The Verandah Antigua - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

5162 reviews

• 

  An OK week

  First of all, I want to say that I am writing this review relative to the price point I paid for the holiday. We stayed using a certificate that entitled us to 50% of the rack rate and we stayed in peak season. That said, this would have been a $6000/week stay and we paid half that. For full price, I would give 2 stars. Given this was half price, I think 3 stars is fair. I also want to add that we are tippers. We don’t believe that staff at any all inclusive ever receive all that they are due. We were armed with a roll of $5s and used them every time we got a nice drink or pleasant dining service or a gold cart ride. I am always pleased to acknowledge those doing a great job, and would encourage other guests to tip generously too. Where the resort shines: - The pools are lovely, especially the one right down at Rasta Beach. There is never anyone there. The water features in the pool are relaxing. We never had a problem getting a chair or towel. -There is always lively music at the main pool and the DJs work hard to keep up entertainment. -Karaoke night was a blast. -The water sports staff are eager to help you out and try something new. -There are various activities if you are looking for something to do. Jewelry making, water aerobics, mini golf, tennis. - Ability to call for a golf cart ride whenever needed - Beautifully maintained grounds - Wednesday night beach party at Rasta Beach. Seems like the staff pulled out all the stops. Food, service and entertainment were great. Where the resort has opportunity for improvement: - Check in process. The handouts and resort maps are black and white and fuzzy and hard to read. The receptionists are also giving you a lot of information when you are tired, hungry and don’t yet have your bearings. This process could be better, including having some of the key information they are telling you included in the handouts. - Housekeeping. Service is every other day, which is fine. I had to call and remind them to service our room on the third day, the first day we were due for service. On the fifth day, no one came and we were out all day on the boat. I called Guest Services at 5:30 pm when we got back to our room and saw that it hasn’t been touched, and then again at 6:30 pm to get at least fresh towels. None came. I took a shower that night using a hand towel to dry off as it was the last clean one in the room. They did service our room the next day but no water was dropped off and there were no apologies for not responding in the day they were supposed to come. - Food service. We found the staff at the Beach Bar and Grill to be great. This spot is not very busy so it seemed they were able to keep up with demand. But the waits for food even when using the reservation- based restaurants was long, and order accuracy was also a challenge. We also found that the food at the buffet was just fine but we didn’t care for the atmosphere because 1) it was loud in there and felt like a cafeteria 2) it was dark and cold 3) everyone was constantly getting up and down and having a continuous conversation with your loved one’s at the table wasn’t possible there. Unfortunately, there is not enough space at the other restaurants to go there more than a couple of times during your stay. More on that later. - Mini fridge in room. We were surprised to see that there was nothing in there, no bottles of water, cans of soda, fruit juices. The fridge is pretty useless. - Staffing. There was just one poor lonely bartender in the Wavy Wicket and I always felt bad going in there because he seemed overwhelmed. Likewise, there was typically just one bartender at the main pool all day. On our first night, one in our party went up to the main bar before dinner and just requested the bartender make him “something with rum.” Our friend liked it, and asked the bartender what it was called. Exasperated, the bartender replied, “I don’t know man, something with rum, just like you said.” My friend tried to explain and said he liked it he just wanted to know if it had a name so he could order it again. The bartender was irritated and said no. Not a great way to start off our stay. - Queue up or miss out. Guest Services by phone is useless. If you want anything done, you need to go in person and talk to them in their office by the main pool. On our first morning, we saw a line outside by 8:30 am. These people were all in line to make restaurant reservations. We stopped by after our breakfast and found out real quick all the restaurants were booked for the next two days. So the next morning we got up early and joined the queue and were at least able to reserve Sails and Tails and Portofino for one night each of our stay. This was annoying. This process could be handled so much easier and equitably with a simple request process done at check in or with an app. You also have to go there to reserve day passes to the sister property Pineapple Beach. If you don’t do that right away at the beginning of your stay, you may be out of luck. Staffing seems to be an issue. Most of the workers seemed overwhelmed. Some were genuinely happy and friendly and conversational. Most seemed to be there to just do a job. I would say staff engagement and morale is likely a problem here, which translates into the guest experience being up and down. Overall, we enjoyed our stay but feel like the resort has a long way to go before really making you feel at home. There is absolutely no way I would pay full price for the experience we had. There are much better all inclusive resorts in the Caribbean that we would visit over this property. That said, for $3K for the week, it was not bad.

  Feb 28, 2025
• 

  Undeniably amazing honeymoon experience!!

  Phenomenal experience!! From the first moment we arrived we were treated like royalty by the majority of this happy staff all the way through to our regrettable departure. Everyday we found many memorable moments. If we needed special attention, this staff expedited results!! The willingness to comply to your every request was exceeded with urgency and big smiles!! We felt almost like family after just a few hours! Genuinely friendly people! Truly a dream come true!!

  Feb 19, 2025
• 

  The resort has lots of potential, but it is not reached.

