As Antigua is famed for its 365 beaches that was the first thing we wanted to check out. Now the Beach at Whitehouse takes some beating, but this one certainly gets high marks. In the room we received a letter from the GM saying Sandals Grande Antigua had been voted as the 4th best beach in the world, however it made no reference to where this award came from. Maybe it was Sandals themselves or someone connected to Antigua that gave this prestigious rating. I don’t know, but I would say it is a very nice beach, although 4th best in the world I doubt. Certainly the colour of the Caribbean Sea here is very vivid and the beach is extremely white. I’m always interested to know if the brochure images truly represent a resorts setting. At Sandals Grande Antigua the beach is certainly very white and the ocean colour is striking on the eye, but as you would imagine it’s far busier than the pictures show. The beach is a real asset for this property and I doubt anyone could be disappointed with the beachfront setting; so I would certainly rate it highly for its beach location.

So to the room… once again we booked in to a Butler Suite so the comparison was fair and we stayed five nights in a Grande Amalfi Sunset Luxury Penthouse One Bedroom Oceanview Suite on the top floor of the Cypress Tower in the Med Village. It was certainly on a par with the Butler Suites at the two other resorts, but having the Swim-Out feature at Royal Caribbean I would say that was the winner. From the top floor the views were a major plus point, but the disadvantage was the distance to the resort. Being right up on the top floor in the Med Village also made for a very peaceful location. The majority of entertainment was over on the Caribbean Grove side of the resort making it a walk at night, but again you were able to enjoy the balcony in peace. The room was spacious and the bed was comfortable; the bathroom was the highlight.

As you would expect at Sandals there was plenty of restaurant options. The breakfast buffet in Mario’s was a bit sparse; breakfast on the balcony was delivered rapidly, but the highlight was a la carte in the OK Corral. Really nice setting with lovely views, pleasant staff and cooked to order breakfast. During the day the dining options were substantial for longer stays. Excellent range of grill specialities at the Barefoot including tasty local fish dishes. The Pizza was very fresh and we enjoyed the outdoor seating area, although plenty of guests were ordering and wandering off with their takeout boxes. The buffet in Bayside was substantial and a great place to enjoy a salad with great views and feel the breeze from the ocean. We also enjoyed fish & chips in the Cricketer’s English Pub whilst watching Sky Sports News and followed up with a game of pool. In the Evening Kimono’s was entertaining, Mario’s we had hoped would be the highlight, but in general we didn’t find a signature restaurant to get dressed up and enjoy in style. OK Corral was the one we expected the least from being a Tex Mex, but the staff were fabulous and we enjoyed the upstairs setting, also the food was excellent.

We are pool lovers so it was great to have two comfortable sun-loungers reserved for us each day with a sun shade parasol. We also like plenty of bottled water so the cooler with 8 bottles was used daily. The Med Village pool is what you expect from Sandals, good size, plenty of Floaties and a swim up bar. Some guests were saying they found the birds an irritation around the pool; we are animal lovers so they didn’t cause any issues to us. However there were a considerable number of birds, but it’s a very eco-friendly resort so the staff just keep wafting at them if they come too close to dining areas. Afternoons you get the usual gathering of Floaties in the pool and the guests happily exchanging stories while going through the cocktail list.

So how did it compare? Well… it’s Sandals; they obviously all have the same theme, but each one is subtlety different. The highlights are obviously the beach, ocean and views.

I normally offer tips for selecting rooms, but this resort has a wealth of different room styles and locations, and caters for a range of budgets. It’s clearly suitable for lots of couples so I would say decide on what’s important to you about your room before making your enquiry.

The beautiful beach

We booked four nights at the Galley Bay Resort & Spa, Antigua in a Premium Beachfront Suite. Having received so many positive reviews from clients and staff we arrived in anticipation of something special. From experience, arriving at a resort with such high expectations is usually a mistake. In Galley Bay’s case we were absolutely elevated to a high satisfaction level in minutes! We were welcomed with a cool fresh towel and a very simple check in process; minutes later our bags were loaded onto the back of a golf buggy and we set off along the bridge over the lagoon to the resort, taking in a guided tour of the property along the way.

