Antigua 2023 This review covers our travel agent (Audley Travel), the two hotels we stayed in (Galley Bay and Southpoint) and the restaurants we ate in (Pillars and Catherine’s) as well as the local travel service (St James Travel) and is posted in each of them. A background note – as a seasoned traveller on business (100+ flights p.a. for more than 10 years), this was our first holiday using a travel agent for 30 years. We are now in our 70’s – the kids are gone, the mortgage is gone and we are free to enjoy ourselves. Caribbean in February, UK in May and Mediterranean in September with a few weekends in between. We like nice hotels and fly business class so if you’re looking for a budget break with the kids, this review is not for you. We went to Antigua last year for our 25th Anniversary and stayed at Galley Bay. We liked it a lot and went back this year. As we only left the resort to go on a helicopter tour, this year we decided to add a few days in English Harbour at a hotel that another couple had recommended to us to give us the opportunity to try some different restaurants. One last background point – we went to the SANI resort in Halkidiki last September and that has reset our expectations anew – it is a class above anything we had encountered before. The same couple recommended their travel agent – Audley travel so that is where we went. I was suspicious that they would add any value as I can book my own flights and negotiate deals with hotels but we were extremely pleased with the service from Isabelle – their Caribbean specialist. More on this later. We worked with her to optimise the price for the flights. Although I have over 500k miles still with BA, reward flights were out of the question but we managed to get Virgin Upper for £5,500 (compared to BA quote of around £10k for Club which is just not quite as good) Audley managed all of the booking process at our selected hotels so we had a single contact point. The arrangements were faultless and we were kept informed at all times. The itinerary was well presented and we had both an electronic version and a high-quality folder with all the paperwork and recommendations for trips and restaurants as well as quality luggage tags. It all makes you feel good. Our driver collected our luggage from the hallway and the next time we touched our cases was when they were in the hotel room. The Virgin Upper check in is a dream – you drive up and they take your bags at a dedicated check in where you are offered a drink (and a loo). Dedicated security and so straight through to the excellent lounge. In practise the experience is better even than when we flew Concorde many years ago. In-flight service is excellent with a small bar where you can socialise in flight. On landing in Antigua we were met at the bottom of the jetway by a representative of Audley (St James travel) who took us straight to the front of the queue at immigration (we never knew such service existed). Having passed through that, our bags were just coming round the carousel so the rep took them off, led us into the outside world where we had to wait about 5 minutes for our private transfer (only because we were early!). We were in the car less than 20 minutes from touching down. Last time I achieved that was on a hand baggage only trip with Ryanair to Salzburg. Our first hotel was Southpoint for 4 nights B&B. Check in was easy, friendly and fast. We were soon in our room with our bags. The room was spacious and modern but after 4 days we have reservations about both the room and the resort and will not be returning. So here’s the good and the bad What we liked – really friendly staff at all levels and in all areas of the hotel. In fact, I would say that I cannot think of another hotel in the word where I have stayed with such friendly staff. The room was spacious and a very comfortable bed with twin mattresses. Room furniture was good and we liked the outside dining table where we could play cards in an evening BUT and these are big BUT’s. What we didn’t like - the inside seating is not particularly comfortable to sit up in and the “table” is bowl shaped so nowhere to put a drink. The lighting is appalling. There is no make-up/shaving mirror and nowhere with enough light for my wife to do her make up. There are reading lamps by the bed but as there is only one power point, I had to unplug the light in order to plug my phone in. No USB points anywhere. There is nowhere in the whole hotel to sit and read a book – enough light, quiet enough and comfortable enough. The pool is decent enough but the furniture around it is tired. Our biggest complaint is the noise level in the restaurant and bar area. As one previous reviewer said, it is not sure whether it is a lively bar with loud music or a restaurant. We had to ask every day to have the music turned down and that became an embarrassing chore. There is an upstairs bar where the music is equally loud. The reception staff are supposed to be able to turn the volume down but that function did not work so they had to call down to the restaurant. The menu was varied and includes a full sushi bar. The food was excellent as was the service but again, as soon as we had finished eating, we had to leave to escape the noise and the only option was back to our rooms to the uncomfortable soft seating. We ate there on our first and last nights. First night I had a rack of lamb and my wife had the salmon and on the last night I had Sushi while she had the burger. All excellent but expect to pay US$250 for a two-course meal with drinks (average for Antigua). One small thing worth a mention as it surprised me so much. We had breakfast every morning. The menu includes 2 eggs with bacon, ham or sausages. The first morning I was hungry and asked for scrambled egg with sausages and bacon but was told that it was sausages OR bacon! Never had that one before! It is an easy walk to Nelsons Dockyard (the only real tourist attraction on the island) which has a small interesting museum and is well worth a visit. We ate out at Pillars in the dockyard (in fact we had drinks there on three days, lunch and dinner once each) and enjoyed it all. There was an excellent Jazz evening so we had dinner that night with a waterside seat. One super touch was the underwater lights where we could see the small fish and see the Tarpon come and catch them. Wide ranging menu, good quality food and friendly service (and EXCELLENT Rum and Raisin ice-cream!) The remaining night we ate at Catherine’s and again had an excellent meal – the best seafood linguine. Antigua is NOT inexpensive. 