When Rob turned the big 40 we knew we wanted to do something to acknowledge the occasion and as he didn’t want a big party, we decided to go away somewhere special… the Caribbean. It had been a dream location for so long and when we found out you could get direct flights from London to Antigua with British Airways, our minds were made up!

There are so many amazing hotel options in Antigua but we decided to live out our 90s fantasy and do our very first Sandals experience at the Grande Antigua Resort and Spa. The best thing about Sandals is that pretty much everything is included in the price which starts with the 20 minute airport transfer to the resort.

When you arrive, there are two sites; the Mediterranean Oceanview Village and the Caribbean Beachfront Village but you have access to both during your stay. We were located in the Mediterranean area where we were greeted by some very happy staff welcoming us to Antigua. We were checked in relatively easily and then shown around a little before taken to our room where our luggage was waiting for us.

Our room was one of the cheaper on the resort but you would never have known with a 24hours concierge, a free mini bar that was re-stocked everyday and beautiful views over the gardens. It was also away from all the action which meant the room was quiet, which I loved.

The resort itself is HUGE…

This is the just Mediterranean Oceanview Village where you will find numerous different rooms, the main pool, croquet and five of the eleven restaurants and cafes that are available.

The main pool is the centre of most of the day time entertainment and a great place to just relax and unwind. There is a swim up bar which opens from 10:30am and of course all drinks are part of the all inclusive package so you could have whatever you want, whenever you wanted it. For the less partying kind who are worried about the open bar, we never felt that the pool became too rowdy, it was just a really nice relaxed atmosphere that everyone could enjoy.

No matter where you are on the resort, there is always easy access to the beach which is just stunning. It is called Dickenson Bay and even though it is a public beach it is never too busy.

The Caribbean Beachfront Village was where the evening entertainment could be found as well as the remaining six restaurants and cafes available.

Here you can watch live music and fun games all led by the very talented entertainment team.

If you are a late night party person, then the final night’s entertainment was held at the British Pub called the Drunken Duck. Here you would find either a dance party or karaoke as well as pool and snooker for those who wanted a quieter time.

The best thing about all inclusive is that you can eat whenever you want and you don’t have to worry about the cost or the tipping… gratuities are included in the price.

We enjoyed trying almost all the restaurants and cafes but we had some personal favourites. We went to Marios every morning for a delicious breakfast buffet which had everything from an omelette chef, to pancakes and french toast to fruit and pastries as well as cereal and yoghurts with amazing toppings.

For pool side snacks there were stone baked pizzas from Bella Napoli and hotdogs. If you fancied a proper lunch meal then there was the Barefoot By the Sea or a lunch time buffet at the Bayside Restaurant. Both restaurants have great views over the beach.

In the evening, the Barefoot By the Sea offered a delicious Caribbean seafood menu which, if you timed it perfectly, could be enjoyed with views over a beautiful sunset.

OK Corrall served nice Tex-Mex influenced food with also beautiful views over the beach.

Kimonos is a Teppanyaki restaurant which was such vibe. Although there was way too much food, and it was not the best (forgive me, I lived in Japan), the atmosphere with Teddy the chef was worth it! He brought so much fun to the table; singing whilst juggling cutlery and cracking some laugh out loud dad jokes. As you can see, everyone was having a fantastic time and it was a great opportunity to meet some other couples.

The highlight of all the restaurants was the coffee shop… Cafe de Paris which offered unlimited coffee from 7am to 10:30pm and completed my ultimate dream.

In addition to all the food and drink, the all inclusive package included water sports, such as; scuba diving, kayaking and wind surfing. We, however, decided to try paddle boarding or SUP, for a fun challenge.

And it certainly was a challenge, especially when transitioning from knees to feet but luckily no one capsized and our kayaking skills helped when it came to steering back to shore. Nothing beats the feeling of being on the clear open water in the heat, so much so, Rob sneaked in an opportunity to take a nap…

Shamefully we had so much fun on the resort we never felt the need to leave but we would not have done Antigua any justice if we didn’t do at least one thing off the resort. I researched thoroughly and decided to book a private boat charter with CocoVibes Tours and Captain George. We were supposed to go in the middle of our trip but due to a number of unforeseen events our trip kept getting postponed until on our last day, before we were due to fly, we managed to fit in a 3 hour trip and it was AMAZING!

Captain George picked us up from just outside the water sports hut at the Sandals resort and straight away put us at ease. He took us around the whole east coast of island sharing his wealthy of historical facts whilst the sea breeze blasted through our hair… well my hair and Rob’s beard!

We enjoyed the views with drinks, music and fresh mango. The best part was swimming at our own private beach (one of the 365 beaches that Antigua has to offer. One for every day of the year!).

It was the perfect way to see the island and finish our holiday. We highly recommend CocoVibes if you ever find yourself in Antigua.

The Sandals Grande Antigua Resort is beautiful and has everything you need for a one week stay. It is also known as the Caribbean’s most romantic resort and it is easy to see why, especially as the sun goes down. The sunsets in Antigua just seem to explode.

And there are plenty of places around the resort to sit and enjoy the sunset and the evening stars.

On our last day our flight was not until 9:25pm which meant we had a lot of time to waste before our shuttle at 6: 30pm. This I would normally find quite stressful, however the resort had a cleverly designed departure lounge which allowed you to lock away your valuables so that you could still enjoy all the facilities of the resort on your final day.

If you wanted to relax by the pool one last time or have a final dip in the sea? No worries, the departure lounge has showers, towels and hair dryers so you can clean up before catching your late night flight.

Honestly, I was prepared to be disappointed by Sandals Grande Antigua resort… I mean, can anything really be that perfect? But we were not, in fact we thoroughly enjoyed our stay and may just be Sandals coverts.

The sand, the sea, the sun (Antigua’s motto) were everything. We loved relaxing, we loved not having to worry about money and tipping, we loved the sunsets, the atmosphere and most of all the people.

Did we get to live out 90s fantasy? Yes! Was it just like the adverts we used to see on TV when we were kids? Absolutely! Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this (IYKYK) and I feel like our moment was worth waiting for.

Until our next adventure…

SP x