St. James's Club, Antigua

Came Early in may with my partner, travelled almost all of the Caribbean islands and I’ve got to say this is up there for resorts. Met with a welcome drink and lovely helpful staff to take my bags away after a long day travelling from London. Quick and easy explanation of the hotel itself. Our room was lovely well decorated and gives the real feel that you are in the Caribbean. Amenities in the bathroom included. Given two bottles of water to refill at water stations planted all over the resort which was a good idea to keep hydrated. I’ll start with the food and drinks, We tried 4 restaurants, Docksider - Themed nights buffet style, live cooking, different food for everyone it was outstanding we thought. All drinks were available to order via your waiter 11/11 - open from 11-11 we went there for dinner on two occasions, a smaller menu but again variety of food for everyone to eat, I enjoyed the steak with blue cheese, my partner had a pesto chorizo wrap which we both thought was good. Drinks again were ordered via waiter Rainbow Garden - buffet style breakfast, absolutely outstanding everyday, all foods you can think of for breakfast. We also went for lunch which was buffet style with all sorts of meats being cooked infront of you and a variety of other dishes you lots of choices, the same is for dinner apart from an Italian a la carte menu which was fabulous, fine dining experience. Again drinks via the waiter Beachside grill - says it in the name you know what to expect, hotdogs, chips, chicken, wraps etc Quick easy bite to eat. There are multiple bars dotted over the resort open majority of the day, main poolside is probably the most busy but never ever a wait to get a drink so efficient. Moving on, The grounds are well looked after everyday the workers are keeping this place in tip top shape. Seaweed is there on the main beach early morning but they sort it out by 10am and the beach is all clear. Water is crystal clear both sides of the resort, The harbour side you can swim in but is used for water sports which there is a wide variety to do all inclusive but everyone tends to go to the main beach to sunbathe. There is a few pools all lovely enough sunbeds around them for everyone to have a seat. Excursion office the people who work in there are amazing and they have all sorts of half days or full day trips so easy to book and organise. Overall I would highly recommend for anyone couple, family or solo who wants to see the Caribbean this is a real reflection of it. We loved our stay and we will be getting ourselves back to this lovely place very shortly. 10/10 knocked it out the park! All the staff are so kind especially Kourtney who is always looking out for us to make sure we are having a good time lol! Read less

For weeks prior to our holiday we looked at all the reviews and became increasingly worried what we were coming into with a lot of bad reviews. Once there we realised those people clearly had never visited St James. This hotel is the best we have ever been to, and we have been to a lot. The views alone, especially from the Royal Suites are to die for, lying in bed and watching the dolphins in the bay! The resort is large and spacious, nicely landscaped and never felt full or intimidating. The one thing that no-one, not even the resort itself, mentions is the hills and stairs. Everywhere, even in our room. If you have mobility issues or a heavy pram this may not be the place for you, there are slopes but not everywhere, so be mindful of this. The room was huge and the shower… enormous. As was the bath. Those who complain that the room and bedding are only cleaned/changed every other day… really… do you change bedding and towels every day at home? On holiday we usually put the cleaning not needed sign a few days. The rude and grumpy staff, where? Every single member, from cleaners, gardeners, waiting staff, management the lot were nothing but happy, cheerful, professional and only too happy to help. We cannot mention all, but Sylene the waitress, Lorraine in the Royal Suites reception, Brianna Royal Suites bar and Shervon (who liked my hair) omelette cook stood out and of course the legend that is Elvis. The range of drinks in the bars is amazing, all the top brands at no extra cost and even a choice of type of wine, never had this before. Only issue is there is no indication of bar opening times, sometimes we went for a drink at 10 pm to be told closed, others we were served but this had no impact on the holiday at all. Food, we can see why some say there is limited choice, this stems from the fact that the serving arears of the buffets are quite small in comparison to other hotels, however these hotels often have the same option repeated. There is a huge variety of meals available each day and we counted at least 6 a day, however there is not always the pizza, chip, hot dog option daily which may also account for some reviews. Those who want this can find it at the Grill until 6 pm daily (lovely food there) Please take a visit to Eleven11, the views, the food, the breeze, everything about this restaurant is good. I am a veggie who does not like veg, so difficult to please but I never went hungry, however the pre booked restaurants do not offer a veggie main meal and some not even a starter. In the rainbow Italian night I had starter for main as well, no big deal, food was lovely. The coffee bar is a great new addition, every morning hubby had an ice coffee, with coffee liqueur, rum, amaretto, cream and chocolate sauce. This set him up nicely for a full day of relaxation! Evening entertainment was OK, some bands in the Dockside where better than others, Sunday, Thursday and Friday the best days. The hotel offers shuttle bus to Shirley’s Heights, Sunday there is a party there, $10 entrance fee, steel band first then the more reggae/rock/pop band. Fantastic views, unless it rains like when we were there, disappointed they did not play more Caribbean music but a good evening out. The trip to St Johns, avoid, there is nothing there except a Levi's shop, very expensive jewellery and a market, you are left for up to 3 hours and there is nothing to see. Glad we went but will not return to St Johns. The Pink Panthers offer a lot of trips but felt these were more expensive and saw less than others we pre booked before coming, ie VIP Antigua Tours. We were also lucky enough to use Calvin Air for the helicopter ride over the Monserrat volcano, amazing and bucket list. The resort offers lots of free water sports, including snorkelling equipment, paddle boarding, I never managed to stand up, Kayak, Hobie Boats (they will take you out on one if you pre book or you can do it yourself) Don’t forget to say hello to the hotel duck Chester, he cannot eat bread but he loves lettuce. All in all this is an amazing hotel and husband tried to convince me to get a time share there, we will be back and fully recommend. Read less

