Cocobay Resort

From the moment we got out of the taxi, a staff member was there to greet us and help us get settled. We were very early as we had to be off our cruise boat my nine. They expedited getting us into our room and settled in. The AC in our room died, so the manager upgraded us to the fabulous room you see in the pictures. The resort grounds are beautiful and full of wonderful tropical birds. Food and drinks are yummy and plentiful. Our only regret is that we were there for only two nights.

We found this place on Instagram a year or so ago and have been dreaming of visiting! Their Instagram page is amazing. Quite honestly, even after reading reviews and seeing other traveler photos, we were convinced that the photos had to be doctored up or filtered in some way, so we were thinking we'd be let down. Cocobay lived up to its Instagram hype! It was phenomenally beautiful! We simply couldn't believe how beautiful it was. My wife kept saying things like "I feel like I'm seeing color for the first time" or "I feel like the emoji with the two hearts for eyes!" Seriously, this place is gorgeous! The room: we stayed in a deluxe cottage (Sleeping Indian). The view from our room was fantastic! When we arrived, we thought about trying to get an upgrade, but we decided to check out the assigned cottage before making a decision. The minute we walked it, we knew the room had all we needed. The view was amazing, the AC was was great, the hammock on the deck was a nice. The bed was comfortable, and set up to let us see the amazing view from the second we woke up. Some reviews suggested that the rooms are rustic and spartan, which they seemed to think was bad. I thought they were almost perfect. They just seemed right for the area. I don't need a lot of furniture or storage, just a great view and a comfortable place to relax. I thought the decor was great; minimalist and fitting for the location. You just get this mellow vibe at Cocobay. The only bad thing about the room was the bathroom. The bathrooms could use an update. While the cottage's rustic nature seemed fitting, the bathroom seemed dated and old. Water pressure was poor, and it took a while for the water to heat up. I did love that there were doors in the bathroom opening up to the deck so you could see the ocean while taking a shower. I'd say the bathroom problem wasn't limited to the room. The restrooms by the restaurant were fine, but not what you'd expect for a nice resort. I think it would be worth it for them to upgrade the bathrooms throughout. Drinks: Drinks were great! Really tasty. At previous all-inclusive resorts we've been to (even ones we've liked), the drinks could be hit or miss. Cocobay served consistently great drinks. Cheers! The only constructive criticism I could offer regarding drinks would be to upgrade the bar ware or at least add to it. If you were drinking at the pool, you often got disposable plastic cups. I understand not giving glass around the pool, but the disposable plastic cups didn't really give me the luxury feeling. Food: This is a hard one to evaluate for me. We aren't really upscale diners. When we're on vacations, we prefer quick bites by the pool (tacos, burgers, burritos, pizza, that kind of thing). All meals at Cocobay are sit-down meals at the restaurant. Breakfast was good, not great. It's buffet style. They made eggs or omelets fresh to order. Lunch was also buffet style and sit down. They usually had a special that was a burger or sandwich. We generally preferred that option to the buffet. Dinner was even more formal with a dress code and a multi-course meal generally consisting of a salad, then soup, followed by an entree and then dessert. They switch the menu up daily but keep a few constant menu items, so there is always something new to try or you can always default back to something you had and enjoyed. They also always had a daily pasta special. The only exception to having to dine at the restaurant was the daily panini at the Sunset Pool. We did appreciate that option. I also wanted to note two extra positives: (1) my wife is a vegetarian, and I think they made great efforts to make sure there was something on the menu she would enjoy or they would modify a menu item; and (2) they were nice about making things that weren't on the menu. We really appreciated their willingness to accommodate us. Service: First, the front desk was always great. They were always happy to help with a smile. The bartenders also always seemed to be smiling and provided friendly service. At the restaurant, service seemed to be a little bit hit-or-miss. Some people were really friendly, and some weren't. Maybe my tips weren't good Maybe we were too needy (I definitely admit that we probably requested more modifications than the average guest). Lastly, I'd suggest that they have servers around the pool. The pools are small, so it wouldn't require much to go around the pool every once in a while and get people new drinks or snacks or something. On tipping: If you plan on tipping, bring cash in whatever increments you think you'll want to tip. While the front desk has some cash and helped me exchange larger bills for smaller ones, there isn't a convenient ATM or other way to get cash. Other all-inclusives we've stayed at have generally presented bills after meals that allowed you to tip even though you didn't have to pay for the meal. WiFi: Our cottage (Sleeping Indian) was pretty far from the lobby. We found our connection was spotty, and we often got disconnected. Downloading a file/movie to watch at night or something like that was tough. Activities: Cocobay didn't really advertise its activities all that much. We were there over Easter, and they did an Easter egg hunt which was really fun. Those who found eggs got cool prizes like a massage or private dinner on the beach. While they have lists of excursions, they didn't push them or have a bunch of brochures or information about the activities out for easy review. I guess you could see this as a positive or negative. Umbrella/shade: We found it somewhat difficult to get spots by the pool with an umbrella or shade. We generally had to wake up way earlier than we want to on vacation to go put stuff on lounges and reserve a spot if we wanted to get an umbrella. This isn't a problem unique to Cocobay, but it drives me nuts. Spa: My wife got two massages and loved them! The services were great, and the location of the spa just can't be beat! Looking out onto the beautiful blues of the ocean with the sound of the little waves - so good! Membership: If you book directly and sign up for the membership, there are perks like getting the best room and discounts on services. Definitely look into that before booking on some travel site. Water: Some reviews have suggested that there isn't any water available. While we didn't find that to be true, it definitely didn't seem like they were rushing to give everyone water. We generally had to ask for water with meals. During the day, there was always water in the lobby.

