As destination wedding specialists and your personal Cyber Maids of Honour, we live for our `Fam Trips’ (business excursions taken to `familiarize’ ourselves with hotels and their products). This review post was written by Laurie, loving husband of our Commander-In-Chief, Megan, who accompanied her to beautiful Antigua in the Caribbean.
This recent visit to Antigua was our best yet!
The picturesque town of St. John’s is filled with shops and restaurants right beside the pier. As we walked this very busy port, we couldn’t help but notice the great vibes!
The local market was pretty empty (due to a weekday) but Megan found some reasonably priced sunglasses and I found some water to rehydrate under the hot sun. Tip: while in the Caribbean, it’s a good idea to dress appropriately and limit your alcohol consumption.
If you find yourself wandering St. John’s looking for a bite to eat, Big Banana Pizzas in Paradise is definitely worth the pause. Thanks, Art!
We found the tourist office and made arrangements for a driver for the day, to allow us to conduct our site inspections and have a good look around. After some “island gridlock” we made our way to Shirley Heights. There are incredible views here and even Eric Clapton’s house (it’s rumoured to be his rehab place, Crossroads).
At least it’s not Mick Jagger’s house. Every island in the Caribbean claims to have one of Mick Jaggers houses!
From there, it was a goat-infested drive to Nelson’s Dockyard. This is the perfect stop to make for history buffs or anyone interested in beautifully restored sites of the past.
The Admiral’s Inn is on-site, a charming little hotel right in the Dockyard itself. The principle buildings here include Fort Berkeley, built in 1704 to guard the dockyard entrance in English Harbour; the 1855 Naval Officers House (now the naval yard museum including Nelson’s room) and the Officers Quarters (now shops and a restaurant), the 1789 Copper and Lumber Store (now The Admiral’s Inn), Cordage and Canvas Store and the 1778 Boat House and Joiners Loft.
Then it was off to site inspections.
We stopped in to Carlisle Bay – wow! We were met by General Manager and had a full inspection with Maria. A wonderful, unpretentious resort with an amazing spa and a quiet, calming atmosphere. They also utilized the “door seashell” where clients would put the seashell outside of the room for a “do not disturb” indicator.
Pretty amazing what $950US per night can get you, and of course that’s just for the room!
We then headed over to the Jolly Beach Club – nice property and a great beach. This resort is all-inclusive which is unusual for Antigua.
We then scooted over to Sandals and inspected the resort which was undergoing renovations at the time. The construction will double the size (at least) but provides good support for the local economy. There were hundreds of locals working there.
A quick drive back to St. John’s where we went for pizza at Big Bananas. The best pizza in the Caribbean! We ordered a medium but got a large instead, half American and half Mexican chicken, which was way too big but too good to send back.
We got three slices to go and upon returning to the boat put that in the cooler for Pinney’s Beach in Nevis the next day.
What an amazing, satisfying and fulfilling trip to Antigua! Do we really have to leave?
Are you ready to visit Antigua? If you’d like to hear more about the Caribbean and Antigua, or discuss what it will take to have your destination wedding there, please contact one of our destination wedding specialists here at Weddings By Oceans.
