Royalton Antigua, An Autograph Collection All-Inclusive Resort

My husband and I booked what was advertised as a luxurious, 5-star hotel for our honeymoon trip. The Royalton Antigua a far cry from a luxurious resort and is in dire need of demolition as it poses a significant health risk to anyone staying there. Allow me to outline the various issues we encountered during our 7-day stay, as well as those experienced by other guests we met during our stay: 1. The presence of black mold was pervasive all over the resort. As soon as we entered our room, we could immediately detect its distinct odor. Even if we had been able to switch to another room, we learned that black mold was present in all the other guests’ rooms as well (that we had spoken to). There was no escape from this problem. 2. Our bathroom emitted a strong sewage odor, despite neither of us having used the toilet yet. This unpleasant smell persisted throughout our entire stay. We promptly requested to be moved to another suite, as we had initially booked a room with a king bed for our honeymoon. However, we were informed that no other rooms were available until the following Monday. Consequently, we were confined to the two double beds of room 10110. 3. The dining experience at the resort were extremely disappointing. My husband and I both contracted food poisoning on two separate occasions during our stay. While we are both healthy adults with no pre-existing conditions, blood was present in my husband’s stool which was a cause of great concern. Firstly, there was a complete absence of sanitization bottles, which likely contributed to the constant presence of flies, even in indoor dining areas. Stray cats freely roamed the outdoor dining rooms, and to our disgust, I discovered cat hair in my food at the Caribbean restaurant. On numerous occasions, I observed small birds drinking cream from open coffee service containers. Beside the poolside bar, mint is grown on site for use in mojitos. In theory this is a neat idea, but these plants had visible mildew growing on them, and we witnessed the bartenders muddling them into drinks for the guests on multiple occasions. We were even served a raw egg through room service, which we refused to eat due to safety concerns. The overall lack of food safety and carelessness from the staff and servers made us feel unwelcome and like a nuisance. 4. The resort's maintenance practices are shockingly unsafe, as evidenced by live electrical wires hanging over swim out pools and exposed ground conduits that lack protective covers. On Day 3, after a maintenance crew had finished painting the exterior wall, it rained briefly and caused the paint to bleed into the pool, resulting in visible cloudiness. Instead of promptly addressing the issue, the maintenance crew briefly left it unattended and then attempted to clean it with a shop vac. These are just a few examples of the appalling conditions we encountered at the resort (we haven’t even mentioned the chronically damp bedsheets, multiple power outages and having to call room service multiple times to verify the status of the order we placed over 2 hours prior, only to be served raw eggs). Despite our repeated attempts to contact management, they were nowhere to be found. We strongly urge management to address these problems at the Royalton Antigua, as the current state of the resort is completely unacceptable and poses a significant risk to the health and well-being of its guests. This is not an experience we would willingly choose to repeat given the chance. Shame on those who charged us nearly $10k CAD for this horrific "luxury" resort. Read less

The resort is beautiful. Staff are gracious and warm. It's pretty easy to navigate through. There's only one main building where all the rooms are. There are 3 a la carte restaurants, the buffet, a sports bar, a coffee/pastry shop, as well as beach BBQ daily. The beach is very close to the pool area, so not a far walk. The food is fine. We had no issue at all. There is an option to upgrade to Diamond Club. We chose not to, and we're fine without it. It's kid friendly. I wouldn't consider it a 'party resort' Rooms were clean and spacious. Water pressure was good for showers. We would go back Read less

I had such high expectations of this hotel, as I have stayed at Royaltons before in Jamaica and St Lucia and although reviews were mixed with them I decided to go and they were great. So on this even with mixed reviews I went with my gut and stayed for two weeks. If you are happy paying 5 star prices for 3-3.5 star hotel then book it. I also like to think I am fairly experienced at reviewing hotels as I stay over 100 nights a year in hotels with work and 30 plus on holidays, and average is probably 150 nights a year, so I know what to expect at different levels and price points. I will write the few positives first: The beach is nice, its sandy, doesn't get deep quickly so good for Children. The views from the bay view rooms is lovely The lady's servicing rooms are good. Now for the negatives: Rooms are average compared to other royaltons I have stayed at, clean but average Rooms service - fine if you have come to Antigua to have burgers and nuggetts and salad. Restaurants - 3 star max no where near five, Buffet one day you are like its ok, next day the steak is pure fat and grisstle, the potatoes arent cooked and by 9pm loads of stuff is run out. Italian - average at best Caribbean thought was ok - until I spent over 12 hours in the bathroom that night Steak restaurant is best of a bad bunch - again hit and miss Service at bars - very average - slow and how many times asked again what I ordered - i was ordering two drinks not ten. Cocktails very average. Check in really slow - even as someone with status at the group that was fast tracked it was still over 90 minutes and was 4pm so rooms should be ready. I spent 3k on staying at other hotels whilst I was there as just couldn't bare staying there every night. I am a very seasoned traveller, I am not expecting the Savoy, Hermitage, Sandals and Claridges and yes I have stayed at all of those, but I expect at least decent 4 to 4.5 level service and food for price paying. My only advice is there are much better hotels for this price point. Most of other guests I spoke to said same and said they would rate it around 3 star. 100 per cent go to Antigua. its in my top five countries and I have travelled the world but I would spend my money elsewhere. A very disappointing stay and hotel. Read less

My stay at the Royalton in Antigua was AMAZING! The staff were very professional and so polite. Sydon, Jaydane(Smiley) he makes the BEST drinks, Chelsea, Akeem, Richard, Shamoye and Kessyan were the highlights of the resort with the All White party, the Sip and Paint, Karaoke, the Carnival, etc.! This is definitely a resort to enjoy with family and friends. I had the time of my life!!! This was truly an A+ experience for me! Loved it! Loved it! Loved it!!! Read less