Jolly Beach Resort

My Daughter and I stayed here for a week mid November as wedding guests, so a different hotel was not an option. Having read some of the reviews i was a little concerned but decided to go with an open mind. Our room was a basic standard room spotlessly clean with piping hot water, slightly dated decor but this is a 3* not 5* hotel. we had a wonderful view overlooking the beach. All rooms have a good view. The main restaurant serves a fine variety if food, the water which was ice cold and brought to our table was perfectly safe to drink, we filled our own water bottles from the restaurant for our room as although safe tasted funny. Birds were annoying when eating breakfast and lunch but not a lot can be done as thats nature. I would suggest booking for Lydia's sea food restaurant this is by far the best for food and a romantic setting, right on the beach, with the Indian coming a close 2nd. The Italian was too big too bright and too many very young children late in the evening running around, maybe we were just unlucky that evening! All staff were very polite i did not come across anyone ignoring me or being rude as one reviewer said, politeness works both ways. Finally the wedding was wonderful there were three that day and each one was made so personal, the staff did a fantastic job. If my partner of 8 years ever decided to pop the question i would be more than happy to get married here. thats providing i say yes!! So please don't be put off by bad reviews unless of course you expect 5* for the price of 3* then i would recommend booking elsewhere. Close

I have just returned from a stay at Jolly Beach and had a fantastic time and would deffinately return. This is a 3* hotel and is advertised as a 3* hotel, if you want a 4 or 5* hotel then book a 4 or 5* hotel.The standard room that we had on the 4th floor had amazing views of the sea. Yes they are a little dated and the bathroom is very small but at the end of the day how much time do you spend in your room.... The staff I found to be extremely friendly, so very surprised to see reviews saying that they were rude. Terry and Anne-Marie inparticular were great with the guests. I would suggest that you book into the speciality restaurants to eat, I enjoyed Lydias and the Italian best. Although there is a good choice in the buffet restaurant. The location of the property is superb, right on the beach. When sunbathing round the main pool you can just walk straight onto the beach from it. Overall this is a good 3* hotel. I am a travel agent and have stayed in many hotels over the years and in terms of value for money you cant go wrong with Jolly Beach. Close

First off I want to say that after reading some of these reviews I was apprehensive about this property. Well, was I wrong and so were these reviews. I will say first off that my family and I stayed at the timeshares of Jolly Beach Vacations which is located on the same property as The Jolly Beach Resorts. We had a 2 bedroom villa with 2 baths and a view of the marina which is private behind the property. It was a bit of walk at first until you got used to where you were going. When I booked the vacation it wasn't clear to me that my price didnot include the meal plan which we purchased upon our arrival. There are several options and do the best one for you. Since my husband was a little upset about this the manager was very understanding and gave us a discount by only charging our children half price. We bought the whole week meal plan and this entitled us to all drinks and food. The food was fine, we ate at Hemisphere's every morning and evening, yes there are birds in the morning but they are not annoying like people had said, At least that was our experience. I did try to book Lydia's for Friday but there was a wedding that day and we were unable to eat there, we saw the couple get married that day and it was very charming. My kids absolutely loved the pool and the beach which is amazing. I have traveled to different places and this is the most beautiful place I have ever laid eyes on. Antigua is heaven!! The resort is not 5 stars so if you're picky and want 5 stars don't stay here. The people who work there and vacation there are wonderful and friendly. The resort is 90% British vacationers and they are absolutely lovely. We took two trips which the hotel staff helped arranged, we took an island tour and a trip to Barbuda. If you have extra money go to Barbuda it is amazing you will not be dissapointed. The beach venders are not annoying, just tell them you aren't interested and they leave you alone. But if you're in a friendly mood and even if you don't buy anything from them they will talk to you and make you feel very much at home. My boys both enjoyed drinking a fresh coconut supplied by the "coconut man" who will gladly open one up for you on the beach. Just give him a little cash either American or Eastern Caribbean and he is very charming and grateful. The whole place has earned a special love in our hearts and we will certaintly visit Antigua and Jolly Beach again. WONDERFUL!!!!!!!! Oh and by the way for those of you who trashed this place, do some research, sometimes you get what you pay for!! And anyways who goes to paradise to sit in their rooms, get out there and enjoy the heavenly beaches and beautiful people of Antigua. That's exactly what we did and had the time of our lives!!! We also met a couple that live a few hours from us and they put their kids in the kids club and loved it, they never ever mentioned anything about a sewer plant nearby and we walked there and saw nothing of the such there as well. I am noting this as there was a recent review from someone who stated this about the kids club. If there was a problem this couple would've told us and everyone in the resort. Nothing was wrong and the kids enjoyed the activities provided by the resort staff. If you are staying at this resort in the near future you will enjoy. Close

