Royalton CHIC Antigua, An Autograph Collection All-Inclusive Resort - Adults Only

This resort was a major disappointment for us and many others we spoke to during our stay. While the staff were fantastic and truly the highlight, the overall experience fell short. My husband and I stayed in the Diamond Chic, and it didn’t live up to its name. There were times when there were no beach towels available, the food was subpar, and unlike other resorts we’ve visited, there was no pool or beach service. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this resort to anyone. Read less

We went to Antigua with a group for a friend’s birthday. We were excited to stay at the Royalton Chic and we all booked diamond club rooms for the best experience. Little did we know that their tagline “Expect the unexpected” would begin to make much more sense a the trip unfolded. To start, we all arrived together as planned and the hotel didn’t have enough butlers for all of the reservations (which is one of their main selling points for the Diamond club). Not to worry, they would have more the next day. Unfortunately, they didn’t and one of our rooms never had access to their butler until the second to last day of the trip. No one complained initially, we made the best of it. The resort was beautiful but unfortunately that was overshadowed by the resort staff’s lack of accountability and tendency to be generally rude and slow. I know that sounds harsh but stay with me, I could go on for days. We weren’t the only ones, either. Several others in the hotel asked if we were having a terrible customer service experience and shared the rude ways they were treated and gaslighted. My room’s butlers were more friendly and tried to help but seemed to be working in a broken system. For instance, the restaurant accidentally gave away my friend’s birthday reservation and then didn’t have space for our group, despite her making the reservation in advance and checking on it earlier that day. They admitted what they did but were not keen to do anything to make it right. Each day, reservations were a struggle. Dinner reservations have to be made by 3 but our butlers could never seem to confirm if we had a reservation and multiple times we were left in a lurch. And even when the butlers did confirm, the (ON PREMISE, all inclusive) restaurant might still say otherwise. At the restaurants, the wrong food was given to the wrong people. Some food never came. One night they brought some of the food and the rest came an hour and a half later. That’s not an exaggeration. Drinks were ordered at the pool and they just never came. No one was surprised. We had learned to expect the unexpected. The bar ran out of cups and was rinsing them *RINSING them* between drinks. Expect the unexpected. We booked a catamaran excursion through the hotel. We waited for 30m and it didn’t come. When we asked, they told us we probably missed it. Then after asking the masseuse on the beach, she let us know it hadn’t came yet that day. Thank goodness. So we asked another concierge and they said it was probably delayed (but no one was going to tell us as we stood around in the rain waiting?) She told us it might be canceled and if not it would probably be rough due to the weather and we could be refunded if we didn’t want to chance it. But then when we tried, another person said we couldn’t be refunded. Finally the woman said she would request it. I’m still not sure if the catamaran ever came. We saw one near the shore a few hours after it was originally supposed to come. Though the delay was not the hotels fault, they sell excursions and they should know the status and keep guests apprised. We still don’t have our money back. Since we decided to cancel, we went back to the masseuse's and asked if she had availability. She was available and told us to book a massage through the front desk. We tried to book but were told no spots were available. When we walked by her on our way to another spa down the beach over an hour later, she was still available. And again, still, on our way back after, two hours later. But here’s the real kicker: If none of the above concerns you, this should: we didn’t have towels for almost 2 days, despite asking multiple people (butlers, housekeeping, etc). We were told they didn’t have enough and they would be able to get us some after someone else was done with theirs. What?!?! I’m not talking about clean towels. I’m talking about ANY towels. They took ours and we could not get more. Our butler apologized and said he tried to scrounge some up. He provided us a bath mat and a microfiber cloth — a cleaning cloth — for two people. We were lucky to have had a great group of people to spend time with and to share this absurd experience with, otherwise this probably would’ve been a nightmare. Don’t stay here. Stay somewhere where you can expect the expected. Like bath towels. Read less

