Cocobay

This was the second part of our holiday for 6 nights. We had been allocated a complimentary room upgrade on arrival to a sea view room with a pool. The room was a good size with a great view the added bonus of the pool was great to come back to. We had lunch a couple of times but preferred to either have the panini’s from the sunset bar or have a coffee and muffin from the coffee shop. The menu was good for the evening but we mainly had 3 courses not the 4 on offer. The bar was well stocked although I would prefer bottled beer rather than the draft beer. If I could give 4.5 points then I would as the only down side was it was a little tired in places such as the bottom of the pool at the room needed repainting, there was a mat to float on in the main pool which was well past its best cracked etc, plus a general lick of paint etc away from the main areas. Having said all of this it did not spoil our stop here. The great thing about this hotel is some of the staff, Vinci( Hope that’s the right Spelling )in the sunset bar what a character who had worked here for 25 years, Mr Gore the cricket man, Alex our room ambassador, I can’t remember the lady concierge who on her way home picked up some deodorant as I had run out,Derrick the barman,Kirk the beach guy who brought the drinks to us plus others who we had a great conversations with. However some staff really didn’t seem to be in the right job as they didn’t engage with us etc but again this didn’t spoil our holiday. We also spoke to the manager a really nice guy who knew which room we had been up graded to…thank you for the upgrade if made our 37th wedding anniversary special. Would we return yes we would thank you all again. Read less

Cocobay Resort lived up to my wildest imagination. As I spent time booking my trip to Antigua, I went back and forth on where to stay. I finally booked Cocobay and even leading up to my trip there were some reviews that made me second-guess my decision. These people must have been in another hotel because the negative reviews were so far from actuality. Check-In was a breeze, and I was greeted by the Concierge Janine that took care of us throughout our entire trip. She planned my dinners, excursions, and all extras. She went out of her way to make sure our trip was awesome. The room was better than expected and clean enough to eat off the floor. The bedding was great, the pillows were great, and we had robes and towels waiting for us. There was also champagne on ice in the room for us! The AC worked great and WOW what a view! The shower with doors that opened to the deck and the outside tub were awesome. The room has a hummingbird feeder that allows us to watch the hummingbirds daily. The plunge pool was cold, but we did utilize it on the hot days. The coffee box in the room was a big hit for my wife! The food was great, and I am a super picky eater. There was never EVER a night that I could not find something on the menu. The resort is not like sandals or others where there is a gluttonous amount of food all day. They have just the right amount of high-quality food. Three meals a day, paninis served by the lower pool, and snacks at 3:00 by the upper pool were just the right amount. The coffee shop and a few snacks as well The pools and beach were amazing, at no time during the day could we not find a seat by the pool or the beach. We always had fresh towels and they would serve us drinks by the pool all day...the bar was close and getting a drink on our own was just as quick. We sat at the beach a few times and it was equally as nice and had drinks served there as well. The reef off the beech has some decent snorkeling if you are in to that. We saw a huge spotted eagle ray one day! The best part of the trip was the staff. Every single one of them always had a smile and greeted you all the time. They went out of their way to remember my drinks and make sure my time was awesome. There were so many, but some names that stood out and that I could remember were Denise, Ashley, Marlon, Sylverine, Kerry, Mr. Gore (KGB), and Edwin. Thank you to each of you for making our vacation memorable. We met many people there and the cool thing about this was most of them have stayed at this resort numerous times prior. Their repeat customer base says enough about Cocobay. Things to remember about this resort are that it is quaint, relaxing, and does not have the hustle and bustle like a Sandal.... which is exactly what we loved. There were previous reviews about the cats, the numerous cats are no longer there...I heard they had all been adopted. There were only 2 that I saw daily, and they did not bother us at all. The mongoose population is thriving but is across the entire island. They also don't bother you and just scurry across in front of you. We went on a few excursions and even the locals said that Cocobay is the place to be. We travel quite a bit, and Cocobay has jumped to one of the best places we have stayed. If you like the boutique style all-inclusive you will love this hotel! We are already planning a trip back with our friends. Read less

