TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

This is quite simply the best place we have ever been to. All of the staff without exception were friendly, attentive and efficient and couldn’t do enough for you. The rooms were amazing, the restaurants/food outstanding and we have already rebooked for next year. The only thing I will say is if you want to be guaranteed a swim in the sea every day, it can be a little rough at times but it really didn’t bother us. All in all a very high quality resort and we can’t wait to return in February!

Just returned from 12 great nights at Galley Bay. Been before, but many years ago, so a lot of additions, improvements and investment since then. The whole place is relaxing, totally enjoyable and with a stunning beach and views. The food and drinks are top quality, with premium brand spirits, a good wine selection and an excellent menu choice in all restaurants. Our room was very well serviced every day by lovely housekeeping staff and the minibar restocked daily with whatever drinks we requested. The Teepee bar is a great place to socialise and chat to other guests, with your glass constantly topped up by Caryl and her colleagues! The restaurants and kitchen staff do a fabulous job and all meals are freshly cooked to a high standard. The only buffet- style food is the weekly lunchtime barbecue and the breakfast items, but at breakfast there is also a menu of freshly cooked dishes. The grounds and garden areas are immaculate, with a team of gardeners constantly working every day. They even rake and clean the beach. There are plenty of pathways to have a stroll and watch the birds, the little reptiles and see the tortoise sanctaury. Entertainment is provided every evening and depending on ones taste in music, there are some really good musicians. The steel drum guys were brilliant, as was the Saturday evening band with the great cricketer Curtly Ambrose on bass guitar. As stated by many other reviews, what excels at Galley Bay and makes the whole place such a holiday delight are the staff. They are so friendly and efficient and obviously well-trained and mentored, which is a reflection of the high standard of management here. They are given every opportunity to fulfill their potential and many have risen from trainees to senior managers over the years. It would be very unfair to single out certain staff over others, but we were hugely impressed with Stuart in the Seagrape restaurant, Caryl at the Teepee bar, Derrick the Operations Manager, Vincent the Food and Beverage Manager and my new Antiguan friend Nathaniel, the Executive Chef. What a great group of people, with excellent staff reporting to them. Finally, a huge thanks to General Manager Antoine, who's obviously backed by a great team. Please hold on to them! It was probably the best holiday we've had, anywhere and we're already planning our next trip back in 12 months time.

My wife and I are just back from 2 fantastic weeks at Galley Bay, and can see now why there are so many great reviews for GB. This was our 1st stay and from the moment we arrived we felt welcome and relaxed. We were served a rum punch welcome drink by the very friendly porter Alfred, who we saw around the resort on a regular basis. Check in was straight forward and Alfred took us by golf buggy from reception to our room and also gave a brief introduction of the resort and the facilities in our room. We had chosen a Deluxe room (which are the lowest cost rooms) as they are the only rooms that are all upstairs, as we prefer the views from a balcony rather than a terrace. You get to see the whole beach and out across the sea from a balcony whereas from a seated position on some of the terraces you get a much more restricted view. Of course upstairs we didn’t have direct access onto the beach, but that wasn’t an issue for us, as we were still less than 1 minute away down the rear stairs. Our room was spacious, and it particularly felt so because of the vaulted ceiling (another advantage of being upstairs), with a walk in wardrobe and good sized shower room. Everything was kept incredibly clean by the amazing housekeeping staff. We also had a large balcony with sun beds so we could relax immediately outside our room in a morning or late afternoon. There is also a rear balcony with 2 chairs where we could sit to look out towards the lagoon and the hills beyond. The room had a fridge for drinks, which was stocked with white wine, beer, soft drinks and water. We also had a bottle of red wine on the dressing table. All were re-stocked based on what had been used. On arrival you are also given a bottle of Champagne which is left in an ice bucket. As it was my wife’s birthday whilst we were on holiday, I’d messaged the hotel before we arrived to let them know, and they arranged for another bottle of Champagne to be left, along with a plate of fruit and a card wishing her Happy Birthday. Like all the beach front rooms, we had an allocated beach palapa with 2 sun beds in front of our room, which made for a relaxed start to the day as no one felt the need to reserve sun beds with towels. That said, whenever we were on the beach it was always very quiet with lots of the beds unoccupied. The beach, approx. 