Royalton Antigua, An Autograph Collection All-Inclusive Resort

Our family of 4 (2 adults, 2 kids aged 16 and 9) recently stayed at the Royalton in a Diamond Club suite for a week before Christmas. Overall we had a good stay - we have stayed at a Royalton before in Grenada so had a good idea of what the brand was like in terms of high quality luxury all inclusive, but on a large scale without the personal touch - and that pretty summed up this trip as well! Good to focus on the positive things first: the hotel is large, luxurious, modern, clean with excellent wifi! Food was excellent with great choice - buffet selections were first class with fresh fish and meat available for cooking on demand at lunch and dinner and a crepe station for breakfast which is an essential for our kids! There were also a number of a la carte restaurants available for booking - a steak house, Caribbean restaurant and Italian - all nice options. There is also a coffee shop and bar with the former being a great option for latte's and flat whites which is another essential for our family - plus a great selection of cakes and ice creams. In terms of surroundings, the hotel is also on a beautiful beach called Deep Bay beach - a number of boot trips come in to stop there. There is free paddleboarding and kayaks provided by the hotel and the water in the bay is so calm which makes these a great option to go out in - there is a shipwreck a short distance away that you can snorkel around which was great to do. There is some snorkelling around the beach as well (best area I found was near the rocks on the left hand side of the beach) but visibility is not great so if this is your thing you will need to plan for a separate trip. The pool is also great - really large size with lots of sunbeds and ability to play games or lounge depending on what you wanted to do. The hotel lays out a range of activities if that is what you like, the aqua fit was a big favourite of ours which is on every day and there were also things for the kids like ping pong competitions. With the diamond club, you get a butler who is available to help you out with a range of things - very helpful for any questions. As an example our butler Rodwin helped us find a rental car which was in short supply that week. You also get some private areas which was nice but not essential. Hotel location is also good - there is a short hike available to Fort Barrington which has great views. Easy to get around from as well if you rent a car and the hotel also lays on excursions (at premium prices) - we did our own thing in the end but a good option if you want an easy option. So then what about areas for improvement? I almost gave this review a rating of 3 stars because of the general attitude of the staff - the best way I could sum it up is that for the majority of people we encountered (with exception of Rodwin mentioned earlier), they just made it very clear that they were not really happy to be there and would just do the bare minimum needed to do their job. We would just laugh it off after a while, but I can understand where the mixed reviews come from as this is a definite negative. We had a terrible experience in the pub (called The Score) for food one night with a near 2 hour wait for food but none of the staff really cared at all. Also the Vibe team who organise the events was often hit or miss - as an example the staff would hog the table tennis table to play between themselves (and told my son the ball had gone when it then magically reappeared later) or just not run certain advertised events. Also trying to get any clarity around potential of late check out was a bit of a nightmare as well (note that if you have any Marriott Bonvoy status this is not recognised at all). My key tip if you need this is to go to the guest services a few days before your departure and book the hospitality room where you can shower and change - don't rely on getting any form of late check out as the hotel will not help you at all with this. In summary then, I think we do recommend the Royalton given the large amount of positives but with the caveat that you need to maintain your sense of humour when you are dealing with the staff - a Hakuna Matata approach will get you a long way at this hotel! Read less

