The Verandah Resort & Spa

I had a lovely stay at this hotel, all staff were welcoming and very nice people. The restaurants and food was delicious I ate mainly at the Seabreeze restaurant, once at Sails and Tails, had a mocha most days from the cafe 1761 and enjoyed all meals. My room was clean and extremely spacious, beds were comfortable and the view from our balcony was superb. I would like to shout out staff members who made our trip even more special… Theodore, Vinette at reception, Egbert who greeted each day at Seabreeze restaurant, Chef Khari, (Sail and Tails) Renaldo, Chemar, who drove us around the grounds to and from our rooms in the buggy’s, Lorenzo who is the maintenance person, Keisha (egg station at Seabreeze restaurant), and Super Mario down at the lovers beach I would definitely recommend this hotel stay and will be back. One critic would be to stop using ‘Complete seasoning’ on the fish in all restaurants, as it gives the fish a distinctive perfumed taste which is not nice. Everything else was great.

Just got home from a fantastic stay at The Verandah Resort & Spa. From the start we were welcomed with a beautiful smile at reception by Vinette who was the most efficient and engaging lady. Whilst checking us in (group of 4 pax) we were given cold lemongrass sented towels and welcome rum punch drinks. We were then swiftly taken to our rooms by Ronaldo. On the way to the room Ronaldo gave us a quick tour around the spectacular grounds, pointing out key areas. Unfortunately, we didn't get to visit all of the restaurant & pools as we spent many afternoons/evenings enjoying Antigua's wonderful carnival. However, we did visit the Seabreeze buffet, Sails & Tales, The Beach & Grill, Papa Ricco's Pizzeria & The Wavey Wicker Pub & Café 1761. The food & drinks were very delicious & flavoursome. Although, a bit of constructive feedback is to please stop using the 'complete seasoning' on the fish dishes at the Seabreeze restaurant. It gives the fish a perfume type of taste which is not nice. Other than that, the food there was always chef's kiss!! I loved the vibrant welcome & service we would always get from Theodore, Keisha & Egbert, they are all great assets to the resort & work extremely hard. I loved the Sails & Tales lunch menu, especially the fish soup & prawn salad. Thank you to Kharni & team. We visited the Tranquility Body & Spa & had a wonderful 90 mins massage which included three types of therapy. Thank you to the staff there too! Our rooms were very clean, spacious and supplied with everything we needed. Overall, we had a fantastic stay and will definitely be back very soon. Lastly, a very big thank to all of the grounds, maintenance & beach staff, especially Lorenzo & 'super' Mario.

As long-time visitors of Pineapple Beach Club and Galley Bay, we stayed at the Verandah Resort and Spa this year while PBC was closed for refurbishments. We’d previously visited Verandah for meals and on day passes, so we had a general idea of what to expect, but this was our first full stay. We travelled with some family members who were visiting Antigua for the first time. Check-In & First Impressions: Check-in was efficient and included a welcome drink and a cold towel, which was appreciated. However, the overall tone was a bit abrupt and impersonal. Rather than a warm welcome, it felt like we were being given a rapid-fire list of instructions, certainly not the friendly island hospitality we’ve come to love in Antigua. Room: We stayed in a Superior Waterfront Suite, which was well-appointed and spacious. The view across the bay was stunning, and the kitchenette was a useful bonus. The bed was very comfortable. However, the bathroom was a little tired, the shower lacked pressure, and the air conditioning unit was outdated and struggled to cool the room sufficiently. Housekeeping is every other day, but we were skipped on one occasion and had to request fresh towels. To their credit, guest services responded quickly and were excellent throughout our stay - friendly, helpful, and efficient. Resort Layout: The resort is beautiful, with lush tropical landscaping, but it is very spread out and hilly. Getting around almost always required a buggy. While the buggy drivers were very friendly and helpful, having to rely on transport for nearly everything became a bit tiresome.. Food & Dining: Food overall was good. Highlights included: Portofino (Italian) – very good evening dinners. Beach Grill at Rasta Beach – great casual eats at lunchtime. Pizza place – perfect for a laid-back lunch. Coffee shop – with delicious beef patties and hot snacks alongside the usual cakes and pastries However, breakfast in the main buffet restaurant was disappointing—not because of the food (which had plenty of variety), but due to the noisy, indoor setting, which felt more like a school canteen than a relaxing start to the day. We were also underwhelmed by Sails & Tales. Despite enjoying it very much last year, the service this time was incredibly slow, even by Caribbean standards, and the food, when it eventually arrived, was mediocre. A standout evening was the Pink Party, a beachfront BBQ with an incredible spread of Caribbean dishes, salads, BBQ meats, and desserts, all set to a live band and dancing; this was a great night and we appreciated all the effort that had gone into it. Pools & Activities: We especially enjoyed the smaller, quieter pools like the one near the waterfall and the one at Rasta Beach. The main pool was lively but too noisy for our tastes due to daily loud music and entertainment. Beaches: This was our biggest disappointment. While both beaches at Verandah look picturesque—with mature palms offering plenty of shade—the swimming experience was lacking. The bay is very calm, which unfortunately means the water is murky and stagnant-feeling, more like a lake than the ocean. At Rasta Beach, seaweed was so thick it made the water unusable. Lovers Beach is pretty but accessed via steep steps, and the water felt similarly still and uninviting. For a proper beach day, we recommend walking five minutes to Long Bay Beach, which is far superior with clearer water and better swimming conditions. Final Thoughts: We had a lovely week and made great memories, but the Verandah isn't quite the right fit for us. There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with it and we know some people adore it, but the sprawling layout, reliance on buggies, and underwhelming beach experience mean we’re unlikely to return. For those who don’t mind the layout and prefer a quiet bay, it may be a perfect match. But for us, we’ll likely wait for Pineapple Beach Club to reopen or explore other options.