West Indian Whistling Duck

The resort are very proud of their natural setting & operate a very Eco-friendly policy that’s explained well for guests to embrace. On arrival we stopped to see the Tortoises and West Indian Whistling Ducks. The resort has a very tranquil setting with a host of local wildlife that instantly creates the feeling of being in the perfect natural tropical island paradise.

Once at the beachfront your eyes need a few moments to adjust to the spectacular contrast of colours. The beach is idyllic; like the deserted island setting you dream of. The beach is spectacularly white and the ocean colours are vibrant. The camera just can’t pick up the explosion of colours; I spent four days trying to capture the perfect picture, but it’s just going to have to stay in my memory bank.

The Beachfront Deck

All round the resort has natural Caribbean Rustic charm, it’s certainly not like the modern mainstream resorts you find in the Caribbean. I’m so pleased they kept this resort genuine, you can’t fail to love it’s rustic caribbean charm. This resort is a haven for couples who want peace and tranquillity whilst feeling like you are on an island hideaway. It’s a long journey to the Caribbean so feeling like you’re in paradise is important; so many of the mainstream hotels leave you feeling like you could be on a beach anywhere, but not Galley Bay. Here life goes on in a quiet peaceful natural way, everything you need to refresh yourself is here.

The stunning pool

The pool area is certainly one of my favourites in the Caribbean, it’s not the largest of pools but for the number of guests it’s perfectly in proportion. Randomly positioned all around the pool area you’ll see pairs of sun-loungers positioned under thatched palapa parasols. They are super comfortable extra wide wooden loungers with padded covers and are nicely spaced to maintain privacy. The pool is pure tranquillity and the days drift by to the sound of nature; palm trees rustle gently in the breeze which drifts across the pool from the Caribbean Sea. The scene is complete with the beautiful rock waterfall that completes this oasis.

View from our Beachfront Suite

I would certainly recommend the Beachfront Rooms; it’s a stunning location and opening the curtains each morning to be presented with that spectacular view makes it worth every penny. The rooms are super comfortable, very spacious with everything you need to enjoy a memorable holiday. The air con and ceiling fans help to continue the mood of calm relaxation and the bathroom is vast with a large tub for two.

Every meal was a highlight with three restaurant choices and the barefoot grill; there was exceptional variety with a beachfront setting wherever you dine. Gauguin’s and Ismay’s are located at opposite ends on the beach, both offering stunning oceanfront views. Gauguin’s creates a couples private dinner on the beach feeling, there are multiple round Palapas across the edge of the beach which gives that intimacy of a private dinner. We all know that at many hotels they charge $250+ for a beach dinner experience, at Gauguin’s you get a similar feeling at no extra cost and as many times as you want during your stay. Ismay’s does carry a cover charge of $35 USD pp but it’s well worth it. This is a signature restaurant with personality; very attentive service and spectacular dining with subtle lighting and flaming torches.

TeePee Bar

Although a very tranquil resort there was still enough to entertain us, they had the very English afternoon tea every day at 4pm, but we also enjoyed watersports, tennis, gym, mountain bikes, pool table, the evening Caribbean vibe of a local band with guests dancing on the deck and the West Indian Whistling Ducks were constantly entertaining following us throughout the resort. A truly memorable four days and no doubt like so many other travellers we met at Galley Bay, we will become repeat guests very soon.

Upper Class, as always, makes for a very relaxing journey. A decent nights sleep at the Hilton and a stroll down the corridor at 6:30am to the terminal. Straight to the counter and 5 minutes later we are through the Premium Security passage to the Virgin Clubhouse.

A very warm welcome and we are soon enjoying coffee & OJ. Poached eggs for breakfast then off to enjoy a 15 minute complimentary neck, back and shoulder massage. Whilst relaxing with the first glass of champagne, the shoe shiner arrives to polish up my favourite travelling shoes.

After a second glass of bubbly it’s time to set off on the 15 minute walk to the gate. Immediate boarding and we make ourselves comfortable with another glass of Lanson Champagne. Just time for a few last emails and a quick Facebook update before we are off.

