Antigua Family Holidays

Dottie Mallon

Our expectations were exceeded at this magnificent resort! We have traveled all over the Carribean for 42 years and this was the best place we’ve ever been. Named Blue Waters for the most beautiful views of blue water. The entire staff are exceptional and every single one goes the extra mile. 100% quality, customer service. They greet you by name and always ask how they can help or if you need anything. The dining experience is phenomenal and the chefs prepare and present it all with a smile. Each meal was better than the prior one. Rachel and Sparkle, Keva and Derah always greeted us at The Palm. Tramaina, the bartender at the pool made the best Pinacolada anywhere, Rocky and CJ were great watersports guides. Jefferson, Christopher, Devon and Violet at the front of the house and reception could assist with almost anything. The management team, especially Nicole, should be commended for their leadership. I had a medical problem my second day and they brought in Dr Leslie from the medical center to my room. We will return next year with our whole family. Thank you!

trinity tafari

Our stay at blue waters in Antigua was already beautiful, but Mellesha truly made it unforgettable. From the very first interaction, she radiated warmth, professionalism, and genuine care. She went above and beyond at every opportunity, always with a smile and an incredibly positive attitude. Such a lovely, sweet girl. Mellesha has a rare gift for hospitality you don’t just feel helped, you feel truly welcomed and valued. She was so attentive and handled everything with grace and efficiency. No request was too big or too small, and she made every moment feel effortless and special. Thank you again to all the lovely staff!

Anna Mary

A fantastic experience for our honeymoon. We are so glad we chose Blue Waters. We went during off season (September) so can only imagine how beautiful and lively the hotel is during peak season. We had fantastic service, particularly from Nathaneale at the pool bar, Alex the bartender, the brilliant meal staff Takeshi, Daniela, and Sheddy! Woody the cook also made us feel really welcome on the island, Nichole the manager was fantastic. And I must recommend a massage from Shanna - it was out of this world! It was an incredible experience, and we missed it when we left. The rooms are beautiful and very romantic, the pools are so clean. - and they do a great job managing wildlife and bugs. The food is honestly such high standard, clean and well presented. Great portions and you get great value for your money in the quality. From the moment you arrive you are greeted with relaxing atmosphere and a cold flannel and a gorgeous refreshing cocktail. Then you are taken to your room in a buggy and it is all very seamless. The beaches are genuinely private and you don’t have people selling you anything- they do have services such as jet ski you can do but they are so relaxed and you go to them! This was a complete polar opposite to the experience we had on the other side of the island, this is real luxury and we wish we never left. We will never forget this place and we hope to visit again some day.

Chris Grieve

Fantastic week at Blue Waters covering the period after xmas and New Year. Wonderful location, feels very secluded and peaceful. Great facilities, more than enough to do to keep my teenagers busy for a week - particularly enjoyed the kayaking and paddleboard and had great fun on our boat tour where we visited the turtles at Bird Island. Rooms are great, nicest I have had in Carribean - very spacious and well appointed. Food was fantastic - enjoyed all 3 restaurants and the variety on offer across the menus. Wish we could have stayed longer….

Natalie Weinstein

I co-lead a retreat for 13 women at Blue Waters Resort and everything was impeccable! The service, the proactive thinking on how to make each event even better than originally discussed, the property, the food---all 5 star! The best part was the staff--everyone was warm and friendly, attentive and caring. I would go back in a heartbeat!

Jeff Darkow

We spent five wonderful nights at Carlisle Bay Antigua, and the experience was exceptional from start to finish. From the moment we arrived until our final lunch, the staff made us feel incredibly welcome and relaxed. We stayed in a beautifully designed Ocean Suite, which was spacious, modern, and offered stunning views of the bay. The housekeeping team was attentive, ensuring our suite remained immaculate throughout our stay. The beach is impeccably maintained, with quick and friendly service right to our loungers. We highly recommend the all-inclusive package; the diverse menu constantly offered new and delicious items for us to explore. This was the perfect escape from the cold—a laid-back, sun-drenched sanctuary where we could finally just breathe. Carlisle Bay is truly a perfect island retreat."

