The Royal Antiguan has a major advantage over other three-star and even four star hotels in Antigua -- namely a wonderful and secluded beach. Unlike most of the other hotels on the island, the Royal Antiguan sits on its own private bay, called Deep Bay. So it is quiet, peaceful, and the waves are tranquil. The Royal Antiguan also is a quick five-minute cab ride to St. John, the island's principle city (if you go, make sure to have a drink on the second floor veranda of Hemingway's), which provides dining options to the hotel (unmemorable food). The hotel is also very close to Chez Pascal, one of the best French restaurants anywhere in the islands. So while the Royal Antiguan is hardly glamorous, it is a well situated property and a good backdrop for a peaceful, get away from it all island vacation -- good enough that my family and I have been going back there for the past eight years.

We stayed at the Royal Antiguan in March 2002 for one week. We had booked two adjoining rooms in advance of our trip (so we could have our kids adjoining our room), but adjoining rooms were not available. The manager was fantastic. (I think his name was Mr. Bailey, though I can't remember for sure) He took care of all of our needs. He upgraded us to what I call a house or villa that was situated on the pathway right across from the pool with spectacular gardens surrounding it. He also took care of our special needs which required the restaurant to heat special frozen dinners which we had brought with us. He, as well as Mr. Peters (of the restaurant) and all the staff were exceptionally friendly and warm, and happily catered to any and all special needs and requests we had. It is true that there is not much nightlife around, and we did find ourselves rather bored in the evenings. Vendors on the beach did get annoying, but if it weren't for them, we probably never would have gotten braids (Iris, under the tree, is a pro) or gone on a catamaran sunset cruise which was great. Overall, we had a lovely and memorable time at the Royal Antiguan.

Antigua is a great island. Typical of a charter hotel, the Royal Antiguan was a tired, but pleasant looking moderate hotel. An upgrade for an extra charge is necessary if you are placed in a room overlooking a ditch and the trash containers, as was our case when we arrived. The upgrade to a room with a wonderful view and balcony is approximately $20/night. The room was spacious and clean but the television didn't always work and the pillows were made out of lumpy concrete (bring your own if you want to sleep). The staff is friendly until you ask them for something. Everything is set up to cost you lots more money than you would expect. Example: there is not a pay phone in the entire hotel so you will have to make all calls from your room at a sizeable surcharge. Or - you cannot order an a la carte breakfast. It's the $17 buffet breakfast or nothing. The coffee was dreadful. The location is such that if you want to go to the town of St. John's nearby you must take an expensive cab ride ($12 each way before the tip) because the hotel does not have a shuttle except for once a week, and then they charge you $8 for a few hours in town. The Royal Antiguan is owned by a hotel group that also offers timeshares and promotes them in their lobby. The hotel gave the names and room numbers of their guests to the timeshare group for marketing purposes!! So much for privacy. The timeshare group however would not speak with single women and had no problem stating that. The hotel has a nice but small beach where vendors frequently approach you selling things, a nice location if you do not like to get out much, some wonderful goats around the area and a fitness room with no equipment. The afternoon tea was very pleasant and a nearby abandoned fort made a good little hike. The Royal Antiguan has seemed to have mostly charter vacationers there, which meant they came in droves and left in droves.

After having read some of the reviews I was a bit wary that I'd signed up my family (inc. 2 children aged 5 & 3) to a very dubious experience. But it all turned out fine and I'd say some of the earlier comments were misplaced if not downright unfair. Yes, the hotel probably has seen better days but I'd guess that could be true of Caribbean tourism in general, and for the hotel itself then there seemed to be a constant, though unobtrusive, maintenance programme. It was clean, simple to negotiate and the - very safe - beach was 2 minutes walk away. The staff, in fact Antiguans in general, were straightforward: helpful if asked, but neither servile nor rude. We had no problems with vendors. On a strict budget, the key was to hire a car. I phoned around and got one for US$45. By UK standards petrol is cheap and driving habits variable but I've had more problems in London or, for that matter, New York than in St. John's. And after getting the car then that was it - a different beach every day and eating local every time because, if I have one negative comment, it's that the food in the hotel is expensive. Having been deforested the island is not lush but the beaches are tremendous and, I don't know how true it is for the whole Caribbean, but it seems there's no such thing as a private beach. Some of the land surrounding them may have restrictions but if you can get to them, they're yours - and sometimes only yours (if that makes sense!).