Where to stay in Antigua????
 

Hi am planning trip for July and have received a few quotes from my travel agent. I am considering Jolly Beach, Pineapple Beach,the Royal Antiguan or St. James Club. I have read so many posts that I can't decide. The least inexpensive was the Royal Antiguan and the most was St. James Club. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Mary

Don't stay @ Royal Antiguan! It's a big,<BR>unattractive, sprawling property, rooms are very basic<BR>&amp; the thing that really bothered me was<BR>that there are flies everywhere!<BR>I remember sitting in the lobby &amp; swatting flies, having breakfast &amp; swatting flies...&amp; on &amp; on....

Can only comment on St. James Club - which we thought was wonderful! Beaches were white and clean, facilities were great and the food was delicious. Don't know if you are traveling with children, however there weren't many kids there when we went (last April) so our kids were hesitant about the children's progam.

It depends on what you are looking for. We stayed at Jolly Beach Resort and while the rooms were small, the beach was fabulous and the resort was wonderful. From everything I have heard (and seen from the water) don't bother with the Royal Antiguan. Pineapple Beach looked gorgeous but we heard it was a little quieter than Jolly Beach. If you are looking at a quiet, romantic week, Pineapple Beach looked like the place to me. St. James Club was definitely the nicest of the three you mentioned. We wanted a little activity and a little night-life so we chose Jolly Beach. Check out http://www.geographia.com/guestbook/antigua/<BR>

We split our Antigua trip to get the most out of the island.<BR><BR>First, stayed at the Admiral's Inn at Nelson's dockyard ... very British - Caribbean ... quiet ... very nice. Would recommend Copper &amp; Lumber Store also. They are very much the same.<BR><BR>We then moved to St. James' Place. Fabulous! Service was VERY friendly, food (ALL meals) was great.<BR><BR>We went diving with Dockyard Divers at Nelson's dockyard ... rate it very average. Dive operator at St James (from Scotland) really nice. Both dives pleasant, but nothing to make the all time greatest list.<BR><BR>On Sunday night you HAVE to go to Shirley Heights for the cook out and steel band. I don't like "tourist things", and this is a local &amp; tourist thing. But it was a highlight of<BR>our trip.<BR><BR>At St. James we took the cat sailing trip to Green Island. All five of us (1 teenager, 2 twenty year olds, and 2 fifty year olds - but we act like 20 year olds) liked the day-long outing.<BR><BR>WHATEVER YOU DO, have your hotel make arrangements for DEVLIN ADAMS of RED ROSE TAXI (INSIST on HIM) to meet your<BR>flight. Also use him for a custom island tour (Betty's Hope, etc). He took us up to Shirley Heights and also picked us up<BR>on time. The guy is polite, friendly, honest, very smart (teaching himself French so he can do a better job with<BR>tourists). Told us what to do, and not to do to have a good trip, not get ripped off, and to be safe (crime not a<BR>problem, but how not to get yourself in a bad position). Can't rate the guy high enough.<BR><BR>Do not take pictures of the Rasties without asking. I blew it, and did (dumb thing to do, anyway) and the guy really<BR>got pissed off. Explained where he was going to put his beer bottle with no uncertain terms. Kinda like "Rasta Kick your assta". (However, the picture was really good).<BR><BR>Have a great time!