Cocobay

Review of Cocobay resort for future travelers, the deluxe cottage and standard cottage are basically the same so please save your money. I booked a deluxe cottage with ocean view and please see picture of the actual view I was given no ocean basically the back of the resort. Once arrived it was then explained the meals must be scheduled, and that you must eat between certain time frames or you would be reduced to finger foods. Which coming to an all-inclusive resort seemed odd, but with covid I would be flexible. There is no map or itinerary provided of activates, locations of amenities, or even the times of each said scheduled meals. The property is very small with 2 pools and 1 beach, please note this beach is local as all beaches are local in Antigua, so you will experience some locals trying to sell you items on the beach and no drinks or food will be served on the beach from the resort. The rooms do not have a television, but do come with wifi at least. There is a mosquito net in the room around the bed that is a must!! these cottages are older and have alot of wood so ants and mosquitoes are frequent. The drinks provided are more bottom shelf (alcohol) nothing top shelf and they only have 1 type example: For tequila they had Montozuma and that was it, unless you go to the Sheer Rock's, which is a separate restaurant with a fee. The food is very bland, and they basically give you very small portions. The meals offered as an example where pizza, hamburgers, and spaghetti which sounds more like a kid’s meal than resort. There are also local cats that roamed the property and would come up to you for food and staff never did anything about them. There is no band/item to signify if you are a resident of the resort or not so people can walk up from the local beach to the resort so safety was a concern of mine. I have been to multiple all-inclusive resorts and never experienced what I have at Cocobay resort, hope this will help future travelers before going just by the reviews alone. Read less

My wife and I had an extremely wonderful experience at Cocobay! It is one of the few resorts we have been to that we would make a return trip. The views are absolutely to die for. We loved that this resort was a little more low-key than the largely known resorts. Not a ton of people, everything is close together, the staff is lovely and gets to know you, and you don’t feel like all your money is going to some huge corporation. Here are some highlights and tips: Arrival: $42 taxi ride from airport to resort. 35ish minute drive. Cash only. Same cost to return to airport (the resort will organize this ride for you, but you still have to pay for it). Taxi service was very organized, as soon as you walk out of the airport after baggage claim you will see the taxi stand. My wife had camo leggings on, a police officer politely informed us that camo can only be worn by the military in Antigua and it’s a $50k fine… he said she could change in the bathroom. Do yourself a favor and bring cash with you. They take USD everywhere, but bring some small bills so you can tip or give exact change. The last thing you want to do on vacation is try to find an ATM. Check-in: check in was a breeze, just do everything on-line in advance. We were not offered rum punch or towels like other people say on Trip Advisor, I think it largely depends on what time you arrive. We were quickly given keys and shown to our room. The cottage: we got a deluxe pool cottage. I would have made that decision again. It was truly amazing. It was one of the furthest cottages from the hub of the resort (lobby, restaurant, pools) but still only a 2.5 minute walk. Views were breathtaking. Extremely private. Plunge pool was chilly during the morning and evening but that's to be expected. It’s deeper than expected, at least 5 feet deep. Bed was wonderful, room was clean. Tip: they use a little shell hanging out of a big shell to notify housekeeping that you want your room cleaned. If you put the little shell inside the big shell: it means do not disturb. We had a large entry room with a mini bar/coffee, champagne on ice upon arrival. This room is not air-conditioned which is fine when coming out of the plunge pool. After that you get to a private deck with lovely pool chairs. Inside the main living area you have your bed, bathroom, and an amazing AC unit. There was also a second deck overlooking the ocean with two adirondack chairs and a hammock. AMAZING. Yes it’s rustic, but very charming and clean. We did NOT have an issue with bugs, we didn’t even use the mosquito net. Meals: Breakfast was always great. A different special everyday, any kind of eggs/omelette you want, bacon (a little more fatty and undercooked compared to american bacon but still great) or sausage, toast, fruit, etc… nothing is buffet style, all served and the service is wonderful. Lunch was hit or miss, but dinner really made up for it. There are two bars that also serve food, the small bar by the sunset pool serves wonderful paninis at 11am and the main bar has snacks as well starting later in the afternoon. Dinner was always fantastic, a choice of several appetizers, a choice of soup or pasta (or both… the pastas are to die for), a choice of entree (rotates every day but they always have a burger), and a choice of 3-4 desserts. They also always have 3 choices on the $30 supplement menu (free of charge if you book through the resort) that includes steak, coconut shrimp, and shrimp mac+cheese. Those menu options were all fantastic, but not sure I personally would pay extra for them. We never went hungry. Even skipped lunch a few times just because we were eating too much. They do ask that you wear a mask when walking through the restaurant. This is really the only time we were asked to wear one. Do yourself a favor and remember to bring it with you to each meal. Pools: Main pool: directly across from the restaurant, this pool overlooks the ocean and is gorgeous. It’s busier and farther from the beach. Sunset pool: smaller but less busy and closer to the ocean. We never had a problem getting a chair or towel regardless of which pool we chose. Both pools close at 6, although we did get into the main pool after dark one night and no one said anything to us. Pools are gorgeous and face different directions so you get different views and different amounts of sun depending on the time of day. Explore both! They clean the pools very well each morning. The other pools on property are shared with Sheer Rocks and have to be reserved. We had a floating breakfast in the blackrock pool and it was an absolutely breathtaking experience. Highly recommend it. Because of how far east the island is in the eastern time zone, sunrise is early and sunset is also early so keep this in mind. Beaches: as others have stated, all beaches here are public which is fine. There are three beaches. 1) Resort beach/little fryes beach is beautiful but a bit too many shells for my taste 2) Valley church beach is long and exquisite and empty but takes 5-10 minutes to walk to and you have to leave the resort through the entrance to get to it. 3) Fryes Beach. This is the winner. This is why you paid all this money to come to Antigua. This is what post cards are made of. White silky sand. Vast amounts of calm, crystal clear water. Very few people. I could live here. You get here by walking down the resort beach and taking a little road past Dennis’ restaurant. Do yourself a favor and look on apple/google maps to get a lay of the land. The only 2 downsides: it’s a 5 minute walk, and there are no resort chairs this far down. You can pay $20 to a guy at Dennis’ and he will hook you up with two chairs and an umbrella for the whole day. Not a bad deal for a seat in paradise. Spa: We had a truly tremendous massage on site here. The spa is close to the main pool so it’s not always the most quiet experience. I would suggest playing low spa music here to drown out some of the noise. I have had a lot of massages and this was truly up there in terms of technique. Jet Ski: This was the only thing we really spent money on in terms of activities. $60 for 30 minutes. It was a blast and we did it twice. Private beach dinner: This was part of the romance package and we LOVED it. Some people said it’s the same food as the restaurant…. This isn’t true.The food was next level and amazing. It’s right by the sunset pool and the backdrop was to die for. The service is a bit slower, but you essentially have a private waiter that has to walk all the way to the kitchen anytime you need anything, so it’s expected. Wildlife: hummingbirds everywhere which is awesome. Mongooses are everywhere but they leave you alone unless you leave food out. There are several cats out and about and they are adorable. We did not experience a lot of bugs during our stay. I was very nervous about this because we are from the southern US and I get eaten alive by mosquitos. I applied a small spray of 40% DEET to my ankles and wrists every morning and evening and maybe got one bug bite during the entire stay (July 2021). Read less