  Summary Compared to visits to several other Caribbean Islands and resorts, this one was the only one that we were disappointed with. The resort has lots of potential, but it is not reached. We wanted to give it 3.5*, but you have to chose 3 or 4 Rooms • Large room • Nice balcony • Comfortable beds • Air con v good and quiet • Fridge in room • Kettle in room with teas and coffee • “Waterfront Suite Waterfront View” The room was at the lowest point in the resort and there was very limited sea view despite paying extra for a sea view room • Lots of noise from trees banging against room walls • Lots of noise from adjoining room (you could hear doors banging, conversation and hair dryers going all of the time) • Water supplied to room too limited (1 small bottle a day pp) • Reception miles away • Cleaning done only every other day Meals Overall, the food was not great. It was predominantly indoors (in the Caribbean!) and had limited choice Also, it felt a little like a holiday camp as you had to pre book evening meal for every meal, but you could only do that a couple of days in advance, so it became a continual event of queueing at guest services to book My husband was ill for several days (losing almost half of our holiday) with what was we are sure was a food related illness Food choices: • Sea Breeze – Indoors - The main buffet or canteen as we called it is the only restaurant open for breakfast! It has windows closed and closed shutters with a dark floor and dark furniture – felt like a bit being in a dark hole • Portofino (evenings only) – Indoors - good food, light floor and white furniture has windows closed and shutters closed so less oppressive than Sea Breeze, but still indoors • Pizzeria (lunch only) – had to wait 90mins for not very good pizza so didn’t bother again. • Sails and Tails (lunch and dinner) – Outdoors, so was our preferred choice, although a table cloth would have been nice in the evening • Nicoles (eve only) - Indoors - We told to avoid where there is an additional $40 per person charge – were told not worth it. Plus the decent wine is an additional cost. Location • Beautiful grounds and walks in paths, quite hilly – can call buggy if required • Nothing nearby as alternative to eat out • Windy – makes it cold in evening – especially if trying to sit near main bar in evening. Was 26 degrees Celsius but felt like 22. • Central bar but no real “gathering place” to listen to bands or relax after meal…not enough chairs and tables for events Beach • Fresh towels on beach daily (apart from when greedy people take several each) • Plenty of shade • Just about enough beach chairs • Sea slimy and unpleasant underfoot • Lots of seaweed • Water not clear due to being in a cove (could not see the bottom) • Water sports very limited – did not really want people to take out hobie cats on own…. If you did, the cove is narrow so have to tack every five seconds… waste of time Entertainment • Live music limited and not great – one talented band (reggae). Featured DJs and Karaoke but no steel band General view • Staff all very polite but not overly happy/relaxed… seemed to be a pressured work environment • Staff made to work even when ill • Reception staff and guest services seem to know nothing • Guest services (your main point for everything) – always busy and always a wait • Locks changed, told to go to guest services at 3 PM but Locked out of room at 11 am. Why did not wait until we left rather than lock us out of our room and make us walk to get new keys! Management not thinking. • The resort does arrange trips but they seem expensive for us – the resort knows how to charge and all in US dollars! • We did not try the spa because of the prices… can get similar massages in the UK for the same cost or less… • Another main issue was that we had, but did not realise, was that there is an extra $24 per night – tourist tax - $10 per night “room charge” whatever that means (ie $36 extra per day) all to be paid on departure • Guests get told to visit the sister hotel, but the truth is you get only one evening or day pass only to the Pineapple and had to go when they had space

  Feb 18, 2025
• 

  Lovely holiday here

  Food at all the restaurants we ate in was lovely, waitresses very kind and gave good service. The main beach is fantastic, with lots of sun beds and shade if wanted, beach bar guy - Andre was very attentive and great fun. Rooms are spacious, big showers, big bed and big terrace to chill out on. Lots to do on the resort and beautiful gardens. Over all we had a really lovely time and will recommend this resort to our friends. Thank you Verandah.

  Feb 17, 2025
• 

  Wonderful Staff Made us Enjoy our Stay

  We chose the Verandah because it promised beautiful beaches, great food, adults -only and beautiful grounds. We also paid for the beach front upgrade to enjoy the views and have more privacy. We enjoyed everything except the food. Most people will do just fine, but if you don't eat meat, like we do, the menu will be very limited. We ended up going outside the resort for many of our dinners, which is annoying and costly when booking an all-inclusive resort. However, we want to thank the young lady at the pizza cabana (she saved us a few times), the young lady at the specialty coffee cabana (delicious drinks), and especially Andre at the Lazy Pelican bar at the beach. He went out of his way to prepare special drinks for us! Finally, a special recognition to Charles. He's in charge of maintaining the beautiful grounds at the Verandah. We took the Nature Walk with him and we enjoyed delicious coconut water and sweet bananas. We learned about his vegetable and herbs project and he couldn't have been nicer to us! He deserves a big raise, Mr. Verandah owner. The resort is beautiful and if you get a chance, contact Javier, one of the resort's trusted drivers, and ask him to take you to some of the beaches in Antigua. Such beautiful waters!

  Feb 14, 2025