Monday, December 10, 2012

Review: Grande Royal Antigua (3 Star)


Overview: 
20 mins from airport
5 mins from St. John’s
West side of island (Caribbean side)
1 Pool
3 Restaurants (1 buffet) *Most were not open when we went there
3 Bars *Most were not open when we went there
282 Rooms (in high rise building)
All Inclusive

Overall this resort is VERY quiet; It seems like there are not enough guests for them to open all the restaurants or have entertainment. And therefore don’t have many staff on to maintain the place. I don’t recommend going to this resort at this point until we know that it has improved with new management. (even though the tourist board is really trying to push it).
We went here around 9:30 am and the resort was desolate. The breakfast buffet/café only had one guest in it, and that was the only guest we saw in the whole hotel. There were maybe 8 people out on the beach and that was it! There were only 5 tables set up in the restaurant. We didn’t have any food here, but I definitely doubt there are quality food options. This is considered a 3 Star and it now has new management as of February 2012 (once was a 5 Star). It has potential because its rooms and buildings are nice, but you can tell they are starting to get worse because they are not well maintained. One big plus is that it is very close to St. John’s, about 3 minute drive, but it really just needs to get some guests for it to pick up.

Accommodations: 

The rooms were average, spacious, clean, maybe even considered a 3.5 +. Rooms were nicer and cleaner than Jolly Beach Resort. Most rooms offer a nice view, either Mountain view, Lagoon view, or Ocean view. (Lagoon view is floors 1-4) Rooms with balcony’s are very nice, especially with a view of the lagoon.

Pools: 
There is one medium sized pool for the whole resort. Looked well maintained, was being cleaned when we were there.

Beach:

There is one beach. It has very nice white sand and bright blue waters. It’s in a bay/lagoon, so the water is very calm. It looked like it was used for many water sports, sailing, etc. Non motorized sports are included, but there were also lots of sea-doos out on the beach and boats.

Facilities: 

They say there are 3 restaurants total, but we only saw one a la carte (and it had 5 tables) and the café. The buffet/café is spacious but only had one person in it. We saw a bar out by the beach, but did not see a snack bar. The bar looked like it didn’t really got used much as there were no supplies out there at all. There`s a tiny gym with a few pieces of equipment, and there is wi-fi. We weren’t shown any bars that are used for entertainment and it wasn’t mentioned, so I`m assuming there aren`t any shows. There is a lobby bar, but we didn’t see any other bars or clubs that would have music. I imagine there isn’t entertainment in the night or our guide would have mentioned it, since they don’t really have the guests for it.

Overall, I don`t recommend staying at this resort until it picks up. Until they have the guests for it, they will not supply a lot of food options or entertainment. It`s a great location, a great beach, but the hotel leaves much to be desired. See their website here:

http://www.grandroyalantiguan.com/

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