The guy across from me gets his PJs; although I’m a little tired from the early start I save mine for the homeward journey.

Whilst enjoying my drink I decide to order the Roasted Tomato & Basil Soup, Thai Chicken Curry, Apricot-Raspberry Almond Tart and a glass of Greek Red Wine.The menu arrives and a cool fresh towel; time for a bowl of crisps and my favourite travelling tipple, Bombay Sapphire & Tonic.

Well the Greek red is a big surprise, never tried Greek Red before… I always steer towards Spanish unless in Mexico where they have some fabulous wineries.

Lovely Pea and Watercress entree with Olive Bread. Now for the Soup… oh yes; a touch of pepper and this has a nice zing. Angela opted for Smoked Salmon and Capers; I manage to get a taste and that is also very flavourful. We both opted for Thai Curry and it doesn’t disappoint; very authentic with that nice hint of lemongrass. Plates away and the Apricot-Raspberry Almond Tart arrives, that didn’t take long to demolish! Lush; like a very fancy Cherry Bakewell Tart… I even manage to sample some of Angela’s cheese board with a red wine top up.

Time to settle into the entertainment system… wow, very impressed. Virgin have really improved this feature; massive choice and a very simple touch screen display. Bingo, a USB socket… fabulous; now I know I’m going to be 100% charged on my iPad and iPhone when I reach Antigua. Well done Virgin, this is brilliant. You can even display photos, play audio and watch content on the screen from the iPhone. Season 2 Game of Thrones… how many episodes can I get in before we land in Antigua? Feeling a little tired now so I set up my bed in an attempt to grab some sleep whilst Game of Thrones plays out. I manage 4 episodes whilst drifting in & out during 4 hours of downtime.

I awake and its time for a last snack… wow, the guy opposite just ordered the Mini Beef Burger with Club Sauce off the grazing menu; very tempting, but I’m going to save myself for Sandals! Just a coffee and sandwich then I get ready for arrival into Antigua.

Well we are here, another fabulous Virgin Upper Class experience flying on Virgin Atlantic’s Barbarella and all in record time. 7 1/2 hours, not bad at all. Looking forward to sunshine and beaches before we enjoy the Upper Class magic on the way home. Certainly a great way to travel to the Caribbean.

Excellence Riviera Cancun always has that magic which makes you want to visit more, there are always friendly faces amongst the staff but also so many fellow travellers who come back year after year. It is certainly my favourite resort in the Caribbean, I have visited every year since being one of the first UK guests at the grand opening in October 2004.

Why do I love Excellence Riviera Cancun so much? Well there are so many reasons but my favourite experiences are relaxing at the lazy river pool in the afternoon, the gentle sound of the palm trees swaying & relaxation music spilling out of the spa with the added enjoyment of aromatherapy scents create the ultimate moment of pure relaxation. After taking a power nap I always head back to the suite to enjoy the Jacuzzi & get dressed up for the evening before heading over to the Martini Bar where for me it’s always a glass of champagne to set the mood.

So which restaurant will I choose for the first evening? At Excellence Riviera Cancun there is a vast array of restaurants allowing you to experience a wide selection of tastes from all corners of the globe. Will it be a simple buffet, a BBQ grill or one of the fine dining experiences in those authentic settings? Even after a long flight I love the full dining experience at Excellence Riviera Cancun. Excellence offers the perfect choice of sharing privacy with your loved one in the speciality restaurants or simply order room service & be completely on your own. With so much on offer I will always revert to my all time favourite, it has to be Spice for that wonderful first night experience. Both of us love the Tom Ka Gai Tai Soup but we also love a Sushi Selection entree, we love to follow with shrimp, chicken, rice & noodles. Personally I love the fried ice cream to finish.

Excellence Riviera Cancun creates the ultimate atmosphere for couples, when you’ve been you will know and that’s why it’s my favourite.

