Can anyone recommend a hotel in Antigua?

[chouxchoux]

Me and DP are spending a week in Antigua mid-November - we are early 30s, no kids (yet...and not sure how many more of these holidays we'll have!)

We're willing to spend a fair but not insane amount of money - £3k would be about the upper limit. Ideally all inclusive, beachy, relaxing, with the potential for activities (snorkelling/sailing etc).

Any tried and tested hotel recommendations would be most appreciated!

A friend has just returned from the Hawksbill. It has just been refurbished with a bit of work still to go. She loved it. Its very relaxed. We went there many, many, many years ago and it was lovely then and sounds like it's still good.

Oooh...not heard of it! Will check it out. Thank you so much for the reply!

We stay at the Royalton Antigua and had a lovely time . We upgraded to a sea view butler room , the food was great and the service was perfect .

I love the St James Club (went there originally on the recommendation of someone on Mumsnet!). It's very down to earth and friendly. It is on its own a fair way from the other main resorts though.

We went to Carlisle bay & can thoroughly recommend

We've been to https://www.cocoshotel.com/index a couple of times - adults only, AI and just 35 individual cottages so there's a really relaxed, personal feel to the place.

We stayed at Keyonna Beach Resort for our babymoon, absolutely loved it. 10/10 would go back!

We went to the Verandah before it became adults only and had a great family holiday. It is near the most amazing beach, has two beaches of its own and 3 pools. Pineapple Beach club has been adults only for years and is right on the beach but is smaller.

Wow so many replies - thank you everyone! I will look at each of your recommendations - really appreciate it, the online window shopping is overwhelming so I'm grateful to have some tried-and-tested options to hand!

Blue water is amazing! Prince Harry stayed there when he visited Antigua.

We did st James club was very nice.

@chouxchoux just wondering where you picked in the end?. We are on a similar search for March next year.

We went for one of the premium room types at the Hawksbill! Reviews were convincing and it sounds like the beaches it occupies are some of the best on the island. Paid just over £3k for a week’s all inclusive for the two of us.

@chouxchoux thank you for replying so quickly ☺️

Glad you found somewhere OP. We went to Cocos years ago and it's very much an acquired taste as the cottages are very spread out and away from reception which is lovely but also a bit of a security risk. A couple were murdered on their honeymoon there a few years after we went so I'm not sure I'd recommend!

Looking at this hotel (hawksbill) have you visited yet OP? If so what was it like ?

Hello! Sorry, I've only just seen your message. Yes, we stayed at the Hawksbill last November. We really liked it. Here are some pointers...

• we are in our 30s and were very much on the younger side of the guests
• the beaches are gorgeous, but it is quite a cheap and cheerful hotel, i.e. plastic sunloungers etc
• we paid for the best room type (beachfront bungalow) which I would absolutely recommend if it's within your budget
• food was pretty samey but perfectly adequate
• the cocktails were strong!!

All in, if you are looking for a low key break, it's great. If you like 5* luxury you might be a bit disappointed.