Grand Royal Antiguan Beach Resort Hotel

After reading a few negative reviews about the Royal Antiguan, I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived. The entrance was large, clean and gave the impression of a well run hotel.ROOMS We were upgraded to a bay view room on the 4th floor (which everybody seems to recommend). To be fair though, we did have a nose in one of the standard (deluxe!!!) rooms and they were quite dingy and miserable (However still clean). The rooms were functional, clean and very light-As somebody else has previously said "What more can you expect from a 3*. I have stayed in worse 4 & 5* Hotel Rooms. Bed Linen and towels were changed daily and room was well cleanedNOSH The main buffet restaurant was good for breakfast but in the evening it was a bit hit and miss and the location was not very beautiful (although still clean it had the feeling of an outside school canteen). Andes restaurant on the beach front was very nice. Good location, friendly staff and good food (although slightly limited menu). Barrington's was (according to other guests very good, however we had problems in the 12 days we were there even getting a table!!!). Beach bar - Not nice but nobody's forcing you to eat therePOOL Can't comment on the pool, looked OK but with such a beautiful beach next too it, why bother sitting around a pool!!!BEACH Fantastic beach, beautiful calm, warm sea - Best beach I have ever been on. They had a good selection of free water sports i.e. wind surfing, canoeing, pedlos, snorkels & flippers, sailing boats and all the norm of jet skis banana boats etc. Allot of people complained about the beach sellers. Yes there are probably half a dozen people who walk up and down the beach selling goods but they are very polite, normally non-intrusive and will not bother you after a couple of days once they know your face. These people complaining about the beach sellers have obviously never been to Asia where the sellers there really ARE pests. WORD OF WARNING We bought a horse riding trip from the water sports shop on the king on the beach so we were fooled into booking. The horses have no shoes, are made to walk on very rough roads for almost all of the trip and we had a total of, no lie 20 metres on a beach!!! Complete rip off!!! Do not bother wasting your 35$All in all though, we had a very good time and were pleasantly surprised with the quality of the Royal Antiguan. If you are looking for 5* ultimate luxury then this is not the place for you but if you want a cheap 3* resort, I cannot imagine anywhere betterOne quick note though is that we had $200 stolen from our room so keep your money hidden!!!!

This was our return trip to Antigua and the Royal Antiguan. We were going to meet some friends, who had never been to the islands. Our arrival at the hotel had us wondering what the week would be like. We were given our room and went up to unpack. When we opened the door, sitting on the bed was a man in red underwear. This was a little shock to both us us. The man, from England, was a good sport. He called the front desk for me. We ended up getting the room next door. The room was nice. We had a balcony overlooking the water. The room was large with a small refridgerator. Our friends did not arrive until later in the evening. This gave us a chance to look around and get some sun. They arrived around 8pm and after they got settled in, we ate at the Andes.We were some what dissappointed as the week went on with the changes in the menu. There wasn't as much seafood as on our first trip. The food was better than we remembered. The hotel seems to be trying to do many positive things. They had a manager's welcome party, which was nice. They also had a bon voyarge party. This is in addition to a daily rum punch party by the pool. When the hotel found out we were returning guests, they sent us a bottle of rum. This was a nice touch.We found transportation to be very expensive. We would have eaten at a different place every night, but was going broke from taxi fares. We booked a helicopter trip to Montserrat to see the volcano. I would reccomend this to everyone.All in all, the trip was very good. We never had any problems with vendors on the beach. The only drawback, is the high cost of taxi's.

The Royal Antiguan has a major advantage over other three-star and even four star hotels in Antigua -- namely a wonderful and secluded beach. Unlike most of the other hotels on the island, the Royal Antiguan sits on its own private bay, called Deep Bay. So it is quiet, peaceful, and the waves are tranquil. The Royal Antiguan also is a quick five-minute cab ride to St. John, the island's principle city (if you go, make sure to have a drink on the second floor veranda of Hemingway's), which provides dining options to the hotel (unmemorable food). The hotel is also very close to Chez Pascal, one of the best French restaurants anywhere in the islands. So while the Royal Antiguan is hardly glamorous, it is a well situated property and a good backdrop for a peaceful, get away from it all island vacation -- good enough that my family and I have been going back there for the past eight years.

