- Antigua Holidays
- St Johns
- Royalton Antigua Resort and Spa
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Royalton Antigua Resort and Spa
Antigua, Caribbean
St Johns
Home to 365 white-sand beaches one for every day of the year the tropical island of Antigua offers blissful beach weather year-round. Located in the West Indies Antigua is rich in colonial history with its sheltered bays having provided refuge to both buccaneer pirates and the famous Captain Horatio Nelson. The newest all-inclusive resort in Antigua Royalton Antigua Resort and Spa offers travelers a luxurious escape with exceptional service and fine dining featuring flavors from around the world in an elegant setting. Nestled on a stunning private beach with breathtaking clear waters guests can relax in an upscale setting and explore everything this resort has to offer. This new generation all-inclusive resort offers discerning travelers a family-friendly vacation experience where guests of all ages are entertained from morning to night.
Facilities
- Wheelchair-accessible
- Car park
- Garage
- 24-hour reception
- Late Check-out*
- Wi-fi
- Car hire*
- Secure parking
- Room service
- Laundry service*
- *Some facilities may incur an additional fee
The Local Area
Tripadvisor Reviews
4.0 Very Good4,914 reviews
Excellent
47%
Very Good
19%
Average
13%
Poor
9%
Terrible
12%
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Value
Paradise doesn’t say enough!!!
My husband and I took this trip for our 12th anniversary. We could not be more impressed with the beauty of the island, the water and beach. More than anything our trip was made by the staff at The Royalton! From the second we arrived to the minute we sadly left, we were treated like family by everyone we encountered! Kevin showed us to our bungalow and explained the layout of the resort making us feel excited about what we wanted to do first! The over the water bungalow was AMAZING! It was exactly as advertised and what you see on TV. If you are thinking about booking the bungalow, I recommend #6, it is the one farthest out on the water and has an amazing view of the landscape on the other side of the cove. We attended the Culinary Experience where we met Oneka and Roselynn. Roselynn prepared us the best food with the most special anniversary plate of dessert!! Amazing!!! Now to save the best part of our trip for last, our Butlers were the most helpful and gracious men I have experienced in hospitality. Earl and Khem went above and beyond to ensure we had everything we could need to make the experience exactly what we wanted it to be. From helping us find the elusive out of season black pineapple, to assisting with breakfast when we missed the proper time and had already taken a medication that HAD to be taken with food!
We cannot thank Earl and Khem enough for making our vacation exactly what we needed! We will definitely return to Royalton Antigua and this is mostly due to them and the rest of the staff!
Lots of issues
We recently stayed at the Royalton Antigua and came away with mixed feelings. There are definitely some positives, but there are also several areas where the resort falls short of what we'd expect from this level of property. The biggest positive was one of our butlers, Zo, who was outstanding throughout our stay. Denver, the butler manager, was also excellent and clearly cares about the guest experience. Sarah in the café and Hezeldeen at Grazie breakfast were consistently friendly and provided great service. We also had the opportunity to meet Surinder, the new General Manager, who had only been in the role for about two weeks. He seemed genuinely interested in addressing many of the resort's issues. Unfortunately, the overall service across the resort was mediocre at best. Friendly service seemed to be the exception rather than the rule. One bartender(Indiana) at the lobby bar was consistently unfriendly, and the Diamond Club beverage attendant (Casford) rarely checked on guests or offered much assistance. Marlon, the Food & Beverage Manager, was also not particularly helpful when concerns were raised. The food was probably the biggest disappointment. The selection is much more limited than we expected, and the buffet offerings were consistently underwhelming. Grazie had decent osso buco, but the pasta lacked flavor. More frustrating than the quality was the number of times restaurants simply ran out of menu items. During our stay, the ice cream shop frequently ran out of cones and even ice cream. Grazie "ran out of pancakes" at breakfast one morning. The Diamond Club grill ran out of food around 1:30 p.m. on Sunday and never replenished it. A vegan burger remained on the menu throughout our stay, but we were never able to order one because it was never available. On Friday afternoon, the resort had already run out of piña coladas by 4:00 p.m., which was surprising for an all-inclusive resort. The room Service food was decent. Chicken tenders were good when they had them, also the turkey wrap was very good. The burger was average. Jalapeño poppers were good when they had them. Room service could take anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes to get to your room though so you had to plan ahead. On the positive side, the beach is beautiful, clean, and one of the highlights of the property. The pools are nice, and because the resort never felt overcrowded, there were always plenty of beach towels and available chairs at both the beach and pools. We also appreciated that there were no high-pressure vacation club or timeshare sales pitches during our stay. The rooms are a good size overall, although the bathrooms feel somewhat cramped. Overall, Royalton Antigua has the foundation to be a great resort, but inconsistent service, frequent food shortages, and limited dining options kept it from meeting our expectations. There are certainly some outstanding employees who deserve recognition, but the resort as a whole needs to improve consistency and better manage its food and beverage operations. If those issues are addressed under the new management team, this could become a much stronger destination.
