Sandals Resort Antigua has been rated the World’s leading Honeymoon resort, and is situated on the staggeringly beautiful Dickenson Bay, which is the best and most famous beach on Antigua. It tends to get mixed reviews from outstanding to not very good, so you need to bear this in mind whilst reading this article. Also bear in mind that anything written about Sandals Grand Antigua Resort and Spa before late 2007 may not be accurate as there has been a $70 million renovation with a new Meditteranean Village which has doubled the resort’s size and vastly expanded the choice of restaurants and activities.

Most couples who choose Sandals Antigua, are opting for an all inclusive honeymoon or romantic break do so because they actually don’t want to leave the hotel grounds. The hotel and spa therefore has almost everything you might want on site.

What you can expect to find at Sandals Grand Antigua Resort and Spa is now two very distinct complexes, with the older Sandals Antigua Caribbean Village, and the newer Mediterranean Village.

The Mediterranean Village has guest rooms in one five story building, and two seven storey buildings. There are four restaurants, three bars, the Eastern Caribbean’s biggest freshwater pool. There is a spa, and a shopping village. This is an all suite village, but if one were to be critical, you could be anywhere, and not the Caribbean. All the suites have concierge service, and a number have their own personal butler.

The Mediterranean Village however doesn’t offer room service, only those suites with a butler.

The Caribbean Village stretches out over 19 acres of lovely landscaped grounds, with plenty of hammocks to laze in, swinging chairs to enjoy the sun, and there are five restaurants, five bars, five freshwater pools, five whirlpools, a fitness centre and Spa.

Between the two villages there are a huge number of sports on offer on land and sea, from tennis, although there are only two artificial grass courts, kayaking, snorkelling, windsurfing and sailing Hobie Cats.

There is nightly entertainment, and it does involve guest participation, so if you are the type of person who likes a quiet relaxing time, then Sandals will probably not be for you. The atmosphere Sandals tries to create is one of a non stop beach party.

The Monte Carlo Suite on the fourth floor in the Mediterranean Village comes highly recommended, with beautiful ocean views as you can imagine. It has a large walk in shower, Jacuzzi, double vanity, and separate toilet area. Beautiful top quality Egyptian Cotton on the bed, well stocked bar, flat screen TV, really everything you need and more.

The Sushi Bar gets rave reviews, as does breakfast at Bayside, also Mario’s and Barefoot on the Beach.

One needs to say that the attitude of the staff gets a lot of criticism, although it is fair to say, that sometimes a please and a thank you goes a long way, and it is obvious that some guests treat the staff very badly.