ANTIGUA & BARBADOS Why visit just one island when you can visit two or more?
I hired a car for a couple of days which is well worth doing and drove all over the island stopping to view some of the breathtaking scenery and beaches that vary in size and seclusion and to carry out some sight inspections of other hotels on the island that included Jolly Beach Resort, Sandals and passed by the stunning Blue Waters Resort (contact me for more details)
Antigua is not as fully developed as some other Caribbean islands and has a relaxed culture that moves at a slow pace “Island Time”, the locals are very friendly and gladly welcome all visitors.
If you’re looking to truly marvel at the island’s beauty, I suggest going to Shirley Heights (especially on a Sunday for live steel band music and delicious BBQ food) which undoubtedly has one of the best sunset views that the island has to offer. Tourists from all over the island arrive as early as 4:00pm to reserve a spot for the view.
English Harbour is another great location to visit on the south of the island. The majority of establishments are a combination of outdoor clubs, bars and restaurants situated around the lovely harbour filled with yachts.
For the shopper, there are numerous duty-free shops that line the harbour of the islands capital, St John’s.
Nature takes its course on this beautiful island, if you like a perpetual Caribbean island-vibe, an array of intimate beaches and breathtaking scenery, Antigua will be your paradise.
Next it was onto my favourite Caribbean island, beautiful Barbados (for details on Barbados see my other blog).
My connecting flight was with Liat. (Leeward Islands Air Transport) the airline operates inter-island scheduled services serving 17 destinations in the Caribbean making multi-centre holidays in the region possible and highly recommended.
This time I stayed at the newly opened Waves Hotel & Spa by Elegant Hotels. It’s a new kind of all-inclusive resort in the Caribbean, with a boutique modern designer feel. The hotel has rooms on three floors above the beach, and spa rooms across the road with a dedicated adults-only pool (there is a pool with cabanas that children can use located within the main hotel on the beach side of the property). There are three places to dine: Seascape, a Mediterranean-style eatery; Shiso, an Asian fusion restaurant (highly recommended!) and Kyma, a coffee bar and deli. As well as these restaurants you can take advantage of the Elegant Hotels dine around program that allows you to dine at up to 20 different restaurants at all six of the groups hotels on the island.
The hotel offers a beach ambassador to serve you all the rum punches you need right on the sand. The emphasis is on being active, from Pilates instruction to beach meditation to complimentary spa treatments (and three complimentary rounds of golf, too).
During my stay I visited a number of hotels, first being the relatively new Sandals hotel that opened in December 2013. The hotel is located on the stunning white sands of Dover Beach in the south of the island. I loved the exclusive touches of this newly opened Sandals, which include private soaking tubs on the balconies and patios, direct access into the lagoon style pool and a selection of 11 themed restaurants and bars.
The lovely boutique Little Good Harbour Hotel situated in a quiet little fishermen’s village on the North West coast, offers luxurious holiday cottages amidst lush gardens with two swimming pools. For lunch I visited the hotel’s lovely restaurant with stunning views of the Caribbean Sea. The Fish Pot, I highly recommend a meal here even if you are not staying at the hotel.
On Sunday I visited Little Good Harbour’s sister hotel The Atlantis Hotel. The hotel is located in Bathsheba, on the eastern coast and has just 10 guest rooms with fine food served in the hotel’s restaurant. On a Sunday it’s very popular with locals and visitors and I got to sample their famous West Indian buffet lunch serving authentic Bajan and Caribbean food with live music whist overlooking the Ocean.
These two sister hotels offer a package called East meets West where you spend part of your holiday at each hotel experiencing the contrast of the exclusive west and rugged east coasts of the island.
Ocean Two is a smart welcoming resort with poolside lounges adjacent to the beach. This apartment style hotel is located in the famous and convenient St Lawrence Gap on the south coast with its many restaurants and bars.
For more information and advice on either of these destinations, please give me a call.