While at the resort I took yoga classes with Jaymalynn or Lovely J. She is Awesome! It was a great balance between effort and ease. I took multiple classes and each day the sequences were different. The early class is on the beach and it was delightful.

My husband and I spent our first year anniversary at Royalton Antigua, with the Diamond Club upgrade, and a bay view room. Our stay was for 12 nights the end of June 2024.

The location, beach and facilities could not be faulted. - The grounds were immaculately kept and the views were stunning. Antigua is super safe and we walked out of the resort on a number of occasions to visit the local beaches and town. Fort Barrington is a short way from the resort, and offers a stunning view of the resort and the bay.

Unfortunately, the service was inconsistent. 70% of the time, we experienced great service from friendly staff. The other 30% was simply rude, unprofessional and unwelcoming. This did not stop us from having a great time in Antigua, but this service did not match our expectation (we have stayed in 2 Royalton resorts previously)

An example of the poor service: we went to the Diamond Club pool grill and asked for the menu. The lady behind the bar looked annoyed that we had asked, and pointed to a note pad that had "Jerk Chicken, Jerk Pork, Rice" handwritten on it. I asked for two of the jerk chicken and rice (meaning I would like two meals, one for my husband, one for me). She looked even more annoyed that she now had to serve me, and went to dish up prepared food, she did not have to cook or reheat it.
She handed me one plate, that had two pieces of chicken and a portion of rice. On explaining the miscommunication and that I wanted two meals, she sighed out loud and walked off to dish up a second plate. She did not say a single word to me, but she did not have to. She did not want to be there, serving me was an inconvenience. This was NOT the kind of service we expected from a 5 star resort, let alone from the upgraded Diamond Club experience.

The "Vibe" team provided the activities throughout the day. I thoroughly enjoyed the water aerobics, taken by a high energy lady and supported by a gentleman who was in the pool with us. However, the rest of the team just seemed to play table tennis against each other all day. On two occasions I asked to play table tennis with them, but was told I had to wait whilst the two PAID Vibe staff finished their game. On the second occasion I asked to play, I waited over 20 minutes whilst they had multiple games - they absolutely knew I was waiting. I ended up walking off to the pool as I was bored.

Lastly, all of the rooms are in the same building/complex. Their website states that there are 294 suites, which is over 9 floors. All of these rooms are serviced by two very small and very slow lifts. Being on floor 8, we had to time our lift usage so that we were not using them at peak times. I can't imagine how this runs in the busier seasons!

Overall, we had a lovely holiday in Royalton Antigua. With a few small changes, this resort could be amazing. With the number of reviews that mention the service standards, it seems that the management team do not seem to care about resolving this issue.

A final section for those considering Diamond Club - Was it worth it? Here is my experience on all of the offered services:

*Preferential room locations with the best views*
All of the rooms are in the same building. Therefore half of the people staying at the Royalton Antigua would have a view of the bay. Im unsure this is exclusive to Diamond Club members. I'm pretty sure the room layout is exactly the same for non-diamond club members too. This was not the case in the other Royalton's that we stayed in.

*Personalised butler service for exceptional continuous assistance*
Our two butlers Kai and Javier regularly checked to see if we needed anything, and arranged all of our dinner reservations as per our requests. I'd like to note to management that Kai was exceptional, she went above and beyond to ensure our stay was pleasant. She arranged for cake, wine and room decorations for our anniversary day, it was highly appreciated.

*Beach butler services and assistance from sunrise to sunset*
On our 12 day stay, we had beach butler service maybe 3 times. This did not bother us, as it was really easy to get served at the swim up bar.

*Exclusive private pool for Diamond Club™ guests*
We watched non-diamond club guests wander in and out all the time! The pool joins the main pool under a bridge, so anyone could just swim in and use the diamond club pool and swim up bar. That being said, they just as easily walk in, as there was never anyone to stop you going into the diamond club area. At the time we visited the resort was not busy so this did not affect our experience. It was more frustration that we had paid for the privilege, and it was not enforced.

*Private and upscale breakfast experience at a designated exclusive restaurant venue.*
This was a stunning spot for breakfast, we really enjoyed this. We go for breakfast at around 7-7.30am and we were often the only people in the restaurant. The service here was always great. We enjoyed looking out to sea to watch the tropical fish, and the waitress noticed this. She then bought us some food to throw in for them, attracting even more fish to the area. This was a great touch. Unfortunately I did not catch her name.

Really good resort, wonderful views, facilties and staff. We used the gym and took yoga classes with Jay was excellent, experienced and offered great help, support and advice. There are a number of restaurants and bars serving quality food and drinks.