While staying at St James Antigua- there wasnt much reason to venture out of the resort- it has a lot of restaurants and varying buffets, bars, beaches and water activities…. But it had these two beautiful pink land rover defenders parked by the lobby, that I would see shuttling people away each morning…. i signed up for the tour for my last day before leaving, because I thought it would be good to get out and have my kids see and learn something about Antigua so that their memories of the hotel can be attached to the island itself…. (Also we are big fans of the classic land rovers so that made the decision quite easy). We elected for the half day tour, so we did not get to see all the sites though. The tour guides are female Antiguans are drivers and that explained the sites we would visit. On our tour we were a party of 3 and there were 2 other guests who were retired from England and we had a chance to discuss all things St James and the world, as we travelled along the windy roads. Our tour first stopped at Hammock Cove, which we knew was an elite sister property (adult only), but we got to see that it had a beautiful entranceway and front lobby and lounge area. And my kids were allowed there no problem for those few minutes :) The tour picked up two more guests there, and we learned a little about hammock cove from them, but they got into the other land rover at the next stop, because our rover was going straight back to St James after the last stop. The next stop was the “devils bridge” which is a rock outcrop flat pad that the trucks drive out to, with a natural bridge formed by water erosion on the edge. It has a little bit of history tale involving slavery and myths but i will save that mystery for when you hear it from the guide. The only inhabitants on this rocky peninsula are the 3 little vendor shacks that sell various trinkets and hand made items. The next stop was Bettys Mill. It had some historical ruins that show the process of how sugar cane is transported, and squished into liquid via the giant windmills. The interesting thing you wont see in other historical sites is the restored windmill with a wooden (nacelle house?) on the top and the stability arm and the internal workings. It also has a few small railroad train cars that were used during the sugar plantation days. These are good opportunities to teach the younger ones about slavery and its realities, although the guides keep everything light hearted. The next stop after this was Shirleys Point, a historic lookout and signal point perched on top of a high hill. Great spot for photos and to scope out the lay of the land. After that we ventured in the pink panther defender back down to Nelsons Dock Yard, which was a touristy yacht and sailboat dock along with some preserved buildings, one of which was a little naval museum. The museum did have a great collection of artifacts from older ships, native american and lots of infographics as well as others. There were also vendors selling various souvenir items there, as well as the museum gift shop. The final stop was a beach in English Harbor Town along with some fruit, punch, and rum punches. We actually didnt jump in (knowing the beach waited for us at St James club), and just chatted in the shade and watched the kids play around the open tide pools along the rock edge of the beach looking for sea creatures- which they found and reported back on- an eel, crabs, minows, sea urchins and small rocky crystals…. it topped off my St James Experience. I asked the guides why i couldnt find the tour on trip advisor before i went, only on other searches, but they mentioned if i wanted to write a review it would be on the st james page because they dont have one for the tour itself. Read less

Fantastic trip. We went for my husband’s birthday. We were greeted by Orlando and were offered a cocktail. Celine at check in was very friendly and gave us a very clean room with an ocean view near the lobby, restaurants, the coffee shop and pool. The beach bag given out is a nice touch. We ate at the Rainbow Garden, Docksider Buffet, and 11-Eleven. All had healthy choices. We mostly had breakfast and lunch at Rainbow Gardens because it was the closest. Food was good everywhere. I started each day visiting the coffee shop for my morning latte and chocolate croissant. I can’t remember all the baristas names but always well done. We wore mosquito repellent in the evening for the no see ums and mosquitos. Only a couple got us. Charlene and Peter at guest relations were very happy and fun to joke with. Christine at the reef bar was especially talented with our drinks. Activities worked for us. We stayed on site the whole trip. Very peaceful holiday and will come again! Highly recommended. Read less

Just come back from a lovely relaxing week at this friendly, happy resort. We had a beach front room which led directly onto beach. The decor seems tired but it is clean & cool with fan & air-con which was much needed! We had a problem with bath which leaked when we used showered, we were offered a change of room but that room was further away from main pool & reception area and seemed darker so we chose to stay put and used towels! The Resort charge of 24 USD per day on top of the 10 USD Tourist Tax seems excessive especially as rooms are not cleaned each day. The choice of restaurants is good & it was fun deciding where we would eat each day. The omelette station at breakfast n the Rainbow Room became our go-to ! We spent most of our time at Reef Deck Pool - I enjoyed the daily aqua aerobics (thank you Stephen!) & Cresseida always had a warm welcome for us at the pool bar. Chad introduced us to a range of cocktails at 11/11 & then again at The Jakarandah Lounge - very refreshing! The bands at The Docksider were a bit hit & miss although The Blaze Band were great & had everyone including staff up and dancing! We also enjoyed the liquer coffees at the Coffee Bar as well as our daily fix of their tasty banana bread. We treated ourselves to treatments at the Tranquility Spa - expensive but so relaxing. We had read about the sargassum problem before arriving but Coco beach where we were was cleaned every morning & there was no smell. All the staff were so friendly, they helped to make the holiday a lovely treat. Read less