very clear and therefore difficult to understand. We also noticed once people had eaten their lunch the crew was pushing the alcohol in the hope of a good tip. We generally felt all of the around the island cruises were booze cruises. If you wanted to see some of the island we thoroughly recommend the Jeep Safari, we went with 2 other couples and we had a tour rep who was very knowledgeable about the island. In fact he taught us this little poem about the hurricane season:

June too soon
July stand by
August a must
September remember
October it’s all over

We felt perfectly safe at the resort and didn’t feel threatened during our stay, Especially as we had a beach front room (15 paces from the sea!) you have to be aware that all beaches in Antigua are public so quite often the locals were trying to sell their wares however once I said no thank you they didn’t pester us again. We had security guards at either end of the beach and around the site, so we both felt quite safe.

Reading through the reviews (mainly by honeymooners who inevitably see things differently) you might be led to think that this is the perfect resort. Whilst is is lovely and may be just what you're looking for we'd like to offer you a more balanced view.

We are seasoned travellers (business and pleasure) who have revelled in 5 star luxury and also visited areas off the beaten tourist route. As such we think our expectations are realistic & we do considerable research before booking. I should also mention that whilst one of my roles is as a food critic, I'm not a food snob. Whilst I appreciate fine dining some of the best meals I have had have been at street shacks & small local restaurants.

Firstly the island is absolutely gorgeous. Yes it has poverty like most of the Caribbean but the people are absolutely delightful. Please don't be put off by recent events. We drove around and always encountered helpful friendly locals and felt safer here than in many other places we've visited. Do take a car and drive round - car hire is cheap & it's difficult to get lost. We drove for a full day on £15 of petrol! Just watch out for the potholes.

The hotel always has taxis on site which is convenient but do be warned that they are expensive - we found them more expensive than the UK. We found that the normal price for a short round trip around £30 whereas the same trup at home would have cost half that. This made it less appealing to go out at as much at night as we would have liked. We found driving at night too difficult as there aren't street lights or road signs so it's hard to find your way on unfamilar heavily potholed roads.

The location is excellent. The beach is stunning, the sea divine and the grounds lovely. It's also conveniently close to St Johns. We chose a premium beach front suite & were fortunate to have a ground floor suite on the Ismay side. Rooms are well appointed with good bathrooms and the outside shower is a thoughtful touch to rinse sand off before leaving the beach. Just be careful with your wet feet/flipflops as the room floors are slippery. Our room was kept immaculately clean (and I'm fussy!)

We particularly enjoyed the balcony which provided very welcome shade and was directly on the beach. As there is no shade on this side of the beach we would have struggled without it.

Whilst there isn't any beach drinks service our mini bar was well stocked every day - just let the guy know what you prefer and he'll make sure you get it. We never ran out of anything. We also found that the bar staff were perfectly happy to provide us with anything else we wanted to take back to our room.

The drinks in the main were excellent. Champagne is actually cava but most of us expect that in this type of resort so it wasn't a surprise or disappointment. Add your fruit liquer/juice of choice and enjoy it as a refreshing bellini/kir royale. We love wine and whilst it was plentiful we found it to be a little disappointing. The red in particular was often undrinkable. The white was hit and miss - some days it was good others not. We suspect it either hasn't travelled well or was stored incorrectly. However the cocktails and spirits were excellent. The latter were premium brands. The bar staff were also very willing to make anything that's not on the drinks menu & were quick to make suggestions.

The delightful people are the greatest asset of this resort. Almost every member of staff is genuinely friendly, helpful and proud of their role. Many have been with the resort for years and go beyond the normal levels of customer service. We found that when out and about on the island staff we hadn't noticed would come running out of shops to greet us. You can't 'train' that ! We cannot speak highly enough of them. Similarly we found that junior management were from the same mould.

It was unfortunate that the senior management team did not live up to this high standard. Despite being there for 2 full weeks during a quiet period neither Mr Foreman nor Mr Lane introduced themselves ; the chef was the rudest person we have ever encountered in a hotel; and at the manager's cocktail party the senior team were conspicuous by their lack of desire to mingle with guests.

A number of people have commented on the insects. Usually I get heavily bitten even with copious quantities of insect repellant. This year I used the new 'autan tropical' and had only a couple of bites. However, I did get a few ant bites - they are vicious - and people lying by the pool (we stayed on our beachfront balcony) seemed to be particularly badly affected. We sprayed our balcony and round the doors & windows every day after our cleaner had finished with the repellant provided - seemed to do the trick.

So, that leaves the food, and it is here that the resort is badly let down.

Let's start with breakfast. The lack of in season fruits (mangos in particular were plentiful & cheap everywhere on the island but didn't appear at all at breakfast) and the fruit juice made from powder (horrible) were a real disappointment. However, the cooked breakfasts were great & feel free to create your own concoction. This was the culinary highlight of the day.

