Blue Waters Resort & Spa

We stayed for a week here and loved it. For us, the best part was the spectacular view of the sea from our Cove Suite room 2B, we were fairly close to the sea and had an absolutely clear view of it. Watching the sunsets from our balcony was also lovely. We thought the views from any of the 2nd floor rooms in Cove Villa 1, 2 or 3 would be as nice. The Cove suite rooms are lovely, very spacious and comfortable. The 3 beaches are all a little small, but very nice; the sea is quite peaceful, the water is warm and you can walk out quite a ways and still be only chest-deep. As other reviewers have mentioned, sometime hard to find an empty beach chair. All 3 restaurants are good, we would rank Cove as the best one, followed by Palm, followed by Reef. Cove is more of a fine dining experience, while Reef is more beach casual, with Palm somewhere in between. We also had a wonderful dinner (roast pork being the highlight) on the beach one night. You need to reserve tables a few days in advance, specially at the Cove. All of them are situated well in terms of looking out at the water. We were on the all-inclusive plan, but the a la carte prices for the restaurant are not crazily expensive, on our next visit we are not sure whether we will go in for the all-inclusive. The staff here are just wonderful, we would particularly like to thank Derah and Sparkel at the Palm, Kia at different bars and the Cove villa 2 housekeeper. All in all, a lovely relaxing vacation, we will be back!

From arrival to farewell this resort is superb. One of the, if not the best, in the Caribbean. An excellent room with a view and super efficient cleaner to keep it in pristine condition. The restaurants are all complement each other very effectively although the service at each of the three is very professional and friendly and with excellent and varied menus. The fish dishes are particularly succulent. A warning, however: to get exactly what you want it is best to book well in advance. Exceptionally noteworthy are the bar staff: all very friendly and obliging. It would be invidious to single out any individual as they were all so good. Perhaps we just saw more of the perfect Ryan and Brian and Alex who we look forward seeing on our return next year for that perfect old fashioned rum punch. Clients are mainly British (and of varying ages) although we met and dined with some charming New Yorkers. Just a shame that one large group of braying Brits behaved as if they owned the place and attempted to dominate the place at everyone else's expense. The site is interesting and well worth some close attention particularly the topography and the siting of the windmill which drove the distillery which it originally was. The gym is air conditioned and well equipped for those who are in the habit of exercise. We will certainly be back!

From the minute we arrived at Blue Waters, we knew it was a special place. We were immediately greeted by the wonderful Nicole and offered a welcome drink to relax during a very efficient check-in in the lovely open air lobby. Our tastefully decorated accommodations were perfect for our group - 3 friends traveling for much needed sun, sea and relaxation. We were in the luxury suite with a small plunge pool, which gave us plenty of space - including a sitting area, king bed area and a room with 2 twins. The room also had 2 full baths. This suite would also be perfect for a family. The beach is on the small side but beautiful with calm turquoise water. After spending a day at Dickenson Bay - which was over run with cruise ship people- we truly appreciated just how calm and relaxing the Blue Waters beach and pool areas are. While we didn't do the all-inclusive, we ate quite a bit at the resort and enjoyed all of our meals. The Cove is the stand out - we saved it for our last night and were not disappointed. Be sure to book that in advance. They also had live music each night near the Pelican Bar and Palm restaurant, which was also a treat. The team members that works at Blue Waters are super friendly and we must give a shout out to Nicole who took such good care of us. From booking taxis to providing restaurant recommendations and tips about the island, she made our stay frictionless. If you want a beautiful, low key, effortless and relaxing resort, this is the place for you.

This is, without exaggeration, the most beautiful place I've ever stayed. Gorgeous private beaches, swimming pools (there are adults only options and also family options), incredible food at the restaurants and top quality cocktails at the bars. It's really high-end, w its great, attentive service, without being in any way stuffy. I absolutely loved it. It feels like paradise - vivid blue sea, bright green foliage, with birds singing in the trees, and little lizards scampering around. I could stay there for weeks. The rooms are simply but tastefully put together. Again, all very unfussy, but there's everything you want or need. I can't wait to go back.

The reviews of the Blue Wasters Resort & Spa on Tripadvisor were so favorable that when we went there in late January for a five-day getaway I half-expected to be disappointed. As it turns out, we were delighted with the resort (as we were with Antigua). If the main beach seems compact, it's more than adequate; I think there are 80 or so units, plus some villas (with their own pools) that look very nice. Blue Waters is not a high-rise resort, though there are many acres to walk and explore. There is also a first-class gym. There are three pools for anyone who opts not to beach. We found the beach hard to resist. It is sheltered, so the water is calm, and the there was no seaweed washing up. Staff come by with cold towels and popsicles. Perhaps best of all, there is no problem getting lounge chairs and an umbrella. Your days of getting up at 4 a.m. or having to pay a butler at some mega-resort to stake your claim are over! No shouting matches to overhear when absent palapa tenants return to find their claims have been jumped — it doesn't happen here. There are three restaurants at Blue Waters, plus a lobby bar and a veranda bar near the main pool. There was but one buffet, Saturday night at The Palm. If you're inferring I'm not a big fan of buffets, you're correct. However, this isn't the Golden Corral. The Saturday night buffet featured chicken, ribs and shrimp cooked over a grill that went straight from the grill to your plate. (There are fruits and cereal and so on arranged as a buffet at breakfast, but you order eggs and such from the menu and the service was excellent, as was the food.) We ate at The Palm and The Reef and both were excellent. The third restaurant, the Cove, was a little fancier and we just didn't get to it in the time we were there. It's on the water and looked very nice. You are advised to make reservations if you want to dine there. Menus are posted daily for all three places. We stayed in a "deluxe beachfront room." It was small, though not cramped. It had a very nice, comfortably appointed balcony overlooking the beach. The room was quite nice and came with bathrobes and slippers, and the maid service was first rate. The only drawback in what was a very nice bathroom was the "tropical rain forest" shower. I have been seeing these for the last 10 or 15 years. They strike me as an affectation totally disconnected from the mission of the shower taker, and it's hard not get water all over the floor. The bathrooms had a tub; I'd much rather see the two combined. The only other nit is the availability of ice. There are no ice machines for guests to access. You're at the mercy of the maid service. If you go the bar they're as happy as can be to give you some, but we like to take ice water to the beach. The maids brought it at night when the beds were turned down, but it would have been nice to have ice handy during the day. There are "water stations" here and there where you can refill your bottle, Yeti, or whatever, but I didn't find the water cold. If we made a mistake it was not doing the all-inclusive. We timeshare in Cancun, Mexico, where we do not do all-inclusive. For one thing, as much as we love our resort, we eat very few meals there, other than in the sports bar during March Madness. Cancun has any number of excellent restaurants within walking distance of where we stay. The food at our timeshare is OK at best. My wife says that after a few days, everything tastes the same. Over the years I came to the conclusion that all-inclusive are designed for people who drink all day or who plan to eat all their meals at the resort and control costs. My wife doesn't drink, and I am not a big drinker, so we opted to pay as we went. (Also, I thought we might dine out one night, but we did not.) Even for the short while we were there, I would have been a few hundred dollars (U.S.) ahead had we gone all-inclusive. Plus, the food and service were great; we didn't feel as though were missing anything eating at the resort. So, lesson learned. Blue Waters staff were wonderful. I hate to single folks out because I'm leaving someone else out whose name I forgot (in this case a chambermaid manager), but Jeniece (I hope I am spelling her name correctly), a waitress, and Nicole, a property manager, were truly above and beyond. This was our first trip to Antigua and we look forward to going back. We would very happily stay here. I would probably stay longer, and definitely go all-inclusive.