We just got back from the Royal Antiguan and I must say it was a lovely week. The weather was great and the beach was beautiful. The hotel is definitely a three star when it comes to general appearance (e.g., needs a paint job, some floral arrangements, paintings here and there, etc.); however, you easily overlook these little flaws after a day or two on the property. The beach is safe, scenic; the water is crystal blue and calm. Most importantly, the food is good! I've stayed at 5 star resorts in the Caribbean that didn't have the quality and choice we found at the RA. Because the occupancy rate was very low, only one restaurant of the three was open at each meal. Always decent choices: chicken, fish, pork, vegetables, salad, etc. BBQ night buffet was great! Barrington's, their "fancy" restaurant has very good food, but the service is painfully slow. It can take 2-3 hours to get through your meal. Make sure to order their ice cream in the edible basket; it's yummy! The hotel was recently purchased and it is expected that renovations will commence shortly. Go for a room with a balcony on the garden or ocean side and make sure the air conditioning works. We had problems our first night and had to be moved (i.e, water leaked from the ceiling). Tea time at the pool is a nice British touch. You'll find the staff very polite and helpful. The new manager, an American, is very approachable and helpful. We didn't take any of the tours, but others who did said it was well worth it. A trip to town is expensive- $24 U.S. return. The town isn't much to see and you won't be missing much if you skip it. If you're looking for a resort with lots of daytime activities and evening entertainment, this isn't it. If you're looking for a relaxing,quiet place to unwind, the Royal Antiguan is a good choice. Visit the Sticky Wicket restaurant once you've checked through your baggage on the way home. It's air conditioned, comfortable and has great food (a two minute walk from the airport). If you're going down with kids, you need to know that they don't really have a kids program in place. Their activity guy plays volleyball with the kids at 11am in the pool and beach volleyball with anyone who's interested at 4p.m., but other than that you're on your own. The pool is not huge, but it is divided into two sections- a 3ft deep part and a 7 ft. section. The shallow part is great for the little ones.

My husband and myself went to the Royal Antiguan in March for our honeymoon.It was the first visit to the caribean for both of us so we didn't really know what to expect.
First impressions were good,reception area being clean but not having enough staff to deal with arrivals(when you've sat on a plane for 9 hours you want to get your head down not stand around waiting to be checked in!)
The rooms were very standard and the bathroom needed some attention although we had a beautiful view of the ocean.
We were all inclusive which was ok.There was plenty of choices of food but after a few days we were back to eating what we had on day one as it must run on a rota basis so if your staying for 2 weeks you will get sick of eating the same foods!
The actual resort was lovely and just as we imagined with white sand and clear blue sea and was a beautiful place to spend our honeymoon,but if we were to go again we would choose different accomadation.

After reading the reviews i was scepticle to say the least. The staff were wonderful & i must say whoever said the staff were rude should maybe look at there own attitude. Whenever i thanked the staff for service the reply was always "your welcome" and was said with meaning. I would not hesitate to return. I did not find the food repetitive as we ate at different restaurants, you have a choice of three. The head receptionist Sanjoy was brilliant, she had a great sense of humour and complimented my party most evenings on our appearance. I found all the staff most pleasant. As for the beach vendors there is'nt many, and we got on with them also, if you have manners and treat people with respect you will get on well. The resort on whole was wonderful as were the views from the upper floors. If you are thinking of going here enjoy yourself my party certainly did, we stayed for 11 nights ( 20 Nov 2004 - 2nd Dec 2004).

We have visited quite a few all inclusive resorts but
this is one of the nicest we have stayed at. The food, atmosphere and service were much better than average.

This one offers a lot of value for the money. The overall setting is visually pleasing and the view from the rooms (we upgraded to the bay view room and highly recommend it!) is one of the best in the Caribbean.

Sites to see and not to be missed is the Sunday party at Shirley Heights and a trip through time at Nelson's Dockyards, worth the effort.

One thing to take note, if you are a looking for a really active night life, you might be disappointed. Antigua is layed back, this is not Jamaica!

Just for the record, we are on our way back for the 3rd time!
Enjoy!