| It was pathetic, but understandable...... |
| Hotel Grand Pineapple Beach by Occidental |
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Tina07 >
1 contribution(s) United States of America |
| Nov, 2009 | Leisure | With Spouse/Partner
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Regarding Pineapple beach hotel. It was pathetic, but understandable...... arrived at this resort, 3 months pregnant with first child. Our bags didn't arrive with us. Our rooms were not AC even though we were paying for beach front. The first day, after not sleeping the day we arrived due to lack of ac and my pregnancy, we were the first ones to breakfast. We were seated and then another couple was seated right next to us, despite that place being empty. He was smoking and I was tired, and pregnant, not happy to be breathing in his cig smoke. So we asked to be moved due to the smoke stream. What does the hostess do??????ah she tells the couple that is smoking that we are disturbed by their smoking and if they would move!!! The guy got irate and almost punched my quiet husband. It was horrible horrible horrible. It was right out of bizarre. The good news was later in the week, something happened and the smoker's finger swelled up and had to taxi into town (FAR) and had to get the wedding ring sawed off! The clincher is that it was not necessary, my hub new how to get it off her finger with a technique used by EMTs.
THe guy apologized after a week of us feeling threatened constantly.
OH I forgot we had to be confined to our rooms for 2 days with only ham sands. because of a #3 hurricane. It was powerful enough to blow off one of the restaurants roof!
How fun was this week! Of course it was our first time away at an expensive all inclusive, stay at one place, resort! |
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| Staff demanded a $75 cancellation fee.... ridiculous!!! |
| Hotel Grand Pineapple Beach by Occidental |
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Danny07 >
1 contribution(s) Canada |
| May, 2007 | Leisure
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| We (6 of us) had read numerous mostly poor reviews of this resort. Deciding to try a new place rather than return to the Dominican (which in hindsight was a mistake) we took the plunge! |
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| Resumé |
To sum up, we wrote a letter of complaint to Signature via our agent. After a month of us checking in and no responses, we then wrote another to Mr. Michael Price, President of Signature Vacations. To date, no response...
So, overall, while the beach and environment were truly stunning, the overall vacation was spoilt by many issues that made the vacation far less than what it should have been. Like others have written, your money is better spent elsewhere. Needless to say, we will not be going back and do not trust Signature Vacations to live up to their side of the bargain either! |
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| The bad |
| The staff seemed unhappy and were mostly unhelpful. Our rooms (non-ocean views) were basic with the bare essentials (no fridge like the ocean view rooms) and very noisy air conditioners (think v8 engines). The washrooms are basic and the walls around the tub crack-filled probably to allow the insects a good in and out from the room. Our kettle broke on day 2 and although we asked for a replacement, this never happened... the doors are glass slats. One of our rooms had see-through slats and when we complained, the staff nailed some cloth on the inside of the door to act as a curtain. The food was mostly basic, bland and almost always the same... the first 3 days there was virtually no fruit until a truck arrived on the Wednesday and thankfully we enjoyed a day or two thereafter with some fresh food and fruit. If you have food restrictions (i.e. for religious reasons, etc.) chances are there will be evenings you will go hungry as they tend to serve pork, ham, seafood with crab or shell that restricts your choices). We had numerous other issues (cancellation of taxi within 5 minutes of asking for one resulted in an argument where the staff demanded a $75 cancellation fee.... ridiculous!!!). |
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| The good: |
| Great location, beautiful beach and flora, very tranquil, not much motorized noise and wonderful swimming and sun tanning. |
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| The views from the hotel are lovely |
| Hotel Royal Antiguan Beach And Tennis Resort |
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MikeSheliaUSA >
1 contribution(s) United States of America |
| Jun, 2006 | Leisure | With Group
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| We are now in our final day of a one-week vacation at the Royal Antiguan Beach and Tennis Resort, and we have had a wonderful vacation here. We are here with my parents and my husband's parents. We unanimously give the Royal Antiguan high scores in all categories. The last reviewers mentioned the lack of guests at this resort. There are more people here now than they described, but this big hotel is far from full. This has not seemed like a disadvantage to us...we have enjoyed it--but we can't figure out why more people aren't here! The beach is the best we have seen anywhere and there is never any trouble getting a chair and catching some quiet time in the sun. The beach restaurant was open all of the days we have been here except for a couple of days when rain showers drove people off of the beach. When that happens they serve the same menu in a lovely open air restaurant nearer the hotel. One night there was a 'Manager's Cocktail Party' with hot appetizers and free drinks in the lobby. The manager went around welcoming everybody. This preceded the Thursday night bar-be-que buffet that was quite an incredible meal. My husband and I are vegetarians; our parents are not. We all had plenty of great food. For us there was corn on the cob, baked potatoes, cooked vegetables, potato salad, beet salad, cole slaw, seasoned rice, soup, bread, etc. For everybody else there was all this and all sorts of barbequed meats. The dessert selection was incredible, including an amazing coconut pie. The food in general has been the best we have ever eaten on a Caribbean vacation. The landscaping, including vegetation, walkways, and fountains, is absolutely beautiful and very well-maintained. The views from the hotel are lovely (but pay a bit extra and get a lagoon-view or ocean-view room). Finally, and most importantly, the people who work at this hotel are some of the nicest we have met anywhere. If you come, be sure to give some food to the ancient cat who hangs around the grounds and adds still more atmosphere to this great place. |
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| This was such a DISAPPOINTMENT!! |
| Hotel Rex Halcyon Cove |
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AnaToronto >
1 contribution(s) Canada |
| Feb, 2005
