Arriving to a destination by boat, always makes the experience more exciting. Such is the case with Jumby Bay. Upon arrival at Antigua's airport, you are met outside customs by the welcoming staff, that escort you to a car for the brief 5 minute ride to the pier. A swift 10 minute boat ride later, you arrive into the brillant blue waters of Jumby Bay. Waiting on the pier are a host of staff, who graciously offer a cold towel and an even colder drink.

We are 4 best friends from college, who have traveled together for many years. Once a year, we leave husbands, children and family behind, for a brief return to younger days. This was possibly our best vacation to date. Our room was a 2-bedroom suite in a rondavel. The rooms are wonderful - large comfortable beds with luxurious linens and fluffy duvets. Lots of closet space, robes, slippers, great A/C and quite simply - the best hotel bathrooms ever. There are 2 separate sinks with lots of counter space, an indoor shower with water pressure to knock you over and the best feature - the outdoor shower! A palm tree grows in the midst of the area with wood planking covering cool river rocks and stones. The Rainshower and the Lady Primrose amenities delight the senses.

Days were spent with bikes rides, water skiing, snorkeling, dipping in the pool, walking past the well-equipped fitness center, shopping in the little boutique, but mostly...doing absolutely nothing but lolling on the perfect beach. The sand is the softest white, the water the clearest blue...we could hardly tear ourselves away.

Breakfasts were wonderfully served by a staff that we cannot praise enough. Guided by Adelza, Letitizia and Agnola and a host of others, offered smiling, friendly service. All the girls made a point of calling us by name and remembering our favorite things. A buffet of cold items includes the freshest of fruits, sinful pastries, yogurt homemade on Antigua and cereals. Daily, a different tropical juice is offered, as well as a menu of Eggs Benedict, smoked salmon with all the trimmings and banana pancakes.

Lunches were a great buffet of a chilled soup, always a fish, steamed vegetables, crisp salads and the best Ceasar salad, tossed to order with fried onions and crispy oven croutons. You can also order from the menu, with a myriad of choices...burgers, sandwiches and entrees using local ingredients. Chilled Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc always make lunch a more enjoyable repast!

There's a beach bar, situated in the middle of the beach and James and Shelley will prepare a frozen concoction of your preference. The staff will pass by your lounge chair with chilled bottles of water, frozen fruit and ice cream in the afternoon. You can take the hotel's water taxi to Antigua and enjoy the island and other activities, but we opted to remain at the resort, swimming in the crystal Caribbean and leaving the beach only when the sun had set over the hills of Antigua in the distance.

Evenings were spent with dinner at the Estate House. In season, the Verandah is also open for dinner, but during our stay, we dined each evening, except for Sunday, at the Estate House. Wednesday was the General Manager's cocktail reception, followed by a six course tasting menu, served with wines to complement each course. The General Manager, Carlos, greets everyone and you are made to feel like a guest in his home by his genuinely warm and welcoming demeanor.

Cocktails were served each evening in the bar of the Estate House, a restored plantation with beautiful palm tree murals adorning the walls. The dinner menu offered soups, salads with interesting ingredients as local pumpkin, entrees such as Chateaubriand for 2, lamb wrapped in bacon, fresh fish, all exquisitely prepared by the Executive Chef, Eric. The Director of Food and Beverage, Jacco, was a wealth of information about the offerings of the menu and all his resort has to offer. Homemade desserts, ice creams and mini cakes and sweets finished our meals. The food is truly exquisite!

The perfect end to our stay was on a Sunday night, which happened to be my 49th birthday. The resort hosts a magical night on the beach, complete with tiki torches and candles along the water and a tantalizing buffet of grilled lobster tails, shrimp, chicken, wonderful salads and a grilled Bananas Foster for dessert.

Although the majority of guests were couples celebrating a honeymoon or anniversary, we found it to be the perfect place for 4 friends. We met a group of sisters from Britain and a few families and realized the resort is really ideal for anyone wanting to get away from the stresses of daily life. Would we return - in a heartbeat!

My husband and I just returned from our incredible honeymoon at Jumby Bay. Although we booked the trip through a travel agent, we did all of the research on our own and made a great decision by picking this resort. We wanted a smaller, more secluded resort and that is exactly what we got. It is definitely a 5 star property and everything was excellent; the food, the service and the rooms.

We stayed in Rondavel #3 and it was perfect. It was in a great location, as we were close to the Estate House, the beach and the pool. Definitely recommend the rondavels!

There are just enough activities to do and the beauty of the island is the best part of it all. It is very romantic and serene and I highly recommend it to honeymooners. We're already trying to figure out when we can go back next. We met a couple there that was on their 5th trip to Jumby Bay.

This trip definitely exceeded our expectations and everything was incredible. The pictures of the resort are just as pretty or prettier in person! Most amazing place we've ever been!

My fiancé and I stayed at Jumby Bay for 3 nights in Aug this year. Being an all inclusive hotel, we were not sure how good the hotel would be, but were very pleasantly surprised.

We arrived at the Jetty and were whisked away on a boat to the small island where Jumby is the only hotel on the island. From the moment we arrived, we had the most wonderful time. The beach is beautiful and spacious, there are hundreds of star fish in the water, something very unusual. The service on the beach very good, we always had water on hand, and the cocktails were wonderful. We were very pleasantly surprised to see that although this hotel is 'all inclusive'' they do not cut any corners. The food is plentiful and fantastic. The range of drinks is exceptional. The staff were very friendly, especially the bar people. It was my partner's birthday and on request they arranged for a lovely bottle of champagne and chocolates to be brought to the room (and there was no charge on the bill when we left). If you are worried that you will be too far from everything on Antigua, don't be, as the ferry (5 min ride) leaves every hour).

Negatives: The room is a bit outdated for this type of accommodation now days, but in general it was very good. Also the limousine drive from the airport to the hotel is far too expensive, $25 per person, for a 5 min trip, so take a taxi from the airport if you can. These were the only negatives however, I highly recommend it!

Having read the reviews on trip advisor before we departed, we were quite concerned about where we were going. Having now been, I can see that certain areas need improvement but overall the holiday more than met my expectations.

Our room was fabulous, an upgrade to the one we actually paid for, with fully working air conditioning. It was room 3 which was in a perfect location and had everything we desired. A TV would have been good to watch the news about Hurricane Dean but overall you don't need one.

The hotel staff we excellent, especially Darren and Jenny from the bar - excellent company if you fancy a laugh and a few stories about Caribbean life!

Jumby bay is a beach holiday, and could do with a little more entertainment in the evenings, but overall it was paradise.

The one aspect that does need improvement is the food! Breakfast and lunch are nice, but lack change on the menu. The evening meals lack change on the menu, and is far to rich for the weather and for those who do not like complex meals. If the food had been different we would have given the hotel an excellent in terms of ratings.

Overall its wonderfully peaceful, beautiful beaches and you may bump into one of two movie celebraties as we did!