Travelled here mid March 2026 with my husband & our 9-year-old son. This was our first time visiting Antigua, and it is a lovely island. We frequent St. Maarten annually, and enjoyed the change! We came into this vacation at the stunning Carlisle Bay with high expectations, given the price tag of the simply all-inclusive offer, and the newly renovated Ocean suites. We would have liked to book the family room with additional kids bedroom, they were not yet renovated and we wanted to experience the fresh rooms. We’re so glad we did.
ARRIVAL: Staff from Carlisle called me the day before we were to arrive to ask if we required transport from airport. I let her know we’d planned to just take a taxi from the taxi-stand at airport. I had done research, and expected a $50-60 taxi ride based on island rates. Upon arrival, Carlisle organizes the FastTrack airport service, which gets you to front of line at immigration, and out to baggage pick up, then through secondary checkpoint. We had to wait for one of our bags that was checked, but overall, from landing to picking up bags, we were a total of 15 minutes. What a lovely experience! Once through the last checkpoint, the FastTrack person took us directly to meet a taxi driver that was waiting for us at the indoor info desk. We went with her to her vehicle, and I asked her what the fare was. She said “oh, Carlisle takes care of that for you!”. I was pleasantly surprised. Upon realization later in the week, they in fact charged us $110 USD for that taxi ride on our foilio. So, just be aware of that. Yes, the experience was seamless, but that expectation should have been set ahead of time. We were greeted at the front gate and asked for our name, and when we arrived at the entrance of hotel, we were greeted by name on the bridge by the General Manager, Brian. Again, a very seamless and high end feel to have such a welcome. A nice touch! We were then briefly sat in the lobby and then a staff member walked us to our room for a detailed walkthrough.
FOOD: Food gets the first review, as this is a very important aspect of our vacation choices. As foodies, we were not totally blown away by the food here, but we were more than satisfied for the week. We really enjoyed mostly everything we ate, and I would consider the food very above average for other all-inclusive resorts. If you enjoy buffets, this place isn't it. We had pre-booked our dinner reservations (as recommended) before our arrival. We saw others being turned away at peak dinner times without a reservation, which as a guest would have been a bad experience, so we are glad we reserved. Although, it would have been nice not to be kept to such a strict schedule for evening meals, and more easy-going to just show up when we were hungry. Sometimes we wanted to relax a little longer or have a drink before dinner, and since we booked the 6pm slot each evening, we found we were rushed a bit to make it each evening. We ate at the Jetty once (it is adults only) – try the Goat Water (stew); the local cuisine is so rich in flavour. East (Asian) was really well done, and glad we booked this restaurant three times throughout the week. Although, after the third visit, we were East’d out. The Hamachi appetizer, gyoza dumplings, sushi (try the beef sushi!), and the short rib main are all my top picks. Thursday at Indigo was BBQ night, which was plentiful and delicious. Breakfast each morning at Indigo was lovely – the location right by the beach is second to none. Loved my morning cappuccino, and the Antiguan breakfast (saltfish, plantains, spinach, avocado and floats (fried bread)) was a regular for me. They will also just do anything al-a-carte; perfectly poached eggs, bacon, sausage, fried mushrooms…whatever you want. The breakfast buffet was ok, but without the kitchen for eggs, etc, it would have been tired after two days as there isn’t much variety on the buffet. There was an omlette station which was never lined up. Lunch here at Indigo was always a pleasure. I had the daily catch of the day (fish), which never disappointed. The kids options were good, and I appreciated the healthier options for kids; not just the burgers, fries and fingers. Real chicken breasts, or fish goujon (nuggets) with fresh buttered veggies and mashed potatoes for kids. Our least favourite was Ottimo. We found the pizza crusts were hard, way too much tomato sauce which was quite sweet, and not typical Italian wood fired goodness. The pasta was flavourful and packed with lamb/beef/protein, but the pasta itself was extremely overcooked. My son enjoyed the pizza a few times. Desserts! I have a big sweet tooth and enjoyed desserts most days at lunch (instead of dinner). Indigo had the best – the raspberry cheesecake and the chocolate cherry fallout (yum!). The sorbet and gelato were also well enjoyed multiple times throughout the week.
DRINKS: We are not heavy drinkers, but my husband enjoys a cocktail or two in the evenings, and a beer in the afternoon at the beach/pool. I had an occasional cocktail as well. The Negroni were good (we preferred a classic rather than the sorrel one on the menu), Aperol Spritz, Pina Colada (virgin) were exceptional. They had a drink named Tutti Fruitti which was some blended passion fruit/mango/strawberry drink, and it was amazing, Unfortunately they seem to run out of anything passionfruit the third day, which is a favourite of mine on the islands, so for the rest of the week, all passion-based offerings were unavailable!
ROOMS: We stayed in room 109 on the ground floor, which we loved. We could go straight from the beach right into the room. We did leave our sliding door unlocked most days. In fact, the days we locked it, we found that the housekeeper unlocked it! No issues, but we used our in-room safe for anything of value. Didn’t worry too much about our shoes, clothes and toiletries being at risk. The staff here were kind and understated. Our housekeepers were attentive and well-tipped, however we had to request lotion/shampoo a few times as they didn’t leave new ones. The snack/drinks were topped up most days, but not every day. The evening turn-down was sporadic, and sometimes occurred well after 9pm which is when we were already settled in for the night. The room itself was stunning. High quality finishes and very clean (realistically only a few months old after the renovations). The king bed however was very uncomfortable. Someone else eluded to sleeping on a stack of books, and that is a good description. Not a rock, but definitely old, hardcover books with a thin mattress pad. They set up a rollaway bed for my son in the living area, and his mattress was cushy and cozy. The linens were lovely, including the towels. Robes and slippers provided, as to be expected.
