This resort surpassed all of our expectations. The setting is spectacular and beach and pools are steps away from anything. Accommodations were perfect: small but comfortable cottages with comfy beds.... read more The staff were amazing—all of them! Food was very good. We felt no need to go off site to eat. We’ll be back, hopefully often! Thank you Coco Bay for making our winter!

  Our stay at Cocobay was the holiday of a lifetime, it is hands down the best resort we've ever visited and I can't recommend it highly enough. The most beautiful... read more place you'll ever see with the most welcoming and wonderful staff. A huge thank you to Janine in particular and all the fantastic people at Cocobay who took such good care of us. I'd give it six stars if I could!

We actually split our holiday and spent the first half at Cocobay and the second half at a more expensive 5-star resort in Antigua and we thought Cocobay was the better resort by far. We spent our second week wishing we could go back!

I've tried to be as detailed as possible in this review, because I really appreciated other people's detailed reviews when we were planning our holiday 🙂

The resort and location
Cocobay is set on a cliff that gives every single part of the hotel unimaginable views. We've been watching their instagram stories for months while we looked forward to our holiday but none of them did it justice. You have to see it for yourself.
I think what we didn't realise too is how big the resort is. There are lots of different spots for you to relax or take in the view (the coffee shop, the bar, the other bar, the two infinity pools, the beach and the sprawling grounds with lots of scenery to enjoy). It was nice because you had the bustling resort and then a short walk down the beautiful path lined with palms to your private cottage, that felt like a secluded other world.
The resort is beautiful and had a lovely atmosphere, buzzing and welcoming and friendly. I'm a young woman and quite often went for wanders down the beach or around the grounds on my own while my fiance was busy and I always felt totally safe. It was mostly couples of all ages and a very romantic place, we went for an early honeymoon and it was perfect for what we were after.

The cottages
We were very lucky and got upgraded from our deluxe pool suite (silver sand) to a premium starfish waterfront suite (our room was DaggerLog, photo of the deck attached). It was beyond words, with a huge comfortable bed, large bathroom that opened out to ocean views and the most beautiful outside deck you've ever seen (with a gorgeous bathtub, plunge pool and plentiful chairs and hammocks for relaxing). A few reviews said the plunge pool was a bit cold but we actually found ours a great temperature and spent lovely afternoons enjoying it (the size isn't clear from the pics but I found it was just big enough for me to swim around). We felt so lucky to wake up and have the panoramic ocean views from our bed. The cottages really do feel completely private, your own little slice of paradise to enjoy with everything you need and more.

The staff
By far the best thing about Cocobay are its wonderful staff. I can't say enough good things about all the amazing people who work at Cocobay. Any help you need is provided right away and the staff are constantly friendly and welcoming, greeting you by name and asking about your day with genuine care. Everyone is happy to have a chat and to do anything they can to make your day. We owe a particular thank you to Janine, who was our dedicated POC during our stay and made everything so perfect and special. She was available on whatsapp whenever we need anything and she went above and beyond to help us throughout our stay (whether that was sourcing new personalised menus from our private dinner right away when I stupidly lost the originals or getting us help asap when we needed something checking in the room). She also planned so many wonderful little touches to make it extra special, like organising a surprise of petals and candles in our room one evening that was just stunning. We were so grateful for all she did to make our early honeymoon so perfect.

Dining
We loved the food at the main resort restaurant (Rafters). The menus were great with lots of variety and we never ran out of things to enjoy, all of it delicious and cooked and presented beautifully. We were initially worried about the resort only having one restaurant but there were actually loads of eating options:
- Paninis every day at the bar down by the sunset pool)
- Bar bites (we loved the cajun wedges with sour cream) at the main bar each afternoon
- Freshly baked pastries and treats at the coffee shop all day (the choc chip cookies are delicious, I think one day I ate five ...)
- There are lots of themed nights like Carribean BBQ and pizza Saturdays to enjoy and mix things up too
- We also did one lunch at Sheer Rocks (not included in all inclusive but on the resort) which was delicious, if pricey

Activities
- We loved the watersports at Cocobay (paddleboards and kayaks etc are included and usually free whenever you want to take them out)
- There are two large infinity pools with phenomenal views for swimming
- You also have a beautiful beach attached to the resort (Little Ffryes) where the resort staff will greet you warmly and make sure that you're secure, seated nicely and have any drinks or other things that you need
- There are two more beaches you can walk to but we had so much to enjoy on the site that we didn't visit these
- A top tip from me would be to make the most of the free activities offered. We did sunrise yoga twice and were pretty much the only people there (so you end up with a free private yoga session looking out at the ocean!) We also loved the nature walk with Cocobay's medicine man, we learned so much.