Wonderful butlers in Earl & Khem!
Place to relax and unwind. Wonderful butler service from Earl & Khem and house keeping from Mary.
Terrible resort
We stayed at the Royalton Antigua for a wedding, and I do want to start by saying the wedding itself was beautiful. The beach was lovely, and the ceremony was wonderful. Unfortunately, everything else about our stay was a complete disappointment.
Check-In / Room Issues
We booked and paid for a room with a king bed, yet upon arrival we were assigned a room with two double beds. When we brought this to the front desk’s attention, we were told that room type is “based on availability.” This explanation made very little sense, as room type is something guests specifically select and receive confirmation for when booking. I have never experienced this at any other hotel.
What made the situation even more frustrating was learning that family members traveling with us had reserved a room with two double beds because they were traveling with their child, yet they were upgraded to a king room during the exact same stay. It became apparent that rooms were being assigned without much regard for what guests had actually reserved.
As Marriott Gold members, we also requested a high-floor room. Despite the resort having nine floors, we were placed on the ground floor. We were told someone would follow up the next day about moving us, but after checking back, we were informed that nothing was available. Then, after staying five nights, we received a call on our fourth night offering to move us just hours before checkout, which honestly felt pointless.
Service: 0/5
The service throughout the resort was consistently poor. Many staff members seemed annoyed and uninterested in assisting guests. Nearly every request was met with an excuse or a dismissive response rather than an effort to help. It genuinely felt like customer service was not a priority.
Room Quality: 0/5
The room itself was unacceptable. The bedsheets smelled musty, the bathroom had visible mold, and mosquitoes were constantly getting into the room. The room felt worn down and poorly maintained. The edges of the mirror were peeling apart, and several fixtures looked as though they were falling apart. The photos speak for themselves.
Food & Drinks: 0/5
Room service was incredibly disappointing. Wait times were consistently between 1½ and 2 hours, assuming the order arrived at all, and the food quality was mediocre at best.
The worst experience occurred when my husband discovered a large bug inside the coffee pot that was delivered with our room service breakfast. We have photographs documenting this. It was absolutely disgusting and completely unacceptable.
Beyond that, the food throughout the resort was the worst I have experienced at any all-inclusive property. Several members of our group became ill with what appeared to be food poisoning during our stay. The drinks were equally disappointing, with very low-quality liquor being served throughout the resort.
Overall
This resort was a complete waste of our hard-earned money. We expected far better from a property associated with Marriott’s Autograph Collection, but in our experience, this hotel fell well below the standards we have come to expect from the Marriott brand.
We will also be contacting Marriott directly regarding our experience. Based on our stay, I would strongly recommend choosing another resort. There are far better all-inclusive options available at this price point, and I would encourage future travelers to read both the positive and negative reviews carefully before booking.
Review by 605priyap NY
To provide some balance to negative reviews…
Just got back from a 10 day holiday to Antigua where we stayed at the Royalton. Some recent reviews of this resort had worried us before we travelled and I’d go as far as to say that I was almost dreading going: what a shame to feel that way about a family holiday. But I can say in all honesty our concerns were for nothing and we had a wonderful time. Food was delicious and plentiful - we didn’t have a single bad meal. The only restaurant criticism we would have is that the overhead fans in the Caribbean restaurant create such a strong wind it spoils the dining experience. But other restaurants were wonderful, even the buffet. Yes, service could be a bit slow and I could see how this would become a problem in high season. Yes, they did run out of cocktail ingredients at the bars occasionally but that was only usually for an hour or so whilst they waited for a delivery, and often if one bar ran out of something one of the others would have it. Staff on the whole were very friendly and helpful. They were a few who were surly but we just brushed that aside. We paid for Diamond Club and I do have mixed feelings about this membership. I didn’t really see the point of a separate check in lounge as we were left standing at the porters desk for too long before being driven there and it was all very vague with staff being uncertain. Having butlers to support with anything was beneficial though, especially for restaurant reservations, and Shauna-kay and Dymond were just lovely and couldn’t do enough for us! One thing I disliked about the DC membership though was the way in which the pool & beach was segregated. It was a bit ‘in your face’ and I thought quite tacky. A resort which professes to be 5 star should have DC as the standard, for example, cushioned sun beds should be available for all. So all things considered we were pleasantly surprised and had a lovely time. That said though I do concede that some of the negative reviews this resort receives are possibly justified to some extent. It is quite tired decor wise, and the pool needs some tiling repairs as other guests injured themselves on sharp tiles during our stay. And the lifts are a nightmare; too slow and far too small for the size of the hotel. Don’t know who decided two small lifts would be enough! So don’t focus too much on the negative reviews; those with the loudest voices are often the ones who will find fault with everything and it’s too easy these days to lash out on a keyboard.