The snacks and afternoon tea were very hit and miss and require attention. The cookies were excellent.

The food at Ismays (the new restaurant) was also consistently good at lunch and dinner. This is the 'island style' restaurant and we recommend the curried goat. However while we were there with no notice they closed this restaurant in the evenings for a week of our stay. Very disappointing as it was by far the best & one of our reasons for booking this resort. The setting was also lovely & it had by far the best ambience.

The setting at Gaugins was lovely. They also shut this restaurant for lunch for much of our stay. Unfortunately the food wasn't good. Ask the staff for recommendations - inevitably they will suggest the steak, the lamb or the fish of the day - they will happily steer you away from most of the rest of the menu - a sure sign that it's not up to standard. For the 1st time in years I actually left an entire main course as it was inedible. The waitress laughed & confirmed this was a regular occurance.

We didn't enjoy the Seagrape for either lunch or dinner. At times it was so poor as to be inedible - e.g. the marlin one night was so tough that I couldn't even cut it (and I love marlin!).

Barbecue night was basic and unless you arrive early you will find that popular items have run out. Our mistake the 1st week when sitting down to eat at 9pm severely limited our choice.

The management team allege that the menus are sufficiently extensive to not require changing across the 2 weeks. As guests we disagree. Whilst I am sure the management team can find plenty of people who enjoy the food, the poor standard and lack of variation was a fequently cited disappointment by guests of all nationalities when we were there.

As this could so easily be addressed it is a shame that the management team do not see it as a valid concern.

It is also highly inappropriate to close hotel facilities during a guest's stay. Ismays closed for dinner for the 2nd week of our stay & for lunch 1 day. Gaugin closed for lunch towards the end of our stay. We were advised this was to 'save costs'. We consider this to be highly inappropriate.

So to summarise - fabulous location, fabulous staff, good rooms & drinks, but poor food and dreadful senior management attitude.

Would we go back? To Antigua absolutely. To Galley Bay - probably not.

But huge thanks to the wonderful staff for their fabulous service and warmth - senior management should take lessons from them!

We stayed at Galley Bay for our fantastic 3 week honeymoon from Wens 16th July - Wens 6th Aug 2008.

It really is the most beautiful hotel, it's well thought out, excellently maintained, clean, quiet and ALL staff were friendly and helpful. It gave a wonderful air of relaxation and luxury.
All the previous great reviews are correct, I will say no amount of what I can say will give Galley Bay the justice it deserves you really have to go there to experience just how amazing it really is.

So I will try to make this review as useful as possible to anyone who is reading, with tips we have found useful from reading reviews on this site to tips we think may be useful to others.

FLIGHT
We flew with Virgin, TIP - highly recommed the Premium Ecomomy and request the upper cabin. The extra room is fantastic and you are spoilt all throughout the flight if you can afford the extra it's well worth it.

TIP - when you land try to be one of the first to leave the plane, we were one of the first 10 off the plane as I had read this was advisable, and it was a good move! It is very hot when you first get off and there is a bit of a walk to the air conditioned airport. We were in and through passport control in no time. When we looked behind us there was a very long queue of hot people!

TIP - try to get a porter ASAP and tip him for a trolley, we did not do this as advised, this was a mistake! we couldn't get a trolley and had 4 bags with us! Although the luggage came through fairly quickly and we were through to departure in no time.

ARRIVAL TO HOTEL
Our taxi did not have air-con but was great fun and it was nice to feel the warmth from the open windows, (ALL other taxi's associated with the hotel were air-conditioned) we were going to hire a car to drive but decided not to having seen the state of the roads! but this did not deter other holidaymakers we met and they really enjoyed driving around, it really is a personal choice.

We entered the big metal gates to the beautiful Galley Bay reception, we had a welcolme cold flannel and cool drink, then we were taken by golf buggy to our room, while Javid the driver gave us a fantastic intro, he told us it was paradise there and any thing was possible. He wasn't lying either!

ROOM
We booked the Ground Floor Premium Suite, we had number 29 one of the new suites which were finished this year in April. It was stunning. The bathroom is enourmous! with the twin showers and basins.

The king size bed was so comfortable we even looked up the make of the mattress! The lounge was lovely and the superb flat screen tv we used on a few nights when the sun had gone down to watch a movie or two.

There is a fridge, but the only stock we had in it was 2 cans of sprite, 2 cans of coke and 2 cans of Wadadlhi beer! No water.
We had to buy our water from the Galley Bay shop which cost $1 per bottle. A little disappointed that an all inclusive site did not put water in the fridge for arriving guests.

There was a digital safe - fantastic as didn't have to carry a key around.

The porch was wonderful and the loungers just amazing we spent many hours relaxing listening to the waves and watching the birds.

The door had an interior bolt lock and all doors and windows had locks for anyone concerened about security, although you really don't need to be worried we felt safe and secure our entire holiday this site is extreemley well run.