Extras & tips
- We booked the premium romance combo and highly recommend it. We thought it was actually really good value for what you get: gorgeous floating pool breakfast in your room or one of the resort's mini private pools with a bottle of champagne, hour-long couple's massage with ocean views and the most amazing private 5-course meal with a beautiful set-up in a secluded pool location for you and your partner. The private dinner was especially wonderful and a really next-level experience with beautiful flowers and tiki torches set up around a gorgeous spot for our delicious dinner and little touches like personalised souvenir menus.
- We also made use of the cliffside cabanas and adored these, such magical spots right above the ocean (with plenty of shade and drinks on hand!)
- We booked directly with Cocobay and I'm glad we did, you get the best rates and I think you get quite a few benefits from this (complimentary mini bar and with our premium room type we also got to have the supplement items from the menu for free)
- A few reviews said that there isn't much going on in the evenings, this actually wasn't our experience (especially vs the other luxury resort on the island we tried which felt a little dead at night). Cocobay has a lovely bar area that opens until I think 10.45pm and we found it a really nice space to hang out after dinner, especially when there was live music there to enjoy and it got busier. Overall, it's a romantic resort so I think we went expecting it to be more relaxing than partyish. Our tip would be to bring playing cards or a game (we had Dobble!) that you can enjoy and invite people to join over a delicious cocktail 🙂
- There's a little gift shop on site with everything you need, but I'd recommend ensuring you bring enough sun cream and bug spray with you as it can be quite expensive to buy it in Antigua (not specific to Cocobay)

The nature
One of our favourite things about Cocobay was the beautiful natural setting and the sense that you were at one with it. We loved putting out saucers of sugar water on our deck and watching the bananaquits and lizards coming to feed. We also loved the adorable kitties who would pop up from time to time and we snuck them a treat or two at dinner. A few reviews described it as rustic and I can see why, but it still felt very luxurious. Like a boutique corner of secluded paradise! It's worth being aware of though if nature is not really your thing 🙂 because I think you'll enjoy Cocobay best if that's something you're ready for and excited about. For a hotel in such a gorgeous natural location, the staff did a great job of ensuring that flies and mosquitos were kept to a minimum (they did spraying regularly and provide mosquito nets over all the beds). We did use bug spray twice a day and brought a mosquito repellent plug in too, but we didn't get bitten once.

Overall
Thank you so much to Cocobay, all the staff and Janine especially for our phenomenal stay - we will be back very soon 🙂

  We started our Antiguan holiday in this resort and what a little bit of paradise it is . The cottage was beautiful looking out to Valley Church beach and had... read more a pool and a hammock and lovely sitting area .The bed was super comfortable with mosquito netting around it that looked really pretty and room was cleaned daily .
Food here was lovely and varied the restaurant team were wonderful and we enjoyed chatting and learning about their island and their lives .We had a bbq night that was amazing and also a paella night both times looking out at the ocean in a fantastic setting .This resort is stunning and I can see why so many people there had returned many times as it made you feel very special.
We would like to thank all of the staff but these ones in particular
Mr Gore very professional
Altino Davern Jermiah
David the trainee was superb with how he looked after us and will do brilliantly
Finally Kemet who felt like a daughter after 6 nights she was always looking after us and she was always super happy and lit the place up with her kindness and friendliness an important member of the team
We miss you all already and will be back xxx
Thank you for the best time ever More

  Beautiful setting next to Little Ffryers beach (walk to the end and go onto Big Ffryers beach) much nicer but have to pay for your sunbeds or just swim and... read more return to hotel . The staff were amazingly attentive and genuinely lovely and I mean EVERY member of staff we came across the pool areas are clean with Comfy sun beds and cabanas with the most amazing views across the turquoise Caribbean sea The food was always presented well and was delicious for the most part. They hold Spanish/pizza/Caribbean nights away from main restaurant beside one of the pools and I would say they were “ just ok” nothing special The grounds were beautiful with hummingbirds and pretty yellow birds as well as a good few mongoose flitting around there is a great coffee shop open 7am-3pm serving every kind of coffee and wonderful cookies and pastries. My only disappointment was the room it definitively needed a lot of TLC and although sold as rustic it needs more storage it had only one drawer and a pole behind a curtained area as a wardrobe we knew there wasn’t a TV in the room but there is also very little evening entertainment so after about 9.30 the bar area was pretty quiet also there were very few branded drinks on offer which was a bit of a surprise considering how much it costs to stay there..we went downstairs to Sheer Rocks once which is not part of the hotel but within the grounds and had 2 branded Gin & tonics and paid $ 23 usd !!! As the room is cabin-like it has big gaps for insects and mosquitoes to come in so you are made to sleep under a mosquito net ..but on a positive it’s lovely to hear all the frog’s singing Is this resort value for money? Perhaps not