We have just returned from The Jolly Beach Resort, and to be honest, I really can't see what all the fuss is about about not staying there! I was quite apprehensive before going because I had read alot of negative reviews, but in actual fact, this made our stay even more enjoyable, as the room, resort and facilities outweighed our expectations!! I'm going to write as honest a review as I can in order to right a few wrongs.. We stayed in one of their Supersaver rooms. OK, it was basic, but it did have everything required - comfy bed, aircon, hot and cold water, even a hairdryer that worked better than my wife's travel one!! Also, a balcony that had a fabulous view of the caribbean sea (I'm told all the rooms have a great view). We didn't expect luxury, and it wasn't, but it was quite adequate for our needs. Having done some research, we knew it didn't have coffee making facilities, so we took our own travel kettle, as we like to wake up with a coffee! Other than that, we hardly spent anytime in the room, so no big deal. The resort itself.......OK, admittedly a bit shabby, but come on guys, this is not Sandals (thankfully!), it is 3*. But everything worked - the Pool was fabulous and always kept clean, the Buffet Dining area was, once again kept clean, and very well served. Quite a few birds around at breakfast and lunch, but doesn't that all add to the experience Food was, in my opinion, excellent, plenty to choose from, and all service with a smile. Ofcourse it always helps to smile at the staff too - politeness isn't one way!! We never got around to eating in the restaurants apart from Lydia's at Sunday Lunch, as there was no need to frankly. Every night there was some sort of entertainment on, which was pretty enjoyable really as it broke up the evening. The beach is to die for!! No real hassle from the beach hawkers, a polite No Thanks worked wonders. I could on for a while as I really was impressed with the place considering some of the negative reports I had read before going, but feel free to ask about anything you want. I used this site alot before going so know how valuable any unbiased info is. Chewylouee Close

This reveiw is a bit delayed but here it goes.My husband and I went to this hotel on recommendation although I had read the review I gave the hotel the benefit of the doubt as we had spoken to someone that had actually been there. To be honest we were totally disappointed I will firstly supply the positives as that won't take long. The beach was fantastic and the weather perfect, and the location of the rooms amazing as the beach was practically on your doorstep I am afraid thats it.Now the negatives the accomodation leaves alot to be desired the bathroom needed gutting and redoing as did the whole block to be honest it was dirty.The aircon although it worked was just about fixed to the wall and again dirty and the patio doors came out of the runners when moved.We asked for the maintenace man to fix our ceiling light he arrived with his toolkit (a plastic bag with a screwdriver and hammer) and then told us that we couldn't have the ceiling light if we wanted the ceiling fan on as the light would be on all of the time this was a very stressful start to the holiday. I seemd to get bitten alive in the bed s we had to debug that every night. The restaurants were alos disappointing one evening was a carribean night which is fair enough but wew could not get a plate of decent food together so therefore walked out.The selection was not at all good and not what we would expect from an all-inclusive ,we have been to Mexico and paid far less for much much better. The staff we found were rude/arrogant which was uncalled for.Evening entertainment if thats what you can call it was repetative and as just not good enough.All in all we found this resort to be grubby and in need of a total refurbishment there were broken/dangerous seats at the bar area.If you are condsidering going here please consider your requirements for a good holiday.It is a shame as this place could be great but they have just let it run down. Antigua itself is a lovely country and I would go again but I would definately reseach my hotel choice thoroughly forst Close