A disappointing 50th Birthday celebration at Royalton Chic Antigua. 19 family and friends flew in from the United States from Thursday November 14, 2024 to Monday November 18, 2024. We booked a total of 9 Rooms with 8 rooms being in the diamond club! We arrived at the resort on Thursday around 2:30pm. Check in time is 3pm. Our room wasn’t ready until 4:30pm. Since our room is Diamond club it comes with 2 butlers (Sheresse and Chris) who are supposed to be attentive to our needs. Sheresse escorted us to our room never informed us that the bar and pool by our room serves top self liquor and is for diamond club members only. When we get to our room, the room wasn’t what we paid for during booking. Our room had two queen beds. We paid for a king ocean view room. We informed Sheresse of the problem and was told that there was no more room in the hotel for us to switch to because the resort was sold out. Sheresse made us a reservation at Hunter Steakhouse for Saturday at 9:30pm. We never heard from her again for the rest of our trip. Friday we met Chris the butler in the morning with a text. He came and introduced himself and we didn’t hear from until his shift ended and Sheresse took over for the night. We never heard from her for the night(she did nothing the entire trip). Friday Night Birthday dinner at Olympus was horrible. The reservation was for 9pm. Our dinner wasn’t served until 11pm. A few of the menu items we were informed wasn’t available because they ran out of the item. This isn’t acceptable at an all inclusive resort to not have a menu item available for its customers. We waited so long for our main course, most of us didn’t get a chance to enjoy our meal because the restaurant was closing. Saturday morning we received a text from Chris and that was the only communication from either butler besides good night as they sign off. Saturday afternoon we ate Haven Gril and the service was good and I enjoyed the oxtails but once again they had menu items that wasn’t available. Totally unacceptable and poor customer service with the amount of money we spend for diamond club. Saturday night for dinner we thought wr had a reservation at Hunter Steakhouse at 9:30pm. We arrive at 9:25 and was told no reservation was on the book and they made some calls and had no reservation. Luckily they fit us in that evening for dinner. But yet again they as well had menu items not available because they ran out. (Seems like who ever orders for the resort doesn’t order enough because they run out in almost every restaurant on the resort. Sunday we was informed that the bar and pool by our room is for diamond club members and serves top self liquor. Plus that our butlers are supposed to get food or anything we requested when we need it. This was the first time I heard about this being so. We texted Chris and asked for lunch which he brought half of it in a timely manner and never returned. No other contact from him for the rest of the day/evening. Monday was checkout. No call or text from either butler. We brought our own luggage downstairs to the bellman stand. Chris was standing there not doing anything. The butler service was a waste of money. Neither did nothing our entire stay. I am very disappointed with the customer service we received at this resort but I’m even more disappointed with the way management didn’t care to address any of the concerns or complaints of the guests because there where numerous guests complaining besides those in our group. The resort is beautiful but the restaurants and customer service is below average at best. Read less

Stayed here for 10 days and wish we had longer. The resort is well kept, clean, and in great shape. The only thing I noticed was that there were some tiles coming off in the pools that could use repair. We had excellent food here at all meals. The steakhouse and the Italian were our favorites with a large selection of meals and everything we ordered was spot on. The service for food in the resturants was good but the drink service could use a bit more attention. Lots of times we ordered our drinks, which took a while to come, and there were no second drinks offered throughout the meal. I found the staff friendly and accommodating. They were always happy to help with anything I asked for bur unlike other countries you do have to ask as they are not constantly asking you if you need anything ( I liked this aspect instead of constantly telling people that I'm good and don't need anything ). The beach is amazing. Depending on the currents there was a little bit of seaweed and along the shore a few feet into the water there was a trench with some rocks/gravel that was hard on the feet. I do wish that there were non smoking areas as there were a few times the cigar smoke was pretty thick causing us to leave the nighttime entertainment. Overall a great place and one I will return to. Read less

Group of 5 for a girls trip early November. Hotel felt like 30% capacity so not very busy. Resort is nice and new, clean, grounds are nice. Boutique hotel with everything close together. It’s not really worth paying more for an ocean view since they are all basically so close. Beach is very nice and kept clean you can walk the length of the bay and see other hotels and bars. There is a cute floating bar you can wave them down and a boat will come get you (separate from resort). No issues getting a beach or pool chair but the hotel wasn’t busy. Entertainment and front desk staff are great. Managerial staff seem to want to please. Rooms are a tad small but nice and well laid out. Restaurants are where the downfall is. They have 5 restaurants: buffet, Italian, steak, Mediterranean (never open), Caribbean , and a sea food one over the water that is extra. Most of the time only 2 restaurants were open which was a massive pain. Very difficult to get reservations (especially for large groups). The directed us to make reservations via app which was very glitchy and didn’t work. When we ate Italian they were out of tomatoes, lettuce and peppers which seemed odd. A few bars were out of beer when we first arrived but that didn’t happen again. Some severs were good while some looked lost (especially at breakfast). Food and drink quality was ok but not great. Service for mains was ok the slow side (an hour) Best restaurant for consistency and service was Haven the Caribbean place. I actually never saw the meditation open except for Diamond club breakfast. Sports bar is small but turns into a place to dance later which was always fun. Too bad they don’t have outdoor dance parties (aside from silent disco). To summarize: the hotel has so much potential it’s clear they put a lot of money in to it. But they need to figure out the restaurants or will lose a lot of people before they come just on reviews alone. Read less