Hawksbill Resort Antigua

Stay for the scenery, not the service. Hawksbill is in a beautiful spot. The resort is quite spread out so if anyone has issues with mobility it could pose a problem. We stayed in a bungalow with a patio that has 2 loungers, 2 chairs and a table. There are loungers in front of the bungalows that are utilized by any guest so you could have people camped in front of your bungalow all day. Not a huge issue though. The ocean view was fantastic. The room itself is plain with the furniture made from sanded plywood. The bed is a basic spring mattress which wreaked havoc on my back. There is also a empty mini fridge and two bottles of water that were provided upon check-in. The restroom is pretty basic with a window that does not have a shade on it. Overall it could use updating but we weren't there to spend all our time hanging out in the room. We quickly learned that the two bottles of water (there were two of us) would be all of the bottles that the hotel would provide. Any additional water would need to be procured at the two water stations on the property. One at the beach restaurant and the other up the hill. We sent a text to the management and they explained that because we "did not book directly with them" if we wanted additional water bottles that it would be 10 dollars a day/2 water bottles a day. After we replied that that was really not acceptable because while we did not book directly we did book an "all inclusive" stay. The management left the message on unread and never responded back. So for two weeks we were expected to refill and use the same ratty water bottles unless we paid more. The water stations when the resort was busy were often empty. The second week there were fewer people so they had water more often. The food in the main restaurant was often not good and very repetitive. Lunch was nothing to speak of and we often opted for the bar restaurant on the beach Seascapes. The food was better there although there was no consistency. Sometimes you had sour cream, sometimes you didn't. Some days the salad was made one way, others another. It was often still better than the main restaurant. I will say is that the desserts were delicious! Overall all those things can be overlooked if not for the one glaring problem and that was the service. While there were exceptions, many of the staff were not friendly. Asking for anything was a chore and often had to ask several times and you may or may not get it. Read less

We arrived at Hawksbill after a delayed flight from Gatwick and were greeted with a glass of sparkling wine. Check-in was quick, even with another few couples checking in at the same time. We were allocated a Royal Palm bungalow, which was a pleasant surprise after booking a Seaview Room. The bungalow was amazing, very clean and spacious with plenty of storage. The bathroom was huge, featuring both a shower and a bath. Lovely patio area with table and chairs, and a pergola with 2 loungers looking out to the Caribbean Sea. Antigua was suffering the tail end of Hurricane Erin, and so the water was choppy with large waves. When this subsided, the sea became calm and we were able to snorkel from the beach in front of our room. Royal Palm Beach is more rocky, but great for spotting the different types of fish. We found the dining experience in the buffet restaurant to be very good, and as a very fussy eater, I managed to eat well at every meal. Loved the fact that they had fruit crumbles or cobblers for dessert most nights. You also have the option of Seagrapes on the beach for lunch (more snacks), but good and PD's Grill, which we found a bit disappointing, although the seaview was amazing. The Hawksbill is in a quiet area of Antigua with not much around. The resort itself is massive, and you can expect to do a lot of walking. All four beaches were beautiul and the assortment of wildlife around the resort was lovely to see (ducks, pigs, goats, hummingbirds, etc). Hawksbill exceeded our expectations in many ways and pictures do not do the place justice. We would definitely return if travelling back to Antigua. We hired a car, which gave us the freedom to see the island at our own pace. Thanks, Hawksbill, for an amazing holiday. Read less

Hawksbill is a fantastic resort with an authentic down to earth and unassuming vibe. There’s wildlife everywhere, ducks roam the property and are really cute, and there are hummingbirds through out the property. The beaches are also fantastic, whether you’re staying at the main beach or if you venture to Eden beach to see the wild pigs. In the water there are plenty of fish around the reefs, especially if you make it out to the hawksbill island. The sunsets are gorgeous and it’s especially enjoyable when you get to watch from the infinity pool or as you’re sitting down to dinner. 10/10 would stay again. Just be prepared, if you want a gym/fitness center, this resort does not have one, but it does have a tennis court. Read less

