Antigua | Pt. 2 | Royalton
In a nut shell: Royalton is great for a family and/or friends vacation. The location is great and there are plenty of amenities and entertainment available for all ages.
TRIP SUMMARY
2 round trip flights for less than $700
3 nights and 4 days at Cocobay *
We purchased a package with a romantic private dinner, couples massage, and floating meal delivered to our private plunge pool in our cottage.
4 nights and 5 days at the Royalton *
Our rooms were upgraded to Diamond Club, which came with a metric buttload of benefits (more on this later).
Transfer fees between locations varied depending on what company you used, but we spent less than $100
*rates vary based on room and time of booking, there are some GREAT deals if you book 6-12 months out. I couldn’t help but look to see what the cost would be if I booked a year in advance while we were there… we could have saved real pretty penny at Cocobay! I almost considered re-booking a year out just because the deal seemed so good!
ROYALTON - ANTIGUA
PROS
All-inclusive
LESS mosquitoes in general.
Beach was not buggy at all which was fantastic.
Lots of different restaurants to choose from.
Diamond Club amenities were great (we received a free handle of liquor, hydrotherapy pool session, butler, room service, access to a DC exclusive lounge).
Play area for kids
Designated beach area for diamond club members, if you wanted to use that space.
CONS
Meal times were crowded
Not all restaurants were open during all meal times.
There were a few restaurants were the food was great, others not so much.
NEED TO KNOW
Also had cats every where, bring your meds if needed!
Family-Friendly
Ability to purchase resort packages: spa, romantic dinner experiences, etc.
The check in area for Diamond Club Members is not that far from the drop-off/pick-up zone and it is totally walkable even with a personal bag and 1 rolling suitcase for each individual (5 minutes, if that!).
The locals here were also friendly, but some of them were a bit pushy when it came to excursions and etc.
Some of us, know what we want and don’t want… so we did not appreciate it but maybe there those who enjoy having a little extra encouragement.
OUR EXPERIENCE
The day that we arrived, our driver brought us to the drop-off zone. We provided the attendant our names, they sat us in a waiting area and provided us some drinks and the instructions which were somewhat along the lines of, “we will let you know when the next ride comes to bring you to the Diamond Club Lounge for check-in” but then for whatever reason, we ended up waiting 45 minutes before we became irate and asked someone when they were going to relocate us for check-in. In our defense, we were hot, sweaty, tired, losing patience and wanted to settle into the room quickly so we could grab dinner and recharge… We mentioned something to another attendant who apologized and then was able to get us a ride to the DC-lounge. When we got there, we were even more irate when we realized how close of a walk it was. Not sure what the hold up was… but it was unnecessary - we would have happily walked ourselves to the check-in area without a lift. Things got better after the check-in experience!
Our butlers were super nice, helpful, and accommodating when we had questions or needed reservations made.
DC Amenities included a 1 hour hydrotherapy circuit: we got to experience their sauna, steam room, cold plunge, and the jacuzzi which had 3 areas with water pouring from the jet at varying intensities and tempos. If you stood in front, it felt like someone was massaging your back!
The need for a butler, for us was unnecessary. However, they were super nice, friendly, and helpful. It just happened to come with the room we chose.
The room was comfortable, clean, and fairly new. It came with a king bed, love seat, TV, desk, and a private deck space that walked out to a swim-out pool accessible only to you and your immediate diamond club neighbors.
Food here was an interesting topic of discussion for us.
There were more restaurant options available at Royalton but their operational availability was limited. For example: while we were there, we wanted to go to a few places and were told it was not open that day, or that there was a dinner function in place of that restaurant for the night.
While there were maybe 1 or 2 restaurants that were a 4 out of 5 quality, it seemed there were some restaurants that were an utter miss. Another example, their rendition of poutine included: fries, with a slice of “American cheese” melted on top, no gravy. For anyone who has has anything remote close to an authentic poutine, they would have been disappointed.
The Caribbean cook-out was GREAT, they had a wonderful selection of foods infused with authentic Caribbean cuisine which included: ox-tail, jerk chicken, salt fish, rice and beans, fungee and pepperpot, just to name a few.
There were MORE people here. More teens, more toddlers, more families, more everything. I would consider coming back for a family vacation, but not for a remote retreat.
ADDITIONAL NOTES AND SUGGESTIONS
I would not recommend renting a car if you are not used to driving under the following conditions:
there are few street signs, few stop signs, few stop lights (that we were able to see).
they drive on the left side of the road.
they honk, a lot. To say hi, for fun, to alert, to communicate… maybe it was just our drivers?? But it happened more than once (haha).
We used Viator and Nexus Tours for transfers - We had a better experience when booking directly with Nexus Tours, it was also more cost efficient. Some hotels and resorts will provide transfers, check their website first to see what’s available.
Bring your own sunscreen and bug spray, it’s cheaper. Comparing the cost of checking a bag to the cost of sun screen and bug spray at the gift shop, it was worth it to check your luggage on the flight.
My husband is fair skinned, and I tan quite easily, we went through 4 bottles of sunscreen over 8 days.
You can afford to travel light if you plan on being at the beach or pool for most of your stay. All you will need beyond that is a few outfits for your meals where some restaurants may have dress codes.
If we were to do it all over again for a honeymoon: I would consider going to only Cocobay and staying for 4-5 nights.
it’s a tad pricey, but SO worth the experience.
If we were to do it all over again for a family vacation: I would consider going to Royalton for 4 nights.
it feels more affordable when considering cost per night, it’s more family friendly, and there are plenty of activities and amenities for kids and teens.
If we were to stay at both again, I would go to Royalton first and then end at Cocobay so that way we could return to life from a tropical paradise experience fully recharged.
