Full Video of Royalton Antigua

[@NaomiyolandaG]

Thank you so much for the video!! Looking forward to my stay :)

[@rileypremiertravel]

I’m glad it was helpful, I would love to hear about your stay! Enjoy 😊

[@crqdea6654]

THANKS FOR SHARING VERY INFORMATIVE BEAUTIFUL RESORT🌴🏖🍹

[@rileypremiertravel]

Thank you for watching and keep me posted on your stay and have questions ✈️🌎

[@markthompson50]

A really good review! We're coming here in 7 days! Thanks for posting 👌

[@rileypremiertravel]

Thank You. Let me know if you have any additional questions prior to arrival. Enjoy your stay 😊

[@rileypremiertravel]

Hi Mark, how was your stay and what did you think?

[@wssumom]

Thanks I’m going next week for my 40th birthday 🎉

[@rileypremiertravel]

Awesome, please enjoy and would love to hear your feedback! I’m a WSSU mom also if that’s Winston Salem State Rams 😊

[@modeyahbell3517]

Hi, just watched your review. Thank you. Have a 50th bday surprise for my hubby. Some friends will be along are there daytime activities? Also did you explore off the resort

[@rileypremiertravel]

Hi Thank you for watching. I was celebrating my 25th anniversary so I didn’t venture off the resort as I typically do as I wanted to relax and chill 😉. Yes they have onsite activities They have a board outside the DC lounge! I would recommend the culinary experience for his birthday, it’s a chef with a 7 course meal it is however extra it was $125 when I was their. Let me know if you have any additional questions ✈️🌎

[@valriebrown3574]

I went to Royalton Negril we had a swim out room,l don’t see that in Antigua Royalton

[@rileypremiertravel]

Hi 😊 Yes Ma’am they do. Look at my Channel and I did a tour of the Swim-out room!

[@malcolmmiddleton-xq1uw]

Had two weeks at this hotel last year . The hotel is very nice the rooms are nice the location of the hotel is superb nice beach and some nice walks nearby and it is easy to get into St John’s . The food is 3 star at the best and the service is the worst I ever encountered . A lot of the service staff I E bar and restaurants are rude and very arrogant and this was not just my opinion. To get the most out of the hotel you have upgrade to the diamond class and if you want a nice room then you have to upgrade that to . And if you add all the cost of all that together then go and book a room at sandals and you have a much better holiday.

[@eliaskostopoulos9942]

Do we have to make reservations for dinner at the restaurants ?

[@rileypremiertravel]

Thank you for watching! No we did not however it’s recommended to do so, and if you have Diamond Club your Butler can do it for you.

[@eliaskostopoulos9942]

@@rileypremiertravel thank you.

[@raerich999]

Is nibbles restaurant only for diamond club members?

[@rileypremiertravel]

Hi, No it’s for everyone. When you rent a cabana this is where they get the food from. The days I didn’t have the cabana we eat there during our time at pool & beach.

[@raerich999]

Thanks for info 👍🏾

[@davegriffith6409]

do they rent jet skis on the beach ?

[@rileypremiertravel]

Hi Thank you for watching , Yes you can rent Jet ski on the beach as we did on our stay!

[@davegriffith6409]

@@rileypremiertravel thanks

[@jamesc2327]

How was the food?

[@rileypremiertravel]

To be honest it was OK.. I really enjoyed the Caribbean Restaurant. There were two nights I did enjoy the variety At Buffet

[@jamesc2327]

@@rileypremiertravel ive been worried about the reviews, anything a year old seems to have bad reviews. This review was one of the more positive ones. Im heading there for Christmas with my family so I have concerns . Fingers crossed, thx for posting your review

[@rileypremiertravel]

@@jamesc2327 I like to be honest but know it’s ultimately up to a guest to try for themselves. I’ve gone to a few resorts with bad or not so great reviews and I had a totally different experience. Don’t go with any expectations just go looking to have a great time! The entertainment was by far my favorite!

[@paulshepherd8295]

@@jamesc2327 Hi, we're due to go there in February. How's the food?