We board the aircraft and to our surprise we are greeted with 4 comfortable seats including Seat Back TV’s. A choice of on demand, movies, TV Shows & Music. Perfect for a flight of just over 6.5hrs. We enjoyed a good onboard experience with a choice of meals & several complimentary drinks. Alcoholic drinks were a supplementary charge but the TV’s & headphones were complimentary. We filled in one customs form onboard for the whole family & to our surprise on arrival we were through immigration in less than 10mins. Having travelled many US airports Newark was by far the quickest. We looked at prebooking transfers but chose to grab a cab on arrival as the rates seemed expensive to prebook. This proved to be a good choice as we found a line of cabs waiting at preset pricing. We paid $70USD for a large cab for 4 people with cases, this included Tax & Tolls + a tip. We were quoted over £100 in the UK to Times Square. The cab to Sofitel Times Square was less than 30mins & we were soon checking in to our rooms.  We booked a double room & a twin, our request for Interconnecting rooms was confirmed on arrival. The rooms were very comfortable & the hotel location was superb.

View over New York

We only had two nights in New York so wasted no time setting off down 5th Avenue by foot. After a few minutes we were at the Empire State Building. I’m not the best with heights but everyone else was keen to climb the building. We took the elevator to the 80th floor and purchased our tickets for the observation deck. We opted for the $20USD tickets & took another elevator to the 86th floor. The views from the outdoor observation terrace were spectacular. We opted to miss out the skyride & set back for the comfort of the street below.
We spent the next few hours in and out of shops as we walked down the 40 blocks or so towards ground zero. As we got closer to the WTC site the memories of seeing people fleeing through the same streets came flooding back. We spent a few minutes at the site and then took time to look through the memorial preview building. Once the memorial site is complete it will be a must see experience for any traveller to NYC.

The heat wave was taking it’s toll so we hailed a cab which was an experience. Great value at $10 USD back to Times Square but having spent several hours as a pedestrian being a front seat passenger was even more hair raising. The crazy cab man was zipping around & honking at fresh air. He loved his stories of pedestrians with broken legs and the sight of 44th street was welcome.

Times Square

A quick freshen up & we set off for the short walk across a couple of blocks to sample Times Square at night. Wow this is trully the city that never sleeps. The city really comes alive at night & we settled for a table with a great view of the square. After a good meal & a couple of beers we headed back for the comfort of our rooms at the Sofitel. The beds were extremely comfortable & we all enjoyed a good nights sleep easing us in to the time zone change.

Day 2 in New York was set up well with a good breakfast at the competitively priced Red Flame diner next to the Sofitel. We decided to walk the opposite way up 5th Avenue from the previous day. This route would take us about 15 blocks up to Central Park. This part of 5th Ave had the more exclusive designer brands. We were soon at Central Park & decided that we would take the 20min horse and carraige ride. Our guide took us through some of the park and pointed out several facts along the way. We paid $50USD to the first available carraige driver as we were not in the mood to waste any time. But based on the number available I am sure we could have haggled to at least $40USD.

We decided to walk through the park and visit the Zoo. It was time for lunch & we stumbled across an Art Deco Paris-style cafe called Rue 57.  We opted for the waiters recommendation mini Kobe burgers. He was not wrong they were splendid and it was a relief to receive a normal size portion for a change. We jumped in a cab heading for Broadway, they have a good selection of the more mainstream shops at reasonable prices. After several hours & many purchases we jumped in another cab to freshen up for our final night in NYC.

We strolled over to Times Square again opting for a meal at the Hard Rock Cafe. We had to wait for about 30mins but it soon passed as we checked out the memorabilia gallery. After a super meal and a few drinks we were all ready for bed. We were scheduled for the early flight down to Cancun so we just took in our last sights of New York at night before settling in for the night.

Next morning and we were all ready for our favourite destination Mexico.  No problems with cabs again in NYC, the bell boy had us sorted in a couple of minutes and we agreed $60 for the trip back to Newark.