BEACH/OCEAN/POOL: We spent most of our days on the beach nearby to our room for convenience. The beach itself was amazing: lovely, clean, and calm. The wind gusts picked up halfway through our week and the blowing sand all over and in your face/eyes, we had to change it up to sit by the pool. The surf is easy and calm for children. We experienced very lacklustre service at the beach. We had to walk to the bar ourselves most days, or hunt down the beach servers for attention. The call buttons on the umbrellas did not work. The pool was lovely, perfectly cool (but not cold). Lots of kids and families around the pool – whereas the beach was a little more tame. One afternoon, the very heavy umbrella blew over in a gust of wind and I injured my wrist trying to catch it before it crushed us. A month later later, I am still having pain with some normal activity, and have been diagnosed with a minor sprain by my doctor. The staff was attentive when it happened and supplied ice in a ziplock, and checked in multiple times through the next day or two, and even offered a doctor to look at it. At the time, I did not realize it was injured, I thought it was just sore.
SPA: Here is where I was utterly disappointed, but it didn't ruin my vacation. We booked a couples massage, which was just ok, borderline bad. The spa itself is located in an open air hallway, which is lovely, but it lacks a private/serene room for relaxing. Just some sheer curtains in the hallway to block the gym traffic. The change rooms were old and dirty, with nowhere to hang a towel for the shower. The cold plunge (or hot tub, not sure which) was dirty and out of service. The sauna was cold and unusable. They offered lockers, however we were told they’d give us the lock code when you came out of the massage, so you left things there not knowing who had access to it. The therapists were late, the treatment room A/C was broken, so it was warm, one therapist dropped a bottle and glass shattered on floor next to my husband (accidents happen!). My therapists’ hands were very dry and rough, so the massage itself was not very enjoyable. For $320 USD, they took off 10% ($32) for the A/C issue, but then told us the +10% service charge did not go in any part to the therapist, thus making us feel guilty to make an additional tip for a massage/experience that was not very good. I would skip the spa here if you are in any way accustomed to higher end spas and treatments at home. To hotel management, I would prioritize a refresh of the spa, and up the experience for guests here.
STAFF: All the staff we encountered were very friendly and nice, but not overly so as some other reviews said. I found many of the staff speak very softly, and sometimes it is very difficult to hear them (servers at restaurants for example). However, everyone called us by name “Mr. and Mrs. ---), which was lovely and personal. A few servers were noticeably grumpy, but it did not impact our stay. Smelled weed a few times around the grounds, which was definitely coming from staff walking here and there.
WIFI: Pretty good Wifi everywhere on the resort except the beach where it can go nearly non-existent.
GYM: We found the gym to be adequate. Enough dumbbells (kg), kettles, and a few machines that I used. I enjoyed it early enough that I was solo (6:30-7am), but my husband went later (closer to 7:30-8:30) and it was hard to navigate with so many others using it at the same time.
KIDS CLUB: This was a huge reason we booked at Carlisle Bay. Our only son is 9, so we count on the kids clubs to keep him happy and having fun on vacation. The older group was led by Gio/Geo(sp?) most days. No other children joined until about 4-5 days into our holiday when the March Breakers started arriving, so it was just the two of them the first few days. Our son loved hanging out with Geo. They did nature hikes, played football (soccer), looked for beach/ocean creatures, got ice cream, etc. They loosely followed the kids club schedule, but without more kids, a lot of the programming didn’t happen. For instance, my son was so excited to do the tow donut ride behind Carlisle’s speedboat in the bay. It was on the schedule 2-3 times/week, and he didn’t get to do it once. Mostly because of no other children in his age group (they want a minimum of 4 to take out the boat), then they said the wind was too much, although as an avid boater in cottage country for 30+ years at home, I can tell you the bay itself was more than calm enough for a tube ride! Overall, our son enjoyed the club, but it was unfortunate that many of the programs were cancelled throughout because of attendance.
EXCURSIONS: We had prebooked Stingray City directly prior to arriving in Antigua for the Friday morning. Carlisle organized a taxi to get us to/from which was seamless. Our son absolutely loved the stingrays and was the highlight of his trip. As adults who love nature, we also thoroughly enjoyed it. I would tick it off as a must do when on the island. Another day, we hired the same taxi driver to take us to English Harbour and then to Pigeon Point Beach for the afternoon. He picked us up at 11, dropped at Nelson’s Dockyard for a quick 30-40 minute walk around, and then picked us back up, dropped us at nearby Catharine’s beach restaurant (highly recommend!), and to enjoy the beach for a while. Picked us back up by 3pm and back to the hotel by 3:30ish.
MISC: Mosquitos and sand flies! So many bites. My son came home with over 50 bites, and my husband had a bunch too. I usually get eaten alive, but I found if I sat out on the patio of our room, that is where they were the worst, so I simply relaxed inside during those times, and didn’t have many bites. Some at the Jetty restaurant in the evening as well. Given the location in the rainforest part of the island along with the mangrove ponds behind the buildings, it is warranted there would be mosquitos. They seem immune to the bug spray, and the sand flies were so small, almost invisible. They weren’t so bad on the beach, more so just near the buildings and on your patio/balcony.
Overall, we so enjoyed our time at Carlisle Bay! It is a beautiful resort, with an amazing beach and such calm waters. For the cost of over $16k USD for a week (which for us Canadian’s was closer to $23k CAD), we felt this was way more than the week was worth. I feel like $16-17k CAD would have been more in line with value, experience, and expectations. That said, I would absolutely love to return, and would not hesitate to recommend this beautiful spot.