[@jamesc2327]

@@paulshepherd8295 it was fantastic, my kids have food allergies and they made sure each meal was safe by cooking them separately. Im not sure why ive seen bad reviews but we had a great time, no issues at all. The kids had an amazing time.

[@paulshepherd8295]

This is my review, based on our stay in a Luxury Junior Suite with Bay View, from 7th to 14th February 2023: Site The site itself is very nice, with a lot of work going on to keep it that way (grass being mowed, paths being jet-washed, etc). The layout is good and sign posts are clear. Room & Maintenance The room is basically a standard hotel room, but because a small sofa-bed, a writing desk and a small coffee table have been squeezed into the space between the bed and the end of the room, it has been called a Luxury Junior Suite. To me, this is pushing the definition of Junior Suite to the limit, and verging on misrepresentation. I have been in many budget hotel and motel rooms that have been both bigger and easily as well-equipped (for a fraction of the price). The bathroom has a good sized shower cubicle, but no space for a bath. So, as well as the room failing to meet the expectations of a Junior Suite, I also struggle to see where the Luxury is too. The room was clean and looked fine from a distance. Closer inspection revealed that the coffee table was past its best. The curtains were not hooked onto the rail properly in a few places (so they did not overlap properly, and did not sit against the wall as they should to block out the light) - I fixed this myself. It’s fine having two wash basins in the bathroom, but not if one does not hold water - it was leaking past the plug almost as fast as the tap would fill it. This was due to one of the plugs having no sealing ring. I swapped the plugs over so that the good plug was on the basin closest to the shaving mirror, after which the other basin did not get used at all. This was reported during a survey taken just after we arrived, and I was told that someone would fix it, though it was not fixed while we were there. Although there were coffee & tea making facilities in the room, the coffee whitener in the sachets had turned from powder to a single solid lump. I am very glad that I paid extra for a room with a bay view, as the rooms on the opposite side of the accommodation building have no view at all. It may be described as a hillside view, but the reality is that it is a very steep hillside, just a few yards from your balcony (and the hill is taller than the building). I think there needs to be more honesty when you are describing the view, to manage guest’s expectations and avoid disappointment. Facilities & Entertainment There are not enough beach towels or sunbeds, and this is exacerbated by poor discipline by many guests (putting towels on beds then disappearing for hours). On two occasions we went to ask for beach towels in the early afternoon, only to be told that there are none available. The first time we were told that more towels would be arriving in about 20 minutes, which they did. The second time we just got an abrupt “no towels”, and the staff member did not know when more would be available. The evening entertainment was decidedly amateurish, and the compere was very repetitive. On the night that the fire eater/limbo dancer appeared, we must have been told 100 times that he was the number 1 in Antigua (though I do wonder how much competition he has for that title). He basically strung-out his routine for an unnecessarily long time, and as a result it started to get tedious. Having background music around the site is fine up to a point, but there is too much intrusive music almost everywhere. It is also all the same genre, and one song seems to blend into the next, so you feel like you’ve been listening to the same thing for hours. On the day we left, we spent a few hours in the lounge area around the entertainment stage. At one point we had the usual annoying background music and different music from the stage sound system, both at the same time. Caribbean destinations are known for allowing people to chill-out and relax. Having areas and/or times when there is nothing but silence is not a bad thing. Food & Drink Firstly, the hotel website refers to the restaurants as World-Class. This is simply not true in any respect. On our second night in the resort, exactly 3 hours after we finished our evening meal in the buffet, my wife was violently sick. Sickness and diarrhoea carried on all night, until about 07:30 the next day. She was so exhausted and weak that all she could do the day after was sleep. It took until the second day back in the UK before her stomach felt fully back to normal. Not only did this write-off a complete day of our holiday, it also greatly compromised the remaining days. My wife very rarely gets sick, and there is absolutely no doubt in our minds that the cause was food poisoning. This should simply not happen in any hotel, let alone a supposedly 5-star establishment. However, when you visit the buffet two things quickly become obvious; the hot food is not kept hot enough, and the cold food is not kept cold enough. All the hot food is in trays on hotplates, but the food is always lukewarm (and you never know how long it’s been standing there). Conversely, things like yogurt, which are kept in an open cabinet with a cold base, are definitely warmer that the ones in my fridge at home. Both of these things are ideal breeding grounds for bacteria. After the above episode, we were very careful in what we chose to eat, selecting those items that were less likely to be sources of food poisoning. The site ran out of bananas for over a day, so there were none available in the buffet, and none of the cocktails that include bananas could be made. And yet, I know that there are literally tons of bananas for sale in St. John’s, just a 15 minute drive away. Why could the hotel management not just tell a staff member to get in a car and go and buy some? Similarly, there was also a shortage of apple juice while we were there; another item they could have got within minutes if the will and the organisation were there. Tomato ketchup was frequently not available in the buffet. Empty bottles were removed but not replaced for several days. We ate in the SCORE Brewhouse one evening. You would imagine from the name and the very overt beer-related decor that there would be a wide selection of beers on offer. When the waitress asked what I wanted to drink, I asked what beers they had. She replied that there was only one beer - Carib Beer, so I had that. It was OK, though a bit watery. We also ate in the Hunter Steakhouse. My ribeye steak was undercooked from the medium/well that I had requested. It also had many gristly parts that were unchewable. In addition, the steak knife had great difficulty cutting through it. Overall, not good. We had better food in the Italian and Caribbean restaurants on site (although the chicken breast in the Italian restaurant was very tough). So, as you can see, the overall picture is a very long way from World-Class. Service & Staff The majority of the staff are very courteous and helpful, and provide a good level of service. Having said that, we still encountered a few that were sour-faced and (at best) monosyllabic. My guess is that whilst most of the staff want to work there and understand what is required of customer-facing roles, others are probably only there because there is no other work available. Diamond Club I object in principle to things such as Diamond Club as it creates a two-tier system that just seems inappropriate for people on holiday. However, having now seen the ‘benefits’ of Diamond Club, I really don’t see the value in having it. Certainly during our stay, getting a seat in a restaurant was just as easy, the Diamond Club area of beach was no better, and having a dedicated check-in area is hardly a huge selling point. I think I would feel short-changed had I paid the extra for Diamond Club. Summary A nice place to be, in a great location, but nowhere near 5-star standard and with poor quality food and drink. The resort and its facilities are over-described, which creates a level of expectation that cannot be met. As a result, I have to conclude that it does not represent good value for money.

