Wonderful!
Traveling as a family of 4 (4th and 6th graders), we all loved our stay at Curtain Bluff.
Room - ground floor junior suite with beach walk out. The pictures don’t do it justice. We were worried the kids would have to sleep on a pull out sofa bed (full size). CB provided a twin cot for my daughter and my son was very comfortable on the pull out sofa (oddly, it was very comfortable - something I didn’t know pull out sofas were capable of). The pictures of the room don’t do it justice. The room is very large as was able to accommodate 4 of us, 4 checked bags, and 1 large carry on bag.
The room also has built in wall storage unit with plenty of shelves. As a result, we weren’t living out of suitcases, but instead had our stuff put away.
The bathroom was massive and beautiful. Two large sinks with at least 4’ of countertop between it. My only recommendation for CB would be to put in a fogged glass shower door for the shower opening. If this is done, we could use the bathroom much better (as we wouldn’t have to clear the bathroom when someone was showering).
Drinks and snacks were in the room and refreshed everyday. It was always well stocked. Cleaning service was exceptional.
Beach - I was nervous about booking here b/c the beach is not a dream 5 star beach. Below the water line, there are rocks and some seaweed. That said, you don’t need water shoes to get around in the water. The beach above the water line was beautiful. They rake it every morning, chairs (with shade) are plentiful, and individuals sporadically come around with drinks (and sometimes ice pops/snacks). A huge CB plus is that I reserved my beach chairs when we had breakfast around 9 am. We got second row chairs with plenty of shade. CB is not a place where you have to get up at 7am to get chairs.
Water activities - superb. My kids learned to knee board, then water ski on this trip; they went on likely two dozen rides on a float that was pulled by a boat; we did the hobby Cat (sailing boat), kayaks, paddle boards, and pedal boats. Lines for this were minimal - first come first served. Often, we waited less than 10 minutes to go; sometimes no wait at all. This was awesome and transformed a B+ beach to a great one.
Food - superb. CB broke the myth that any all inclusive place necessarily has lousy/mediocre food. Food felt like fine dining. Even our last night, they flew in a chef from a prestigious restaurant in Rhode Island and did a five course tasting menu with food and wines.
Service of the food was, at times, slower than I’d like. Only one evening at Sea Grape was service atrocious (took 1hr and 40 minutes to be served dinner). That said, chef came out and apologized and we were seemingly an anomaly, as tables that sat down after us were served faster than us. I just think we were lost in the shuffle. Aside from that isolated instance, service was mostly prompt and the food was very good. (And we’ve been to Beaches @ Turks and I believe the food was hands down far better). The food even passed my 9 year old’s very rigorous chicken nugget test. Also - about half the time we were there, there was live music at dinner. We often danced during and after dinner. Was great.
Management/attentiveness - The director, Rob, introduced himself soon after we got there. He and the other front desk folks were attentive to our needs. It was clear their goal was to achieve whatever they reasonably could. (Thank you).
Excursions: the hotel arranged for
1) zip lining. This was a 10 minute drive. It was disappointing that we stood around for 58 minutes before the first person went zip lining. It took a full hour to do all 13 zip line courses. I’d recommend it, but know you’ll waste the first hour, then get to the good parts — which will still include some waiting. (As our group at 38 people). I’d do this once and then not again.
2) UTV ride at Salty Dog Adventures. This was a disaster. Tires were either completely bald or had trace amounts of tread life. Tires also had dry rot. One tire had a massive crack through the side wall. To add insult to injury, their contract read that the customer pays “$900” for “irreparable” tire damage. It was so dangerous, we refused to go.
I spoke to Rob when I returned, shocked that they’d send clients to what can only be considered a death trap. He apologized, was unaware that they sent clients there, and even refunded the taxi cost there and back. (I appreciate CB’s gesture here).
3) black SUV for airport ride home - for $250, we had an Escalade take us to the airport. It made driving through the poorly maintained Antigua streets as pleasant as possible. The hotel arranged this for us. Thank you.
4) sting ray city - we did not do this trip, as it’s roughly a 40 minute drive each way; and we didn’t want to lose a beautiful beach day. That said, it’s apparently highly enjoyed, so we may try it next time.
Recommendations for CB -
1) consider a fogged glass shower door. This will enable a family member to use the shower and also allow other family members to use the rest of the bathroom.
2) consider lighting on the shuffle board court (so families can play after dinner).
3) would have loved a large chess board set up.
CB comparison against Beaches @ Turks and Baha Mar.
- CB is peaceful, quaint, relaxing, and easy. It’s not a mill with 1,000+ other guests running around. There’s personal attention and far easier as a father to be at CB than Beaches or Baha Mar.
- Beaches and Baha Mar both have water parks, which is a great feature. Their water parks are somewhat addressed by CB’s fantastic water activities. Beaches and Baha Mar also have better beaches below the water line, but you’ll also have to huddle early to get a chair.
Overall, CB was great; a pleasant surprise of what a comparatively smaller resort can do when they show personal attention. Thank you CB for helping create wonderful memories!
