Difficult to give this one a rating. Sub-standard accommodation in a lovely setting.

The beachfront duplex was tired, to say the least. It was roomy - large living room/kitchen and reasonably spacious patio. But the whole thing needed renovation and probably new beds to boot.

Having said this, the location is brilliant and the grounds are lovely. And, from what we heard, some of the hillside villas are stupendous.

The western end of the beach has a rocky strip running along it, so forget thoughts of running straight from the cottage into the sea. Better to walk up a little and go in where it's easier on the feet.

A delightful surprise was the restaurant, the Calabash. The quality was consistently good. We ended up eating there eleven times during a nine-night stay and we generally spent between $50 and $100 (US) per visit - one or two courses, a couple of glasses of wine and a bottle of mineral water. Maybe the odd coffee or liqueur.

A lot of people either catered for themselves or drove out in the evenings, so there was no 'buzz' in the restaurant, although the bar occasionally livened up. It's early days for the restauranteurs - they only took over in July 2004. Let's hope for their sakes that word spreads quickly.

The free ferry to Nelson's Dockyard was good, so daytime eating out was possible and varied. Falmouth Harbour and its bars, French bakery and proper supermarket was only a ten minute stroll from the dockyard.

This was our sixth visit to Antigua so we didn't feel the urge to go exploring. But, if staying in one place doesn't appeal to you, we'd recommend you hire a car.