The Verandah, Antigua

Dining

5 restaurants: Seabreeze (International buffet restaurant, open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner). Nicole's* (fine dining à la carte offering Caribbean-fusion cuisine, open for dinner - surcharge applies, subject to change). Portofino’s (Italian themed setting and Michelin three star inspired menu). Sails & Tails (bar/grill, seafood restaurant). The Beach Grill (casual beachfront dining). Papa Rico’s Pizzeria. Café 17 61° (coffee shop, afternoon tea). Bars: Lazy Pelican Bar (beach bar located on the water sports beach), Pool Bar, The Wavy Wicket Pub.

Dine-around privileges, allowing guests to explore the culinary and entertainment offerings of sister resorts, Pineapple Beach Club and St. James's Club & Villas at no extra charge.

Please note: reservations are required for dinner at Portofino’s and Nicole's restaurants. Restaurants are open on a rotation basis due to season/occupancy.

Entertainment

Low key entertainment on selected evenings. Themed BBQ nights. Weekly manager's cocktail party on Tuesdays. The Wavy Wicket, a brand-new sports-themed bar.

Fun and Games

4 swimming pools. 2 beaches with water hammocks. Refurbished Tranquility Body & Soul Spa* offering beauty and body treatments plus an 'outdoor' treatment room. Fitness centre. Non-motorised water sports including kayaking, pedalos, Hobie Cat sailing, windsurfing, stand up paddle boarding and snorkelling. 2 tennis courts (lit for night time tennis). Beach activities including volleyball. Yoga and aqua aerobics classes. Nature walks. 18-hole mini-golf. Pickleball courts.

Handy Stuff

Gift shop. Golf cart shuttle service (there are no vehicles within the resort). Complimentary WiFi available in public areas and in all rooms. Concierge.

Resort Fees

This hotel has a resort fee of USD $24 including tax per room, per night, (payable locally, subject to change). Please note: a room levy of USD $5 per guest, per night applies to all guests (payable locally, subject to change).

Minimum Stay

7 nights from 21 Dec-2 Jan.

10 nights required in the Villas between 27 Dec–2 Jan.

Additional Information

* Denotes local charge.

Dress code: day time – in the restaurants, shoes are worn and bathing suits are covered and dry. Evening time (after 6:30pm) — the following applies to Seabreeze, Nicole’s and Buccaneers’ restaurants plus Manager cocktail parties. Resort Island Casual — long trousers, stylish jeans, dresses, skirts and dress shorts are permitted. Dress shoes and dress sandals are allowed (no flip flops or tennis shoes in the evening). Short or long-sleeved collared shirts (no T-shirts or tank top/sleeveless shirts).

Please note: guests are required to present a valid form of ID (passport, driving license, ID card) along with a valid credit card at check-in. A USD$350 pre-authorisation will be processed on the credit card at check-in to cover for any incidental purchases or similar expenses. Incidental purchases may include tours, excursions, gift shop purchases or dining in the speciality restaurant. We understand that not all guests incur additional charges during their stay, but this process assists the resort with fraud prevention. Upon check-out, the pre-authorisation is released, assuming there are no charges made.

TripAdvisor traveller rating

Rating summary

Location
Sleep Quality
Rooms
Service
Value
Cleanliness

Traveller rating

Excellent (2817)
Very good (1530)
Average (488)
Poor (175)
Terrible (100)

A relaxing break in a well laid out hotel, with a number of flaws in the way it is run unfortunately

Nov 12, 2024 Rob B Peterborough, United Kingdom

Having stayed at the resort 8 years ago we were keen to see the changes after the recent updates and becoming an “adult only” hotel for a short winter sun break The one thing I personally love about the hotel is the layout, it’s very spacious and at no time do you feel like you are on top of each other. Rooms are fairly basic but more than… Read more

