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WHORRALL from WIRRAL travelled to Galley Bay Resort with
VIRGIN
on a couples holiday.
There were 1 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 10 2007 | rated the Galley Bay Resort as follows:| Cleanliness |  | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food |  | |
| Entertainment |  |
| said: wonderful holiday in wonderful hotel,everywhere was exceptionally clean,food in both sea grape and gaugan were gorgeous but we particularly enjoyed gaugan,right on the edge of the beach,in our own little gazebo,very romantic with excellent service,views to die for.hotel grounds were gorgeous with a beautiful,enormous lake-and you could fish in it with all equipment provided free.the staff were all very helpful and friendly and Mike in seagrape resturant is amazing with a dreamy voice,describing each dish in such a way you wanted everything on the menu,he was gorgeous!but the cleaners,groundsmen,handymen,reception staff and restaurant staff and the chefs were all wonderful.the entertainment was generally very good,quite low key,but we were so relaxed we were often in bed by 10pm so missed the entertainment!library was brilliant
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Merseygull from Teignmouth travelled to Galley Bay Resort with
Thomson
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 11 2006 | rated the Galley Bay Resort as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff |  | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Sara and I stayed at Galley bay for two weeks from the 24th November, here are our thoughts…Flew on Virgin Atlantic, premium economy, liked the twilight check-in and the flight was called on time the next morning…
Unfortunately, however we took off about 45 mins late (I was told later that we had been waiting for a couple of passengers – probably first class).. Uneventful flight but one down side was that I had pre-ordered a bottle of champagne which they told me would be served about two hours into the flight… well it didn’t arrive and when I enquired I was told that they had no record of it.. Eventually, with only an hour of the flight left, they found the bottle (and the message that I had asked for) and asked me if I wanted them to put it on ice!! – We took it with us. The net result of our late take off was that we were in a queue of planes at the far end and had to circle for another 40 mins or so and when we did land and disembark, there were three or four planes that had arrived at the same time and the arrivals hall was full to bursting with some degree of resulting chaos…
A word of advice, once you’ve cleared passport control. Pay one of the porters $1 a bag for your luggage, they will fast-track you through baggage handling/customs.
Nice trip to the resort and a rum punch on arrival before being taken over the bridge to our home for the next two weeks…
We had opted for the Gaugin cottage and weren’t disappointed, ours was actually the family Gaugin (no.5) which has a second bedroom cottage, which came in useful (later).
I won’t bore you all with an in-depth description of the place (there is plenty of that around), I’d just like to share some of the reservations that we had about this holiday 9which I pointed out to the management on the comments card that we filled in before we left.
Firstly, breakfast…. Waited-on a la carte service is all well and good, but it means that you’ll be spending up to an hour having breakfast (even if all you want is a couple of fried eggs and a bit of white toast)… they need to have an egg/omelette station and some of the simple things (ham/bacon/sausage) need to be out on a buffet.
Next, Drinks, or rather LACK of them, Premium that is…..The premium drinks are rationed, Sara likes Baileys and often I was given a poor second rate (and poor tasting) substitute which I took back and when I pointed out that it wasn’t baileys the bar girl explained that she wasn’t allowed to open another bottle of the real stuff until the fake had been finished… fine I said, just keep serving me the rubbish and I’ll simply pour it away till you’ve finished the bottle….
Other guests were unhappy with the quality of the mixers supplied, one chap asked the management to get in some Sch (you know who) tonic for his Gin and was assured that some would be brought in.. after four days inquiring he was eventually told that there was NONE available on the island!! (a bit funny that as it’s the same company that supplies their Coke)
There were a number of weddings whilst we were there… one lunchtime a group of four girls came to the bar to get some champagne (cava) to take away, one of them was the bride who was getting married later that afternoon… we suggested that they ask for a bottle of bubbly to take back to the room, but this wasn’t allowed, they would be charged for it!!! HOW BAD IS THAT??
Next, Staff… I found some of them to be pretty dour, even when we tried to start a conversation we would often get single word answers without a smile… notable exception was Carthaginea, a.k.a. trouble, who was always so bright and bubbly…and a further mention for Kenny in the tepee bar.. Mike Matthews in the Seagrape is a real character, I still chuckle when I think of him announcing Wahoo fish as the special of the day!! – that guy could do voice-overs in the movies!
