Can anyone offer their thoughts on The Beach House in Barbuda and Carlisle Bay in Antigua?
Nov 18th, 2004, 07:10 AM
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Can anyone offer their thoughts on The Beach House in Barbuda and Carlisle Bay in Antigua?
We am currently planning our honeymoon for this May 2004. At the present time we are leaning towards spending four nights at the Beach House in Barbuda and four nights at Carlisle Bay in Antigua... We see it as the best of both worlds - secluded resort with a private butler for five days and a new stylish beach resort for a few days for a little more activity (we typically are the couple that hide away in our rooms or on our patio, however).
If anyone could offer the opinions on either of these places, it would be greatly appreciated.
Our other options are:
Parrot Cay in T&C - however, a little too remote for eight days. 35 minute boat ride for another dining option.
Cap Juluca - one negative is that everyone is talking about it. might be a little too much of a scene for us.
Thank you for your help!!
If anyone could offer the opinions on either of these places, it would be greatly appreciated.
Our other options are:
Parrot Cay in T&C - however, a little too remote for eight days. 35 minute boat ride for another dining option.
Cap Juluca - one negative is that everyone is talking about it. might be a little too much of a scene for us.
Thank you for your help!!
Jan 7th, 2005, 10:28 AM
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kfelix:
I stayed at Carlisle Bay last year (in office season). Beautiful resort. Wonderful rooms and amenities. Amazing food in both restaurants. Breakfast is included and is to die for. Wonderful service everywhere.
Drawbacks: the hotel is very secluded --- and unless you rent a car, and are willing to drive 30+ minutes on barely drivable roads to get to another restaurant, you are eating at the restaurant every night (cabs are at least $25-30 each way). We were there 4 nights, and only left once, and decided it was too much of a hassle. If that doesn't bother you, you should be fine. The hotel offers use of its motorboat for snorkeling, etc. so that was very fun as well. One other thing to note is that the beach the hotel is on, is not one of the prettiest beaches in Antigua....because a small river from the rainforest empties into the bay, and makes the water rather cloudly looking....so we weren't so impressed with the beach.
Would I go back --- honestly, probably not, even though the design was one of the coolest of any hotel I have stayed at. We are just more into having more dining options, and tend to like smaller islands (i.e., St. Barths, Vieques, Harbour Island, etc).
Hope this helps.
I stayed at Carlisle Bay last year (in office season). Beautiful resort. Wonderful rooms and amenities. Amazing food in both restaurants. Breakfast is included and is to die for. Wonderful service everywhere.
Drawbacks: the hotel is very secluded --- and unless you rent a car, and are willing to drive 30+ minutes on barely drivable roads to get to another restaurant, you are eating at the restaurant every night (cabs are at least $25-30 each way). We were there 4 nights, and only left once, and decided it was too much of a hassle. If that doesn't bother you, you should be fine. The hotel offers use of its motorboat for snorkeling, etc. so that was very fun as well. One other thing to note is that the beach the hotel is on, is not one of the prettiest beaches in Antigua....because a small river from the rainforest empties into the bay, and makes the water rather cloudly looking....so we weren't so impressed with the beach.
Would I go back --- honestly, probably not, even though the design was one of the coolest of any hotel I have stayed at. We are just more into having more dining options, and tend to like smaller islands (i.e., St. Barths, Vieques, Harbour Island, etc).
Hope this helps.
Jan 21st, 2005, 10:00 AM
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Haven't been to Carlisle Bay, so I can't help you there. We spent 5 nights at the Beach House in late November, and have been to Anguilla (Cap Jaluca and Cuisinart) twice, so hopefully this will help if it isn't too late.
