I arrived at the airport at 11:00pm. Cleared customs, got my baggage and took a taxi to the hotel. I was checked in to Room 121 and the young lady led me to the room. She opened the door and then declared that somebody was occupying the room. With that, she opened 122 and put me in there. I wanted to phone my wife as I always do on arrival. The card by the phone said dial *6811. Ha! Good luck. It never worked. I went back to the front desk for help. It was after midnight and the young lady had gone. The security guard was very helpful, suggested I go back to my room, dial 0, he would answer and then connect me to the international operator.

Back to my room, but I could not get in. I had a key for 121. Back to the front desk. He had to call somebody down to make a new key for me. Back to the room. He tried many times but could not get an international operator. I asked him to quit, I have to sleep so I never did call my wife.

After five days they wanted me to move me to another room. No problem, I had been warned this might happen. I was moved to 123, the identical room next door. So what was the point of that? The phone in that room was haunted. Every two minutes it would ring once but there was nobody there - just the dial tone. I pulled the plug in order to get some sleep.

The sailing was terrific, pool was huge and staff were incredibly nice and helpful. A little more variety in the salads and olive oil would have been nice, but still overall it was quite good. Unfortunately we won't be going back to Antigua again though due to the recent expropriation of a significant piece of land and resort there by the Antiguan government. Investors in Antigua beware.

We booked through SunSail, although were on the island as part of a longer holiday, so didn't fly on the charter that most people did. It's a great part-inclusive destination although you need to be keen on the activities side to make the most of it. But if you are keen then the sailing is worth the trip - excellent instructors, a wide range of well-maintained equipment, consistent winds for the sailing and short distances from other eventful opportunities (for diving, yachting and snorkelling). It seemed to be great for the kids (who didn't radically impinge on the childless) and their parents. The accomodation and food/drink was merely reasonable - we likened it to an upmarket Butlins - but it was plentiful and (where not inclusive) relatively reasonably priced (although the bar service sometimes bordered on the scandalously poor).

I would recommend Antigua as a destination - and aside from the sailing and water sports, this isn't a good representation of the island - but Colonna is well worth the trip, and make the effort to leave the joint and see some more of Antigua.

I totally recommend Club Colonna (which we booked through Sunsail) and everything about it. It was a very relaxing and fun holiday. We had apartment 30 which we booked in advance, we wanted apartment 32 but it was already booked. We had been told apartment 32 was the best and when we got there we agreed because that apartment had four balcony windows which would have let more wind through when you were relaxing on the balcony and ours had just two and was a bit hot (mostly from the air conditioning unit but you could turn that off while you sat outside) with beautiful views out to sea. The rooms were really large and clean and the bathroom spacious enough. TV and fridge very handy with kids. Pool fab, kids club great, sailing excellent, most staff very nice but bar staff a bit slow and needed to smile a bit more. John's garden tour was great. Owain's fitness classes were brilliant and I even did the triathlon which I have never done in my life before which was great. My husband enjoyed Craig's sailing courses. The coffee shop in reception was wonderful but I got a bit addicted to their iced creamy coffee concoctions. It was good for a light lunch if you wanted a change from the restaurant although the food in the restaurant was yummy. So as I say, a very good holiday. We had great weather too. Enjoy!