One lunch time we walked down to the Gaugin… OK it was about 3 mins before 12 but we indicated that there was no problem and we would be very happy to sit at the bar and have a drink… well the (no name badge) waitress huffed and took us to a table, didn’t pull out Sara’s chair and dropped the menus on the table without a word of welcome….
Next problem was that the table (right at the front of the restaurant) was SWARMING with ants and when we asked to be moved, her reply was “oh they’re only the red ones… they don’t bite”!! – we got moved and then 5 mins later another couple was placed there and also asked to be moved… only then did someone clean the area up… still our waitress was so grumpy that lunchtime and we didn’t feel welcome at all….
Entertainment at night is very low-key and everything closes at midnight (or on some nights at 11:30 if there aren’t many people around!
Food mostly OK, but some very variable cuts of meat, one night at the Gaugin I ordered Lamb chops medium and was served with two charred chops each about half an inch thick, a few nights later the same request brought forth tow chops that were 2 inches thick and RAW in the centre….
Beach was good, on the days when the red flags weren’t flying (about 50%) the hobie cats, canoes and boards were getting used regularly..
One gripe about the beach, the excursions that pick up from there can’t always do so because of the roughness of the waves… the boat that came to pick us up for the sunset trip was such a case and the shouted for us to make our own way around to the next bay (hawksbill) and they would pick us up from there.. they gave us 10 mins to make the trip, well we couldn’t be bothered…
I know that the hotel has no connection with the excursions (but they do advertise them, and will organise for you) but it would be good if there were a simple landing stage (a small retracting one on wheels would be good enough)
Mozzies/sand fleas – RAMPANT! – bitten to death despite 50% deet applied liberally and Vitamin B tablets… the beach is particularly deadly later in the afternoon…
There is a well-stocked library and a selection of board games
My wife enjoyed her massage and pedicure, you need to book these early to get the time that you want…
Nice touch by the hotel was a bottle of Cava delivered to our room on the morning of our anniversary, together with a hand –written note!
Going back to the spare bedroom thing, we met some couples who needed somewhere to change and shower before going home so we lent them our spare room… but there are cabins down at the Gaugin end of the resort that you can hire after vacating your room , they are perfect for the purpose and worth the money!
All in all a good holiday, nothing to do except sleep/lounge/read/eat/drink.. perhaps a little too quiet and one or two things could be improved…5 star, no, probably 3 and a half at best… would we go again? – possibly, but there are still other islands to see….
In conclusion, on the way home we were asked to make ourselves known to the cabin crew and having done so, the chief attendant came to us apologising for the mix-up on the outward flight… she had tried to upgrade us to first class but it was full but shortly after take-off produced truffles and champagne (real stuff!!) and told us to go into the first class bar and have whatever we wanted…
Grateful thanks to Gloria, a Virgin Atlantic customer services officer who we met in Galley Bay and who obviously had “had a word” when she got home… BLESS YOU!
Any specific queries, pm or email me…
ATB,J.
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K Hawley from Coventry travelled to Galley Bay Resort with
Virgin
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2006 | rated the Galley Bay Resort as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We stayed in Galley Bay for 10 days on our honeymoon and it was wonderful,the food was of a very high quality and the wine flowed,the staff could not do enough for you and wewe so helpful and lovely.
We stayed in a deluxe beach front room but moved to a suite which was worth the extra money as the suite had patio doors and the other rooms have wooden slats for windows and made it very noisy to sleep with the tree frogs.
The hotel was very clean and the ground very well maintained. You could do nothing but relax at Galley Bay and after all the stress of planning a big wedding, it was just what we needed.
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Rod & Carol Armitage from Buckinghamshire travelled to Galley Bay Resort with
Sunset Holidays
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 03 2006 | rated the Galley Bay Resort as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: This was our first visit to the Caribbean, and we were very pleased we had chosen Antigua, and the Galley Bay Hotel.
This was also our first experience of an all-inclusive holiday, which worked extremely well with the only limitation being the choice from 5 excellent house wines. No-one seemed to be buying wines by the bottle from the wine list.
The location of the hotel is superb, situated between a freshwater lagoon and the sea, and is very private.
Our room was right by the sea and was very comfortable, with free mini-bar and excellent walk in shower as well as a large comfortable bed.
