In essence this hotel seems like a work in progress as aspects are really good and some others not - it seems a little undecided as to what market it wants to be pitched at. A decent room. some lovely food in both restaurrants and some really good individual staff - however not all of the staff were all that efficient or friendly (e.g there was no urgency when the taxi booked by the hotel didnt arrive and we were left to sort it out ourselves nearly missing our flights). The island also seems really nice although I have to confess we didnt stray too far. My main gripe was the fact that, having checked in the preceding Saturday, on the Thursday night a note was slipped under the door saying that the pool would be closed all day Friday to prepare for a party on the Friday night. It does not seem consistent with the "luxury boutique hotel" marketing to deny your guests the main pool facilities to prepare for a party which was essentially aimed at external guests. Certainly to communicate this via a note under the door the night before, having been in resort for 5 days, was unacceptable - something management admitted when I complained. in the event the party was very very loud and the pool was still out of commission when we left on Saturday afternoon as well as a pile of vomit outside the main building, albeit not on a thoroughfare but clearly within view. I understand that these parties must be a useful additional income stream, particularly at non-peak season, however, the management need to decide if they truly are a luxury boutique hotel, where the needs of the guests are paramount or not.

Having booked this hotel back in October I was very concerned by later reviews slating this hotel.

However on the whole we had a great time, staff were excellent, contrary to many reveiws, We stayed all inclusive and generally the food was fine, the barbecue night was not up to standard and while the breakfast was adequate the food under the hot plates was never hot. Carmichels at the top of the hill was top notch with an excellent manager and staff. We ate there 3 nights and were never disappointed. The are times when you had to wait for a golf cart to run you around, but you are on holiday so what's the rush,, and there are no rules stopping you walking.

There is a shuttle to the beach, try Jackie o, Vorne the shuttle driver will tell you she is closed as he prefers to take you to the beach bars run by family. Be firm the sun beds are new food great hospitality 5 Starr and clean loos. And no charge if you are all inclusive.

Sugar Ridge is not perfect, but were is? With perhaps the manager implementing the regular grouses it could be ( the water was never replaced in the fridge, we just got a bottle from the bar and had to ask for top ups of shower hell etc.

My husband and I stayed at Sugar Ridge from 21 to 29 December 2012 on an all-inclusive basis, having booked the holiday in July 2012. We assumed (wrongly) that most guests would also be staying all-inclusive. This was a mistake. The positives of our stay were a beautiful room and balcony. It is worth upgrading to an upper level room. The quality of the furnishings, and the bathroom were excellent. The bed was very comfortable. The views were fantastic. The housekeeping was carried out to a very high standard. The landscaping is beautiful. The cocktails were made to a high standard with a good choice. The evening entertainment was excellent and of a very good quality. It was useful having an Aveda Spa on site and availability of appointments was very good (although staff there were mixed in their attitude and one at least was "churlish" bordering on rude). Generally we found the food to be good and particularly enjoyed the sushi. The beaches were also good, although it did not seem to be possible to use all-inclusive to obtain food as suggested on the website. Vorn was polite and entertaining and we enjoyed our trips with him. Antigua is a beautiful island and compares very favourably with Barbados. The gym is really good and the manager very helpful.

The negatives almost outweighed the positives. The service in the restaurants fell far below what we expected from a hotel at this level. Service was often poor, we were regularly "forgotten", food was slow to arrive, and generally staff seemed to be badly-managed. There was one occasion when some sort of staff/union meeting was taking place very loudly in the bar area when we and other guests were sitting a matter of metres away and could hear all that was being said. This should not have been allowed to happen by those managing the staff. As all-inclusive guests we were treated badly at Carmichaels. The attitude of the front of house manager there seemed to be that all-inclusive guests were second-class (and resulted in a complaint to the hotel manager who seemed to be largely ineffective in dealing with problems). The best tables were almost always given to those who shouted loudest and were not staying all-inclusive. There was no attempt at fair rotation. We strongly recommend not using all-inclusive at this hotel.

The pool areas are concrete and soulless, and no effort was made to make Christmas a special occasion, in spite of the premium paid by us to be there at that time. Very disappointing. The pools were smaller than they appear on the hotel website and staff seemed keen not to encourage linger round the lower pool area. Drinks were rarely offered and loungers/umbrellas were put away long before sunset.

Sadly we would not recommend this hotel to others. This is a shame as we were ready to have a good time, and perhaps we were unlucky. This is a fantastic location and with a bit of effort a mediocre experience could easily be converted to a top rate experience which would encourage repeat custom. We will definitely not go back.

On an island where lodging seems to be over-the-top luxury or cut-rate all-inclusive with not much in between, Sugar Ridge is that happy medium, a new resort with lots of amenities at pretty reasonable rates. Three pools, two restaurants, big gym, spa. You can go all-inclusive or, as we did, not. Rooms are in pods of four with views from the steep hillside down to Jolly Harbor. It's not on the water but you can walk there or the shuttle gets you to three local beaches where the beach chairs are complimentary. And beaches are the main reason you are in Antigua: white sand, that incredible water and best of all they are mostly deserted.
The resort is open and airy, room had a four-poster with mosquito netting (which was fun to let down even if there were no bugs in the room), large veranda with a plunge pool, marble-tiled bathroom with walk-in shower. Grounds nicely landscaped with bougainvillea, ti, almond trees, lots more. Location is 15 minutes from the capital and convenient to the south end of the island which has the main attractions.
Some details need tightening up: cable was out for 24 hours, our laundry was not picked up one day, the safe wouldn't open another time but hey, life in the Caribbean. All in all the staff is friendly and tries hard.
Vorn the shuttle driver leads a nature tour early in the morning which was a highlight of our stay. We went off the property back to a green valley where his grandfather farmed and he shook mangoes down from the trees for us to eat, the best I ever tasted.