Having stayed at the resort 8 years ago we were keen to see the changes after the recent updates and becoming an “adult only” hotel for a short winter sun break The one thing I personally love about the hotel is the layout, it’s very spacious and at no time do you feel like you are on top of each other. Rooms are fairly basic but more than adequate for a week away. Lovely view over the sea to wake up to each day. The addition of the coffee shop, pizza takeaway and Wavy Wicket pub are great, I’m not great at remembering names but the ladies in the coffee shop (in the late afternoon/evening) and the lady at the Pizza Hut were really friendly. We preferred the beach each day, nicely spaced out, no issue with sunbeds. The pool was a bit too loud for us personally with the music etc, but some prefer that so it’s not necessarily a criticism, just personal choice. Overall the food is good in each of the restaurants, with a definite level of quality in Nicole’s should you choose to pay the extra supplement. However the overall theme of the hotel is one of being very understaffed and therefore the restaurants can be disorganised . In Nicole’s one of our courses was totally forgotten about and any vegetable were missed off our main course. At breakfast they regularly ran out of dishes, some of the food options took an age to be replaced when empty and the queue for omelettes would be a good 10 mins (and that is not a criticism of the one lady at the egg station at all as she couldn’t be faulted) I also don’t understand why in an all inclusive resort there are no drinks in your room fridge, even just a couple of cans of coke/sprite etc not necessarily alcohol, and why do you only get 4 small bottles of water to last 2 days, assuming house keeping replace them at all, which isn’t a guarantee? Not going to moan about the $24 surcharge per night as we knew in advance, but if you are going to charge that at least make guests feel like that it is going towards something, cleaning rooms and replacing water every other day and a lack of staff in all restaurants Isn’t a 5* hotel Despite the moans however I would go back as I like the hotel overall, there’s just a frustration that it could be so much better than the way it is currently run if penny pinching wasn’t the main priority Read less

The $24 Con

Nov 11, 2024 PIP H

Just returned from this resort. Unfortunately the first thing I must mention is the additional $24 a night supposedly for cleaning. What utter nonsense ! We stayed for 11 nights and in that time our room was only cleaned 4 times. We got no new supplies of tea bags or milks and had to ask for water continuously. We asked around and lots of hotels… Read more

Just returned from this resort. Unfortunately the first thing I must mention is the additional $24 a night supposedly for cleaning. What utter nonsense ! We stayed for 11 nights and in that time our room was only cleaned 4 times. We got no new supplies of tea bags or milks and had to ask for water continuously. We asked around and lots of hotels in Antigua do not charge this so it just seems its the Elite Group so beware when booking with them !!!! Now to the holiday itself. We were moved from our original choice of the Pineapple Beach resort which was disappointing. This resort is nice but very spread out, you seem to be walking all the time. The rooms are very spacious with good views. The restaurant and A La Cartes are great but need a few more experienced staff as it can get chaotic at times and we seemed to wait quite a long time for food. The main pool is lively and a special mention to Adio who worked non stop and kept the fun going all day. His aqua gym should not be missed. The one complaint about the pool is that there is no cleaning staff in attendance so by 4pm you are surrounded by dirty glasses and plates with half eaten pizza on. The beaches are lovely and there is no rush for sunbeds which are well stocked. Special mention must be for the great lunch menu at Sails and Tails and a special member of staff Brittany. She had the biggest smile everyday and nothing was to much trouble for her. The evening entertainment is good and another special mention must go out to DJ Terry who had everyone up dancing non stop for his whole session Sorry if you think this review is a bit picky but we have travelled to lots of places and we like to be honest. Read less

A mixed bag

Nov 11, 2024 nferrandi White Plains, New York

We had a great time and the resort itself is beautiful, but we found the service to be consistently inconsistent. The good- We loved the location of our room and the bottle of champagne and fruit/dessert plates waiting for our anniversary were a nice touch. The food was always solid. We had lunch Pappa Rico’s, the restaurant at Rasta Beach, and… Read more

