St. James's Club & Villas

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 -

A lovely stay at St James villas in a spacious beach front room with a great view and decent food. A few frustrations along the way. Communication was poor and could improve so many things, and housekeeping needs fixing. There are friendly villa/timeshare owners that frequent there and are keen to tell you ‘it’s getting going’ or just ‘getting started’. But we were there for a week of the year and wanted to get settled fast, so the lack of info in the rooms, restaurant scheduling, lack of activity planning and incorrect information didn’t help us settle in quickly. Having said that we liked the hotel and liked being on the windy beach, with the contrast to the other calm beach just minutes away where we spent the days. We thought the staff were lovely and enjoyed the food. We’d describe it as a full board type hotel with drinks even though we did all inclusive. No late night snacking either, maybe the coffee shop for cakes or a wrap. Pros. - Beautiful location and friendly staff. - Food was generally very good, Cocos was our favourite and portion size in there and another restaurant had improved on second visits. - Our beachfront room was really nice and presumably recently refurnished, with a big terrace to sit on. - Spacious hotel and grounds, beaches are very close, plenty of room to walk around and find different places. Beach beds and towels easy to find. - Decent gym. Water sports available. - Nice coffee shop and friendly staff. Joe Ann (and her colleague) were friendly and made a nice coffee - Staff- Jamiera made a good stir fry on the oriental buffet and we liked the job the front of house ladies at the Beach Diner, Dockside, 11-11 and Cocos did. Cressida on the Reef bar was a pleasure to talk to. Sylvere was great too. - Caribbean Beach party was great fun - Good for gluten free preference if it’s a choice - Breakfast buffet was really good - The buffets are decent and better than many, nice food, good variety if you arrive early otherwise the oriental Peking Duck (everyone’s favourite!) becomes roast lamb! Cons. - Running at a basic level, perhaps due to price point, and ‘no frills’? - Housekeeping let the hotel down (3 star level)- it’s every other day which doesn’t seem enough with sandy and dirty floors, and towels that tend to dry slowly in the air con if you shower more. But also, it wasn’t cleaned well on those days and items not replenished. Our shampoo started half full. The floor was filthy on arrival day and we had to use hand towels to clean our feet (it wasn’t from outside) tables not wiped another day, cups not cleaned etc. - No drinks in the room even though there’s a big empty fridge, tea and coffee not restocked. - Basic activity list for the size of the place, with no week schedule - Rowdy neighbours & their friends on the terrace next to us (6+ people at one point) one was sick on the beach, and another ‘smoking’ (not cigarettes) on the room terrace a few times. Meant our room smelt unless we closed the patio doors and listened to the air con rather than the ocean. The website FAQ says rooms are no smoking. I asked the hotel but apparently they have ashtrays on terraces (ours didn’t) and the hotel said they can’t do anything and can only ask them to consider other guests. I didn’t expect this in a hotel, maybe in a bar or on the beach yes. Our bad luck. And you have to laugh… - Offered a welcome drink that never arrived, asked where it was and it still didn’t arrive - Offered an anniversary drink at Cocos by the booking team, never arrived - Asked about where to get daytime ice cream at reception, told it was ‘an evening thing’ - No lunchtime desserts at the restaurants, except buffet - then we saw ice cream appear later in the week at a restaurant that said it hadn’t got any - Asked about nuts for a healthy snack, told they can be bought in the shop and ice cream too (Otherwise your snack is always sweet - cake or fruit pot, a small wrap or you could take something from the buffet, or order at restaurants) - Sausage rolls arrived on the day we left! - Yoga advertised on website- there was none, then it was 8.30am Friday but was actually 8am. ‘I heard - It’s just starting back!’ No stretch or other similar classes and I missed half a class I’d planned around - On checkout day our room keys stopped working before leaving time, after we’d paid to extend! We ate in Piccolo Mondo, it was nice and we had lobster and steak. The venue or meal sadly wasn’t enough to get us back - we would have gone back. We enjoyed Cocos more. Bars were fine, one seemed to pack up early in the evening, the other couldn’t do pina coladas one evening - a shame if you’re not a daytime drinker and enjoy your drinks in the evening. Cocktail menu may or may not be available… We would return to Antigua (we’ve been once before and to the Caribbean). This is a nice hotel and lovely location. We rarely do all inclusive and aren’t massive eaters or drinkers but we do like nice food, and I think we just expected a bit more ease, more food variety if we fancied a holiday snack, and maybe more quality if we upgraded. The advertised yoga or even a stretch class were what we expected a few times too, not just one class. We really liked the place and had a very good holiday but it needs some work. My 4 star is for the location, the staff being friendly, and the food.

