The Verandah Antigua - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

5145 reviews

• 

  Amazing Service

  The resort is very relaxing and great for couples and families. You can’t go wrong with any of the food options. Theodore from the Beach Grille provided amazing service and made us truly feel welcome. He gave great recommendations and was very friendly. You’ll be very pleased if he is the one serving your table.

  Jan 17, 2025
• 

  An excellent experience

  Both of us friends have vacationed many times in the West Indies and we found The Verandah exceptional. Partly we chose this resort because of positive reviews of the staff and they all lived up to their reputation for friendliness, efficiency, service as quick as possible and charm. Because everything ran so smoothly we felt safe and able to completely relax. Had there been an issue it was clear it would be dealt with. The manager’s cocktail party was a surprisingly fun and creative event and I was pleased to speak with Ms.Marina, Dale and chef Paul. We often asked servers to pass compliments to the chef but it was great to do so in person. The inclusion of Antiguan dishes and ingredients such as festival is a big bonus when so much food needs to be imported to satisfy the wants of tourists. It’s wonderful that the garden provides many of the herbs, vegetables such as spinach and fruit such as watermelons. Next visit I hope to find out the date of the garden tour in advance. Thanks to Dale for some of the details. We particularly appreciated Shemboya, Gail, Shawn, Norville, Theodore, Rohana and the server at the Beach Grill whose name begins with E. Michelle in guest services is quite wonderful at juggling many tasks calmly., I wonder if the groundskeeper crew are treated well. They work so hard in the heat to make the grounds look perfect. If they were mentioned at the manager’s event I missed it. Assigning housekeeping to every other day makes sense. The rooms are large, beds supremely comfortable and the shower etc. has plenty of hot water. Water stations around the resort and the safety of tap water make provision of water in plastic bottles completely unnecessary. There seemed to be some entertainment going on all the time from beach party to dance party. Moreover one week was not long enough to try out all the activities from pickleball to ping pong. In younger days we would have been sailing but mobility issues for me made it a risk to go down the stone steps to Lovers Beach. My friend went kayaking and I swam every day at the quiet waterfall pool and even in the ocean at Pineapple Beach Club. We were sorry to learn that a significant number of guests were turning up at that beach more often than their reserved day. The difficulty is that Pineapple needs to know how many to expect for lunch or snacks. Moreover these intruders can cause a shortage of beach loungers. Both of us plan to return next year with different companions if the price does not climb too much. We each came home to cold temps and snowfall feeling rested, rejuvenated and pampered. I miss going to sleep to the music of the tree frogs with their wheep, wheep, wheep.

  Jan 16, 2025
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  Resort 👍🏻 Staff👎🏼

  The resort was beautiful, well manicured and maintained. The facility itself was a 10. My issue is the hospitality, or lack thereof, of the staff. Probably 9 out of 10 staff people we encountered seemed like they did not want to be doing their job. No smiles, no confirmation that they understood your request, no feeling that they wanted to help, no “you’re welcome” after being thanked. One example is we were at one of the beach bars and asked for a mojito. The bartender said “no mint,can’t make it”. Another bartender corrected her and said there is a bag of mint. She looked at him as if annoyed and replied “you make them then”. One of my biggest frustrations was guest services. We went to pay our surcharge for Nicole’s and the sign said they would be back at 2:30pm. We went to get a drink, returned 15 minutes later and the signed was pushed back to 2:45. So we went to the gift shop for 10 minutes to return and the signed now said 3:00. We stood outside the door and 10 minutes later a guest services representative slightly opened the door and asked if we needed help. When she slowly and seemingly sheepishly opened the door we were met with the strong smell of marijuana. We paid our fees and left. But man was it frustrating and the smell didn’t help. I hope the resort does a refresher in customer service and hospitality. I know they aren’t working “for tips” but the resort could be amazing if all of their employees looked happy.

  Jan 15, 2025
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  Beautiful, clean resort with great food and great people

  The resort had villas that are spread out along the hilly shores. It looks like any room would have a nice view. Our villa was updated and quite large for the 2 of us. The grounds are kept up and beautiful. The bays were small but the round floaties anchored on Long Bay made it fun to lay out in the sun. They had water sports to use as well. (We used kayaks and paddleboards). We always got lounge chairs and clean towels - and rarely a line for drinks at the beach. We are picky (healthy) eaters and loved the food for lunch and at the buffets for dinner-more than the ones with reservations. The staff in the entire resort was very friendly! One downside for us was that the entertainment started late so there wasn't much to do after dinner. Also, pickleball courts were nice but think that a signup sheet or dedicated times for experienced players would make it more useful. It was hard to find other people to play. Overall, we would definitely come back.

  Jan 15, 2025
• 

  Great resort but a few changes could make it wonderful.

