Not as big of selection of food in evening as I expected
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
I have just returned back from a trip to Antigua and whilst there we stayed at two hotels. The second one we stayed at was this one and we also got married whilst staying here so I thought I would share my views on this hotel as it was pretty stunning!
We booked to stay here in a standard room type after deciding that to pay for a full sea view would be silly as most of the standards have a partial sea view anyway. Now the thing to note about this hotel that is very unique compared to a lot of other hotels is that the rooms are all individual cottages as you can see in the main picture that is above. There for it gives a real feeling of privacy and pure relaxation but the main thing to note is that this hotel is mainly adults only - there are certain dates where children over a certain age are allowed (which I think is about 12) but more often than not it tends to be adults only that you get staying here. The wedding package we had booked was all done through our UK tour operator ( Tradewinds) and everything was arranged through them.
The Location: The hotel is in the area of Valley church and comes under Jolly Bay. It is only a 5 minutes drive from Jolly Harbour but you can also walk to Jolly Harbour by walking along the coastline - a more time consuming way but also more fun as the beaches are stunning! The hotel doesn't have much in the immediate vicinity around it but there is a bar located at the bottom of a little lane next to the hotel called Dennis' bar and as I mentioned you can get a taxi into Jolly harbour if you wanted to. In the evenings there is also a restaurant in the hotel that is not included on the All inclusive and it is quite popular with people coming from all over to eat in here! The hotel is set back from the main road and overlooks beaches on either side of where the cottages are all placed so it is perfect for a beach location but also very quiet and intimate in the evenings.
The hotel: The hotel has approximately 53 cottages and these range from standard, sea view, sea front and plantation house. With all the rooms they have the same internal decor but hence the names the sea view have unrestricted vies of the sea, the sea front are the ones placed at the bottom on the same hill the hotel is on and these are rooms that also have there own private plunge pools and the plantation house are larger in size with two bedrooms for up to 5 adults to stay in. The hotel has a medium sized reception and a small bar area. The main restaurant that is included in the all inclusive is situated across from the bar and the restaurant that is also open to non hotel guests is underneath the main one. The pool area isn't huge but is stunning with a beautiful infinity pool surrounded by wooden floors. When you first arrive at the hotel there is no sign on the road up to it with the name and even when you finally pull up to reception there is still nothing to say that you are there but it looks very nice with flowers on the porch area. It gives it that edge of exclusivity. The only sign that is on the main road is one for the restaurant that is open to guests and non hotel guests which is called 'Sheer' and this is quite a large sign. That is the only thing that tells you that you are at the Cocobay hotel really!
Check in: Check in is very smooth - they go through all details with you that they need to and advise when the room will be ready if you are arriving early. They advise that you can leave your luggage at reception and that it will be taken to your room for you. You are given your key and can go back to reception to check if it is ready later on - if it is then they will advise that you can then get in the room. Also because we were getting married here the wedding co-ordinator met us at check in to arrange a time to meet to go through details. This was arranged for the same day which I thought worked well as it meant that this was done and we could then just chill out knowing that was arranged and we knew what was happening and when.
Rooms: We have booked to stay in a standard room simply because the cost for a sea front with the private pool was out of our budget and then also because I knew that most of the standards have partial sea views anyway so we thought it seemed pointless to pay for that - in the end it worked out really well as we had an amazing sea view which wasn't really obstructed at all. We could see some of the rooms that were below us but these didn't obstruct our views as they were slightly lower on the hill than us anyway. I would highly recommend these rooms as in the picture I've added on here you can see the view we had from our actual bed which even from there you can see was an awesome view of the sea! The rooms came with a mini fridge and a large chest of drawers. There was also a small open wardrobe behind the door to the room and the safe was also located in there. The bathroom door is located directly facing the front door and is a decent size equipped with a toilet, shower and sink. They provide toiletries and hairdryer in the bathroom. The best thing about the bathroom is the doors next to the shower. These can be opened and directly facing the doors on the balcony is high bushes so that you can shower with these open and let the breeze blow through. Truly brilliant. The balcony itself runs all the way across the width of the room and has two wooden chairs on it as well as a big hammock - we spent a lot of time in this hammock as it was the perfect way to having some book reading time before going down to dinner!
Restaurant: The main restaurant is quite large and is the same place for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Both breakfast and lunch are buffet style and they always have a choice of meats including fish and salads and in the morning cereals and a chef to cook you eggs of your choice. Once you have chosen your food and seated yourself the waiters or waitresses will come over to serve you drinks and also offer you dessert at lunch. They always offer wine at lunch time too and fill the water glasses for you.
Dinner in the evenings is more formal and all men after 7pm must wear long trousers and collared shirts so it is quite smart. Once you arrive for dinner you give your name to the maitre'd and he will show you to your table. Once you are seated he will leave you with the menu and advise what the pasta of the day is. The menu normally consists of about three different starters, a soup and then three different mains. The waiters normally provide bread rolls at the start of the meal and ask if you would like wine. They also provide you with water as well. The menu also has a 'supplemented' side too of which there is about 6 other options to choose from that are at a cost of around $9 - $20 extra. These are charged to your room bill if you decided to eat from this and include things like lobster and steaks. For me personally, the only downside of the whole hotel was that there didn't seem to be enough choice on the evening menu - I don't eat fish and therefore found it difficult to find much to eat off of the menu without having to order something off of the supplemented side and this wasn't I wanted to have to do after paying for all inclusive in the first place! However, the food was tasty and my husband loved it. Plus the presentation of the food was very good. Deserts were offered at the end from normally a selection of about 3 or 4 and nearly always included an ice cream choice.
Facilities: The hotel includes certain watersports too which include hobie cats, snorkelling and kayaks. These can be arranged by the man who is directly as you enter the beach area from the hotel. If you want to take part in other water sports such a jet skiing or the banana boats you can do but these are booked through reps who go up and down the beach so are not part of the hotel and obviously at a charge too. The hotel has a 'wellness cottage' which is where you can have beauty treatments but as I didn't have any I can't really tell you if the staff in here are any good!
Overall opinion: This hotel couldn't have been any more perfect for us to get married in as it was truly stunning - very romantic setting and really intimate as everybody feels welcome - the staff really make an effort to talk to you and because of the small size it means you can feel like you are looked after by them. The location is perfect for weddings and I am so glad we picked this hotel to get married at. The wedding co-ordinator at this hotel was brilliant at organising everything and would make sure she kept us up to date on everything that was going on. The food is good but as mentioned before I just wish in the evenings there had been a bit more selection but that is just me being a bit fussy as I don't really eat fish!
Rooms a the hotel start at approximately £100 per night depending on what season you stay during and what room type you have.
(+) excellent value for money, watersports included with good tuition offered (-) rooms are small and functional but how much time do you spend in your room
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