St. James's Club, Antigua

This was our fourth time at St James Club, along with many visits to other Elite Island Resorts in the Caribbean. The location is stunning and has two completely different sides to the resort. On one side it looks out onto the ocean, with a beach protected by a reef meaning you can swim in (the sometimes lively) waves. There is some seaweed washed up every morning, but this is collected and removed by a tractor and trailer every morning. The resort has built a wall along the length of this beach, creating a two tier environment, upper for lounging on sunbeams, lower for swimming. You can watch the pelicans, frigate birds (spectacular) and Egrets fishing in the ocean from the pool and 11/11 bar/restaurant at the far end. This location is great for a relaxed lunch with decent menu, drinks and service. The golf cart mobile bar trundles around offering a good selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. On the other side, is Mamora Bay, this is the far bigger beach in the much calmer protected bay and is where the water sports facility is located. The team here are great and will give advice on using the new Hobby Cat catamarans, (x5) paddleboards, etc. The bay is safe but can provide some exciting sailing if the wind gets up! There are plenty beds on this beach, but it can get quite busy. Food available for lunch at the Beach Bar and Grill, again decent menu, drinks and service. The place is typical Caribbean relaxed, mostly adult guests but nobody over indulging in the all-inclusive drinks. The range of premium spirits was the best I have seen in the Caribbean, measures are generous, sometimes really generous! Draught beer is local Piton only and served in smaller glasses, wines are decently drinkable. Service at the bar is usually good but can be slow when busy. Breakfast is only at the Rainbow, buffet style with an egg station and all the expected cooked offerings. They also offer a full continental range of pastries, cold meats, juices and smoothies. The restaurants in the evening are Rainbow Garden (a la carte), Coco (a la carte) both needing reservations a day ahead, 11/11 bar restaurant and Docksider bar and buffet. Reserved dinner slots are 18:30, 19:30, 20:30 with 19:30 seeming the most popular and therefore the busiest for staff. There is an additional cost Italian restaurant (50USD/person) again needing a reservation, we went for lobster and steak which were delicious, service on the slow side. Rainbow and Coco menus change weekly, generally we preferred Rainbow as menu suited us and the service was a bit better than Coco. The food offering is good overall, and you have daily theme at Docksider, Indian, Oriental, Roats, Seafood, etc. Need to mention the Mamora Café which is open 24 hours (manned 06:00 – 23:00). Great to be able to have a Barista coffee (hot and iced) and speciality tea along with a cake, pastry or savoury whenever you wanted, especially early morning when suffering from time difference to UK. Staff were great (but older lady was especially nice). The vast majority of staff are friendly and professional, with only one or two exceptions, and try their utmost to deliver a good service. There does seem to be a shortage of experienced staff, with a fair amount under training, hopefully this resolves soon. The new GM (Riaan) is very hands on, chatting to guests, helping keep the restaurant running smoothly by clearing tables etc. He is clearly focussed in lifting the level of service at the resort and we wish him well. Also, Donna (Rooms Manager?) was to be seen helping Riaan keep the restaurant service levels up. Other staff we wanted to recognise are Vivienne (Pool Fitness), Sarafina (Royal pool bar), Beverly (Rainbow evening), Dorland (Rainbow breakfast), Nicola (11/11 lunch), Breanne reception, Denisha (Royal pool bar). Looking forward to a return next year. Read less

We enjoyed a wonderful stay at St. James club for hubby's 55th birthday. The management and staff made it enjoyable and memorable. Although it was only 3 nights, it was so rejuvenating, it felt like a week. We appreciated the food options-the coffee shop was our favorite spot, and the curry night Docksider was great. To top it off, we made new friends. Riaan, thanks to you and your staff, we can't wait for the next visit. Read less

We came for 5 nights in November 2025. There were good and bad pieces. Here is my outline: The good: We had a newly renovated room in the Pineapple building, goes directly out to the beach. The front desk and guest services staff are extremely friendly and helpful. The shells are absolutely amazing if you love to collect. The water pressure and ac at this resort is probably the best we ever had. Chrisada at the main pool bar is a sweetheart. The saxophone and singer they had one night was really good. We enjoyed the beach party on Friday night. Pink panther excursion was worth it! The bad: The food is honestly probably among the worst we have had. Most people working in the restaurants seem like you are bothering them. Literally one day there was a huge grease fire at the beach grill, they moved customers away but like didn’t shut down or tell us anything. They really need to do something about families with kids. Some of them are out of control. Now I get it, I have 4 of my own, but there is a way to control guests. For example, one day there was a younger aged child running around naked rolling on everything and nothing. Another day a mom was changing their baby at the pool who had poop all over their back, she washed them off at the shower next to the pool that we all use!!! The Catamaran cruise was seriously a death trap. We were going over swells of 10-15ft plus, no lights on the boat, they never should have taken us out. Housekeeping is severely lacking. They never cleaned unless we asked so only happened 2x over 5 days and they always forgot us, maybe they didn’t know the room was occupied? Lastly, if you get a room with a tub, it is difficult getting in and out, I do not recommend for older couples. Tips for management - offer waiter service at the pool to get drinks and lunch food - figure out a way to better control guests with kids - improve food Tips for travelers - bring bug spray - request room with shower if necessary - bring snacks as food is not good - Read less