I want to start off with saying that I was quite worried about going reading all the reviews here. What a wonderful surprise to have such a fantastic vacation in the end. We traveled as a couple, but we also had another couple with us with two children. We did have the diamond club, which is totally worth it I will start with check-in. We were given a refreshment on arrival and then a golf cart to us to our check-in area. Where there were snacks available which after almost 14 hours of travel was heaven sent. we were taken care of like royalty. Have a seat and they do all the work! . Our butler was there straight away to take us up to the room. You didn’t even have to think about your luggage. (Branden and Kai were amazing butlers! Just a WhatsApp message away) You were given a bracelet, which was also your room key, which was amazing. I never had to ask. Where is the key? The room : It is a very decent size. Huge bathroom. The king bed was comfortable. We wanted more and different pillows, which was not an issue. You just asked the butter and housekeeping delivered. The balcony had a lovely view. Yes, the room has a bit of a damp smell, but you are on an island. I don’t think that can be helped The AC is effective! We like to have milk with our coffee. This was easily solved by our butler ,who arranged for us to have some in the fridge. Initially, I was a little bit disappointed in the fact that they had still been using the little disposable shampoos, etc. But by the time we left, they were installing the refillable, large shampoo, conditioner, and shower gels in the bathroom . The food : I’m going start off with the buffet. I think the buffet was absolutely amazing. If you couldn’t find food there, you are definitely a fussy eater. There were lots of ways to get fresh food. Personally I loved getting fresh fish made for me every day. Even our friends kids that traveled with us found something every day and they are fussy eaters. So much fresh fruit - love the islands for this. We did not love the steak restaurant. But honestly, we also feel that was our own mistake for going there. This is an island I don’t think steak should be on your list of things to experience I guess they cater for North Americans wanting this . The Caribbean restaurant had a lovely setting. I do think the food at the buffet is probably better but it was a nice experience and the view at sunset was worth it. And yes, you’re on an island. The service is slow. As part of the diamond club, there is food available daily by the pool. It’s a very simple menu of a meat/fish, rice salad, etc. We personally enjoyed it. And thought it was good quality and the fact that you didn’t have to leave. The pool was amazing. The kids just wanted pizza and their Butler made that happen. The café We frequent this daily as in the morning we had first breakfast from there with coffee and a croissant that my husband brought back for me to the room. And the kids had ice cream twice a day! It’s Vacation after all. The beach. It is lovely warm water. Very clean. And wonderful to just bob in. We did a little bit of snorkeling behind the bungalows. And was quite pleasantly surprised at how clean it was there and lots of little fish. Evening entertainment. We only made a few of these as we ended up going to bed early after days in the sun. The first evening on the beach with the fire show was amazing. The reggae band was highly entertaining and very good. We were also told that there was a strike the day prior to us arriving. It sounds like the staff had a few things they wanted to be addressed and from what I could understand it appears that these were being addressed by management. By the day we left, there was definitely some staff training happening ( they had hired a lot of new staff ) and with this, of course there will be some unhappy staff members with things changing. They were asking us to complete surveys- which is clearly a sign that they are trying to do better. All in all, we found everybody to be extremely friendly, helpful and loved the island. We are already planning on when to go back. Read less

Amazing location and staff, shame about the room. To get the less positive out of the way. The checking in was a bit chaotic and the room we were allocated was not great. (We think someone had been allocated it before us and asked to change). We had requested two queens, and ending up with a king and a camp bed for my 6ft son). Although the room looked clean the smell/damp was awful and it had continued for the entire stay. There is an issue either with the plumbing or the aircon or both!!! Water leaking from an area of ceiling that they just patched over instead of repairing. This is not a cleaning issue, our room was cleaned each day to a high standard. The good. The staff have all been incredible, friendly helpful and nothing has been too much trouble. The location can’t be faulted, it is the perfect beach holiday location. The food, we really enjoyed the buffet, a great selection. The restaurants, not so much. Apart from the weird booking system to try to get a seat, the actual experience is not all that good. The GREAT….if you get the chance to use Bo Tours for any activity, you will not be sorry!! Rogers is an absolute charmer and honestly the most helpful guy ever. He is the ultimate holiday fixer! Read less

Beautiful beach and location - everything else dreadful. Restaurant reservations disorganised via a dysfunctional app. Food is poor quality, made worse by unfriendly staff. I was made to feel uncomfortable on several occasions by simple requests like asking for an outside table at the buffet, and a fork to eat a main meal with! Staff were just downright rude at times. Unfortunately the location doesn't make up for this. I would not recommend and will not return. Read less