We had some trouble here. Firstly let me say that the grounds and the view and location is one of the best I have ever seen. No complaints there at all. The cottages are beautiful with a nice floor layout and awesome views. The staff are generally helpful and the drinks are plentiful, except only one type of beer and only local. O’neal, the Manager was very nice and accommodating. The cottages have AC units that are very old and barely work. No spending time during the day, like a nice afternoon nap, because the cottage gets way to hot. The nights are not much better. We would leave the AC on during the day so that we could come back to somewhat cool temperatures, only to find that the cleaning staff lowered the cooling, or turned them off. Not sure why. The food is very lacking. No real choice and certainly not enough. No beef at all unless you pay $25usd. Very disappointed with the food. The beaches adjoining are public beaches. This means that at any time the local people can come to the beach and set up. Doesn’t sound really too bad, but we were enjoying the peace and quiet, only to have a full family set up a picnic with tables and chair immediately behind us. Of course they can enjoy the beach like us, however, they were loud and the food had their own odors that we didn’t like. Unfortunately there were no other places on the beach so we had to leave the beach altogether. In addition, we found out from some people that those beaches are full by the locals on certain dates like easter, labour day weekend etc. Glad we weren’t there during those dates – I guess we wouldn’t have a beach. Lastly, the beach are full of glass, probably because the locals are using the beach, so no walking without shoes. Had a run in with the jet ski rental where a bit of damage happened, and they renters went ballistic on us. The security from the hotel had to assure us that we were safe. Didn’t feel very safe. Went to St. Johns to look around, the main city. Got out of the cab and 10 mins later were calling the cab. Didn’t feel safe. Loud music everywhere, and drunk locals walking around. Not really touristy. However, our biggest complaint was a party that happened 2 KM’s away on another beach. This party was an island party by the locals. It was extremely loud with a heavy base beat with local very hard (and very angry for my taste) music. There was no where to hide from this music which played from 9am to 10Pm. 13 hours of heavy loud music that shook everything including our cottage and our bodies. I am not exaggerating. The resort is placed on a hill, and even the other side of this hill didn’t block this outrageous music. All of the staff on our resort found it funny that we were annoyed by the music. Ruined our day and it came at the middle of our time there, so very unfortunate. I know that you will say that it is not the resorts fault and they have no control over what may happen off site, but I read it differently. This is a local party. If I had a hotel there, I would fight tooth and nail to not have this party at that location to ruin our guests stay. Apparently this party has been going on for a few years now. If I was an owner or manager, I would have it eliminated from this location, or eliminated altogether. Seemed that the staff really enjoyed it, and were somewhat disappointed that they could not attend. I got the feeling that this was a party that they will not stop because they like it. We didn’t. The overall feeling of Antigua was one of ‘nice that you came to visit, but we really don’t need to you here, so if you don’t like something, that’s ok, don’t come back’. That may noit be the feeling of all of the people of Antigua, but certainly, our party felt that.

My wife and I spent a week in April at Cocobay - By far the the best service and environment that I have experienced in the Caribbean. Staff was friendly, knowledgeable - every request was accommodated - bungalow was perfect with an amazing view. Property is meticulously kept and it shows! I would recommend this resort to anyone wanting a relaxed, low-key and postcard-perfect vacation!

This is probably my favorite resort so far. Everything is just perfect! First of all, the 3 pools of the property are just insanely beautiful with stunning views of the bay and mountains. Nothing is ever too crowded and it feels like just a great place to relax. The rooms/villas are designed with taste and some of them also have private pools, a hammock and the cutest outdoor baths! The food at the restaurant is pretty good but breakfast was always my favorite- what a view! And all of this is made even better by the incredibly warm and accommodating staff, we felt really well taken care of. We had a half-day trip organized to go swim with stingrays which was a very fun experience and seamlessly organized. We also had a private dinner by the beach, which was an incredibly romantic experience. Overall I love this place so much, it's gorgeous, the service is amazing and there is that personal touch that makes you feel like home. Can't wait to go back!