  Quickly made it through immigration and customs at the airport and had a private vehicle transport to the resort. It was approximately a 30 minute ride. On arrival we were greeted with a cool wet washcloth and a rum punch. Check in was fast but as others have stated, there is a $5 per person tax per night as well as a $24/day resort fee that must be paid upon departure. This is listed on Expedia as well as other booking sites so it shouldn't be a surprise. That being said, they state it's for cleaning. They only clean the rooms every other day so I find it silly. Also, if the Verandah just raised their rates $24/day instead of charging this fee, people would still book and it wouldn't be so off putting. Anyway enough of that, off to the villa by golf cart. We were waterfront room 123 named Soursop. The room is quite large and spacious. Air conditioning worked great and a nice large balcony. We loved the sink to clean our drink cups out and the countertop to sit items. They had a mini fridge but only 4 waters provided every other day. No alcohol or beers in the room. Bummer. Around the resort and close to almost all villas were ice machines, which are a nice touch. The tap water is drinkable, so that's definitely a plus as I tend to drink a lot of water. I had no issues with it. Food The coffee shop made the best and most consistent blended iced coffees we've ever had at any of the 11 all-inclusive resorts we've visited. Angel made the best but all the workers did a great job. The snacks and pasteries were really pretty and decent taste to them. Its a really nice atmosphere with games, couches, TV, and a well working air conditioner. The buffet Seabreeze at dinner was really good. We went on Saturday which was Italian night. Very very good. My wife loved her made to order pasta. That line can be long but she said it was worth the wait. We also went on Mexican night, which was also above average. We definitely left full. The other night we went was Southern themed. It was our least favorite but still had some good dishes. We ate at the buffet every morning for breakfast since this is your only option besides maybe a small snack from the coffee shop. It was the same every day with slight variations. The omelette station was good but there is a line if your timing is wrong. It would be nice to have 2 stations for this. It was good enough to hold us over until lunch. We went to Portifinos (Italian) two nights. The calamari starter I enjoyed and my wife loved their chicken tortellini soup for an appetizer. We also tried the caprice salad, which was also good. The chicken parmesean my wife got the first trip and was great with good crunch, but she found the sauce too sweet for her liking. I got the pork loin and mashed potatoes. The pork was way overcooked but the mashed potatoes were delicious. Second visit I went with the same starters and got the alfredo with shrimp. It was good but the shrimp still had the tails on which made it difficult to eat and I found that odd. Overall it was good. My wife went with the beef ravioli and seemed to enjoy it. I tried it and found it a bit lacking in rosemary butter sauce. Dessert we both tried the mango sorbet. It's wonderful. Pappa Riccos has a great view to sit and look at the cove while grabbing a pizza for lunch. We're sun babies so want to just eat a quick and easy lunch. We are here 3 times so you should know it's not horrible. I will say we ordered the same thing..2 pizzas each time..the spicy veggie and the meat lovers. Every time they were different. The first time we had it was the best. The 2nd and 3rd times we had hotdog pieces on the meatlovers which we found odd. Overall, it's good. We visited the Beach Grill twice. The first time I didn't bring a shirt with me and was turned away. Yes..I said the BEACH grill. Very odd to me not be able to grab a bite to eat literally right on the beach without a shirt. Anyway, the first visit was just not good. The fish sandwich and what they call jerk chicken just wasn't good. The 2nd visit we did actually enjoy their burger and wings. The mango jalapeño sauce on them were good. We ate at Sails & Tales once at lunch and enjoyed it. We hate taking time away from the sun to eat so that was our only lunch there. The sweet potato fries are good. They also had a good burger. We had dinner here one night too and it was good. The salmon was overcooked but still fair. I got the red snapper which was also overcooked but not as bad as the salmon. The slaw with the red snapper was really good. Pools The main pool was really nice. Water temperature was a bit cool but we enjoyed that on hot days. I wish there were some trash cans around. There isn't a single one by the pool. I read a lot of reviews about the lack of towels here which we never had an issue. One thing is we're early risers, so that helps. We'd also check for clean towels at the waterfall pool seems how we passed it every day walking from the room to the main pool area. Also, even if they ran out of clean towels at the main pool, they were restocked within 30 minutes. Plenty of loungers available anytime of the day. The other pools we didn't really use. The waterfall pool didn't have a bar near and was very small. The infinity pool was ok and quiet but we didn't care for it much. Drinks The bars were great. We mainly used the main bar. Andre, Brian, and Kerry Ann were standouts. Drinks were made well. The in house brewed beer is good. The stout and lager were up to par. IPA was out the whole week which was a bummer. The Wavy Wicket was fine. Drinks were good but we found the food below par so didn't order anything after trying the chili cheese nachos, which were cold. The sliders just weren't good either. It was really cold in there too. This can be nice at times but it was too cold to hang out. We typically just sat out by the main bar in the evenings. Odds and ends The mini golf course, although a bit rundown and could use a little tlc, is a nice touch. We had fun playing a round. There are also some shuffleboard courts as well as pickle ball, cornhole and billiards. Take advantage if the day pass to visit their sister property Pineapple Beach Club. It has some beautiful ocean views and eat some bbq at their restaurant The Outhouse. It's up on a hill, so be prepared to walk or take a golf cart. Beautiful up there. We also had some snacks from their snack shack. Really good nachos, onion rings, and sweet potato fries. I really wish they had a spot like this at the Veranda where you can walk up to order a fast quick made to order basket lunch/snack. Go check out Devil's Bridge. It's really close to the resort. You can walk there and can use the back gate. It is behind the Wavy Wicket. Walk back behind there, it mainly looks like a worker's entrance, but head to the guard shack and turn left upon exiting. It might be 1/4 mile or so down the road. Definitely worth it. If mosquitoes love you, take bug spray. I lathered up every night and still got bites. My wife didn't and never got bit. This is typical.

  Jan 07, 2025