We stayed for 10 days in August and there were good and bad things. Our room was dated, smelly, damp and not cleaned very much. I went to the reception after being there for four days with five requests and issues, I said our toilet didn't flush well, some body wash, clean towels, body wash and a ash tray that I had asked for when we arrived, we left our dirty towels on the floor and when we went back to our room in the evening someone had been in our room and just bought an astray, the towels were still on the floor, I had to go back to reception and I asked the manager to come and see our room, he looked shocked when he came in and we were given all the things we asked for. We did laugh everyday to see if our room had been cleaned or not. The food was average, staff seemed like they weren't that bothered and one time we walked into the lunch area and were totally ignored, however it wasnt all staff, the ones on the boat trips were excellent. I watched birds jump in the food at breakfast time, one day there was food and drinks left all round the pool area until 6 o'clock at night as we were still around the pool area at that time. We made the most of the holiday and it wasn't all bad but I would not want to go back.

After the tragic events in Jamaica, we were offered Antigua as an alternative holiday. We arrived early evening at the hotel after a long day travelling. We were met by a very friendly member of staff who offered us a cold beer which went down a treat. Check in was great-friendly receptionist, told us what we needed to know and off we went in a golf cart( these are used to take you to and from your destination if you want but especially handy with cases)to our room. we had a Royal Suite which was gorgeous, very spacious with a large bed and seating area. The bathroom was also huge and had been recently renovated. The views from the room were fantastic in the evening but even more spectacular by day. Over the course of the week we tried all the restaurants-main recommendation to eat is Cocos where we had snapper that was outstanding. Docksiders was buffet style in the evening and lunchtime salads, burgers and wraps. Rainbow restaurant served a la carte which we tried and that was lovely, they also served buffet style breakfast in the morning which was a mixture of the most amazing fruit, eggs, sausages bacon etc and continental. The wine and beer with the all inclusive package was actually very nice. We did try Piccolo Mondo one evening which we had to pay $50 each ahead. The restaurant was lovely and the views, it was raining the night we went so had a refreshing small shower of rain! The food was nice but expensive in comparison to what we ate at Cocos and the wine was the same as the all inclusive so we thought for what were paying it would have been nice to have a different wine. We did a snorkelling trip out to Green Island which was fantastic but bumpy! but the snorkelling was great and so were the staff on the boat they has so much energy. We also did the trip to Shirley Heights, that is worth doing, Taxi was $12 each plus $10 to get in drinks were $5 each. We sat and watched the sunset which was fantastic and then went and enjoyed the entertainment which was great. We also to burn a few calories used the Gym which was very spacious and well kitted out. Tips - take your own hairdryer if you like a proper blowdry the one in the room is okay for a quick blast but thats it. Upgrade to a Royal Suite if you get the opportunity its quieter ( for the views) also there are quiet areas for sunbathing and the use of two plunge pools and a bar, We used the beds on the decking below our room as no one around. Towards the end of our week it got busy so ended up going to breakfast later. The main pool area by the Rainbow restaurant was busy with families etc and there is a bar with music which was lively, not our scene so stayed away. Do all inclusive as the price of food if your not is very expensive. I had a salad one lunchtime and it would have cost $39.00 !!! The staff were so hard working , polite and generally lovely and made sure we were looked after. I cant recommend this place enough.

Zero complaints about our stay at St James Club in Antigua. For an All Inclusive Resort it checked every box. We were upgraded to a two story, two bed, two bath villa so great way to start. The breakfast buffet was what you would expect and never too crowded. The lunch options varied, either buffet or sit down or grill on the beach. Enough bars to keep you happy (not the widest range of top shelf liquor so if that makes or breaks your vacation that's on you). Multiple dinner options and the extra cost Piccolo Mondo was definitely worth it. The Caribbean Beach Dinner on Friday night was impressive with the amount and wide range of food options! The staff was incredibly friendly with call outs to Gia and Linden (sp?) in the lobby and the waiter Chris at Docksiders. When your 8 year old says, "Why is everyone so nice?" you know it's true! Enough activities to keep you busy with excursions available through St James or they will facilitate taxi travel. The grounds were kept up well and the room/villas were nice. Could they be updated a little sure and that is ongoing on the oceanfront side of the property.