The Escape at Nonsuch Bay

My wife and I just spent the most relaxing 7 day vacation we have ever had. All the staff (Maxine and Charles, especially) was wonderful to interact with on a daily. The plunge pool outside our room was a wonderful place to relax after hiking over to the beach and back. The hike to the beach was not too bad, approx 16 mins up over the "hill" between the resort and the residency side of the property. The meals were well coordinated and menu changed daily for all meals. I would recommend mosquitoe repellant (just in case). The mosquitoes were not bad on a daily but a couple nights were a little annoying. I would also recommend meeting "Captian" Devon (from Heaven - his words. LoL) and booking the Snorkel with the Sea Trutles over at Green Island. The Reggae Rum Cruise with him was also very enjoyable for a couple (Champagne, Rum Punch, a Fruit Tray were included) Overall, wonderful experience and I would highly recommend The Escape at Nonsuch Bay if you are looking for a relaxing adult only all inclusive resort. Read less

Just returned and only didn’t 2 night out of seven not what we were expecting and BA are clearly unaware of the issues here. We have stayed at Nonsuch residences 3 times 2016-2019 and had a wonderful time the food was amazing, staff were very friendly and the beach was beautiful and we learned to dinghy sail. In 2019 the Escsoe had opened and we were encouraged to eat at the The Escape, some of the staff had moved there snd it was lovely and had the same vibe as the residences. Sadly Covid came and the residences were no longer offering All inclusive and the focus was on the Escape. We finally booked to go to this delightful quiet tranquil hotel early May. We arrived on 3rd May very excited to be back. Our excitement was thwarted on check-in. Miserable front of house told us to scan a code and the details will be sent by email about the hotel! That was it no orientation no how was your journey, she just wanted us to disappear as soon as possible. The room was as expected and nice but things are starting to need repair. Then we went to the plunge pool on the balcony. The pool was dirty no filters took and slime on the side walls. It’s a health hazard and we did not and could not use it. We went to get a drink after a long flight snd had to wait for the one member of bar staff to finish her rant about someone to a colleague on the restaurant before her turning and saying “ what do you want” we were taken back by the rudeness and how this lovely hotel has become an unpleasant place to signs your holiday. We then walked to the beach, well we were shocked by the smell and the brown thick seaweed that has overtaken the bay. It was once a beautiful bay we swam and sailed in but now a smelly unusable beach. Dinner our first and only dinner was rushed, poor quality of food and again rude staff. We left not eating much and very disheartened. First morning we went to the main pool but could not use the pool as it was so murky you could not see the bottom of the pool. Pools should be clear and smell of some chlorine, yet again no filtration. Breakfast is awful, who wants a full English every day ! You can also only pick 4 items! There is no fresh fruit and it feels like they are cutting back on costs. We had lunch and only one choice of a dessert! This is meant to be a 5 star boutique hotel!! I asked if there was ice cream and got a sharp “No” by a waitress that was literally dripping sweat on the table and her uniform was dirty. A few minutes later another staff member came over and offered white chocolate I cream which I was very grateful for. Rooms are now only cleaned every other day! Again cutting costs! Not what we paid for! If you want to keep your room on if you need a late check out there is a cost which we accept but no offer of changing facilities if not. Having soent only 18 hours at the hotel we made a complaint and asked to see the manager she was not in until later in the afternoon but did her research and then came to our room to meet with us. She is new and clearly not aware of the previous standard of service and how it used to be managed back in 2019. All the staff that were previously there all but one have left. The staff make the hotel and right now it’s not a hotel that can deliver a service., quality food or indeed a clean pool or a beach. We had to pay to go to another hotel as BA did not have anything available other than one hotel which would have been another £1400 when we had already paid thousands for our all inclusive holiday. We wasted hours trying to sort out the issue and then the cost of moving to another hotel. The transfer cost was not even offered by the hotel. BA and the hotel agreed to refund our unused nights but that would take a few days. So another expensive outlay on top of us now having to pay for our food and drinks. We did find a lovely hotel which was room only on Dickenson Bay, not a lot was available. We were very lucky as the front of house used to work at Nonsuch residences and the warm welcome and upgrade and complimentary late check out was just so kind. That’s what you call customer service! Please be cautious when looking to book at The Escape, it’s not the hotel it used to be and honestly we are sad that it has fallen from being such a wonderful hotel to being so poorly run and the staff need to learn customer service skills. We do hope it will put right all the issues. Sadly we will not return. It was our 18th visit to Antigua and if you visit do go and eat at The Hut on Little Jumby and go to prickly pear island too. Both beautiful. The manager that used to run The Escape at Nonsuch now owns her own restaurant Fox House near Jolly Beach. We had an amazing meal there and the service was exceptional of course because her team followed her ! So it’s a must if you want authentic Caribbean food I would like to finish this review by praising the manager for her professionalism in the way she dealt with our complaint. We hope she can turn the hotel around back to its glory. Read less