2 cocktails, 2 two course meals and a cheap bottle of wine was US$243 without a tip. Where we live in the UK I would expect to pay half that but hey, that’s Antiguan prices! Our driver (arranged by Audley via St James) collected us in the afternoon so up to Galley Bay for 10 nights all inclusive. It was wonderful to be welcomed back as returning guests. We had a Gaugin suite with private plunge pool. The suite consists of a good size bedroom but a single mattress (every time I turned over my wife complained) and plenty of lights and power points but no USB points. The kitchen/sitting area is well equipped (with a proper kettle for my early morning tea). The mini bar is decently stocked. There are two low chairs and two coffee tables. Outside two sun loungers so we were moving a coffee table in and out. The bathroom has plenty of storage and the dressing table has decent lighting and a make-up mirror but for shaving it would be useful to have it nearer the basin. To read, we had to move the chairs back to the wall but we could comfortably play cards. This resort really is all-inclusive and it is so relaxing to go out in the evening with just a key. The only extra is upgrading the wine – see later – but be warned that like all of Antigua there are some small local room and resort taxes to pay There are four restaurants at the resort – the barefoot grill serving light lunches (burger/wrap etc) which is excellent and three others. To be quite honest, all three are much of muchness (one might have seafood pasta and another might have a Bolognese or maybe one has lamb and one has beef on any particular day) and we learnt last year that Ismay’s really isn’t worth paying any extra for. We made our decisions between the others based purely on which dish we fancied. How much nicer to have say a Caribbean restaurant, an oriental restaurant and a Mediterranean restaurant rather than three Caribbean ones. A small point is that there are no snacks in the room and you don’t get offered any with the drinks at the bar which in my experience is very unusual. All cocktails and beer are included but the house red and white are both awful - the rose is just drinkable. We decided that this year we would buy wine so we had 5 or 6 bottles of the very nice Cote de Provence at US$50 each. The coffee shop was open this year and it was great just to pop in and get an ice cream when it’s hot (included). The sandwiches looked turned up at the corners but we it didn’t matter to us as we were always full. The wine was our only extra aside from shop purchases so our final bill was quite low. The staff are mostly friendly and I want to especially praise the grounds staff - you cannot pass any of them without a friendly greeting and feeling that really want to know how you are doing and stopping for a chat. We met the manager of the ground and maintenance staff. He needs to be given the job of training all of the staff. Customer service and reception were great. Room service team were always friendly but not as good as last year when we had Krystal service our room. On the F&B front, special mention to Nikki at the Rum Shack (inclusive rum tastings are great) but the rest of the team just don’t exude that extra friendliness we had at Southpoint. In general, the guys are much friendlier than the ladies but on several occasions our drinks were brought and just plonked down in front of us. Orders taken and food and drinks delivered with no attempt at friendliness. It’s quite like being served in an average pub chain in England. PLEASE have them trained by the grounds manager who is clearly doing a better training job than the F&B manager. Perhaps the worst issue is the water system. Three times during our stay it stopped. Several occasions the water turned yellow then brown. Even at best the pressure is low. The switch in the shower to turn it between the rain shower and the hand held is so high I had to get a chair to stand on. The morning after we arrived home and had a shower, we both felt properly clean for the first time since arriving at Galley Bay. We went into St Johns one day as my wife wanted to buy a slip. My advice is don’t bother. There’s really nothing there. We had an excellent lunch at Hemingway’s –a nice menu and really friendly, helpful staff. US$72 for a 2 course meal for 2 with 4 cocktails. Big thanks to the customer service team who arranged a very late checkout as or plane was not until 20:40. Our driver (same friendly driver as we had from the airport to Southpoint) picked us up and drove us to the airport where the Audley rep met us and took our bags to the check in and the friendly Virgin rep took the bags and gave us our passes to the lounge where we waited for the plane which took off on time. I slept more than six hours and woke up in time for a glass of orange juice. No queues at immigration and credit to Virgin again – our bags were coming round the carousel as we entered the baggage hall. We collected them and straight through to our waiting car to drive us home.…