We had 10 nights here in march, but only just getting to do my review! We thoroughly enjoyed our stay. We stayed in cottage Nevis 2, which was at top of hill therefore giving excellent views across the bay to church valley beach. The room had a separate seating area as you came in front door. We didn’t really use this though as there was no air con in there and you couldn’t really leave doors open as the little birdies would come in to steal the sugar! You the walked past the plunge pool to get to the bedroom. There are 2 sunloungers on the deck by the pool and it was so relaxing to sit and watch over the bay. Our huge bed was extremely comfortable. The wardrobe was behind the bed, it would have been nice to have some more hanging space and drawers. The bathroom was massive with two sinks, shower gel, shampoo and conditioner. There is also a hairdryer which is fine if you have short hair as I do, but if you have long hair you may want to take your own as you could be trying to dry your hair for hours! All meals, breakfast lunch and dinner are served a la carte, and the menu has 2 or 3 choices per the 3 courses. Everyday the breakfast has a special of the day as well as normal menu. There are cereals and pastries, fruit and yoghurts and cooked eggs & bacon etc. The food is excellent quality and very well presented. The menus were not always to our taste but after a quick conversation with Jermaine we were assured that we could ask for something else, nothing was too much trouble. We mostly enjoyed having toasted sandwiches at lunch instead of 3 courses. The hotel has 2 pools both have service from the bar. If you want a bed by the main pool you have to be pretty quick in the mornings, but the beach beds are easier to get throughout the day. The beach is lovely and also has bar service which is a bit hit & miss. There are 2 other beaches which you can walk to they are also beautiful. There is also a great coffee shop which doubles as a souvenir shop. You can get various home baked cakes and cookies here. There is a lovely area out the back where you can sit and drink your coffee whilst looking out over the bay. To sum up, the staff are amazing,friendly and helpful. I would not class the resort as luxury and it could definitely do with a spruce up in places. However it is comfortable and clean, and situated in well maintained gardens overlooking a beautiful beach. We would come back. Read less

We spend April 11-18 at Cocobay and truly enjoyed it. The one thing that truly sets this resort apart is the customer service. Every person from the groundskeepers to housekeeping to the front desk, beach staff, bartenders, waiters and water sports staff bend over backwards to be kind and outgoing. Not once can I think of any employee there failing to say hello. We stayed in the Nevis building as part of the Silver Sand package. Upon arrival we got a full tour of the premises and of our room. The rooms are air-conditioned by a split system and we had our set at 16 degrees C (about 60 degrees F) and it was all it could do to keep the room cool. The rooms are older but incredibly comfortable. Ours sat atop a hill so we had a great view. The room came with a lovely front veranda with some chairs, a hammock and our own plunge pool which I highly recommend. We also booked a romance package which included a massage, “exclusive dinner” and in room sushi boat dining one afternoon. The sushi boat got dropped into the pool and took some damage but was still good. The cliff side dinner was a bust due to rain. We were rescheduled one night and the following night left hanging without anyone telling us was was going on for more than 35 minutes waiting for our table that never happened. We decided to just have our dinner at the restaurant which was still good but lacked the ambiance. We spent most of our time on the property. Breakfast daily was pretty much the same options daily with one “special” each day. I spoke with another couple wh had been there five years and and told tales of a breakfast buffet with omelette station and pancake station which certainly sounded better. For lunch we either at at the main restaurant to had a panini from the lower pool or on the beach. The lower pool is lesser known than the main pool and is route to the beach. The young lady behind the bar there is an amazing drink maker and panini chef and once we found her lunch at the restaurant faded into the distance. The beach staff was very attentive about bringing drinks and lunch if you’d like. We did the nightly dinner at the restaurant with the exception of one night eating at Sheer Rocks which was well worth it It’s a separate venue but they can make reservations for you at the front desk. My wife had just undergone neck surgery about 6 weeks prior to our trip so we didn’t book any excursions but some of the friends we made along the way booked boat trips, private island tours and personal watercraft through the hotel that were very personalized and for which they were highly complimentary. I wish there had been an option to book a room with television but we made do without. There was barely enough in room internet to stream from our home satellite network and DVR. As is typical of all inclusive hotels the bar’s liquor and wine is made up of brands you’ve never heard of with the exception of the odd bottle of Jim Beam. Any time we wanted a little more in the drinks it was freely given. Overall we’d give it a 9 out of 10, falling short only on the room AC (which I could never imagine keeping up the cool in the hotter months) and the limited menu at breakfast. It is supposed to be adults only be we saw a few kids less than 10 roaming around - which was weird. Some employees who really stood out were Jermaine and Denise at the restaurant; Denise, Mel S, D’Wanica and Shenika at the restaurant wait staff, Jess at the front desk; Mr. Gore who is everywhere and finally at the lower pool and beach “Miss V (I can’t recall her whole name) behind the bar and both of the guys on the beach, Kirk and J (whose who name I cannot recall) who never left you needed another drink. Read less