The Verandah Resort & Spa

Excellent accommodation, chalet type pairs of rooms, all overlooking sea, loads of bird life, great to watch pelicans diving. Spacious and very clean. Could be a long distance (big site), with undulating road between parts of site, but electric buggies were shuttling up and down all the time, or could be called (longest wait we had was five minutes). Slightly misleading on their site about restaurants, read carefully because the seven or eight they claim are not all open in the evening, and two have to be booked 2 days in advance. In addition, our favourite (Sails and Tails) was closed three evenings - that said, there were plenty of good options available in the buffet (open every night). Two beaches were man made, and one was closed for swimming, these were great for sitting between the palm trees (both had bars, one had good lunchtime menu). Good pools (one at the beach that you couldn’t swim on). Plenty of seating and shade at all of them. Drinks at pools were a bit watery (probably intentionally weak, which is fine) but excellent at restaurants. Outside site (round the headland, but only 200 metres walk) was a lovely natural public beach with a beach bar (but of course you have to pay for sunloungers, parasol, food and drinks - great for swimming. All in all, advantages far, far outweighed these minor negatives

We got home yesterday after an absolutely fantastic holiday at The Verandah. The hotel grounds are absolutely stunning and spotless, they take great care in ensuring this resort is kept clean and beautiful. The team of staff from housekeeping, gardeners, buggy drivers, chefs, waitresses, water sports guys and bar team are friendly, courteous and professional and this really made our stay thoroughly enjoyable. I had one minor negative which was the level of service in Portofino Italian Restaurant, the wait was very long, the food was average and my husbands wine glass was cleared away prior to receiving his main course, the only thing I could put this down to was perhaps an inexperienced waitress so we didn't return. Sea breeze, Rasta Beach Grill and Sails and Tails were all amazing, the food was delicious with lots of choice and the staff were great. The pizza place was ok with a long wait for food due to the fact there was mostly one chef with lots of orders to get through. We were lucky that we shared our holiday with some really fun and lovely guests who added to the atmosphere and enjoyment of our holiday. A special mention to André and Leon at the main pool bar, 2 great hard working guys who go above and beyond with service, fun and kindness, these two guys are probably the biggest reason we'd revisit in the future, they felt like friends by the end of our holiday and I don't think Leon actually ever sleeps, he's always working hard, serving drinks and restocking the bar and shifting boxes. The entertainment was fantastic, the singer at the beach party was amazing and with the guests joining in we were laughing a lot. Lovers Beach is beautiful, spotless and the water clean and calm. Thank you Verandah for making our first visit to Antigua truly amazing. Until next time x

Had a good two holiday and enjoyed on the whole. The problem the hotel has is lack of staff. The main bar at night, where the entertainment happened was understaffed with guest queing for drinks sometimes only one person serving. Also lack of seating. It was a soul less environment. The staff overall were polite and jolly but it seemed the young female staff were curt and sometimes rude and felt they did not want to be there. We were disappointed that it was not entirely "all inclusive". Never been to an AI before where you had to buy beers and soft drinks for the mini bar/ fridge from the expensive gift shop. One resturant was charging $100 a couple for a meal, which we did not go. The beach barbeque was ok but food luke warm. We only went to the Italian once. Had to wait an hour and half for our food and then the fish dish was like leather. The main resturant was busy at times again queing. You need to take something warm to wear as it was very cold with fans as well as air con. Thought the variety of food was good. The Sails and Tails was good food if you could get a reservation. We were told on arrival that the rooms would be cleaned everyday. Our room went two days and had to request a clean on the third. This was mainly because they came about 4.00 -5.00pm and we had already returned to our room so did not want to be disturbed. The room was spacious with largish wardrobe. We enjoyed the mini golf and played most days. The beaches were nice Rasta beach favourite, quiet and always loads of sunbeds. Having said the negatives we did enjoy our stay but would not go back and would not recommend.

Alexandra who works in the gift shop, truly did a phenomenal job and made our visit so special. She helped us pick out a magnet, a bag, a hat, and some clothes for our grandkids, and she did it with such care and kindness. She formed genuine conversations with us, made us feel comfortable and never once rushed us at all. It felt less like a shopping trip and more like chatting with someone we’ve known for years. Her warm spirit and beautiful personality really stood out and meant so much to us. We even took pictures with Alexandra because she made our experience that memorable unfortunately we lost them but we can’t wait to see her again next year so we can take more! She truly made a lasting impression on our hearts. On the other hand Cherise came across as a bit snobbish and didn’t have a smile on her face, which made the difference in service very noticeable. Alexandra’s kindness and professionalism completely elevated our visit, and we are so grateful for her. We look forward to seeing her again next year.

Excellent adult only high quality hotel. Had 4 x exec rooms for a birthday trip which were really spacious & well equipped and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Stunning Sea front views over the beach which had a great team running sailing (hobies, windsurfing, kayaks, SUPs, snorkelling) with equipment always available and team were great fun (Jensen & Terone) always up for organising whatever guests wanted eg sailing & kayak race, beach cricket etc but always had an expert eye on safety). Beach bay is lovely with sea trampolines to sit in with cocktails. Pretty grounds (31 acres) grown by the 16 gardeners from scratch is an amazing achievement and was immaculate. Chefs in all restaurants are very talented even in the buffet with high quality food of many nationalities and styles. Friday night beach party involved a lot of work but the outcome stunning with a live band to entertain. Drinks and cocktails good quality brands. Nothing too much trouble and not too many people in large grounds mean there is always somewhere for relaxing and beds/ towels/water etc always plentiful. Bars & restaurants were staffed by friendly enthusiastic team with stand outs of Leon, Tehron, Selena, Andre. We were randomly asked by a manager if there was one thing we could change and between 8 of us we really struggled to think of anything! If you end up in a room away from any of the facilities there are many electric buggies to ferry you round driven by informative friendly people. Tennis, pickle (incl free lessons) golf and table tennis etc all really good quality. Thanks to the whole team we really hope we get the opportunity to come back!