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| This review would be of interest to families with little ones. My husband and I have traveled to some very nice islands, and I will try to be non-judgmental when reviewing this resort, but it will be difficult. As a mom of a 4 year old, who happens to be a great traveller, we were disappointed with this resort, for it catered very little to small children. |
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| Bars |
| The bartenders were nice, happy and jovial. Our favourite was Denton, who was by the beach bar. After a while, he knew what we were drinking and referred to my daughter as the "fruit punch" lady. |
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| Beach, Pool, Chairs & Tikki Huts |
| The week that we traveled (from Jan. 31 to Feb. 7) the ocean was very rough. The water is a nice turquoise colour, but unfortunately, we only went to our knees. We were in Dickenson Bay, whereby the water is supposed to be calm, but not during our stay. After speaking to some locals, when the west side is rough, head east of the island. The pool is very small and not shallow at all for little ones (shallow end starts at 4 ft). I would highly recommend bringing arm floats or even a lifejacket as we did, independent but still safe. As in other islands, we learned that the chairs and tikki huts disappear rather quickly. Get up early, and reserve your chairs (and tikki huts) with your towels. The weather is quite comfortable - it was sunny around 9 am with a gentle breeze blowing. Around 3 pm, we would see some cloud cover and would cool down somewhat. |
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| Children's Club & Playground |
| This was such a DISAPPOINTMENT!! On our arrival, we were told that the kids club was closed on Tuesday - fine, no problem, my daughter waited patiently to the next day. On Wednesday, I approached the front desk to find out the hours of operation: opens at 10:15 am and closes during lunch and opens again in the afternoon. On several occasions, I personally walked over to the kids club which is by our building, the room was locked and dark. I went to ask the front desk, and they acted all surprised. After the 3rd day, I realized this resort did not cater to kids. As for the playground, there's a frame for the swings, but no swings and the games room also non-existent. In comparison to other resorts, like Mexico, Turks and even Cuba, it really is disappointing. FYI...I spoke to people who stayed at the Pineapple Beach and St.James, everyone said the same thing - "it must be an island thing" was our conclusion. So, keeping this in mind, DON'T ADVERTISE THIS TO YOUR KIDS, BECAUSE IT IS NON-EXISTENT. |
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| Excursions |
| We did the Wadali tour to Bird Island. The catamaran was nice, but the little island could be slightly more accommodating. There's one building, not much to see, just snorkel. I would recommend that kids and adults too, wear sandals or water socks because it has a lot of coral and you can cut your feet easily. It can be quite busy as well, since you get many passengers from the cruise ships - we went on a Thursday. |
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| Lobby & Rooms |
| We flew with Skyservice from Toronto and booked with Signature Vacations. When we arrived to Antigua, there was a shuttle bus/taxi awaiting us and promptly dropped us off at the hotel. The lobby is modest, but very clean. We were checked in immediately and offered a beverage. We had arranged for a superior room, and were taken to room 252, which apparently is known as the Gardens. Our room consisted of a king bed, a small cot/bed for our 4 year old, a full bathroom with tub, and a balcony overlooking the gardens (BE CAREFUL IF YOU HAVE A TODDLER - it's quite a drop down). The resort mostly consists of 2 to 3 storey buildings, and everything is just steps away, which is convenient when travelling with small children. We could hear the waves from our room, and our building was behind the beach-front rooms. If your children take naps, I would highly recommend the poolside rooms, because many parents would be tanning outside while the kids napped inside. |
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| Nightly Entertainment |
| There is no team like ANAMICON in Cuba - instead, one evening you have guests entertaining themselves with karaoke, there's a steel drum band another evening and the most "entertaining" evening was the fire-eater man. Other than that, entertainment lacked and because the proximity of the buildings were very close to one another, the music was very loud. As for the island of Antigua, we didn't do Shirley Heights, but everyone did rave about it (but I think its an adult-only thing). If you think its Mexico or Grand Cayman, there's no clubs. Just little bars and some nice restaurants. |
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| Restaurants |
| The buffet restaurant is located directly in front of the lobby in another building. My daughter's best meal was probably breakfast. She enjoyed her morning cereal, and enjoyed her eggs and bacon. The meal consisted mostly of the traditional fare - eggs, bacon, sausage, french toast or pancakes, fruit and some traditional dishes from the island. For coffee drinkers, I would recommend the coffee machine - I would enjoy my cafe latte every morning in comparison to the coffee that the waitresses provide. Lunch was also available here, but somehow we seemed content with the food the Carib bar by the beach, that provided fries, hamburgers, hotdogs, salads, bbq chicken. At dinner, every night was represented by a different island. A warning to parents - try the food before placing it in your kids plates - some food tends to be very hot/spicy, even though it doesn't look it. We were told at the end of the week, that there was a kids menu - but no one ever mentioned this to us, a common trait we found at this resort- information was never volunteered. Ask the waitress after your child's meal for ice cream - they will bring it you, but again, they will not suggest. Overlooking the beach is Warri Pier - it looks runned down, with some shutters missing - the food consists mostly of seafood, and personally we didn't eat there, but from those who did, said there was nothing to boast about. Many people who chose not to go all inclusive, raved about a little place up on a very STEEP hill, about a 5 minute walk from the resort, Paty's Pizza and another little restaurant near Coconut Grove, the Beach, just after Sandals resort. |
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| Resumé |
| So, to wrap this review: I would not return to Antigua, especially to the Halcyon Cove with children. After traveling to nice islands like Turks & Caicos, Barbados, Aruba, Grand Cayman, Mexico and even Cuba, I was really disappointed with Antigua. The fact that the resort could have done a lot more to cater to children was a real downer. However, they are not to blame entirely, but Signature vacations should do some major updating to their brochures. |
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