3/4 mile long, is beautiful soft white sand and always quiet. All beaches are public in Antigua but we only saw a couple of locals on the beach twice in 2 weeks, so with only hotel guests it was very quiet. During the day we tended to split our time between the beautiful beach and pool, some days all day on the beach, some days all day at the pool and some days half and half. Wherever we were, we felt relaxed. The pool area is lovely, with spaced out beds so people are not sat on top of each other. It was often very quiet and we never saw all the beds taken, and rarely was it more than 50% occupied. They have lovely looking new sunbeds which are a wooden construction. Unfortunately they are quite heavy and don’t have wheels on the back so are quite difficult to move about when needing to follow the shade. Also, the back of the bed doesn’t prop up very high so aren’t that comfortable to sit up if you want to read. There is a plentiful supply of beach towels available from either guest services or the water sports centre. We ate in all 3 restaurants and had good experiences in each. All 3 restaurants are table service for all meals, with the exception of a small fruit and cereal buffet at breakfast and the Thursday lunch Caribbean BBQ in Seagrape, which was superb with suckling pig, ribs, chicken, steak and fish alongside salads, rice, and potato accompaniments. It’s unusual for all meals to be table service at an All Inclusive resort, and this made for a very relaxed atmosphere. We heard a few people complaining of wait times for meals, but we never waited more than about 20-30 minutes for food to be served after placing our order, and after all you are on holiday and operating on Caribbean time! We had lovely friendly service in the Seagrape restaurant both in a morning and evening from Stuart (who always had a friendly greeting and a smile), Tinesha, Anselm and Dasani. The food was generally very good in Seagrape, and we had some lovely interesting breakfasts such as Huevos Rancheros, Eggs Creole (poached eggs with crab cakes and salsa) and a superb Curried Vegetable Roti. We had a couple of lunches in Seagrape and these were also tasty. Evening meals were very good with a decent choice of meat, fish, vegetarian, pasta. Our personal preference would have been to see a few more dishes with lots of Caribbean spice as we felt maybe the spices had been tamed down a little in some of the dishes. We ate at the Gauguin restaurant on 3 occasions and each time we had fabulous meals and great service. At Gauguin you dine in individual cabanas which creates a lovely atmosphere and is quite private for a special occasion meal. We had 2 amazing meals in Ismay’s restaurant, with excellent service, and we felt it was definitely worth the $50 pp surcharge. We’d highly recommend the Lobster and the Rack of Lamb. Reservations are needed for Ismay’s and Gaugin restaurants, which we made at Guest Services. Ismay’s can be made up to 1 week in advance but Gaugin can only be made 1 day before. You can select any dining time for Ismay’s but Gaugin has 2 sittings of 6.45 and 8.30, with the earlier time slot being the most popular. We had most lunches in the Barefoot grill which is a great casual dining option for a bite to eat between main meals. They serve burgers, quesadilla, cuban press all with various fillings and are served with sides of fries or salads. We’d noticed prior to our holiday that the house wines seemed to get mixed reviews, so we were slightly concerned given that we love to accompany our meals with wine. However, we found all the house wines to be really decent and to our personal taste. OK, there isn’t a huge choice but we had very drinkable Sauvignon Blanc, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah (only at Ismay’s), Merlot and Rose. We had really good service from the wine waiters who were always moving around the restaurants to generously top up glasses. We attended the Managers drinks event at the Rum Shack each Wednesday evening. It’s worth attending as managers from all departments are present and engage with guests seeking feedback. We spent quite a while talking to chef Nathaniel, who was friendly and keen to ensure we enjoyed his food. We also spoke to Cedric and Derrick who asked for our opinion on the resort. We enjoyed some great evening entertainment with bands playing and staff encouraging guests to dance and singalong, although some nights there were virtually no guests listening after about 9.30. The best atmosphere was for Spirited band who play every Saturday night. For any cricket fans out there, the band bass player just happens to be Sir Curtley Ambrose the ex West Indies cricketing legend who is a genuinely lovely guy and is happy to chat and pose for photos. Personally we’d have preferred to see more bands playing local styles of music including SOCA, rather than different bands playing European and US music. The Teepee bar is lovely and serves any drink you could think of with a great selection of cocktails and using mainly premium brand spirits. It’s not a huge bar area and there aren’t a massive number of chairs and tables, so at peak times (lunch and early evening), it’s not always possible to get a seat. The hotel could add another 5 or 6 tables for 2 without it feeling over crowded as there is more than enough space. We had lovely bar service from Caryl and Natasha. There is also a beach and pool drinks service, although we only used it a couple of times as we were close enough to the bar to go ourselves. We occasionally used the Upcycle cafe for early morning coffee, but found the consistency disappointing. Some days the coffee was fine but on a couple of days we ended up throwing it away as it was undrinkable, so really not sure what was happening there. The service was fine, and the food good, but the hotel need to rectify the issues with the standard of coffee served. We went out on the Hobie Cat with Shilo from the water sports team who gave great instruction to me as I’d never sailed before! He also told us a bit about the area and guided us to shipwreck at the entrance to Deep Bay. We went on the Tuesday morning flower garden tour, which we found really interesting. The tour starts at Guest Services at 10.30 and Curt took us along the path to Ismay’s restaurant pointing out various flowers and trees and explaining a bit about each. We were told we could go to the farm where they grow lots of the salad leaves, tomatoes, vegetables