Gina

If anyone has any questions about Jolly Beach Resort, I will try to answer today. We had a great time.

Mary K.

<BR>Gina, Hi thanks. Yes, I do have a few questions. Making plans for July. My travel agent gave me a few prives on hotels and Jolly Beach, Rex Blue Heron, & Rex Halycon Cove are Probably the ones tat can afford. Prices are certainly up there. Layear we went to Vegas $ cal. & year before to Aruba. Anyway How were the rooms, where they run of house? How was the food. Did you have tv. Was it a far walk to beach, Do they have a casino? Any shows or activities? Thanks so much? Mary

Virginia

It is hard to tell from their website how close things are to the beach. Also, is there the resort and then the villas? Are either on the beach. The beach looks beautiful, but for us, we wouldn't want a 10 miniute walk to it. Also, how are the rooms? I read where there have been some renovations so I am curious as to how it all turned out. Was it crowded at mealtime? Thanks so much.

virginia

Hey Gina-

candy

Can you put together a trip report for me? Going early-mid November and havent found much information on the island the resort.

SP

Candy- <BR>Fodors.com is a great site, but you are right, it is lacking information on Antigua. The message board at http://www.geographia.com/guestbook/antigua/ is very active. <BR> <BR>-SP

gina

Sorry folks - I've been without a computer almost since I posted that!<BR><BR>First - the rooms are very small but quite nice. They all have a good size patio or balcony with a loveseat, two chairs and a coffee table. While at our room (which wasn't often, that is where we spent most of our time.<BR><BR>Everything at this resort is either on the beach or within 30 steps of the beach - and the beach is gorgeous!!!<BR><BR>We had a standard room and it had a tv, a safe and a hairdryer. It also had a king size bed but I think you can book other bed types.<BR><BR>There is no casino on site but there is one about a 5 minute walk away in Jolly Harbour. Do not bother - there are about 20 slots, one roulette table, one poker table - all empty. Also I heard alot of people complaining about getting ripped off royally! There are other casinos nearby although we didn't visit them so I couldn't comment.<BR><BR>The nightly entertainment is outstanding! Instead of the shows we have seen at resorts in the past, they had a professional band playing every night along with the other things more for guests like a limbo contest, karioke (can't spell it), etc.<BR><BR>We ate at the buffet restaurant most often because the setting was so nice (under the stars)and the band always played at a low level throughout dinner. Of the others, I would recommend Lydia's, the seafood restaurant.<BR><BR>The resort overall is outstanding! While we were there, you could always get a chair at the beach or at either of the pools. We did an excursion to St.John's for the day, a catamaran cruise for snokelling, and a helicopter over Montserrat - all were great!<BR><BR>One note: if it is something you would be concerned about, you may want to upgrade to a larger room. We were only there for a week and as I said, spent our time around the room mostly on our patio.<BR><BR>If you have any specific questions I would be happy to answer you (new motherboard and all).<BR><BR>

Mary K.

Gina, Thanks for you post on Jolly Beach. It was very helpful.going in July and can't decide on Jolly Beach, Pineapple Beach or Royal Antiguan. Can you give your opinion. Did you see the other two and how did their beaches compare. Thanks so much. Mary

MmRibs

Is this the place that has the frisbee golf course? I remember hearing something about one of those Jolly Beach resorts having one..just wondering if you saw it or played it at all...I'm a bit of a frolfer myself <BR>

gina

I didn't see a frisbee golf course but I seem to remember something about that too. If it is at Jolly Beach, don't tell me! I'd hate to think I missed out on that - it sounds too fun!<BR><BR>There are lots of people out there that will disagree with me but I would pick Jolly Beach over the Royal Antiguan anytime! We were there to pick up people on our catamaran trip and the first thing that struck me is that it didn't look very Caribbean. It could be the Holiday Inn in Anytown USA. Half the rooms face the beach and the other half face the mountain. At Jolly Beach all the rooms face the ocean and I would say our room had the least ocean view possibly on the resort because we were on the ground floor. We could still see it - there was just a thin hedge between us and the beach that obstructed the view a little (still wonderful). We had the opportunity to switch to a second or third floor room but didn't end-up taking it. The beach at RA is significantly smaller than that of Jolly Beach. I've heard some people say it is the nicest beach on the island and I wouldn't doubt that! Also at RA there seemed to be vendors "huts" all along the stretch of beach. At Jolly Beach they are all concentrated at one end of the beach in a little "village" called Lydia's Crab Hole Village (where the seafood restaurant is) which we found convenient because if you wanted to look, you approached them. <BR><BR>Pineapple Beach we didn't see but the rooms are probably the big draw. We heard they were gorgeous and spacious. The resort is very upscale but it is much quieter that Jolly Beach. People we met at the airport had stayed there and they said it was very quiet, relaxing, with very little night-life. Not that Jolly Beach Resort is too raucous, we just felt like we could dance and party if we wanted to. We only ended up going to the disco one night (it was quite jammed) and just enjoyed a few drinks and the bands under the stars the rest of the time.