We travel once a year as a group with 24 rooms and this year we chose the Veranda resort. My first impression upon checking in was to be told to sit down, download the app and fill out the information, you are not allowed to get in line but then there is no first come first serve order. So we comply while others just walk up to the desk and get waited on. I would have assumed there would be an order they would call your name but that was not the case. Bell captain was prompt and took us to our room. Rooms are spacious but my daughters have ants in the bathroom and they only clean the room every other day. When they do clean the room the floor is left wet which I felt is strange and uncomfortable. Dinners must have reservations and they do fill up, so choose early. The buffet is good for breakfast and dinner but is not open for lunch, the only lunch option is sales and tails or pizza or the grill which is down the hill by the front desk. They do not accommodate allergies well and really don’t seem to care. We asked for gluten free bread the Chef said a stern “no” but the staff said yes. Then he said he would look for some and never even followed up. Pizza restaurant said they were out of gluten free crust but we think they just say that and don’t really have any. The staff was smirking when we asked every day. Overall lunch options were only 3 items for gluten free. Such a disappointment. Had to eat same food every day. Towels and water were available. We enjoyed the wickets pub but again no gluten free options. Overall I probably wouldn’t come back because there are so many nice places to go that care and pay attention to details.

I have just returned from a week at the Verandah, and I thought I’d share some key highlights from my visit:) Apologies for the length!! I did the ArriveAntigua online form before arrival, but when we got to the airport, the system had stopped working and we had to complete paper copies. I hadn’t bothered bringing a pen since I hadn’t expected any form filling to do (my fault - never again will I forget it!) and the security people from the airport refused to lend me one initially, telling me to ask other passengers in the queue . After trying for quite a while with no luck, someone from security finally (& begrudgingly) went to find me one. It wasn’t the warmest or kindest arrival, and wasted lots of time for something that essentially was a problem on their end - I think next time I’d also do one on the plane just in case. Once we actually went to the immigration desk the woman there was absolutely lovely (& had a set of pens 🤣) and I have to say, I didn’t have another negative interaction with anyone on the island - everyone was just lovely. The resort is gorgeous. Rooms are large and the balcony area is lovely. Yes, there is lots of walking but shuttles are also going around. We chose to walk everywhere to try to offset the fantastic cocktail calories and averaged about 15000 steps a day. For such a big resort, it also has a lovely intimate feel. There’s comments on here about water. It’s an eco resort, so doesn’t use lots of plastic. We got 6 bottles in our room every other day, but we took our Yetis and got them filled up regularly from the bar area or the water dispensers that are all around the site. It’s filtered on site so fully drinkable. Food is good. We loved Sails & Tails and the pizza for lunch, and tried Sails & Tails, and the Italian for dinner. They were ok (I’d avoid the steak at Sails & Tails though…a bit tough!) but the buffet was such good quality, I actually preferred there. They had some great themed nights - TexMex was particularly good - and everything was tasty and well cooked. As everyone has mentioned, the staff team are just amazing. They are warm and welcoming, and enjoy having a chat with everyone. Pool/beach towels were around, but not plentiful. I can imagine that in high season they’d run out quickly. I did spy people sneaking piles of them to their rooms at about 11pm for the next day, which doesn’t help matters 😂 Lovers Beach has the better sand and sea (and water sports - plenty of equipment and kayaks etc) but I preferred the chilled vibe of Rasta Beach. We often had it alone, and it was never busy. But the water definitely isn’t as nice as it was at the other beach - or better still Long Bay, the public beach by the Pineapple. It was literally about 3 mins from the hotel (walk out through the front to the road and turn right). All of the pools were nice. Main pool was really clean. Excursions: We did the Academy of Rum masterclass trip (amazing!Highly recommend) and took a taxi from the hotel to get there. We went earlier and did some of the history areas in English harbour. Dow’s Hill was really informative about the island’s history and worth a visit. We also went to Shirley Heights with the hotel (I think a must for first timers, but I probably wouldn’t go again as I’ve experienced it now) and went on the half day Calypso Cat trip. Although the Calypso Cat is $$$ it’s really worth it. You get to see lots of the fab coastline & big fancy houses, and then have a snorkeling stop where we saw turtles. Then there’s time to chill out in the beach at Bird Island. It was my favourite boat excursion that I’ve ever had. We walked to Devil’s Bridge (use the path that exits from the back right (facing the sea) from Lovers beach and follow it to the road, then turn left. It took about 8 minutes from Lovers beach. The resort would be complete perfection if: - it wouu yours be lovely if there were a few sodas, beers etc in the room. The balcony was lovely and we would happily have spent a few evening hours there, but it took so much walking to get drinks, it wasn’t worth the back and forth. We ended up around the main pool (as the pool bar stays open until 11pm) or the Sports Bar (open until 1am) but would have loved to have just chilled with a few drinks on the balcony. - an app that shows a timetable of which restaurants are open/ menus/trips would be great. One night we arrived on the beach for the buffet bbq to find it empty. It turned out it had been cancelled and the buffet was just as normal, but we had no idea and there was nowhere that it was shared publicly. - room service would be fab. It would have been great to have had breakfast on the balcony looking at the fabulous view of the water. I didn’t want to leave & will definitely visit again at some point! It’s a wonderful resort and a fantastic island ❤️❤️