Lots of people have posted great reviews about the resort so I'll try to just add additional observations!

- The beach is beautiful, very picturesque, lots of seats, etc. The red flags were up for our whole stay so we couldn't snorkel and do water sports which was a large reason for us picking the hotel as we were lead to believe this was a feature of the hotel and it certainly has all the equipment. If you love doing things like that this hotel isn't for you. The sea is so rough here even the boat trips pick you up from a neighbouring resort. I don't think this is publicised properly. That is not to say it isn't a fabulous location and well maintained.

- We stayed in a Gaughin Cottage and I would highly recommend this. We were is G11. You have your own private plunge pool which was in full sun until 4pm, lovely view of the lagoon. Then if you want more sun you can transfer to the beach as the beds there are for everyones use. We loved that total privacy and not having to hold beds, getting annoyed with the loud people next to you, etc!

- We are 35 and although there are some others of our age here, most of the guests were considerably older. This isn't a problem but I think did lead to the hotel booking very low key, lounge acts as entertainment. There was only one night that I would say the act was lively and that would still be pushing it!

- I have to disagree about the food. It wasn't that good in our opinion. I would say for the most part it was average and as other people have noted it was normally cold when it arrived. I think that the menu needs some work as does speed of service. The house wine's and drinks were very good.

- The resort has beautiful gardens and grounds and the standard of service is very high indeed. The house keeping was fantastic as is the customer service desk.

- Tha spa is very well run and treatments reasonably priced and well worth investing in a massage on your first day to get you in the mood!

- We visited St Johns, very nice, eat lunch at Hemingways and watch the world go by! There are no cruise ships in on a Monday so that is the best day to go or it's rammed.

- We went to Shirley Heights for the Sunday night gathering and steel band, etc. Brilliant, must be done. Is very, very busy though so if you want a seat go early! Food up there was expensive but good! The novelty will wear off at about 8-9pm depending on your tolerance for the reggae band that follow the steel band.

- Did the Extreme Antigua boat trip on a speed boat. Fantastic, highlight of our trip, sting ray city, snorkelling at Pillars of Hercules, circumnav the whole island seeing lots of great things and lunch on a secluded beach too!

- You must venture out at night and eat at Home Restaurant in St. Johns. It had been recommended to us and was a wonderful night. Owned by Carl who was born in the house and his german wife Rita this is fresh food at it's best with bag loads of personality thrown in. By far the best meal we've had not only in Antigua but for a very, very long time! Get a cab there and back.

- Wasn't any mossies really. Gave up with sprays and only got bitten once. Was some very quite, very intermittant, building noise. Really didn't find it intrusive.

In short, great hotel, perfect to unwind, relax and recouperate. I'd recommend it over all.

This was our third visit to Galley Bay and the standards are so excellent that we are already planning our fourth. Nothing is too much trouble for any of the staff from the maitre d' ( Mike) down to the pool cleaning lady (Althea).

I cannot imagine a more relaxing way to spend two weeks.

The other good news, not directly related to the hotel, is the fact that V C Bird airport seems to have improved. With the arrival of cricketting hordes, the number of check in desks at imigration seems to have doubled and we were no more than 10 minutes getting through and at the departure time, the security procedures took less than 10 minutes, c.f last year where we were in a queue for nore than 1 hour.

As a frequent visitor to Galley bay (5 times) it has always provided the santuary that an adults only, all-inclusive holiday brings. Most of the residents are "repeaters" which is a testimony to its popularity.

However, this year the complex is undergoing and expansion programme adjacent to the hotel where the Galley Bay Exclusive Club is being built which will alter the whole character of the hotel. For one I am not sure the beach in the bay will be able to accommodate a further large influx of holiday makers a couple years down the road.

One thing that was a minor irritation was we know for a fact the building work has been ongoing for the last couple of years with incumbent building noise. Whilst this is not too intrusive my tour operator, Kuoni failed to mention this in any of its blurb.

The food is still good, albeit service slow but this is the Caribbean way. However, on occasion this led to our meals not arriving very hot. One small critisism is that the food is very rich in preparation without exception and after 2 weeks one longs for some good old plain British food. Perhaps I'm being churlish. Whilst the waiting staff are mostly friendly with head man Mike Matthews doing a great job, some waitress seem bored with the whole thing and "your welcome" response appeared a bit insincere in a lot of cases.

However, if you want a relaxing beach holiday is beautiful surroundings I urge you do give it a try.

We spent the first two weeks of January at Galley Bay based on the great reviews on this site.

There's not much point re-iterating how fantastic this resort is as there are a lot of reviews that go into great depth, so I'll just say a couple of things:

- Mosquitos are not a problem at all if you stay in the beachfront rooms (which greatly outnumber the Gaugin gottages). Even then Galley Bay provide you with bug spray and a plug in insect repellent (which we didn't use). I was bitten once in two weeks, my girlfriend was bitten twice - it really isn't a problem!

- Waves are quite severe and the red flag was up for half of our stay. When it's wavy, the surfers come out so that's fun to watch plus there's a gorgeous pool to swim in if you can't get in the sea.

- If you want to do any water based activities, see Javid at the watersports place on the beach - he's extremely proficient. Javid can also give you Sean's number who rents a jetski, speed boat, water skis and a sailin yacht - I would strongly recommend arranging something with Sean.

- Nothing needs to be said about the food - it's perfect (although chef should use real parmesan - that really is the only niggle!)

- It's true - Mike Matthews is a legend ("LUNCHTIME!!!")

To summarise - this place is so relaxing and so amazing, we managed to spend 15 days here without moving more than 10 yards away from the beach. It was odd seeing reception for the first time in 15 days when we checked out!

Definitely fly Virgin - everyone else seemed stressed and annoyed with their flights - us Virgin passengers had perfect service (they even check you in for your return flight at the hotel and take your bags to the airport).

Look out for Giorgio Armani - he lives next door!