We stayed at Cocobay in November 2020 & all in all had a great stay! The hotel itself is nicely decorated with two beautiful beaches within easy access. There are also two pools, one of which is an infinity with a fantastic view out across the sea. The accommodation was nice, food also very good and the quality of drinks included in the AI also great (even Mount Gay XO was included which we were very happy about). The staff were also very attentive & friendly! The only thing we felt worth mentioning is that as some other reviewers have pointed it out, it can get a bit noisy at times with a lot of young adults making the most of AI drinks. In all fairness we got unlucky and had some very wet weather during the few days we were there & with not much else to do in the rain, I think people were sat at the bar drinking more during the day. People were having a great time & at one point the bar area almost became like a party with the bar staff handing out shots. Although being in our 40s now we're probably a bit past that, we did join in the fun, but in secret we would have preferred a bit more of a low key evening is all. Had we both still been in our 20s we of course would have loved it every bit as much as they did! Anyway it's not really a criticism, it's just something to be aware of if you are looking for a quiet stay & happen to be there at the same time as a group of 20 somethings. The on-site On The Rocks restaurant / bar (not including in the AI) also looks fantastic with amazing views, although sadly we didn't get to eat there during our stay. Read less

We stayed here the 10th July for 11 nights. Our room was Monsterrat 2. Deluxe cottage with a plunge pool. Firstly the staff, all helpful, friendly and go above and beyond to make your stay one to remember. Even though they had to wear masks in the restaurant there eyes smiled always. Such lovely people. Liza in reception on arrival kindly helped me check in on line whilst I enjoyed my complimentary rum punch. Then on to the rest of the staff to many to name them individually but all 100% brilliant. The food in Rafters restaurant was amazing high quality ingredients cooked to perfection. All drinks amazing. From main bar and beach bar. They also do bar snacks. I never tried them myself but again they looked great never heard any complaints during our stay. I would highly recommend this place after the last 18 months of Covid lockdown and restrictions, the perfect place to un wind and relax. I would return in a heart beat. We travel a lot and we will definately return soon. Three beautiful beaches within easy walking distance. The main beach attached to the hotel is great free sunbeds. Boat trips, jetskis, snorkeling, we were even treated one morning to the locals performing hand net fishing. All in all, I can't say anything bad regards Cocobay it was all we dreamed it would be. Thanks. Read less