[@rileypremiertravel]

Paul this is a very good break down. Most of what you experienced I did as well. I travel and stay at Royalton’s often and I was a bit disappointed with this location.I try to keep an open mind when traveling and take the reviews with a open mind. As with many hotels they will over hype their resort as to why for me these types of reviews are necessary. I agree I had a Bayview and had my room changed and it made the stay more pleasurable. The towel situation is out of control as it’s done at 99% of most resorts. I’m so sorry to hear about your wife hope she is feeling better. Again thank you for providing your fees back! Nicole ✈️🌎

[@paulshepherd8295]

@Riley Premier Travel Thanks Nicole. I think it's trying to be something it isn't, and maybe if they focused on having (say) 4 really good restaurants instead of 7 mediocre ones, things might improve. I think they still need better management and organisation, and would probably benefit from Marriott sending a task force of experienced people in for a while to sort it out.

[@rileypremiertravel]

@@paulshepherd8295 I agree and also look it that many people will think it was a 5⭐️ experience. There is definitely some work to be done there in many areas.

[@rileypremiertravel]

@@paulshepherd8295 I totally agree it’s a very small Boutique resort . Hopefully the New Royalton Chic will be better when it opens.

[@linmartin5398]

Where are the jacuzzis?

[@rileypremiertravel]

Hi, jacuzzi where at specifically are you referring to?

[@rileypremiertravel]

They are by the pool

[@linmartin5398]

@@rileypremiertravel Thanks.