Guest reviews Galley Bay Resort & Spa

by Lgeorge11 Ottawa, Canada

Perfect Honeymoon Spot!

We arrived at the beautiful Galley Bay resort to celebrate our honeymoon, and were immediately taken by the absolute beauty. The grounds are incredibly well kept, the restaurants are impeccably clean, and the beach is stunning. We stayed in one of the Gaugin cottages, which had a lovely plunge pool and was a very short walk to the beach and pool. The cottage was a bit rustic and very private, which is exactly what we were looking for, and we loved seeing the little geckos and mongoose running around. The staff at Galley Bay can't be beat - they are friendly, and clearly proud of where they work. Special shout out to Kerian, who took the time to remember our names, and our drink orders (how she does it I'll never know!) and Sadi, who kept us laughing during our daily breakfast at the Sea Grape restaurant. We enjoyed a wonderful snorkeling trip on a Hobie Cat with Romerio as our guide. We was upbeat and so educated about Antigua and it's history. He even took time to give us a Hobie Cat sailing lesson. It was a delightful way to spend an afternoon. I'm a vegetarian, and there were tasty and interesting options for me at every meal. Chef Nathaniel is clearly a total expert in his field! My husband doesn't drink, and the staff was respectful and made sure he was still offered interesting virgin cocktails during our stay. We enjoyed dinner at Ismay's Restaurant on our final night and it was an absolute delight. The food was phenomenal, the staff so pleasant, and the view was breathtaking. We also enjoyed massages at the spa during the week - the therapists were professional and the treatments were wonderful and relaxing! Thank you Galley bay for offering us the honeymoon of our dreams! We will most certainly be back!!

by annefarquhar15 Reading, United Kingdom

Relaxing stay at this beautiful resort

Our third visit to this beautiful resort. We stayed in a premium beach front suite. We love waking up looking out at the sea only metres away. We were welcomed by all members of staff and received friendly and smiling service. We like the relaxed vibe during the day but also liked to dress for dinner in the evening. Please don’t change the dress rule as we feel this adds to the quality and ambiance. Great food, we enjoyed all the restaurants especially Ismay’s. Well worth the supplementary charge. We will be returning in 2023.

by Sylvie M Staffordshire, United Kingdom

Relaxing

This was our 2nd visit to Galley Bay..and the staff were as warm and welcoming as they were in 2015…most members of staff will chat/pass the time of day with guests..2 members of staff I particularly recall are Claudia in the Coffee Shop a great fan of Rod Stewart and Vincent who took the time to make us feel valued customers when he said ‘I appreciate you choosing To stay here .you could have chosen anywhere on the island but you chose Galley Bay..Thankyou……I think too many people in business forget who it is who helps pay their wage, and I think he was a genuine and sincere guy..You have a real Gem in Vincent.

by Bigdada64 Elmhurst, Illinois

A Wonderful Getaway

Just returned from a 9 night stay, and it was delightful. I will try to hit on some key aspects of the property, and give some insights from our experience there. 1. Travel We visited from the US midwest. We connected through Miami. All went as planned and made it to Antigua by late afternoon, less than 3 hours from Miami. We were not as lucky heading home. Our flight out of Antigua was delayed by several hours, which put us in a situation where we diverted to New York and overnighted , with an AM flight home. Obviously, anytime one needs to make connecting flights, there's the potential for problems. Just a cautionary tale The property is about 30 minutes drive from the airport. It's an interesting ride. You get a real slice of life for Antiguans. 2. Property Galley Bay is rustic, natural, and fits it's surroundings. Don't expect big gleaming buildings of concrete and glass. There are beachfront suites the length of the beach, and Gauguin suites further away from the beach. We stayed in a superior deluxe beachfront suite. Tons of space, beautifully maintained, big walk in closet with safe and Iron/board. Big bathroom, great towels, excellent soaps lotions shampoos etc. A/C worked great. Tons of outlets, stocked fridge. We walked right out onto the beach, plenty of thatched cabanas, umbrellas, lounge chairs etc. 3. Food Overall, the food was superb. Seagrapes is the main restaurant, situated at the midpoint along the beach. for B/L/D everyday. A La Carte, the menus changed for L/D everyday. Always meat, fish, pasta, vegetarian options. Everything made to order. Gauguin, at the south end of the beach serves daily lunch, and dinner most nights. The tables are under individual thatched little huts, providing a little more privacy, There are two seatings for dinner, 6:45 and 8:30. To reserve a table you need to call guest services after 7 am. Ismays is at the very North end of the beach. It's only open for dinner several nights a week, and there is a supplemental charge. The barefoot grill just opposite the Seagrapes is open from noon till 6pm. Simple, but really good lunchtime fare. The teahouse is a short stroll from guest services, and always has ice cream, baked goodies, and any kind of coffee/tea drink you can imagine. It's also the only other place beside your room that has A/C 3. Amenities. The beach is lovely, there are rocks, but it's very obvious where they are, so it's very easy to enter the water safely and swim, snorkel, sail, kayak, paddle board etc. The pool has plenty of seating/loungers along with thatched umbrella coverings. The pool has buttons to push to request drink service, this is not available on the beach. There is volleyball, croquet, pool and ping pong tables. there are bikes available to ride around the property. There's beachfront yoga classes There's a turtle sanctuary. We had a great tour given by Kurt showing off a lot of the beautiful flora, and you can tour their acres of gardens where they grow a lot of the fruits and veggies that end up on your plate. Some random thoughts/things to be aware of: All the dining is outside. There's always a breeze, but folks sensitive to the heat should be aware there is live music nightly on the adjoining deck next to Seagrapes. They do a great job, but it can be distracting if you're still dining there. They post the daily lunch and dinner menus for the restaurants near guest services by midmorning, but you need to call first thing to reserve Gauguin. This leads to cancellations of reservations if folks like one menu over another The island runs on 230V, but the same 2 prong outlet as the US. So you'll need a converter between your device and the wall outlet. The overall vibe here is very relaxed. They are not cranking music at the pool, nor are there activity teams pushing folks to get involved in activities. You want music by the pool, it's via your ear buds. The place offers a lot, but is very low key about promoting things. Learn from the reviews and inquire, and it's all available to you. The place is truly adults only. There were a few late teen/twentysomethings, along with a variety of newlyweds and anniversary folks. But overall it's an older client population, with a nice mix of people from the UK, US and Canada, that we met. everyone was very nice Lastly, and most importantly, the people here were marvelous. Genuinely nice folks, friendly, helpful always a hello. Pair that with the surroundings, and all the beautiful flora and fauna. The place is just fragrant from all the bougainvillea and frangipane. All the birds, and lizards, and mongooses, not to mention all the sealife you see right from swimming off the beach. We had a marvelous time, and can see why so many people keep returning year after year.

by ConwayRebecca Conway, South Carolina

Another beautiful week at Galley Bay

Just finished our second stay at Galley Bay and it was just as wonderful as we remembered. The setting is spectacular, the food is excellent all around, but the staff is what makes this place so special- everyone from the management team, to the waitresses, the gardeners, the beach staff, the bar staff- all of them are helpful, friendly, and seem genuinely proud to be part of this lovely resort. The grounds are beautiful- flowers everywhere (despite a terrible drought), and I saw lots of beautiful birds, especially humming birds. They got 3 brand new bicycles this week, so I did a lot of bike riding. I also did yoga and physical fitness classes with Mackenzie- overlooking the beautiful beach. When we arrived, they greeted us with “Welcome home”- it does feel like home, and we’ll be back.