20 May 2025

Antigua

We offer a wide choice of cheap flights to Antigua together with Antigua hotels, tours and self-drive itineraries.

Other Caribbean Reviews

How Megastar Marvin became our hero

How do you please three generations on a luxury family holiday? Phil Davies found the answer at fabulous Carlisle Bay - as well as the coolest of kids’ club hosts

Antigua - Pool view at the fabulous Carlisle Bay

Antigua - Culinary chic: Dining under the palms

Antigua - Marvin keeps the kids entertained

1 Pool view at the fabulous Carlisle Bay 2 Culinary chic: Dining under the palms 3 Marvin keeps the kids entertained

I WANT TO LIVE HERE,’ my six-year old son Hal exclaimed, while tucking into his second bowl of freshly prepared miso soup served in East, the ultra-elegant Asian restaurant. Meanwhile, his grandmother, no slouch in the kitchen herself, couldn’t stop raving about the tenderness of her tandoori-cooked rack of lamb. Satisfying all extremes of the generational cycle is quite a feat.

But the discreetly decadent Carlisle Bay, in an exquisite bay in the sheltered south of Antigua, managed it every day of our stay. My mother-in-law Ruth has always travelled in style, staying in the best hotels, but even she couldn’t help being wowed by her supermodern apartment leading directly on to the manicured white sands.

Carlisle Bay is discreetly decadent

So with her happily ensconced, Hal finally learning to swim in the giant pool and his sister Tilly exploring the nearby reef on her first snorkelling trip, aged nine, all was set fair for myself and my wife to relax, knowing that all three generations were having their expectations exceeded. We knew we were in good company, with the Duchess of Cornwall, Oprah Winfrey, John Travolta and various rock bands and footballers having holidayed at Carlisle Bay.

The hotel – part of the Campbell Gray group of high-end properties which includes One Aldwych and Dukes in London – had that rare mix of being child-friendly but elegant and grown-up at the same time.

The attention to detail, with daily changing breakfast smoothies, afternoon tea and fruit in the room, was notable, as was the ability of the staff to recognise us all by name only hours after our arrival. A touch of Zen-like calm pervades the resort, giving an Asian feel deep in the Leeward Islands.

A touch of Zen-like calm pervades the resort

British designer Mary Fox Linton eschewed colourful Caribbean hotel styling and instead has created a contemporary Eastern feel across the 82 spacious suites complete with Gaggia espresso machines and Ren toiletries.

Carlisle Bay is the ultimate in casual cool, complete with spa, gym, library, tennis courts, sailing, scuba-diving and watersports. There are two restaurants, the aforementioned East, hidden behind giant wooden Indonesian doors, and the casual Indigo On The Beach, where scrumptious evening barbecues of suckling pig, steak and seafood are held two nights a week, with a live band.

The choice of menus was extraordinary. Meals can also be delivered to your suite, or you can have a romantic private dinner while watching the sun set amid flaming lanterns on the resort’s jetty. Top of the staff list in the youngsters’ eyes was the guy we dubbed ‘Megastar’ Marvin. He ran the amazingly wide-ranging Crew Blue programme of children’s activities.

Mornings can be taken up with fruit-picking while hiking through the rainforest, or a zipwire trip, followed by raft-building, sandcastle-making and kayaking. Children can watch movies in an air-conditioned mini-cinema or make fruit mocktails and pizzas with a friendly waitress called Avella, whom Hal christened Mrs Smiley.

Marvin is no ordinary kids’ club host. With his mirrored Wayfarer sunglasses and the physique of an Olympic athlete, he exudes Caribbean cool.

When he’s not running snorkelling trips off the nearby reef or organising for ripe coconuts to be cut for guests to sample, he can be spotted leading treasure hunts or beach soccer tournaments. We also stayed a few nights at the family-friendly St James’s Club in the south-east of the island, a favourite with sunseekers thanks to its all-inclusive activities ranging from beach barbecues and Calypso nights through to extensive watersports.

Its popularity with British families is helped by the introduction of activities and storytelling laid on by Puffin book authors during school holidays. Dorset-based writer and illustrator Rachel Bright was keeping the under-eights enraptured on our visit with a fun mix of drawing, reading and crafts.

The rest of the week flew by with a Tuesday monster hunt, Wednesday aliens, an A-Z of animals on Thursday, and a grand finale Friday where Rachel transformed her sun-kissed class into swashbuckling pirates, complete with hats, beards, parrots and even boats.

Marvin exudes Caribbean cool

All this is part of the mix on Antigua, making the island an idyllic location for family groups of all ages to relax and rejuvenate – so much so that Hal made up his mind to emulate his sunshine superhero Marvin and start a new aquatic life in Antigua based around his newly found confidence in swimming.

A shame for him – and all three generations of the Davies clan – that the school holidays came to an end all too quickly.

0330·100·2220i 0330 calls are included within inclusive minutes package on mobiles, otherwise standard rates apply. X 0330 calls are included within inclusive minutes package on mobiles, otherwise standard rates apply. X