If you are looking for a quiet, beautiful location to just veg, eat gourmet meals and feel catered to, this is the the resort for you! My husband and I found this resort on the web and then searched Travel Advisor and found that lots of folks loved it. We stayed 4 nights in the beach cottage which we loved because you could hear the surf all day and could walk right onto the beach. Those rooms also seemed larger than the hillside cottages and unless you want to do alot of walking, the beach cottages are perfect! The decor is simple, elegant and calming. (Loved the outdoor shower!) I've never stayed at a resort that put so much thought into the details of making their guests' stay easy and comfortable. They didn't miss anything! From cold washcloths at our arrival to matchbooks in the candles in the room....Personal service, super friendly employees with amazing attitudes, wanting to cater to your every request (they usually asked if I needed anything before I had a chance to ask!) The food at the restaurant was fabulous. I've eaten all over the world and I was amazed at the quality and daily selection of eclectic dishes. We only left the resort once to take a sunset sailing cruise (see my review) because we had everything we wanted at the resort! The beach employees even taught my husband how to sail a Hobie Cat - one of the 3 non-motor amenities to take out into the bay. I could go on and on about this place - hard to believe it's all-inclusive - I always considered those types of places a little on the cheesy side but this one is five star quality. I highly recommend it if you want some quiet relaxation and top notch service. There are other things to do on the island that are close but getting there is tough - the road, as others mentioned takes a while to get through and very bumpy but well worth the trip there!! Also note that there was no "average age" group when we were there - folks of all ages were enjoying this place (lots of honeymooners too)

This place is so beautiful and relaxing. The service is outstanding and all of the staff are super nice. They go out of their way here to make sure you don't need anything. My husband and I wanted to go out and see the town so they got us a rental. There was no need for us to leave the resort, they brought the car to us at the resort. They packed lunch and gave us a cooler with drinks. I have been to a lot of other resorts and they don't do that. This is a must stay if ever in Antigua.

Hermitage Bay is truly an exceptional place and I would recommend it without exception to young and old seeking a beautiful spot in which to relax, eat and drink quality food and beverage and be pampered by outstanding service.

I should focus on the service first and foremost as of everything that was the single biggest factor that made our stay. From your room ambassadors to the restaurant staff to the water sports crew to the management team every employee at Hermitage Bay is focused on making your stay a truly enjoyable and luxurious one. And while I have stayed in some exceptional hotels in the Far East where service is top notch the difference here is that rather than simply taking care of your needs all the staff at Hermitage Bay are encouraged to get to know you which creates an atmosphere of almost feeling like you are staying at your friend’s house on vacation and yet being spoilt to the hilt. I could scarcely finish my glass of wine at lunch before I was being chased for a top up or stand up from my sun lounger before someone (usually Kevin from the watersports team who made an art of it!) would dash over to fix the towels on my chair as they had become less than perfectly placed. And yet for all this pampering the best part was the conversation you would inevitably enter into with all the employees at the hotel as they attended to your every need. Special thanks to Michael the deputy manager, Devon and Kevin from the watersports team and Linda from the bar.

Secondly, the food and drink. For both my partner and I, the quality of food and drink on a vacation is a crucial determinant of our enjoyment – and we are used to London quality restaurants. As such at the time of booking we were concerned with the all inclusive feature of the hotel (which is frankly necessary given its remote location), especially as there was only one restaurant at the hotel – our past experience is that this can sometimes lead to poor food, bad “house” wines and then egregious pricing for “prestige” liquor. Our experience was quite the opposite. The food was sumptuous: imaginative, well presented and excellently balancing local flavours with more international themes. Importantly, given we ate at the hotel each meal for a week, the menu was sufficiently large and interesting to stay exciting the entire week (the evening menu is changed every day, lunch and breakfast are fixed). The non-premium wines were also excellent and unlike our normal habit we rarely paid for the premium wine. There is also a good selection of other non-premium alcohol and beers meaning you never really need to stray into paying extra.