We had a great time and the resort itself is beautiful, but we found the service to be consistently inconsistent. The good- We loved the location of our room and the bottle of champagne and fruit/dessert plates waiting for our anniversary were a nice touch. The food was always solid. We had lunch Pappa Rico’s, the restaurant at Rasta Beach, and Sails and Tails. We had dinners at Sails and Tail and at Nicole’s- the food was amazing and our waitress was awesome and took great care of us. The live bands at night were great, especially Sunday night Leon is a fantastic bartender and went out of his way to get us ginger beer for mules. He was at multiple bars and was always friendly and welcoming David at the Sports Bar is a real asset to their team. Super nice guy We preferred Lovers Beach and never had a problem finding chairs and relaxed out in the floating hammocks The bad- If you were in a villa further from the main pool, it could be a long walk. But there are golf carts available if needed. I had called ahead of time to make dinner reservations and they said it was unnecessary and I would have no issues. Upon arriving I tried to make reservations for our 3 nights, but was told the buffet was my only option for the first night. We are NOT buffet fans and wound up just getting pizza late afternoon and skipped dinner. I believe the pizza girl forgot our order until we came back 15 minutes after ordering. She then said she was running behind and it took another 30 minutes to get our food. Service was a very mixed bag. There were plenty of grumpy bar tenders. Service with a smile or kindness was hard to come by at times. Our lunch at Sails and Tails wasn’t a great experience. Our waitress never brought us drinks and the bar tender gave my husband an attitude for going to the bar himself to grab two beers. I asked for the fish tacos with no slaw but they were covered in it. The waitress basically said too bad, blamed the kitchen, and just put them down. We reminded her we had never gotten our drinks and they still never showed up. Towels aren’t plentiful or replenished during the day. So you are better off holding onto your own towels if possible There were a couple drinks I tried to order but they didn’t have the supplies- no watermelon for the martinis and no IPA anywhere. Although I will say the light beer is very good. Read less

Wanted to love it but needs massive Customer Experience overhaul!

Nov 10, 2024 angieg976 St. Catharines, Canada

Arriving first time in Antigua and while we were slated to go to the Pineapple BC which was closed to renos we came in open minded. Check in was smooth, fast in our rooms which were spacious, big balconies and clean. No complaints at all! Going to the beach first day we tried to be positive but was disappointed not that crystal blue you expect. … Read more

Arriving first time in Antigua and while we were slated to go to the Pineapple BC which was closed to renos we came in open minded. Check in was smooth, fast in our rooms which were spacious, big balconies and clean. No complaints at all! Going to the beach first day we tried to be positive but was disappointed not that crystal blue you expect. We made our way to the Rasta beach and while it was bigger, never a good sign when you see a pool directly on it. Pool was spectacular without a doubt but the beach again a disappointment Main pool is nice if you are pool people, we love a good beach and it was on day four we made our way to the public beach at Pineapple Bc….now this is what the gorgeous pics are all about!! Were there every day packed a picnic and rather stay there. Rasta beach grill place wow I have never had such bad service.Shakira and another girl twice were twice ignored us. Even the guy working at the bar said we were seated five people ahead. We had not been to the place nor anywhere else where someone could of been judgemental but i have never experienced such it completely ruined the trip. Guest service manager was smoothing it over and I had no issue with any of the other wait staff at our stays aside from those two girls. Main pool bar man starting with an A….holy smokes what a grump! Why is he going back and forth to the back empty handed is beyond me. Suggestion; have a bar at the pool with dedicated two staff going around..maybe buddy won’t be so overwhelmed…we were all talking how unfriendly that one guy is! Again disappointing. Now Kemoir at the Wicket now that guy deserves a raise and promotion. The one night he single handed the entire bar, food and all. Unbelievable! What a found out later on was the good staff are actually people from Pineapple. During the stay i said I would not ever need to return to Antigua however the beach at Pineapple and Kemoir are why we have since booked but at the Pineapple. Read less

Would NOT recommend this resort

Nov 9, 2024 Jamie W Philipsburg, Pennsylvania

We have been to several all inclusive resorts and this was the worst we’ve been to! It is NOT the Caribbean it was black slimy beach water! No one brings you drinks in the beach or pool which we received at other resorts! Restaurants had weird hours and not all are opened at one time! Never had towels on beaches or pools! We had to go collect… Read more

We have been to several all inclusive resorts and this was the worst we’ve been to! It is NOT the Caribbean it was black slimy beach water! No one brings you drinks in the beach or pool which we received at other resorts! Restaurants had weird hours and not all are opened at one time! Never had towels on beaches or pools! We had to go collect towels for our family at 7 am! One bartender at the Main Bar was NOT friendly even though I tried bringing up conversation! A/C broke in our room and flooded the room which we had to shut off for several hours and we were dripping wet with sweat! NO one was ever in a hurry for our needs! I asked for towels to be stocked again and waited 2 hours until I went back and got my bath towel to use! A/C maintenance was also a couple hours! I would NEVER go back to this resort! Read less

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