Paul Field

Visited the beach which was nice and secluded. Was told that all the beach is free and walked across the steps to the hotel with no issue, Very nice beach. Beaches hopped to Darkwood and found a roadside local food stop which did everything and had my best meal in Antigua so far 😜

David Napier

Stayed in one of the newly renovated ocean view rooms. Fabulous. Staff were wonderful. Breakfasts outstanding. The Jetty and Indigo were on the most part excellent. East and Ottimo were disappointing. The staff in East not up to the same standard as elsewhere in the resort and the food pretty uninspiring apart from the dynamite shrimp. Ottimo had the most unusual chairs/ table set up which made eating uncomfortable. The food offering was average at best, and again service not on par with other areas of the resort. Housekeeping was inconsistent and apart from not having our room serviced one day (this was rectified on the same day/evening) I constantly had to request more shower gel and other toiletries. Most disappointing. Finally, the forensic checking of our bill at the end of the holiday. There appears to be a problem with the accounting system, keying of information as despite photographing each signed receipt spurious amounts appeared on my bill. Happy to say these were resolved eventually but this shouldn't be the case and taints the experience at the end of your holiday. Notwithstanding the above on reflection I hadl a fantastic stay and I would recommend this resort.

Mike DiCostanzo

We've been reminiscing about our early February vacation for the past few weeks because we were so happy with our stay and experience at Carlisle Bay. EVERY single person on that staff are amazing people - I've read reviews saying the staff was average - which is shocking because they all felt like family. "Above and beyond with genuine care" is how I would describe their team. We brought our 2.5 year old (first time traveling overseas with him so we were nervous) and they treated him like their son. The beach is incredible, the property is beautiful. Since we had never been there, we opted out of the all-inclusive food/drink option which in hindsight was a mistake because every restaurant had great food - so I would recommend unless you plan on dining off the resort multiple times during your stay. The kids club was a game-changer and although we were hesitant at first, because we did not know the staff, it only took a little time to realize why people choose Carlisle Bay to also entertain and care for their kids. What we also loved about the resort was, it never felt over-crowded and was lively enough, but also the perfect spot for R&R. 5/5 stars and there is no doubt we'll be back. Thanks again to the Carlisle Bay staff - we miss you!

Chris T

We recently stayed at Carlisle Bay Resort in Antigua and had a mixed experience. The restaurant service was genuinely good - the staff were friendly, attentive, and a pleasure to interact with. Unfortunately, this was not reflected at the management level. Management appeared disengaged and unresponsive throughout our stay. If you’re considering booking through Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts, I wouldn’t recommend it. Promised upgrades were ignored despite availability being shown directly on the hotel’s website. Likewise, my Leading Hotels of the World Sterling status was completely overlooked. There was no pre-arrival communication or acknowledgement, despite this being confirmed in advance. For the price point, the rooms are disappointing. They feel outdated and are in clear need of refurbishment, which does not align with the luxury positioning of the resort. Overall, while the frontline restaurant staff were excellent, the lack of management attentiveness and unmet benefits significantly detracted from the experience.

Susan Schumacher

I have been to this resort twice. In full disclosure, it was 20 years between trips. I didn’t see much change in the resort. The rooms were dated but in good conditions. The bathrooms are large and lovely. The grounds are very well kept. The beach is just okay. It appears bleak to me. I have been to many other islands and resorts that are much lovelier all around. The water isn’t as clear, nice or warm as on other islands. The food is good but they tend not to want to accommodate requests outside of allergies and for the cost, my expectation would be “let me see what I can do.” The management staff is fine - nothing to write home about. Lastly, there has been an unusual amount of people, who have died there or while on the island. I have never encountered that sad but oddity any other place that I traveled. I would be cautious before traveling to this island/resort, in my opinion. Hope this is helpful.