We stayed at the Royal Antiguan in March 2002 for one week. We had booked two adjoining rooms in advance of our trip (so we could have our kids adjoining our room), but adjoining rooms were not available. The manager was fantastic. (I think his name was Mr. Bailey, though I can't remember for sure) He took care of all of our needs. He upgraded us to what I call a house or villa that was situated on the pathway right across from the pool with spectacular gardens surrounding it. He also took care of our special needs which required the restaurant to heat special frozen dinners which we had brought with us. He, as well as Mr. Peters (of the restaurant) and all the staff were exceptionally friendly and warm, and happily catered to any and all special needs and requests we had. It is true that there is not much nightlife around, and we did find ourselves rather bored in the evenings. Vendors on the beach did get annoying, but if it weren't for them, we probably never would have gotten braids (Iris, under the tree, is a pro) or gone on a catamaran sunset cruise which was great. Overall, we had a lovely and memorable time at the Royal Antiguan.

Antigua is a great island. Typical of a charter hotel, the Royal Antiguan was a tired, but pleasant looking moderate hotel. An upgrade for an extra charge is necessary if you are placed in a room overlooking a ditch and the trash containers, as was our case when we arrived. The upgrade to a room with a wonderful view and balcony is approximately $20/night. The room was spacious and clean but the television didn't always work and the pillows were made out of lumpy concrete (bring your own if you want to sleep). The staff is friendly until you ask them for something. Everything is set up to cost you lots more money than you would expect. Example: there is not a pay phone in the entire hotel so you will have to make all calls from your room at a sizeable surcharge. Or - you cannot order an a la carte breakfast. It's the $17 buffet breakfast or nothing. The coffee was dreadful. The location is such that if you want to go to the town of St. John's nearby you must take an expensive cab ride ($12 each way before the tip) because the hotel does not have a shuttle except for once a week, and then they charge you $8 for a few hours in town. The Royal Antiguan is owned by a hotel group that also offers timeshares and promotes them in their lobby. The hotel gave the names and room numbers of their guests to the timeshare group for marketing purposes!! So much for privacy. The timeshare group however would not speak with single women and had no problem stating that. The hotel has a nice but small beach where vendors frequently approach you selling things, a nice location if you do not like to get out much, some wonderful goats around the area and a fitness room with no equipment. The afternoon tea was very pleasant and a nearby abandoned fort made a good little hike. The Royal Antiguan has seemed to have mostly charter vacationers there, which meant they came in droves and left in droves.

After having read some of the reviews I was a bit wary that I'd signed up my family (inc. 2 children aged 5 & 3) to a very dubious experience. But it all turned out fine and I'd say some of the earlier comments were misplaced if not downright unfair. Yes, the hotel probably has seen better days but I'd guess that could be true of Caribbean tourism in general, and for the hotel itself then there seemed to be a constant, though unobtrusive, maintenance programme. It was clean, simple to negotiate and the - very safe - beach was 2 minutes walk away. The staff, in fact Antiguans in general, were straightforward: helpful if asked, but neither servile nor rude. We had no problems with vendors. On a strict budget, the key was to hire a car. I phoned around and got one for US$45. By UK standards petrol is cheap and driving habits variable but I've had more problems in London or, for that matter, New York than in St. John's. And after getting the car then that was it - a different beach every day and eating local every time because, if I have one negative comment, it's that the food in the hotel is expensive. Having been deforested the island is not lush but the beaches are tremendous and, I don't know how true it is for the whole Caribbean, but it seems there's no such thing as a private beach. Some of the land surrounding them may have restrictions but if you can get to them, they're yours - and sometimes only yours (if that makes sense!).

I thought that the hotel and grounds were beautiful, the only problems I had were beach vendors, and some rude staff members. Since this is not my country, I may be mistaken about the staff. My brother and his new wife were married at the Sandals and we were treated very well. All and all it was a trip I'll never forget.