Others may disagree, however this is our take from a week long stay which we just returned from. We are not saying not to go, just make sure your travel preferences are met. Caveat emptor! Overall Impressions below: Pro's: *Friendly Staff *Beautiful view *Comfortable bed *Private splash pool in each room. * Bath tub on the outdoor balcony. *Great couples massage. Con's: *Beach isn't on the immediate property. *The seaweed at the beach was bad, it was kept back by a boom system, but the smell was terrible most of the time. *Food selection is minimal, quality is poor, portions are small. Tea time snacks were horrible in choice, quality and quantity (We had a car and went to the store to buy snacks so we weren't hungry). BTW, we are fairly fit and not foodies. * There is only one restaurant. It is outdoors and not screened. There are a fair amount of mosquitoes. At breakfast and lunch the number of birds are numerous enough as to be an annoyance. *The bar is ridiculous, no top shelf. One vodka out of a box. No tequila at beach bar *While friendly, the staff is slow and it took numerous requests to get towels. *The in-room mini bar consisted of two cans of beer and a small bottle of local rum. The soda's and mixers were never restocked. *The splash pool wasn't well maintained. There was a type of algae at the bottom by the end of our stay. It has a poor design (no bottom drain). This was very disappointing, as the splash pool was the draw for us. *The in-room coffee cups and dishes appeared to have been poorly hand washed. You Decide: *Very quite *No nightlife *A lot of stairs, uphill walking etc. * There wasn't a hot tub *No stairs or ladder for the pool (You hoist yourself up from the deeper level to the shallow level). *It is in the middle of nowhere, 30 to 45 minutes to almost everything (Half Moon Bay being an exception). *Local roads are in horrible condition. *The door to the toilet room was made of glass and didn't go to the ceiling. So when your significant other is in there, privacy isn't existent. Read less

We stayed at the escape nonsuch bay Antigua. The accommodation was stunning, I would recommend a first floor room to fully enjoy the beautiful views. The room was immaculate and cleaned and restocked as requested. The staff were polite and attentive. The excursions I thought were a little expensive so we hired a car, the roads are a little precarious with several potholes but this didn’t bother us. We visited Nelson’s dockyard, Shirley Heights, Saint Johns and Devils point. I recommend visiting all to experience the culture and history of the island. Everyone we met was friendly. Antigua has 365 beaches and in our 10 day stay we managed to visit 12, all of which were stunning. There is a beach near the escape about a 10 minute walk encountering a hill walk but it was fine. The beach has a bar, the water has quite a lot of seaweed on one side, minimal seaweed on the first part of the beach. The restaurant at the escape was very nice, however, if you have a fear of birds maybe not for you. The birds frequent the restaurant at breakfast and lunch times but we expected this as it is a tropical island after all. The food was good, portions perhaps a little small if you’re a big eater but you can ask for more. The staff catered very well for my vegan diet and the afternoon snacks by the pool were delicious. The pool was lovely with adequate sun beds and towels provided at reception. I had read the plunge pool in the rooms were cold but I didn’t find ours particularly cold and you can always warm up in the large bath in your room. Just to note the floating breakfast and petal bath is an additional fee. We absolutely loved our stay at the escape and would thoroughly recommend. Thank you to all of the wonderful staff. Read less

The Escape is a wonderful resort. The rooms look exactly like they do in the pictures and the staff cannot do enough for you. The plunge pool was refreshing. Housekeeping is every other day. The beach is a short walk over a hill (10 minutes ish but you need to be fit as it’s steep) or there is a free boat shuttle that you book the day before. The beach bar is part of the all inclusive and serves Banks beer, cocktails, spirits, wine and soft drinks. They were no longer offering food here when we visited. The restaurant is all a la carte, the menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner changes daily but always has staples at breakfast alongside specials and cheeseburger for lunch and dinner alongside two other dishes. We enjoyed the food, it was all tasty and beautifully presented. The bar is between the restaurant and the pool, it is open 10am to 10pm. It serves draft Carib beer plus all the other options from the Beach Bar. The pool is small but we always found a bed when we wanted one, the last few days of our break a lot more smokers turned up - including one group of 4 Americans smoking weed around the pool which wasn’t pleasant. It’s a shame that there isn’t a separate area for smokers but I guess there is not enough room. The dock area has 3 additional seating areas which were nice for some private sun bathing. We booked a taxis from reception to Half Moon Bay and Ffryes Beach, they are quite pricey but standard for the island. We also took a boat trip to Green Island with Devon for $25 pp and the shuttle to Shirley’s Heights for $15 pp. All of these were enjoyable experiences. There are lots of different birds around the site and we saw plenty of mongoose and lizards in the mangroves. There is very little entertainment at the hotel, a couple of nights there was dinner music and we saw adverts for steel pan lessons and yoga but didn’t see them happen (we weren’t looking though). If you are party animals this isn’t the resort for you but if you are looking for a relaxing couples break then I highly recommended the Escape. Read less