Newark Airport and Continental Airlines were once again a good experience. We sped through security & did a little shopping before boarding our flight. Once again the same flight service but with the added bonus of Live TV channels, $6 per screen for multi channel access.
We were soon speeding through Cancun Airport and our Jumbo Tour Rep was waiting for us.
We had booked 5nts at NOW Jade in Preferred Club Oceanview Suites. The transfer was around 30 minutes and the cool towel/welcome drink was a great start.

The Suites were impressive & my first impressions of NOW Jade were good. During our 5 days we experienced a selection of restaurants, our favourite was Senses. No kids and an impressive setting with gourmet cuisine to match. We loved the a la carte preferred club breakfast restaurant. The Eggs Benedict was without question the best I have ever sampled & the service was top drawer.

On route to Krabi!

The journey from Phuket airport to Krabi is approx 2 hours overland or if travelling from Bangkok there are daily flights that take approx 1 hour.

The journey we took was overland from Phuket. On the way we passed through the Phang Nga Bay area and had the chance to see the stunning rock formations that line the coastline up close. Once at Krabi town we were taken to the pier to transfer by speedboat to our hotel the ‘Rayavadee’. The journey was only 15-20 minutes yet I must have taken more photos’ than our entire journey put together. The area is truly breathtaking, the high cliffs and strange limestone formations set against the blue/green water take your breath away. The beaches are nestled amongst small coves of pure, soft white sand and the water is crystal clear. You can do exactly the same trips and tours here as you can when staying in Phuket. The diving and snorkelling are highly recommended due to the beauty of the area.

Phi Phi is a small Island that lies in the Andaman sea approx 1.5 hours from Krabi and 1 hour from Phuket by speedboat. The Island is very much a nature/beach lover’s paradise, with a very relaxed feel. The Ton Sai bay area is where the main port is and is busy with tourists and pack packers, stalls selling all manner of goods line the coast and there is an abundance of restaurants, bars and guides selling all manner of trips around the Island.

Hotels Visited

Rayavadee (Krabi) – 5 Star Finest

Best for sheer luxury, honeymooner/wedding Paradise

Angela at Rayavadee

The Rayavadee is a 5 star finest hotel set in a superb location, fringed by three beautiful beaches and dramatic limestone cliffs and located on the edge of Krabi National Marine Park. The hotel has almost 100 Pavillion style villas and 5 beachfront 3 bedroom villas. Each villa is set in it’s own plot of land and all are two storeys high. Some have plunge pools and the 3 bed villas have stunning views over the ocean as well as there own private butler.

The resort is very elegant and attention is paid to every detail. The service is top notch and the food wonderful. The best thing about this hotel though is its beauty, it is hard to describe in words and even the pictures do not do justice to the lush setting and finely crafted architecture that greets you at every turn. The hotel has something to offer everyone, but is particularly popular with honeymooners, from lazy days on the beach or by the pool, to luxurious spa treatments or for the more active watersports or even Thai cooking classes. The resorts romantic Thai restaurant set on the Phranang beach offers fabulous authentic Thai dishes in wonderful surroundings. On the same beach is also the ‘Grotto’ bar and restaurant. The Grotto is set under a dramatic limestone overhang and serves drinks, cocktails and snacks all day until 8pm. Sipping Margarita’s in the Grotto overlooking the beach and watching the sun go down behind the jutting rocks is a moment you will never forget.

Zeavola (Phi Phi) – 5 Star

Best for those looking for a relaxing’ back to nature’ experience

Zeavola is a 15 minute speedboat transfer from the main port at Phi Phi. The hotel is set on the beach front and offers travellers the chance to experience Phi Phi at its most natural and beautiful. The resort consists of 52 Thai style villas inspired by the charming dwellings of a rural Thai village. All villas have an open air lounge area with mini bar and tea/coffee facilities, an indoor bedroom and bathroom with large glass windows and French doors on 3 sides and also the option of an open air shower. The rooms are large and comfortable, for those who like to feel that they are outdoors whilst still having the comfort of being indoors this is a must do hotel.
The beach is beautiful and the sea so clear that you can still see the ripples in the sand at the bottom when you are quite far out. The hotel offers 2 restaurants and a Spa, however there are other restaurants nearby if you wish to venture out.