J W

Beautiful location once inside and the rooms are immaculate. However……The food is the worst we have ever had. The drinks that are included don’t include any cocktails you might know but merely their ‘special blends’. Ice cream sundaes are scoops of ice cream with nothing else. No bananas or mangos (we are in Antigua!?). This might be ok for some people if you’re used to package holidays but if you’re British it falls WAY below standard. The female local staff have severe attitude problems too. Entertainment was lovely but we were starving.

Robert Endress

If you like small quiet resorts, this is the place for you from a time you pull up to the front of the resort you were greeted with smiles and respect. The beaches were amazing the rooms immaculate the infinity pool overlook the ocean spectacular view the food, unbelievable, wine tasting even better!! Can’t wait to go back.

Fiona Robinson

We had to walk out of this hotel half way through our holiday. We found the manager and MD charmless. The hotel fell well below ( recently acquired) Relais Chateaux standards to our mind. It was the 3rd Relais Chateaux hotel we have visited this year and we usually stay at 5 or 6 of them every year. We chose it for the RC name and were sorely disappointed. The front desk was a place to avoid unless Zain and Carl were on duty. They were full of smiles and engaging and keen to help but otherwise the staff there would often ignore the guest's greeting. The facilities and location are great, the Spa well run and friendly. The waiters in the main restaraunt were charming and hard working. Danny runs his male team with humour and kindness and goes out of his way to look after the guests. Jackiel Benn, Hendred, Africa, the wonderful Brian ( at the Beach restaraunt, who was the only reason we did not leave on the first day, sadly and incredulously, was then moved to the back office!) and Glocester were all fab. Henry looked after our room and was engaging, efficient and friendly. Have to say the ocean front room were out dated though the bathroom had been modernised. We had no glass in the windows so the aircon leaked out through the shutters. The bed had a ridge in the middle the linen and pillows were not of good quality. The sinks and toilet did not drain properly. The matting was grubby as was the sheer modesty curtain ( the curtain is much needed as there is a footpath outside uour balcony used by staff and guests so privacy is hard) The chef Chrisoph was good and helpful but i think still the hotel could offer more variety for a RC hotel. The lunch offering resembled a school or office canteen despite the lovely setting. Dinner at the beach is handled by the efficient Auslando but you can not disguise the fact that there is just a curtain dividing the beach bar from the restaraunt and more staff are needed there. The diving team are friendly but too keen to cancel a dive. This happened 4 times in 6 days. The rive team seem to think that if only 1 guest wants to dive then it is not worth doing it. They are inflexible on timing or on offering a beach dive if it is too choppy to go to the reef by boat. If you are a serious diver you need to book with an outside provider. The pool staff were always late and unhelpfulat the afult pool. I think a good example of what it is like to be a guest, is illustrated when i asked the front desk for the room to be cleaned. I explained my husband would need the room in just over 1 .5 hrs and asked if we could just get a quick clean before 10.00 AM. I returned to the room at 10 to 10 to find it had not been cleaned. So i called reception again and asked if someone was still coming to clean it. The curt reply i got was " It is 9.56"! This says it all. In most hotels the member of staff would be reprimanded or even lose their job but in this hotel it was deemed ok. I complained to the manager directly and by email and she never deigned to reply to my email...which is just rude. We brought all issues to her attention and she did introduce us to the chef and bring a fan to our room but then was "off" and gave us no contact info or any one else to contact if problems persisted. She had twice "cut us dead" when we greeted her and the " arrival welcome" was pittiful. We were left to get our cases out despite 3 staff members being in the area. We should have listened to our instincts then and got back in the cab. We checked with other guests and 3 different couples felt the same as us. Though there are many guests who return every year... i have to wonder if they have low expectations or do not like exploring what else is on offer.

Jamie Dixon

‘And relax’ Curtain Bluff is the perfect vacation stop. The Carribean is hard to top, but the cherry on the cake is always visiting this wonderful time-machine of a hotel, that somehow manages to make you feel instantly relaxed. If you’re looking at staying at one of the best hotels in Antigua, you will not be disappointed. It’s a high quality all-inclusive hotel that makes a huge effort and its private ownership stems a sophisticated approach to all of its guests and many friends.