RESTAURANTS
Seagrape - we ate here more often than not, the food is superb and varied it arrived quickly and the service was fantastic, water was plentiful and they will get any drinks you request from the bar. Heather is brilliant and nothing is too much trouble another of our favourites was Stuart he was great we loved having him to take our order he always made us laugh, he's a great guy.
Again all staff were professional and friendly.

The Gaugin - a lovely restaurant you book for this one for an evening meal, the menu stays the same here but is also varied definately try the fried plantain it's fantastic. You have more privicy here and it's very romantic.

Isamays - Great for what we would call snack meals, burgers, chips, salads etc it opens from 12 - 5 definately try this one out the views are amazing.

ENTERTAINMENT
Low key and lovely, nice steel bands and singers and on every second Monday there is a magician, Zorran, you really must see him he is brilliant, unfortunately the Hotel doesn't advertise him and we nearly missed him, we are glad we didn't. We had a private lesson with him a couple of days later which we recommend it was only £30 and you get far more than you pay for he is a top guy and shows you some amazing tricks to try on your friends and family.

POOL
Gorgeous, clean, larger than it looks and great for relaxing.

SEA
Wonderful, I cannot understand people not liking the sound of the waves?! It was clear and does have a small verge in, but I had no problem swimming, getting in or out of the water and I'm only 5"2! Only saw 1 jelly fish but they are not harmful, they only give a sting like a nettle and this year there were more than usual. I swam every day with no problem.

SHOP
This is a small shop for such a big site, but it does stock alot of useful items, the only things we missed were snacks like crisps and nuts which were in short supply on the site but were easily found in the supermarkets.

The site was maintained daily and looked amazing, we always said hello to all staff and they always greeted us back, genuinely ALL staff were brilliant.

SPA
I loved this place it's so beautiful and peaceful, we both had the Hot Stone massage, Tropical scrub and facials - lovely. I also had my nails and hair done, you have to visit here at least once.

INSECT REPELLANT
TIP - this one I cannot stress enough Avon Skin So Soft Dry Replenishing Oil. I did not get bitten once I promise you this is true, whereas all other holidaymakers we spoke to had been bitten many times (have to add this is not a fault of the hotel you get this anyhwere) try this you won't be disappointed.

TAXIS
The hotel has taxi's you can book it's an excellent service, TIP -ask for JO-JO he made our holiday really special, he took us to some wonderful sights and places and we got to try some wonderful local Antiguan food. He took us anywhere we asked he is a top guy we highly recommend you travel with JO-JO.

ST JOHNS
Lots of lovely duty free shopping, ALL shops will ask you the same questions
TIP - we recommend you write the details on a piece of card to show each time you want to purchase something we found this very useful, Your departure date, Your flight number and the airline you are flying with. You also need your passport as ID.

TRIPS
We certainly recommend the ones we tried
Extreme Circumnavigation - you get to see the whole island and it's a small group of between 20 - 25 of you, the tour guys are very knowlegeable and we had a great time, we swam with sting rays - We both enjoyed this it's a great experience. Had the best BBQ lunch we have ever had and learnt a lot about the island.

Helicopter to Monserrat - you fligh over what was Plymouth and see just how much of the Island the volcano affected, very moving. This took about 45 minutes. Expensive but worth it.

Island Safari - Great for seeing the Island from the inside again you learn so much about the history and see some amazing sites, lunch was superb, a great tour.

Shirley Heights - We went twice it's got a great atmosphere, wonderful views tasty BBQ and we met a lot of people there, if you go to Antigua we recommend you experience it. Our shuttle from Galley Bay left at 4 and had us back by 8.30, the party goes on a lot longer but you would have to sort your own transport for this.

Honeymoon romance package - we had a sunset cruise which was lovely Sean who took us out made sure it was perfect we had great music and some wonderful local cuisine, chicken roti's these were probably one of the best meals I've ever eaten even now I am craving them!

CURRENCY
We took US$ and EC$ but we found more often that not we were using US$ it got very confusing with 2 different currencies! We made a conversion table to take with us to see the differences.

HENRY'S
I promise you this guy is amazing, he is an Antiguan jewellery maker and makes the most beautiful silver and gold ID bracelets, you will see many of the Antiguans wear these and Henry is the BEST on the island don't fall for imitations. He can make them within a few days and can incorporate old gold and silver jewellery if you have some, if not he will make it from scratch. He only charges in EC$ and I had the most amazing handmade original bracelet made for £40 in silver and gold. Ask JO JO to take you there, for something of quality and typically antiguan you must go here.

Our Honeymoon was just wonderful and we loved every minute, we booked Galley Bay as a result of reading reviews on this site and we know we made the best decision, we are definately going back and are saving already! We can't wait, and we wouldn't stay anywhere else.
If you want quality, peace and quiet, luxury and the best time of your life book Galley Bay.