The Beach House sits literally alone on roughly 14 miles of quiet, dramatic and fairly windy beach. The resort is essentially in two parts: the lounge/lodge/dining area that is the focal point of their advertising; and a long, one story L-shaped building housing the 20 or so rooms. The rooms all face the ocean and are fronted by a large shallow, non-swimming reflecting pool. Each room has a deck right on the reflecting pool, each deck separated from one another by billowing white curtains- very dramatic photo ops abound. The rooms themselves are fine, with incredble beds/bedding that sit right in front of the deck. No TVs (although they'll provide you with portable mini-DVD players). The bathrooms are a disappointment for a luxury resort.
The lodge/lounge area is dramatic mediterraean in feel- stark white open structure and furnishings contrasted with dark wood floors and furniture. On axis outside is the saltwater pool surrounded by wood decking. It is very dramatic and hip to look at- definitely a spot for fashion photo-shoots. One would think, with 14 miles of beach, that you'd spend all your time romping on the beach. In our case (and the others there), that didn't happen. The beach is actually VERY wide near the hotel, so the water is far from any service or comfort of the hotel. The water was also rough, and beach was very windy- but this might be more about the time of year than anything else. The beach was more about dramatic views than actual enjoyment for us.
Barbuda is pancake flat, swampy and to our knowledge has no restaurants or bars outside of the 3 resorts (K-club and another resort share a large cove on another side of the island)- so chances are you won't be leaving the Beach House during your 4 nights. However... the food there is quite simply the best in the caribbean (and we've been all over). We're from NYC, and we'd be hard pressed to get much better food here, let alone served on such a dramatic location. Service is warm- island time, yes, but friendly and good. They offer you your own "concierge" butler service during your stay to take care of anything you might want... the problem is there's nothing there for you take advantage of, so the service doesn't really work. Also, the 2 or 3 times I tried using it (they provide you cel-phones linked directly to your concierge), I ended up leaving messages! and just taking care of it by myself.
Some major negatives for us: bugs, bugs, BUGS! We counted 3 different types that literally ate us alive (our legs were like something out of medical journals) despite citronella candles inches from our deet-soaked skin. Like I mentioned- the rooms are nice, but for this place to warrant calling itself an upscale resort on the par of a Cap Jaluca they need to be a lot nicer, particularly the bathrooms. Also- no gym or beach/water resources/activities; there is NOTHING to do here (unless you count getting eaten and eating).
If you haven't been to Anguilla- I would HIGHLY recommend going there for your honeymoon. Cap Jaluca is NOT a scene, despite the hype. And even though my girlfriend and I actually prefer Cuisinart (better service IMHO), Cap Jaluca seems to me the perfect honeymoon spot- beautiful, private, dramatic, but with enough options for more activities (check the Anguilla forum). If you want to do 2 islands, I might suggest 4 nights at Cap and 4 nights on St Barth (also not as hyped as the hype would suggest- especially in May). I would really only recommend Barbuda if you absolutely MUST get away from EVERYTHING (except bugs). Antigua looks lovely, but I've only spent 1 day driving around there, so I don't know it at all. Good luck! (and sorry for the rambling)
The Beach House sits literally alone on roughly 14 miles of quiet, dramatic and fairly windy beach. The resort is essentially in two parts: the lounge/lodge/dining area that is the focal point of their advertising; and a long, one story L-shaped building housing the 20 or so rooms. The rooms all face the ocean and are fronted by a large shallow, non-swimming reflecting pool. Each room has a deck right on the reflecting pool, each deck separated from one another by billowing white curtains- very dramatic photo ops abound. The rooms themselves are fine, with incredble beds/bedding that sit right in front of the deck. No TVs (although they'll provide you with portable mini-DVD players). The bathrooms are a disappointment for a luxury resort.
The lodge/lounge area is dramatic mediterraean in feel- stark white open structure and furnishings contrasted with dark wood floors and furniture. On axis outside is the saltwater pool surrounded by wood decking. It is very dramatic and hip to look at- definitely a spot for fashion photo-shoots. One would think, with 14 miles of beach, that you'd spend all your time romping on the beach. In our case (and the others there), that didn't happen. The beach is actually VERY wide near the hotel, so the water is far from any service or comfort of the hotel. The water was also rough, and beach was very windy- but this might be more about the time of year than anything else. The beach was more about dramatic views than actual enjoyment for us.
