This hotel is very comfortable and is highly recommended.Lovely beach too.
We visited Galley Bay,whist staying on the island, which has a better beach but the standard rooms there are much less luxurious than at Blue Waters.It is worth asking for a room in a refurbished block but we did not hear any complaints about any of the rooms whilst we were there.
The food and the entertainment are good too.Our only reservation would be that some of the staff can be a little unfriendly and disinterested but that would not be enough to stop us recommending this hotel or staying there again if visiting Antigua.

When you arrive at Blue Waters, you are immediately struck by the elegant but relaxing open lobby area and grounds of the hotel. The hotel lobby staff were efficient but a tad reserved. The hotel room we had was lovely, with a water view we weren't expecting. The beds were comfortable and the bathroom was very, very nice. Our air conditioning broke our last night there however. They sent a maintenance worker and he could not fix it. It was not that hot though.
The food was OK in the main dining room (The Palm) and at the buffet, but it was really excellent in Vyviens. The service was better at Vyviens also. The three swimming pools were lovely.
For me the drawbacks for this property, and the reason I could not give it an excellent, were the location and the beach. The property is located on a residential street at the end of a very steep hill. There is NO PLACE to walk to from this property; it is more like a compound. You have to take a cab anyplace from $12-25 one way. I prefer the ability to walk to other hotels or walk into town or to another beach.
The beach is very, very small, and because the property allows children, the beach was very noisy. The guests must get up at 5:00 in the morning and throw their towels, magazines, etc. on the beach chairs so that there is never a beach chair available and the property does nothing about it, other than put up a sign that they do not enforce. The water sports office was run by young guys who were not very friendly or helpful. Alternatively, there was a fitness center that was well maintained and had good equipment. It had bunches of young teenagers hanging around but they were not a problem. I found the guests to be quite friendly, but not overly so.

Blue Waters in Antigua is very average - more like a vaguely competent 3 star than a luxury 4 star. We were glad to move on after four days here.

Granted, the hotel is in a lovely setting: a great natural bay some 20 minutes from the airport, with a nice beach and well manicured gardens but setting apart we found the hotel to be average and the service nothing like the 4 star we have been used to whilst travelling in the rest of the Carribean .

The hotel itself looks tired and stuck in the 1980's, the rooms were distinctly average, although with nice beach views. The bathroom in our room was comparable to a 2 star hotel; towels and the toiletries were not replaced after use. There was no mini bar - you had to order drinks for the fridge- in a 4 star hotel ?

Staff were mixed: friendly-ish and surly but service everywhere was poor. Food in the main Palm restaurant in the evening was awful, we wouldnt even have fed our main courses to one of the stray cats roaming around (and this was at 40 USD a head). The flagship restaurant Viviens (if you could get a reservation) resembled the inside of a Harvester Inn and the food there was pretty forgettable.

During the day pool bars were often shut or unstaffed meaning you had to walk to get a drink. At night there was only one barman making drinks meaning long waits at time for simple things like a beer.

The Carlisle Bay Hotel where we also went blew this place out of the (blue) waters on every front and was only an extra 100 USD a night. Blue Waters, maybe because most guests are on an 'all inclusive food and drink' package forgets about service and quality. If you are a retired photocopier salesman from Scunthorpe used to Benidorm, and you can get a good 'all in' deal then you may like this place - otherwise avoid.

We have just spent THE most fantastic ten days at Blue Waters. Before we went to Antigua we looked at several reviews on this site for Blue Waters and were quite confused because different opinions appeared to be offered, particularly about the staff. Now we've been there we can see why......
Yes, some of the staff at reception can seem a bit snooty (I guess they think they are a bit more important than some of the others) but Cindy - guest services and wedding co-ordinator - is brilliant, and the rest of them relax a bit when you get to know them. BUT..... all the remaining staff were absolutely GREAT!!! Superb sense of humour, excellent service, good advice about wines/food etc, nothing too much trouble whether it be a porter, chamber maid, bar staff, restaurant staff (both Vyvian's and Palm restaurants), cheerful gardeners and housekeepers, visiting tour salespeople - all were warm and friendly and full of fun. Without doubt, the best we have experienced anywhere.
And the hotel itself? WONDERFUL. They seem to have thought of everything, and ensured there would be no problems. We lost count of the number of photos we took in such a beatiful setting - and when we show then to friends they wonder if we were on our own, the place gives the impression of so much space and privacy. We are not 30-something jetsetters, but found plenty to fill our time with the gym, watersports centre (kayaks and hobie cats being our favourites) and the adult pool where no-one else seemed to go (except the bar staff who made sure we always had drinks, even if it was only water!!) Evening entertainment was quite adequate for us, but if anyone wants to look further, there is an excellent taxi service to anywhere else on the island. And the food is absolutely superb, especially in the evenings when it doesn't matter which restaurant you eat in, the food is just first rate. (As good as in my local restaurant which I keep for special occasions!!)
As for excursions, an absolute MUST in our view is the helicopter flight over Montserrat - absolutely AWESOME (and this is not a word I often use). To fly over the devastated land at the speed at which the lava would have flowed leaves one quite speechless. We also did a Virgin Dundee safari involving jeeps and kayaks and snorkelling which we would wholeheartedly recommend. Be prepared to get jolted and wet!
Blue Waters is absolutely THE BEST - even the Virgin rep cites it as her favourite hotel. We can't decide where to go next year because this was so much the perfect venue.
Two words of caution - one, mobile phone reception is not good at Blue Waters ( it is surrounded by hills) so you may need to use land lines. And two, when you arrive you will be asked to leave a credit card number at reception in the event of charges against your room. Being fraud conscious we declined to do this, thinking we would not need to charge anything tp the room, but when we did have to make an emergency phone call to the UK from our room, we were very quickly contacted by reception to settle the account in cash (ie within a few hours) We have not experienced that anywhere else, and it did leave us feeling a bit sour and harrassed.

Overall though, we would have to say this is a holiday not to be beaten, and we may wellbe back there again next year. and the next, and the next, and.....
M and N. Sussex England April 2005