and fruit for the hotel. We went up one morning and had a lovely tour with Farmer Dave, who explained what they were growing and the seasonality of the crops. During our 2 week holiday, the majority of guests were aged 60+ with a lot in their late 60’s, 70’s and even 80’s, but there were some younger couples and a few on honeymoon. Many of the guests are repeat visitors and they are invited to a separate meal at Ismay’s on a Monday evening. We’d read before our holiday that some guests felt the repeat guests got preferential treatment, but we didn’t feel that at all. Yes, they get a lovely greeting from staff who remember them and maybe they engage in more conversations, but we didn’t feel at any time like we were receiving an inferior service. Guest Services were friendly and helpful with usually 1 or 2 people helping guests. We spoke to them a few times during our stay, to book Gauguin and Ismay’s restaurants and also to organise a private tour of the island. Overall service standards were very good, with most staff interacting and appearing to be happy in their jobs, but there were also a few who didn’t appear quite so happy and didn’t really engage even though we made an effort to talk to them and ask them how they were. The resort is intended to be cashless, so any additional expenses are charged to your room, and although tipping is not suggested (other than at the end of your holiday via a tip box), we chose to tip along the way. We left a daily tip for our Houskeeper and we tipped bar and serving staff, and they really seemed to appreciate it. We had a mix of sea conditions during our stay with 5 red flag days, 3 yellow flag, 2 blue flag and 4 green flag, with the calmest sea being the last 2 days of our holiday. On a couple of the red flag days the sea was particularly rough, with waves crashing and washing right up the beach. Some people chose to swim in the sea even on the less rough red flag days but the hotel advises against. The watersports team will take guests to Deep Bay on red flag days, and the water is much calmer there. We know of 1 guest who was swimming on a yellow flag day and he was knocked into a rock by a wave and ended up in hospital with 2 fractured vertebrae. Even on Green Flag days waves can still be strong and I saw 2 women knocked off their feet when trying to get into the sea. And finally, yes, there are bugs, it’s the Caribbean! The hotel fog for mosquitos on a Monday and Thursday evening but this doesn’t completely stop biting insects. Over 2 weeks my wife and I ended up with around 30-40 bites between us, so bring repellent spray for use in an evening. Overall we had a fabulous holiday, we would love to return in the future, and we would recommend Galley Bay to anyone looking for a very relaxing holiday with good food and wine and good service!

Great place - overall, I would recommend and come back - but a couple of disappointments. Here is the run-down of our stay: - Beyond gorgeous view and location. The water does come very close to the chairs and units. This was fine for us as there are assigned loungers/umbrellas and you don't have to move them. In general, though, the waves are big and the water is often to choppy or aggressive to get in safely. This also affects the ability to kayak or do paddle boards. It is not a "chill" waterfront, where you can wade and enjoy a float. - If quiet is what you are looking for, this is your place. I'd say the median age during our stay was around 60 years old. Some middle-agers like us, but not many. It trended towards older than us - for some, this may matter socially. We enjoyed it as everyone is generally pleasant, quiet, and very respectful. Young adults may find the property to be "too quiet." (Although she had a great time, our 20-year-old daughter seemed a bit bored at times and possibly felt a bit out of place.) It is tough to please everyone with the right offerings and activities. - Incredible food and drink for an all-inclusive. The chefs take pride in what they do. Accommodations were made when my daughter needed a plate to go - they made the food and wrapped it for us to take. We really enjoyed the coffee shop being open all day and they had great snacks/treats each day. The beach service for drinks is really one just person and underwhelming. They could use at least one more attendant to walk around more often -- or implement a flag service for "as needed" drinks, like other resorts have. - Housekeeping was excellent. The refrigerator re-stock staff for beverages was great. - Amenities had a couple of oddities. Linens are definitely not 5-star level. There are not extra towels - you have to ask one person, along with one hand towel and washcloth. So, women have to ask for an extra for the hair towel. The towels aren't in great shape - they could stand to be replaced more often. There is not an actual duvet or comforter. There is only a waffle knit thin blanket on the beds (the kind that are usually an added insert between the sheet and duvet back in the States). So, you have to ask for extra blankets to have the equivalent of a duvet-thick top layer. Vanity items are not re-stocked, so if you use the one makeup cloth on the first day, that's it. No more. The shampoo, gel and lotion are in larger "community" bottles - less sanitary than individual bottles. I am not a fan of going 2 or 3-star level with community bottles at an expensive resort. A lot of the amenity situation felt like the resort was trying to save money and cut back. This is not a good look for a 5-star. - The poor lady (one person!) at the Guest Services desk gets overwhelmed. There was almost always a line for people trying to get needs met, and the phone rings off the hook from those in their rooms also having needs. At other resorts, we have always had an assigned concierge or butler to take