The hotel staff were very friendly without being over familiar and the service in the dining room was exemplary.
The food was of a high quality and the Gaugin Restaurant located almost on the beach slightly away from the main hotel building provided a lovely romantic setting.
Entertainment was provided each evening, and, although somewhat low key, was ideal for the setting.
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Lisa & Alec from Southampton travelled to Galley Bay Resort with
Thompson
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 11 2004 | rated the Galley Bay Resort as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We married at a livelier hotel in Antigua with family and then went to Galley Bay on our own for the 2nd week for our honeymoon. This is the ultimate honeymoon hotel!
From the moment we arrived at Galley Bay, we felt really welcome by the staff. They really could not do enough for you. Within 5 minutes I was sipping a banana slide cocktail - delicious!
We stayed in a Guigan cottage which was very secluded and looked onto the bird sanctuary. It had it's own private plunge pool and was the most romantic place we have ever stayed. The mini fridge was re-stocked every day and when we asked for more beer, when we returned to our room the fridge was full!
The food was excellent, especially the eggs Benedict for breakfast. The Guigan restaurant was superb and served more informal food at lunchtime and the fish and chips served here were great! My husband was on crutches during our stay and when we wanted to go to the Guigan restaurant there was always someone on hand to drive us there in a golf buggy.
The cocktails were great, and I think I tried every one on the menu at the Tippee bar, and of course there was always an abundance of champagne on offer.
The beach was wonderful, although the current is quite strong.
We met some lovely people there who go back every year, generally a very friendly crowd.
We can't wait to go back....true paradise!
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Angela from Oxford travelled to Galley Bay Resort with
Thomas Cook Signature
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 05 2004 | rated the Galley Bay Resort as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We got married and spent our honeymoon at Galley Bay at the end of May 2004. We couldn't have chosen a better place, infact we still can't believe our luck on finding such a wonderful hotel. Its tucked away on a private beach, quiet and peaceful and everything the brochures state is true.
Our room was situated right on the beach, the sound of the sea lulled us to sleep each night, a balcony to sit and watch the sun go down. A huge bathroom with a very large shower, a walk-in wardrobe and a gigantic comfortable bed.
The staff were all so friendly, they just couldn't do enough for you, our wedding plans were all taken care of, from the flowers (even down to matching the colours around the pergola), photographer, wedding cake, romantic meal later on in the evening... everything was perfect - all the worry and effort was taken out of the wedding arrangements, all we did was turn up on the day. The photographs were taken and brought back in an album the very next day! We cried when we watched our video back in England - it captured the day so completely.
Food was prepared freshly for you, waiter service from breakfast to evening meal - not like AI at other hotels we have stayed out, where it is served as buffet style and you help yourself. The choices were endless with a catch of the day, soup of the day, and these differed at lunch and dinner. Children under 16 were not allowed at the resort, so it was a very relaxed atmosphere especially at meal times. Nothing was too much trouble for the staff who were so friendly, smiling and constantly at your beck and call.
We really couldn't fault anything, a couple of younger couples did end up going elsewhere, as the hotel was probably a little quiet for those who want an energetic nightlife. Entertainment was usually a band or solo singer and you were also invited to a cocktail evening and barbeque whilst there. The food was superb at both. A real favourite was the Gauguin restaurant which needed to be booked on the day you wanted a table. It was always very popular but we ate there on several occasions, especially at lunch time.
This year, we received their brochure, send directly from the hotel, and they have added some extra features to some of the rooms and extended the Gauguin restaurant. It was sad not to be flying out there and doing it all over again, it was perfect for us, a fabulous, memorable wedding day and honemoon. We will definitely be going back there again (and again I hope).
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Carolyn from Rushden, Northants travelled to Galley Bay Resort with
Virgin
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2003 | rated the Galley Bay Resort as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We were maried here - on the beach and it was everything we hoped it would be.
The rooms were terrific with big american size beds and huge bathrooms and very simply but elegantly furnished.
The food was absolutely first class as was the service in the restaurant. The staff seemed to welcome everyone personally and were great with the personal touch.
The Location was fabulous - very quiet and peaceful. The beach straight out of a picture postcard and very private.
It is a couples only hotel and most seemed to be honeymooners. The entertainment was low key, which suited the place perfectly.
All in all ... it was a paradise and I hope one day to be able to return.
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