A decent sized room with separate seating area leading onto a veranda overlooking the marina but the lighting is extremely poor with insufficient low wattage ceiling lights and grey walls, washed grey ceiling and grey covers to seats. Hopeless for shaving or putting on make-up. They provided us with an additional standard lamp but it made little difference. They provide tea & coffee but only enough milk for the first day after which you have to buy your own at an extremely high price so best to go to nearby supermarket. They provide 2 x 350ml bottles of water daily but if you open additional bottled water in the fridge they charge an exorbitant US$6 (incl. taxes & service) for a 250ml bottle! We had surplus EC$ at the end but they insisted on converting to US$ at a rate of 2.7 when the fixed rate is 2.6. Overall we were disappointed.…
We had a quick one night stay at South Point. We were scheduled to stay in a 2 bedroom suite which was unavailable, but the switch to two adjoining one bedroom suites was handled seamlessly. The hotel’s willingness to pick up a cake at a local bakery and have it in our room when we checked in was much appreciated. Although the room was not available when we arrived several hours early, we were greeted warmly with a delicious welcome drink and offered bag storage, immediate use of the pool, and local lunch recommendations. The location is gorgeous on English Harbour, with views of the boats on the water and hillside beyond. The staff was responsive, and more importantly warm. Kayaks and paddle boards are available for use, and a delicious breakfast is included in the room price. From our multiple communications before arrival to everything about the stay itself, the entire experience was fantastic.…
Beautifully appointed rooms, extremely friendly staff with the perfect mix of being attentive but relaxed. Has a lovely pool and little beach area with paddle boards and kayaks so you can explore the harbour and float amongst the mega yachts that are right outside the property. Restaurant and bar are open to public but the private areas for residents are strictly enforced, which is to be commended! Excellent on site restaurant and don’t miss a cocktail in the lobby bar looking at the boats you can’t afford. Great location for the livelier nights in the harbour but private enough to avoid the party if you choose. I would certainly return , only point that could be improved would be a more proactive drink service around the pool as the phone they give you is not visible in the sun, a minor gripe as overall it’s an excellent choice. Mosquitoes were quite active as it was rather stormy and lots of rain in the days before we arrived. They do provide off spray but I would suggest some citronella candles on the balcony would be a welcome addition.…
Travelled to Antigua with our 10 year old daughter. South point is paradise! Rooms are spacious, breakfast has plenty of choice all served from a menu, Perfect location within the English Harbour, plenty of good quality food restaurant. A special shout out to Raffi & Marika who were the best breakfast hostesses we have ever experienced always super friendly and always remembered our orders from memory. We are a well travelled family and this is by far the nicest hotel we have stayed at in terms of locations an amenities. Only slight request would be great if they offered a half board option rather than just Bed & Breakfast.
We stayed in the off season near the end of August and had a perfect stay at South Point Antigua. The rooms were spacious and full of amenities. The balcony and pool overlooking the pier was beautiful, and it was great to have kayaks and paddle boards for use. The staff was wonderful and the restaurant and staff at Maia were amazing! The location is great, it had a secluded feel yet within walking distance to other places like the Yacht Club and Nelson’s dockyard. Highly recommend!
The room, the location, the staff. All perfection. No point in saying more. Except TripAdvisor says it must be 200 characters. But sometimes less is more. Antigua is a lovely, gentle island. Laid back, charming people.
Our second visit to south point - our first being in 2018 - and the visit was everything we wished for and more The location in Falmouth Harbour is just stunning and this boutique hotel is simply lovely The staff couldn’t be more helpful and welcoming Our room was a 1 bed suite on the ground floor - and more like a stylish apartment than room and everything needed for a perfect stay Would recommend in a heartbeat
My husband and I stayed here for three nights and really enjoyed it. We stayed in a one bedroom suite which was large with a very comfortable bed and a lovely large terrace. The room had a fabulous view overlooking the superyachts in the harbour. The hotel is very clean and the staff are fabulous. It is a very easy place to stay as everything works and each room has a kitchen and large bathroom , so you almost feel like you are in your own apartment. The restaurant is very good and the pool, although small, is well looked after. Like most places in English Harbour it is a ten minute walk to the beach or a two minute cab ride, but the hotel is within walking distance of the shops and restaurants, diving centre and boat hire. This is a very good four star boutique hotel which I would have given five stars (as a boutique hotel rather than ultimate luxury) too except we were kept awake two nights by a very loud night club nearby. We had a room nearest to the club, so ask for one further away.…
A fabulous hotel – a really large and stylish room with massive bed , fully functioning kitchen and living room and a beautiful Veranda. The staff are incredibly helpful and one of the highlights is a top-class restaurant where they do really good sushi. Watching the sunset from the restaurant or the swimming pool is a particular highlight. Pigeon point beach it’s a short walk away and one of the best beaches in the Caribbean – you should not miss the wonderful bar and restaurant on the beach where you can have fresh fish and a lovely rum punch. I highly recommend this hotel.
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