Antigua

The staff was very friendly and attentive. Check-in was great as we were able to sit and wait in the lobby rather than stand in line. We were offered beverages while we waited, then taken personally up to our room and shown around. The grounds are very easy to navigate. The rooms are spacious and well appointed. We faced the mountain side and it was very lovely except a number of times during the week there was some HEAVY smoke which seemed like it was from some kind of vehicle, but hung around for about 30 mins to an hour and you were not able to even have the door open during this time let alone sit on the balcony. We had a few issues with our bathroom where someone was out promptly to attempt to fix. We found that there could have been more attention to room cleaning.. In many 5 star hotels we've stayed at, the cleaning staff came in sometimes a few times a day, Magically it seems when we'd step out for breakfast, then again when we'd be gone for the day to take care of the bigger things. At Royalton, however, sometimes it was so late that we had already returned for the day and didn't get the cleaning as we didn't want to leave again. This attention was lacking as a 5 star. There are Swim-up rooms that face the only walkway through the resort (although behind some shrubs) and was shaded the entire day. I had only seen a person using the swim up once during our stay and it was a child. I would have been very disappointed had we gotten this room type. The overwater bungalows are BEAUTIFUL although expensive, and no children are allowed. There are many added perks however so an upgrade for a few days out of your week might be worth it! The buffet was great, lots of selection albeit small for the size of the hotel. I liked seeing the chefs out in the buffet area to see that things were to their satisfaction. The a la carte restaurants were very slow, as is common all over the Caribbean, but for a 5 star resort, I expected more from the presentation and meals. This is also where I found they were lacking as a 5 star.. We weren't wowed by any of the restaurants and preferred to eat most of our meals at the buffet. The food at the sports bar, however was great. Many guests we spoke to, along with some of my clients (I'm a Travel Agent) felt the same way about the food. The beach is lovely and the walk over and up to Fort Barrington had beautiful views. There are a number of vendor booths along the way. The water is very calm as it is in a bay and the beach is wide in comparison to some of the neighboring hotels. No need for water shoes here! The beach is very clean and there are always servers that come around to take drink orders. There is a Diamond section of the pool as well as the beach, but I'm not convinced it is worth it here. There are other perks such as a separate check in area and breakfast at the a la carte restaurant as well as a concierge who can book your dinners for you. We don't usually use these extra services so for us this wasn't worth it. Every Diamond club booking gets free visit to the Hydrotherapy pools, so that in itself is great although if you book a spa visit, you get that for free anyhow, see my next paragraph. The spa is a must-do. I got a massage with ANA and she was great! With a spa package you get free access for an hour of the Hydrotherapy pool. You also have access to the steam room, Sauna, and cold plunge pool. The pool isn't huge and I was worried about this when I booked when comparing the number of rooms to the space available around the pool. There is also only chairs on one side of the pool, facing the ocean which meant that you would only get sun on your extreme left side. There wasn't room to move the chairs much to face the sun as they were quite close together, so for someone who likes to tan, this was a bit annoying. This is true for the chairs on the beach as well. It wasn't awful finding a sunchair, but there were slim pickings. Many people, like most places, put their towels on a chair to "reserve it" never to be seen again.. There didn't seem to be an overload of people in the pool however, so there was no need to worry after all. I would say that an additional section of pool side lounging opposite would have been ideal. There is a section for children between the main pool area and the hotel room buildings which had a dry playground and a splash playground (waterslides etc). My 9 year old had fun there and younger children as well. There are cabanas by the pool that are available for rent which have their own plunge pool, couches and TV. There were nightly shows in the lobby area that were quite entertaining. Not too much to say about them. Overall we had a nice week and rate this a 4 out of 5 as a 5 star resort.

Our room was lovely and much larger than we expected. The view from the balcony was beautiful. Although we had asked to be on the ground floor and were initially disappointed to find we were on the second level, we soon adjusted. As an older couple, we found the stairs a bit challenging, particularly at night.

Overall the resort was good. However, improvements are needed for rooms, room cleanliness and food.

Our stay at sugar ridge was wonderful, we had the breakfast plan which was great food was really good, fell in love with the coffee. Took the short shuttle to the beach everyday, best beaches we have ever been too as far as clear and calm water. Used our plunge pool to cool down after the beach, tried a variety of restaurants for our dinners.

Pros: Food was very good with good selection. Staff were friendly and polite. Housekeeping was good and prompt. Housekeeping did a great job, as everything was neat and clean, No restriction of alcoholic beverages and great bar tenders. Building maintenance responded to complaints but are overwhelmed by the condition of the rooms and buildings. AC was effective and quiet. Grounds and pool were well groomed and maintained. Cons: On arrival to the room, we had no towels, face cloths, etc. Went to reception and requested towels and we were given bath towels only. Next day, the towels were removed and at 4 pm went to reception for towels, etc. We were given 2 face cloths (by special request only) and towels were to follow. At 8 pm, went to reception for towels, were to be delivered. At 10:30 pm, still no towels, went to reception again and got towels from the attached office. Two days later, a few towels were replaced but shorted one bath towel. Next day the towel was replaced. We did not place used towels on floor for the rest of the week so we knew we would have towels. Room condition: Where the AC piping and TV Cable came through a 3" open hole in the outside wall which kept us busy with insects at night. Louvers were badly misaligned and had more entry for insects. Sliding door to patio deck was misaligned and crooked, would not lock and had a 1/4" space for about 1/4 of the door ( more insects). The TV worked some times and on the last day would not work at all. No security chain on the entry door. Nice patio deck but no chairs. Only one room chair. No drinking glasses in the room. No tissue in the tissue dispensers. Beach chairs were very few and old but when cruise ship passengers came to use the beach, newer chairs came out and were removed when the cruise ship passengers left. Almost all water sport equipment was missing and not replaced since storm in September.

I booked this hotel knowing it was a 3 star but based on the price we paid I cannot complain, nor did I have high expectations. The hotel is very dated and requires alot of TLC. The beach however is unbelievably beautiful. Checkin was quick, our room was dated but it was acceptable other than if they provided refrigerators it would have been a bonus. Room was clean, safe is extra so be prepared to pay, which is $15.00 US for the week. The buffet is repetitive and boring for breakfast and lunch, but with that said breakfast has all breakfast items we normally have other than yogurt. There are themed dinners every night, however we ate at the 3 al la cartes every night. All 3 restaurants were very good. They have 2 pools however we stayed at the beach every day because of the ocean which is spectacular. Shaded areas go quickly so you need to go down early to secure a spot. Nightly entertainment is not that great, could definitely use improvement. The hotel is rated an appropriate 3 star, however with some renovations, update on the rooms and improvement in the buffet this hotel has the potential to move up in rating. I don't recommend this hotel for teenagers looking for a party time. Great for families and older couples.