Barbuda is pancake flat, swampy and to our knowledge has no restaurants or bars outside of the 3 resorts (K-club and another resort share a large cove on another side of the island)- so chances are you won't be leaving the Beach House during your 4 nights. However... the food there is quite simply the best in the caribbean (and we've been all over). We're from NYC, and we'd be hard pressed to get much better food here, let alone served on such a dramatic location. Service is warm- island time, yes, but friendly and good. They offer you your own "concierge" butler service during your stay to take care of anything you might want... the problem is there's nothing there for you take advantage of, so the service doesn't really work. Also, the 2 or 3 times I tried using it (they provide you cel-phones linked directly to your concierge), I ended up leaving messages! and just taking care of it by myself.
Some major negatives for us: bugs, bugs, BUGS! We counted 3 different types that literally ate us alive (our legs were like something out of medical journals) despite citronella candles inches from our deet-soaked skin. Like I mentioned- the rooms are nice, but for this place to warrant calling itself an upscale resort on the par of a Cap Jaluca they need to be a lot nicer, particularly the bathrooms. Also- no gym or beach/water resources/activities; there is NOTHING to do here (unless you count getting eaten and eating).
If you haven't been to Anguilla- I would HIGHLY recommend going there for your honeymoon. Cap Jaluca is NOT a scene, despite the hype. And even though my girlfriend and I actually prefer Cuisinart (better service IMHO), Cap Jaluca seems to me the perfect honeymoon spot- beautiful, private, dramatic, but with enough options for more activities (check the Anguilla forum). If you want to do 2 islands, I might suggest 4 nights at Cap and 4 nights on St Barth (also not as hyped as the hype would suggest- especially in May). I would really only recommend Barbuda if you absolutely MUST get away from EVERYTHING (except bugs). Antigua looks lovely, but I've only spent 1 day driving around there, so I don't know it at all. Good luck! (and sorry for the rambling)
Jan 30th, 2005, 12:10 PM
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Dear KUD and all of the wonderful contributors to this page. We NEED your advice. KUD did an excellent report on the Beach House. We are veteran goers to all of the best of the best resorts in the Carribean- including Anguilla CAp, Cuisinart, Malliouhana ( our favorite) St, Barts, Le TOiny and Carl Gustaf. We desperately want to go the the Beach House and Barbuda.
KUD's report on bugs and windy rough beach --Does anyone know if this is a seasonal problem? Is it where they are located as opposed to the K club for example?
Need to find out if anyone has been to the Beach House at a different time of year and did not experience these problems of did they? Or went to the K club and did not have these same issues. Don't mind spening lots of money and time to be at a place but don't want to have to come home looking like hamburger meat from bug bites nor not take advantage of great beach ( to us non windy and serene waters). We can do pools anywhere. Thanks in advance.
KUD's report on bugs and windy rough beach --Does anyone know if this is a seasonal problem? Is it where they are located as opposed to the K club for example?
Need to find out if anyone has been to the Beach House at a different time of year and did not experience these problems of did they? Or went to the K club and did not have these same issues. Don't mind spening lots of money and time to be at a place but don't want to have to come home looking like hamburger meat from bug bites nor not take advantage of great beach ( to us non windy and serene waters). We can do pools anywhere. Thanks in advance.
Feb 7th, 2005, 06:23 AM
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Would not recommend staying at The Beach House. While the island is beautiful, the resort is not anything great and the food was horrible. You can not swim in the ocean in front of the hotel it is too rough. Also, the bugs will eat you alive.
That said, the people at the resort are very nice, the room was nice and the views are great.
That said, the people at the resort are very nice, the room was nice and the views are great.
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