I want to start off by saying I don’t tend to write reviews as they take a long time to write (fairly) and I always feel bad if it isn’t a 5 star review. But after my experience (and after reading a couple other reviews) I felt like writing one. Let me start with the positives…THE VIEWS!! Absolute show stoppers from every corner of the resort, from our balcony to our walks to and from the room. Cottage was clean and comfortable. Laying on that hammock at the end of the day was pure relaxation. The beach was beautiful and we didn’t mind being around the locals. On the weekends it can get pretty crowded so we went to Fryes beach instead which had no people and was even prettier than Coco beach. There were some people who really stood out and made us feel special. Silvurene, Gamoy, Mr Gore, Kermeisha, Marie or Christine or I think it was both (so sorry if I got the name wrong), and a few others I regret not writing their names down. Also the lovely guy at the beach with the floppy straw hat who kept topping my beers all morning and got me drunk by lunchtime. YOU GUYS ROCK! I must say everyone works so hard here and I recommend you take cash and tip whenever you can, it makes a difference! Also the ice/water machine was a life saver! Luckily I brought an insulated water bottle which I intended for alcohol (haha) but it was so hot and its easy to get dehydrated out there with the sun, sweating, and drinking. So bring one of those if you’re a big water drinker. Now for the negatives.. Before we even booked this place I came here to read reviews, I went as far back as 2019 and most of them are positive yes but I always appreciate reading the mixed and honest reviews, helps to come prepared. It is important to note that I did not book in advance and I really wanted to come to this resort so when I found the room I wanted on a travel booking site I went for it. It was a package with flights included and a far cheaper price than booking separately so why wouldn’t anyone take that deal right?? From the days leading up to the trip I had this feeling in the pit of my stomach that the hotel wouldn’t have our reservation, mostly because of the reviews that mentioned how they didn’t book directly with the hotel and had had issues. I ignored the feeling as the company we used had sent a confirmation link and it seemed as if everything was set. So we set off and arrive on July 7th and what do you know? They have no reservation under my name or my husbands name. My problem wasn’t so much as this hiccup (part of it was which I’ll explain) my first issue was with the front desk persons attitude, won’t mention her name but I believe she is a supervisor. Her reaction was akin to someone who's living room you just showed up to unannounced, she scoffed at us as if we were inconveniencing her entire day. She then suggested that we maybe have the wrong hotel as COCOS is similar in name and nearby. I pull up my email and show her the confirmation from the website we used to book and she went off behind a door to ‘investigate.’ She reemerges and tells us that basically we are screwed and have nowhere to stay because they are FULLY BOOKED and the company we used is blah blah blah, some third party booking excuse that I do not care to hear because I have just flown 4 hours from NYC to be told I have nowhere to stay for the next 6 days?! I ask her several times, so you’re telling me you have absolutely NO rooms? Why would I be charged if there are no rooms available? She laughs and then says ‘I have to look and see IF I have anything available but in the meantime I suggest you call that company and get your money back.’ Now I understand that things happen and there may be a lapse in communication somewhere along the line with these travel companies but her entire demeanor was that of someone who truly did not care if you slept on the side of the road or not. To make this already long story short, I got a very polite rep on the phone and explained my situation to which he said please hold and I will get this squared away immediately. In the meantime the front desk person kept giving me the run around of not having a room and then finding one for a portion of our time there to then suddenly finding one for the 6 nights we were there. She then quotes me about $800 more than what we paid through the company. I’m about ready to pull out my card and pay it because who wants to deal with this at the beginning of a vacation?? Finally the rep comes back on the phone and tells me that he has gotten in touch with someone and that our reservation will pop up in 10 minutes. I was skeptical because she was also skeptical, saying she hadn’t gotten any call from the ‘reservations’ department so she’s not sure who he spoke to. But within minutes our names popped up for the exact room she happened to miraculously find. Her attitude after that changed, she then became the sweet and charming front desk girl that everyone raves about once she realized we’d be stuck there for the next 6 days. I knew the same reviews I had read like this mentioned not having a mini bar so I purposely asked her if we would have a fridge with waters in it because thats really all I cared about…water. She said something to the effect of ‘well the room doesn’t come with that but for you I will put some waters and soda.’ Thank you so much ma’am. This entire experience left a terrible taste in my mouth and I am convinced that they do this to not lose money through other websites. You can’t tell me that you are fully booked and scoff at me to then find the room and apologize for the inconvenience. This isn’t our first travel rodeo. Now I’m not here to purposely bash anyone but I will state the facts and maybe this will prepare a future traveler. Might I add that in all our travels we have never booked through a hotel directly and never had any problem (as long as you do your research). The good thing is that after a good nights sleep the next day went by and then the next and it was all good times from there. The other con is the food. All hit or miss. It felt like we were on a strict diet the entire time. We didn’t have a problem with the strict meal times either, we can work around that just fine. But portions are so small and asking for seconds doesn’t make much difference plus I feel like a child (and somehow rude) asking for more food. And if you have any dietary restrictions well good luck with that. Breakfast and lunch were OK, dinner eh. I understand the whole 3-4 course dinner but one lettuce leaf in my salad is ridiculous. That being said there were some meals that were delicious. Don’t bother paying for the extra items at dinner either because none of it is worth it. We’ve had better steak at city diners. So do yourself a favor and pack some snacks. All in all a memorable experience to say the least. Maybe book with this hotel directly and lower your food expectations and you’ll have a great time! Read less