Carlisle Bay

As we arrived we were greeted by the manager which I thought was a nice touch. The service was excellent and the majority of the staff couldn’t do enough for you. Our room was gorgeous, very large with everything we needed and more. The bed was comfortable with excellent linen. The views are lovely (we had a top floor beach view) and the location excellent. However there was a problem with the electrics. The sockets next to the bathroom mirrors did not work making drying your hair rather challenging. But worst of all the lights in the bathroom came on automatically when you walked in during the night and because there are no doors on the bathroom, it disturbed the person sleeping. The hotel staff fixed it by isolating the entire circuit with the result of no power at all in that area. The breakfast was good and we had one good dinner at the Jetty. However the other meals were a little bland and if you stayed for a week or more, I think you’d become bored with the menu. Having said this we did not try the Asian restaurant. The massage I had was excellent and the treatment room was nice. However the relaxing area was plain, lacking in atmosphere and looked onto grubby, net curtains, not really what you expect from a 5* resort. I guess for £600 a night I would have expected top notch and this it wasn’t, there were a few too many niggles.

This was a real mixed bag of a stay. The stunning location was affected by some odd service failings and some genuinely worrying billing practices. Firstly, Carlisle Bay the area is stunning. A perfect Caribbean beach surrounded by pretty pristine nature on the more secluded south side of the island of Antigua. The pavilions are lovely heritage-looking wooden buildings and the buildings holding the suites are tastefully designed. However, quite a lot of the furniture is very tired looking with scrapes and quite outdated. We had a beach suite, which was large and nicely laid out, but it did look tired. On to the service. This was very hit and miss. The people in the restaurants were friendly and the food was largely a good standard. But, the room servicing was so hit and miss… one day you would have your coffee cups taken away, but not replaced. The next, you would not have any shower gels left and would have to call and ask for some. Some days the minibar would not be refilled. Not bad on its own but a long list of these things starts to get irritating. There was also bizarre behaviours that had obviously been trained into the staff as they all did it. If you passed a member of staff on the paths coming the other way, they would stop walking about 10/15 metres in front of you and stand awkwardly smiling at you as you walked past. This was extremely awkward and I really felt sorry for the staff as it was demeaning to them in my opinion. The worst example was the facilities people. Our patio doors were broken on one side which meant that when you closed the other side it would not lock, leaving the room unsecure. The facilities people came and spoke to us like idiots, saying we just needed to hold the other side shut in order to lock. But really the bolts on the opposite side were broken, causing the problem. They said they would come the following day to fix the broken side but never turned up. The lock on the broken side was literally HANGING OFF. There were other things not working. Generally, the people were lovely. The billing issues were the worst part. Bottles of wine appearing on the bill when we only had a glass (glasses are included in all inclusive, but not bottles). They also charged us a $70 charity charge twice in the final bill. We had to ask for this to be removed (only the incorrect one). They urge you to have a bottle of water at the beginning of every meal, but we were only informed mid way through the holiday that this was all billed (they don’t offer you any other water option so this should not be billed in my view). We left feeling that we were being taken advantage of. The reception staff didn’t show any surprise at these things (even the incorrect charges) and there was a disinterested arrogance displayed when we challenged them on incorrect charges. Sadly, I’m not sure I would go back.

The rooms, the amenities and ambiance were unreal. Staff who made our stay In order of impact to our stay: Jason (best mixologist - arguably , in the wurl) Shamel- we knew all our options before we even got our keycard) Latoya- thank you for making us feel welcomed Fern - we appreciate you girl! Kalin- (didn’t know she was a manager until one of her staff gave her some props. She is very hands on and interactive! ) No particular order : Vaughn Peter -( definition of a team player based off observation) Shantez Seymour Marlon- makes sure your cup is always full! Big up lol All the staff at pavilion bar, jetty grill ( can’t decide if this is my favorite) , East (tough decision for favorite) and every single friendly staff who made us feel welcomed. Thank you. 🙏🏾 I will visit again

The Carlisle Suites (the most expensive) are described as “impeccable and unsurpassed in every detail” the pictures tell a different story. We advised hotel management that we were dissatisfied with the quality of the accommodation. Although they kindly provided a replacement mattress, they were unable to replace the tired old kitchen, curtains, furniture, bathrooms etc. The food and service were very good on the majority of occasions. It is a shame they misrepresent the quality of the accommodation provided.

The location remains stunning but the owner seems to have overlooked to invest in bringing this old favorite up-to-date with the modern world! Although our room had apparently been refurshished nothing in the bathroom seemed to work. Hot water was plumbed in as cold and visa versa. There was no where to put soap or shampoo and the towels were not much bigger than a large flannel. Apart from one star, housekeeping was unreliable and mostly forgot to replace one item or another. The food, restaurants and serving staff were excellent. Although management was not very visible, hopefully they can persuade an investor to properly upgrade this gem.