Just got back from a week at St James. We stayed in two Oceanview rooms in the Hisbiscus building facing Coco Beach with our 16 and 19 year old. Our biggest disappointment was the condition of the rooms. They were very basic, no frills at all, musty a/c smell, and the bedding was outright cheap and worn. We stayed at Galley Bay (same company) on the other side of the island a few years ago and have nothing but positive things to say. This property was no Galley Bay, not even close.
Pros: Coco Beach (yes, we liked the breezy one better than the bay beach), property location, grounds, scuba center, pools, plenty of chairs by the beaches and pools and the Jacaranda lounge
Cons: Our rooms--the kind that you want to keep your shoes on, and the bedding piled in the corner. Lots of little issues with the rooms: dripping faucets, dripping a/c in the rrom, frig with busted leg, sliding glass door to balcony that did not like to slide, musty smell always, a/c that never went off but never really cooled down the room. The food was ok -- not great. Most was very plain. We were on the all-inclusive like most folks. If you had to actually pay the prices on the menu it would be downright ridiculous. For example a dinner for the four of us would run around $400-500 according to the menu for average food. Overall the staff just seemed to tolerate guests. Not rude, but certainly not sincere nor attentive. Yes, there were a few that seemed to be relatively well trained and sincere but that was the minority. The towel policy is ridiculous -- you get these towel cards that you must use to get beach towels at locations usually not convenient to where you need them. It is up to you to return the towels and claim your cards else pay for your towels at the end of each day. And these are at best, ok towels. Nothing worth taking as a souvenier.
We just thought it would be better than its 4 or 5 star rating would suggest. We plan to return to Antigua in the future just not to this property.
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