The rooms at the hotel are very good. They are large and tastefully furnished with extremely spacious bathrooms with outdoor showers (not to everyone’s taste – my partner and I disagreed on whether this was a positive or negative) and beautiful roll-topped baths set next to the windows for views. All rooms come with large outdoor balconies, with a range of seating choices (seats and day beds) and the hill suites also have small plunge pools. We stayed in a hill villa, but there is little to choose between the hill and beach villas. The hill villas have beautiful views and the plunge pool, but suffer more from the mosquitos and can, depending which one you get, be quite a walk up the hill (I would recommend the beach villas if you are less mobile). The beach villas are very convenient but are a little more public and two of them are a little pushed back from the beach.

Finally I must emphasise the beauty of both the hotel, which is finished in a somewhat Asian inspired style with use of dark wood and more minimalist furniture but even more so the surrounding area. The hotel is set in a beautiful and completely undeveloped bay. At night the only lights visible, apart from the hotel’s lights, are from yachts anchoring in the bay for the night. Relaxing on the beach is a wonderful experience, in particular as the loungers are set so far apart from each other given the small hotel size versus the large beach (although bring flip flops – there are a lot of broken shells mixed with the sand). The water is pleasant to swim in, although snorkelling is of limited interest immediately next to the beach (a short kayak ride away it is better). The excellent and very friendly watersports team are happy to help teach you how to sail or windsurf and there are kayaks and snorkelling equipment available

What are the downsides? Very few that matter if you are looking for a “get away” from it all vacation – however for some this will not be the right location. Compared to other, usually larger, top class resorts we have stayed at before, Hermitage Bay has fewer facilities reflecting the “boutique” nature of the hotel, however, we found these limitations did not detract significantly from our enjoyment of the hotel and on the flipside, the personal family feeling of the hotel more than made up for this. Particular areas where the facilities were less comprehensive included:
-Spa. This is a hotel with a spa rather than a spa hotel. The small spa is attractively finished and the treatments were good, however this was not the complete “spa experience” other resorts provide.
-Water sports. No motorised watersports are provided (which helps keep the beach very quiet).
-Pool. There is only one medium sized pool, useful for short laps or cooling off, and situated next to the bar. Given the beauty of the beach, and the ability to swim direct from it, we did not find the lack of a more “fancy” pool area to be a problem.
-Gym. Our one real complaint about the facilities: unfortunately there were no gym facilities at the hotel. I hope the management decide to add a small gym in the future as this, along with the mosquitos, is one of only two aspects of the hotel that has made us think twice about visiting again.

Two other complaints are regularly mentioned on this website:
-Road to the hotel. Yes it is pot-holed and frankly awful, but who cares? This is a hotel for relaxing and getting away from everything (its isolation is one of its key strengths), with some of the best food on the island. Most visitors will probably only leave the hotel once or twice during their stay (we didn’t leave at all!) and a short bouncy drive in a car with modern suspension really isn’t a big deal!
-Mosquitos. We stayed fairly soon after the hotel opened and were fairly badly munched by the little beasts! From the reviews we have read on this website it appears the problem was worse before our visit and has improved since. Bear in mind the hotel is newly built and situated in virgin forest/jungle, its not surprising that there was an issue – however, the management is working very hard to combat the problem and hopefully things will continue to improve – something we are banking on for our next trip!

Probably the best way to summarise how much we enjoyed our stay at the hotel in March 2007 is to note that we almost went back for our next holiday in July 2007, and have already booked a stay over New Year. Get there soon before everyone else finds it and the prices shoot up (they are currently very reasonable!).

We stayed in Hermitage Bay in June. This part of the island can be dodgy with the weather (although we were lucky) but I would advise you to check before you go.
The hotel is very unique and fairly unspoilt. However, being new, it isnt really upto full speed in all departments and the landscape will take a little time to really develop.
That said the hotel is excellent. The staff on the whole are very good with one or two that really stand out (Janice and Devon on the beach, Michael and Tina and Annette).
I can honestly say that the food by was by far the best I have ever had in years of travelling the world so hats off to the chef!
The room is of a good standard (although it need a long mirror for the women!) and the plunge pool is a real delight and worth the extra money.
The beach was very nice and the sea was lovely for a dip. The beach service could have been a bit more prompt.
The only real downpoints are 1) the walk up to the cottages can be a trek if the buggies are not working 2) the hotel is really quiet with little entertainment. Two weeks would have been unbearable but one was just right 3) a lady in the spa was very rude but Im sure this was an isolated incident!
Overal, a bit pricey but lots of plus points and definately worth a visit!