St. James's Club & Villas

So. Me ( 47 year old ) , my wife ( 41 ) , daughter ( 7) and mother in-law have had a short 4 day stay here as part of a longer Caribbean break. We booked one of the villas and arrived after dark so couldn't see the place in its glory yet ( it is a very pretty venue ). When 1st looking round our villa it all looked lovely. Nice size rooms downstairs, and a big open plan kitchen/living room upstairs . Been a hot old day so I opened the fridge to grab a cold drink ( it is an all inclusive resort afteral ) however the fridge was totally empty. I then noticed 3 bottles of water ( very warm ) sat on the kitchen side... not ideal. Must admit I was slightly disappointed for there to be no soft drinks , beer , wine etc inches fridge. That's always standard for every single all inclusive I've EVER stayed in. Ah well , I'll pop the TV on while we are unpacking....but it didn't work. Villa had 3 TVs, none worked. Found out later its an issue across the whole resort , but 3 days in and it's still not fixed. No further communication from the hotel as to why or what is going on. Tonight ( Monday) we've gone out for a nice dinner on site at the 11 -11 restaurant. Mother in-law took our daughter back to the villa so me and the wife could have the evening at the bar/bars. We walked down to the dockbar....lights all off. All closed up. Asked at the reception and we could only get a drink in the over 18s bar which is indoors.. went to that, zero atmosphere inisde . No music . About 4 people sat at the bar. We took our drinks outside.... no music playing out there. Very dark. So we gave up and went back to our villa. No TV to watch obviously. No drinks in the fridge ( all inclusive remember), and broadband that is as slow as a snail. Such a shame. Its a lovely looking place . But it's like they have forgotten people go on holiday to relax and have a nice time. You have to entertain your guests!! Its not like we can walk out to a nearby area ( got to get a cab). Its literally a ghost town here tonight , and I type this at 9pm !!!!!!

We have just returned from St James’s club. Our last visit was over 15 years ago & I think the resort has aged fairly well. The gardens & outside spaces are all very well looked after. We arrived at the end of November & it was quiet. I think new staff were arriving / training for the true start of the resort holiday season. It was great to easily get a sunbed by any of the pools or on the beach any time of day without rushing around trying to find a free space! Pool towels were tricky to find when we first arrived, but by the time we left (December 7) there were plenty available every day. Some of the activities advertised didn’t happen as not enough people were around to join in, but there was a list of daily events. The water sports team were great, helpful & we managed to sail or paddle board most days by booking with the team on the day. We had a junior suite which was spacious, clean & Caribbean modern. Aircon worked well & was appreciated. WiFi on our room was fine, around the pool,area it depends how close to reception you are, but it’s easy to get connected if you move around. We had no problems with towels or room service. The suites have definitely been modernised & are of a good standard. Food service was variable. Our favourites were Docksiders - excellent food at every buffet, or Picolo Mondo - pay a surcharge but worth every penny for the excellent food & service you get there. The beach bar was good food & had a new menu by the time we left. There could be a long wait for food during busy periods. Our worse restaurant experience was al la carte at Rainbow Gardens where we were served starters then waited 45 minutes for a main course. There must have been a staffing issue but we avoided eating there again in the evenings. Eleven- eleven was reasonable food, but again there were long delays when the restaurant was busy with waits up to an hour for food. It would be better if guests were informed of long delays, not just sat down & left waiting unaware of the delays on orders. We were happy to return to Antigua & enjoy the hospitality.

I recommend that everyone read all reviews of the resort/rooms before booking. We wish we had. The hotel seems to be trading on former glory. The rooms are incredibly tired now and in our opinion, not worth the money. Management are quick to refute issues posted on these forums so we thought the best way to evidence the reality of rooms was to post pictures. The soundproofing is also very poor. We could hear next doors TV late in the evening and we were awoken by people walking upstairs at 6.00am. Also, curtains are not well fitted to the windows which means light floods in early and makes sleeping difficult after 6.00am. We are still here and would also comment that customer service is hit and miss. Some members of staff are lovely, but many are surly or act like they just don’t want to be there. The overall customer experience we have received so far has been disappointing. We stayed for a week at Sandals before moving here and would advise that if you have a choice, book sandals.

This hotel is set in an amazing location. The property is well laid out and in the main, well kept. They have several choices of pools and a lot of facilities. Some of the staff are pleasant and friendly - Alex, Judy, Cressida and work hard to make guests feel welcome. There are two great beaches and a lot to do. Rooms are okay but nothing special and housekeeping is only every other day. Be aware you will be charged another $24 per room per day even if you’re on the all inclusive. So why only 3 stars. I know this hotel is ‘at a price point’, but I don’t think you have to pay top dollar for good service. - WiFi is intermittent across the resort at best and didn’t work in our room at all (Reef suites). - We frequently had to chase to get towels by the pools (sometimes they didn’t arrive until 10:30 even though the pools opens at 9am). I even raised it with Jennifer the GM on one day, and still we waited another 30 minutes. - On 4 of the nights we stayed here they ran out of beer at four different bars. - On our first night we waited 1 hour 15 minutes for our food to arrive at Eleven11 and on average well over thirty minutes on other nights. - Often the music was too loud making conversation at meals difficult. - Inconsistency of meals. We’d order the same meal one day and it was delicious and at another time not so good. - Between 8am and 9am the coffee shop queues were very long (I waited 20 minutes one morning.) Why don’t you put 2 people on at this time? Did I raise my issues with management , yes I did and got the response “I’ll raise them at the management meeting”. No feedback was given was given to me; I’ll never know what happened. My husband also raised them at check out and he was told “that will give us something to work on”. As an observer and someone who stays in hotels in many different countries, including other hotels in Antigua, the hotel lacks supervision and staff lack training. I believe this is a quite good hotel at a price point and particularly would suit families.

Great location! A great hotel. Yes some of the rooms are a little old but others are not but regardless they are fine. Staff very friendly. Hotel excursions are also great. The food is pretty good. Especially Caribbean night and Bollywood nite but the food overall is fantastic. I see some people say differently but they are being snobby and picky. The hotel is packed but their is plenty of room and chairs and it is really a great place especially for families. The 24 hour coffee shop always has great selections too. One side of resort if very calm water with free kayaks and paddle boards and even sailing and free sail lessons. The other side you can play in the waves. Quite a wonderful place.