care of this capacity, rather than the whole resort standing in line at a desk with one person. (But, when we were working with her, she did everything she could to handle requests one by one. We didn't have much during the week - just the birthday plans and trying to set up a sunset sail with Captain Shawn). - Speaking of Captain Shawn...if the boat is full, ask him or the desk to contact you if others cancel. This was the case for us, and we were able to jump in where someone else cancelled. - While some reviews have had glowing reports about the service, I would say that our week-long stay was much more spotty with friendly/capable attendants. There was a lot of inconsistency in attitude and execution. Asking for extra sauce might take 10 minutes and a reminder. There were some expressionless/not friendly staff, which was a surprise to us, at both Seagrape and Gaugin. The exception was the wait staff at Ismays (however, there is a $50 per head surcharge and the service is clearly more attentive there). For example, the Gaugin Restaurant forgot/misplaced our daughter's 20th birthday cake ($30 extra FYI), and the staff had no idea that it was her birthday -- so, it wasn't just the cake -- t was a fail all around. It was so awkward when they came around with dessert menus as this cake was to be a surprise for her. I had also requested balloons and those did not happen either. This was after confirming the plans twice. Guest services had also confirmed on their end. I was beyond disappointed about this. BUT, she did receive a lovely plate of fruit and some flower petals in her room. The resort has a "no cash" policy for tipping, and so the staff seems underwhelmed with their jobs. I am guessing pay is not great -- this is generally the case when staff seem lackluster. It is not transparent how the staff is compensated by leaving additional gratuity at the front desk at the end of the trip. How is it split up? I understand the premise behind making a resort "no cash" and trying to split up tips, but it generally doesn't pan out, and it is evident in staff attitudes. - The pool is "OK," not great for a 5-star property. It could use a face-lift and modernization. Overall, we had a great week, and would recommend to others as a "good" stay. The highlight is the location and the food. I don't know that we would invest in another $17,000 stay here, though.

We have been to Galley Bay twice. (Once in May 2023 and March 2024) Both times were absolutely perfection. The property is so beautiful and well thought out. From the minute you step out of the cab from the airport the staff is there to make you feel relaxed and ready to vacation. They get you started with a rum punch and an easy check in process. From there you are given a short ride in a golf cart to your room to settle in. Our room had a spacious bathroom with plenty of space to hang damp items, a double shower, and double sinks. It had a King size bed, couch and love seat seating area and a generous balcony with lounge/sunning chairs. Every room has a fridge that is stocked with some beverages and restocked every morning. One of my favorite things on property is that every room has its own reserved lounge chairs on the beach with your room number. No running down the beach to “save” your seats before breakfast at this resort! They also have a great pool area close to the bar and a lunch spot. They have a water feature at the pool with quiet music. Perfect if you don’t want to swim in the ocean or the tide is too rough that day. A silly little thing that I absolutely adore…they give you a metal, insulated bottle in your room at check in and have “Rehydration Stations” around the property to make sure you get enough cold water all day. As someone who loves to be hydrated I think this is so clever and I love having constant access to water! There are many options for meals at the resort. And all are excellent. I truly didn't have one “bad” meal. Or even bad course! They even excel at the “small things” like daily soups and their breakfast. Every restaurant on property changes their menu daily so you never tire of options. (The only meal that doesn’t change their menu is the breakfast at Seagrape. But the menu is so diverse, it’s never boring to eat the same menu! Think fresh fruit, cheeses, meats and juices. A different pancake of the day, Eggs Benedict, Roti with eggs, Omelets, etc) They are really great at having plenty of meat, seafood, and vegetarian options at every restaurant and every meal. And one of my favorite things about the chefs at GB is that they treat the veggies as good as the proteins. They are truly great to stand alone. (I often grabbed the extra veggies off my hubby’s plate if he didn’t finish them.) Gauguin is great for semi-private dining both for lunch and dinner. We had lunch there several times this past visit and it was a nice break in our day with a starter, main, and dessert. Plus a romantic, semi- private seating area means you get to be cozy with your person. Ismay’s is great for a special occasion or to just enjoy the elevated extravagance. They are determined to show you a great time. And it shows! The property is also well thought out for walkways, plants and vegetation. I spend half my time taking photos of the view and beautiful flowers on the paths. Make sure to check out the Turtle Sanctuary if you like turtles. They have a few tucked away to say hi to! One of the things you notice if you get the opportunity to travel to GB more than once is you recognize a lot of the staff. Many of them have been at the property for years. Some more than 20! That shows what a special place it is. All the staff seems to want you to have a relaxing, special time and they go out of their way to make your experience wonderful. We can not wait to visit again next year. We are already planning our trip.