We stayed 27th April - 1st May, this was a short visit as this was the last stop of a month long trip of travelling to a few places in America and with all the travelling we had done - we wanted to end our trip with some relaxation. Its a long one but.. We originally had Antigua booked for April 2020 but we all know how that went. When looking for somewhere to end our trip, naturally - we went with Antigua as we have felt it was 'the one that got away'. We looked on booking.com mostly and come across Hawksbill. The reason we loved this over others is because it looked clean, slightly modern but not too much for the Caribbean, it had character. I stalked their instagram for a good 6-8 months ( in 2023 ) before we even booked, noticed the recently installed infinity pool. The beautiful ocean facing bungalows they had available, it was a no brainer we had found our hotel ! While we do fall into that 18-30 bracket, we much prefer quiet, relaxation and just beautiful views, which Hawksbill offered! When it came to booking and choosing a room - we actually went for the 'Royal Palm' bungalows as they were just that little bit nicer and wanted to have something really nice for our last stop. We seen an aerial view of them and the beach they sit on, while it cannot be helped - noticed the beach to be full of coral and quite rocky. We wanted to spend as much time in the sea as we could - as we had the perfect room but that did put us off. So we swiftly set our sights on a 'Beachfront Bungalows' as these, lay on a much more accessible - softer and nicer looking beach. I would say we eventually booked this hotel in March 2024 - booking to stay April 2025 ( we are planners lol) I continued to stalk Hawksbill's insta, checked the odd reviews & while i write this myself, i do take each review with a pinch of salt as i have experienced many times.. everyone's holiday is different - everyone's likes & dislikes are different. So.. read but done absorb ! ( that goes for this review too ) I emailed the hotel almost immediately to say I had noticed there is a vast amount of bungalows on the sea grapes beach and if we could have the most private bungalow, away from people as much as possible - simply for quietness and to just enjoy the tranquility. Hotel responded promptly, this was no issue and had been noted. My Husband had also contacted the hotel to make them aware, it was my birthday the day before we landed in Antigua and if they could do something nice in the room on arrival and again, mentioned privacy. Fast forward to when we finally landed - we had just been to 4 other destinations in the US and our last stop was the beautiful Antigua before heading back to the UK.. as we landed - we hired a car from the airport as we had also planned to venture out of the resort. On arrival, first impressions were just unreal. Standing at reception and looking down on the resort and seeing that in real life after soooo much planning - it was so worth it ! We did get there a little early about 2pm ish and they asked us to come back at 3pm - we headed down and grabbed some lunch to pass the time, which was no problem. We went back up to reception and was told our room would be another 30 mins.. again, no problem - we just waited there. Half hour went by and a lady from reception said our room was ready - a young gent helped us with our cases and as soon as we got down to the beach - we turned right.. again, with the amount of research, we knew our beachfront bungalows were on the left.. I asked the gent helping, are we going the right way to our room ? He said yes, your room is down here.. we went with it but did think it was a little odd.. Got to our room and we were at the Royal Palm beachfront bungalows and honestly, the room was stunning - spacious, stunning sea views, private, no on lookers and just a lovely room. I did ask again when we got there and said, we have booked the beachfront bungalows rather than the Royal palm and bless him, he said sorry - this is the key i have been given. I called reception and they said that we have been given a Royal Palm as the beachfront bungalows are not ready.. if we would like to change the room - we would have to wait another 2 hours atleast ( at this point we had been at the hotel for just shy of 2 hours - to wait another 2 hours.. no thanks ) so I said, its fine - we shall stay here. And I know, if you are reading this thinking - why the hell would you complain about a better room, for free lol ?! Well, we kept the room.. got changed and straight in the sea. As we had researched, rocky as hell - my Husband cut all of his legs in the matter of minutes. A huge wave took me out and i got dragged all along the coral - as dramatic as it sounds, we were both like ' get me outta here' !! This is exactly why we didn't want those rooms as we knew we would spend the time in the sea and that amount of coral was asking for trouble & it did lol ! Rang reception back and said, sorry - change us to the bungalow we had originally booked. They said they would send someone down to get the cases, room would be ready in just over an hour. We waited an about an hour later, the same poor gent turned up to help with bags. We arrive at the new room and it was literally the very very first bungalow next to the Sea Grapes restaurant .. if you are still reading, you'll remember the only thing we asked for was privacy. Called reception and said, look - we have moved rooms again and now we have been dumped in the very first bungalow, I cannot hear myself think from the music being played at the bar, people are sat on loungers outside our door and there was a little path outside out room that people use as a walk way to get to and from there rooms also. This is not what we had pictured all this time. Reception said they had no other rooms available and if we wanted to move - we'd have to wait until Wednesday when others leave. We were here for 4 days ?! Going home Thursday.. at this point i just felt disappointed. We had been there 4 hours now, moved twice and frankly, i just wanted to get settled. They said the manager would pop by in the morning to see us and try assist. If I am being honest, I feel like we had such high expectations and looked forward to it so so much that it played too much of a part in ruining it as we first arrived. Had we not been so excited, anywhere else - it might not have bothered us so much and we probably would of just had the first room and maybe just not got in the sea !? Mario the manager - did come see us the next day and he was lovely but ultimately - there wasn't much he could do until others had left. He did say he would pop back if a room become available but we only had 4 days there so I probably wouldn't of wasted any more time on moving. Our room was beautiful - I did move the sunbeds from outside our room - there is a stretch of beach in front of the sea grapes restaurant with space for these beds but i think people had dragged them over for more room but it ruins that bungalow's view and option to sit right outside too. People walked past our rooms at all hours, some respectfully and others, not so much. I think it just left a bad taste for us and while we did enjoy it.. I don't think we enjoyed it as much as we should of done. Food was good in the main restaurant, a lack of choice if i am being totally honest but good on the flip side as its only a small resort. We ate at Sea Grapes for lunch as there was even less choice at the main buffet at lunch than dinner. Entertainment was there if you wanted it. Sunsets were insane and sunrises even more so. As a whole, this resort is stunning and i don't want to take that away from them. It is so well kept, well maintained and the workers put so much effort into keeping it that way. On our last day, we were due to leave at 12pm ish - went for an early lunch before we hit the road for the airport and were told at 11.15am that food wasn't available for another hour. The sea grapes opens at 10am.. and at this point, we just wanted out, we were so done. Just as the hotel had redeemed itself, we were back to how we felt on the first day. While a small inconvenience, just another unnecessary one. We drove to the airport and got food there. It actually really peeved me off as just another let down and we just grabbed our bags & left. Would we come back to Hawksbill ? No. Would we come back to Antigua ? Probably not. It is just such a shame, as it just left such a bad taste for us. I think that had the hotel of been more prepared and planned better - it could of been avoided and made a huge impact on our stay. We did have a nice time but with no thanks to the hotel. We planned a month long trip almost 2 years in advance and everything went so smooth until the very last leg, through no fault of our own. We don't feel like our request 12 months prior was actually noted and that the room allocation was prepared very well. If check out is 12pm and check in is 3pm - while i am aware there is a lot of rooms to attend too, they should be ready for that time really. In the other 4 destinations, we always checked in early at each hotel (even in Vegas!!) so I think that even had an effect on our experience. My only advice to the hotel is to plan better and if mistakes are made, resolve them better too. But definitely learn from them and you'd be a fantastic resort ! Read less