Medium class hotel. Good value for money. Staff very helpful - unless you keep moaning about everything to them - quite a few Yanks did. Food was very good in Lagoon & Andes Rest. Food excellent in Barringtons. You have to book - but hey if you want to eat in a decent restaurant of course you have to book ! Beach is in a good spot and clean. Watersports are OK. Continental BKfast=$10 US - Full BKfast=$15 US. Lagoon Dinner Buffet =$26 US, Barringtons (5 course meal) = $36 US - all prices above inc taxes. The hotel is mainly inhabited by Brits and Yanks - majority of Yanks are nice, but some are really loud and obnoxious - expecially when on All Inclusive and drink th ebar dry on their first day ! Its quite funny to see them at breakfast the next day. Overall hotel is very good value with excellent service (not Caribbean slow at all)!

We stayed at the Royal Antiguan from March 8-15, 2003. Their beach and grounds were beautiful. We did the all inclusive package and recommend it or you will be paying alot for food and drinks. Make sure you get the bayfront view or you will be looking at a dirt hill with goats! We were disappointed with the shore snorkeling as it was cloudy-snorkel along the right side of the beach (if facing the water) and it wasn't too bad. When you arrive, you will be hounded by the locals trying to sell you something, but if you tell them no they will leave you alone. We signed up for the Paddles Kayak Eco Tour which was great fun and the snorkeling was wonderful. We rented a car for one day and enjoyed visiting the island-lots to see. It was very difficult driving in St. John's as the streets are unmarked and they drive on the left side of the road. Definitely get the watermelon, pineapple, guava and mangoes - wonderful! The food at the hotel was average and some nights better than others. We liked the Lagoon Cafe because the buffet was fast and easy and you didn't have to make a reservation (the other 2 require reservations for dinner at least - you have to dress up for Barrington's). The grill on the beach has great jerk chicken. The staff are very friendly and helpful. If you need a night life, this is not the place. All in all it was fun and we would go back.

I signed up for a last minute deal to Antigua. Knew nothing about the place other than it was warm and not snowing! For the very inexpensive price, and after reading many of the reviews here -- I expected a funky hotel. I was very pleasantly surprised. The hotel is situated on a beautiful bay. The hotel is divided into 3 groups of rooms: standard, bayview, and oceanview, and it has 2 wings, East and West. The standard rooms are in the back facing the mountain. Floors 1-4 in the front are called Bayview, they have a balcony and face the sea. The Bayview is $50/pp. (they are called Bayview because you can only see the bay and not the ocean further away) Oceanview rooms are on floors 5-8. Many of the ocean view rooms have a refrigerator. The upgraded price is $100/pp -- and well worth it. The West wing is better than the East wing because you are further away from the restaurant and noisy generator. If you can, request a room on a higher floor on the West Wing. That is ideal. You definately will not want to be in the standard rooms if you can help it. There is a big difference between the rooms facing the sea and the back.The rooms were clean. They all had TV's although some of the TV's did not have remotes. Our room had a TV w/o remote but after 3 days of pestering they found the remote. The views from the room were beautiful.Having a refrigerator was fantastic because it allowed us to stock up on food and drinks. I never ate the food at the hotel because it was very expensive and reputed to be very bad. (not worth the price)The hotel is far from town and the cabs are very expensive ($24/US for a 3 mile ride for 4 people) However, there is a fantastic little local corner restaurant about a 15 minute walk down the road where we loved to eat. (Penseons Corner <--sp?) Fresh fish, burgers, funky tables on the water. Plus, you can take a local bus to town (bus stop about a 10 minute walk from the hotel) which costs a dollar US. There are some good restaurants there -- very cheap to moderately priced. Southern Fry was one local favorite. An enormous amount of food costing aroung $4/US. Big Banana was good too. Everyone seemed to rave about the pizza there. I had a fantastic time in Antigua and well worth the price. It is a very laid back island. If you are looking for exciting night life, this is not the place for you. But if you are looking for a relaxing time, beautiful weather, friendly people, lots to explore -- you will love it there. I could go on and on about various tours -- what to do and what not to do. But I will stop for now.