My wife & I have just returned from 10 days in Blue Waters Hotel.
We chose the location as we wanted a quiet relaxing holiday and we got exactly what we wanted.
We travelled independently so needed to get a taxi from the airport to the hotel. I am always concerned about making sure that any taxi I use is official. At this airport, there is a taxi dispatch stand immediately outside arrivals who tell you how much your taxi will cost and direct you to a driver. Taxi's base their charges on a published list so you are not 'ripped-off'. see this link - www.antigua-barbuda.org/Agtsp01.htm#taxis
The hotel welcomes you with a rum punch and cold towels - very welcome. The whole booking-in process is very rapid and you are quickly in your room. We were changed and straight out again to look around.
We booked a Superior Hillside Room but I think that we were upgraded to a Delux Beachfront Room - nobody told us this but the description fitted the Beachfront. The position of the room was great as you could lie in bed and listen to the gentle waves lapping on the beach - what a great way to wake up in the morning.
We were on the All Inclusive package so this meant you could place an order for your minibar, except on Sundays - the day we arrived. Actually we rarely used the minibar but it would have been good to have had something waiting for us on arrival - maybe some snacks in there as well rather than having to buy them from the gift shop.
On arrival we tried to book restaurants, wanting to try Vyviens as soon as possible but it was full on Sunday and closed on Monday, so we had to eat in Palms both of these nights. I would recommend to any traveller to contact the hotel before arrival to book Vyvians in case the hotel is busy.
The location is great, the gardens are very well kept with some fantastic trees and plants. The sea is a gorgeous blue colour and everything is very calm and peaceful.
The main beach is small and not normally too busy. There are sufficient sun beds on the beach to cope with demand but the shadey spots are limited and in demand. There is only a few canopies on the beach and the best ones are reserved with towels by 07:30am - sometimes earlier. It is us Brits who do this so don't criticise other European nationalities. Beach towels are provided by the hotel so you don't need to take your own.
The best beds by the pools also get reserved by 08:30am so if the hotel is busy you need to get out early - don't lie-in and expect to get a good spot.
Breakfast is served in Palms Restaurant. It is very adequate with a good selection of fruit, cereals, cooked items and pastries. Unfortunately the selection nevers changes and the most exciting area is the egg chef.
Lunch is also served in Palms and could be from a menu or often was varied to include barbeques. Again the quality was fine.
Afternoon tea is served between 4-5pm (in the open air area of Palms). We only went to this once as we didn't enjoy the pastries being served and actually preferred to have a coffee from the pool bar.
Evening meals are served in either Palms or Vyviens. Although the food in Palms was fine, the experience in Vyvians is so much better. The only downside is that Vyvians only changes it's menu weekly and some items can run-out if you have a late booking (we could not order steak at 9pm).
The wine included on the All-Inclusive package is very average with a very limited selection. You pay extra for anything other than the house wines.
We went to the Cove Restaurant once but did not feel it was good value for money - you have to a subsidy if you are on the All Inclusive package. The best element of this restaurant is the position and views across the sea but it is dark by 7:30pm so this is no longer a benefit.
There is entertainment most nights. This was always a small group playing different types of music - no variation.
The water sports centre personnel are great, very welcoming and helpful. I went snorkelling and learnt how to sail, in both cases the staff were patient and helpful, allowing you to spend as much time as you wanted in the activities. When we went snorkelling, the Sandals boat arrived after us and left before us with our guide telling us to take as long as we wanted.
Nearly all the staff in the hotel were great and really helpful, obviously there was the odd exception.
The cocktails are great with an extensive menu but beware as some are so strong that they can ruin your evening. My absolute favourite was the BBC (Baileys, Banana & Coconut slush). Unfortunately they ran out of BAILEYS and were using an inferior substitute for 2 days.
There was a wedding most days which was great to see, although if you are planning a wedding, ask to be booked into Vyvians for the Wedding Evening meal unless you want to be sitting in the larger Palms restaurant with the majority of Hotel guests.
Our biggest annoyance in the area is the Mosquitoes. Almost everybody in the hotel had multiple bites from Mosquitoes on their legs. It took me a while to work out why this was and it was only after 7 days that I realised we were been bitten whilst using Palms Restuarant. After that we asked to be seated outside the main area when using the restaurant. I'm not sure if there is a time of the year when mosquitoes are most prevelant but make sure you take repellent for you and your room. We found that a very good repellent is ctually an Avon product called Skin So Soft -[--]
Overall, we had a good quiet vacation and although you will not be dissapointed with the Hotel, it really needs more attention to detail to make it an outstanding stay. We were compairing our stay at this hotel with a previous All Inclusive holiday at Legends in Mauritius in 2007 where we felt the whole experience was better.


(3 votes)




