The Galley Bay Resort and Spa in St Johns is a 20-minute ride from V.C. Bird International Airport and is located on the northwest coast of Antigua, on the appropriately named Galley Bay. The resort can arrange service from the airport upon booking. The resort is part of the Elite Island Resorts intimate chain of all-inclusive resorts located in Antigua and Barbuda, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, and Panama.
Coming from a couple that enjoys peace and quiet and doing things on our own schedule, we tend to lean toward villa rentals when we go to the Caribbean. But every once in a while it is nice to go somewhere you are taken care of but still retain that relaxing calm. With only 98 rooms, Galley Bay is just that to us. In 2015, when we decided to be done with the mega-resorts for good, Galley Bay was our first attempt at the smaller, slower-pace style.
We enjoyed our stay so much that we visited their sister resort, Palm Island Resort and Spa, in 2016 and Galley Bay again in 2021 (the COVID years). But more on those later.
A nice feature about Galley Bay is that while all of the beaches in Antigua, as with most of the Caribbean, are public, there is no easy way to get to this beach without coming by sea. Because of this, you will not have an issue with peddlers or others trying to sell their goods. It gives the Galley Bay the feel of a private resort beach.
After your short ride to the resort, we were greeted by staff along with Ismay Mason, the beloved employee who was with the resort for 45 years and never took a sick day. Check-in is completed at their front desk near the roadway where you are presented with cold towels and their signature rum punch. Following the quick check-in process, golf cars are loaded up and you are taken on a brief tour of the grounds, and your first glimpse of the beautiful Caribbean Sea.
There are two main decisions you need to make when booking a room at Galley Bay Resort. First, do you want a beach-front room or a garden room with a private plunge pool? On both our visits, we opted for the beach-front room, with plans to stay in the Gauguin Suites in the future. All rooms, regardless of selection, are spacious and have received regular updates and modernizations over the years.
The center of attraction on the resort is around the Tee Pee Bar and the Sea Grapes Restaurant and Bar. The Tee Pee Bar is your main service bar for the pool area and throughout the day, while Sea Grapes Restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The Tee Pee bar is also adjacent to the popular Barefoot Grill for a quick bite during the day. The Barefoot Grill is our favorite lunch stop at the resort as you can walk up from the beach or pool without shoes or cover-up.
If you are in search of some of the best hot wings ever, make your way to the west end of Galley Bay to Gauguin Restaurant and Bar and ask your server for the house-made hot sauce! You can order take-out or be seated under one of their unique palapas near the water’s edge. Make sure to return here for an intimate dinner at sunset. Tables are spread out under grass-covered palapas for a romantic dinner for two (or more). Each private table has a ceiling fan and dimmable lighting.
At the furthest east end of the property, you will find Ismay’s Restaurant and Bar. Ismay’s is just that extra step above all of the other restaurant options and only opens a few select nights each week. There is a small upcharge dining at Ismay’s but it is well worth it. A portion of your upcharge also goes to the Ismay Foundation which provides scholarships and training to employees of the Galley Bay Resort and Spa.
If activities are what you are looking for to pass the time, there are a lot of options. Everything from resort events such as rum tasting and movie night on the beach, to sunset cruises or off-island tours. During our stay in 2015, we opted for a sunset cruise aboard Captain Sean’s yacht “Beats Working”. Captain Sean’s afternoon starts with a tour of the Northwest shores, followed by some incredible snorkeling at Cades Reef. Once back on the surface it is time for some dinner and drinks just in time for a picture-perfect sunset. For anyone who enjoys the magic hour aboard a sailboat, it doesn’t get any better than the west coast of Antigua for a great finale.
In 2015, we also chose a day trip to the neighboring island of Montserrat which started our love of the island. More on that over on the Montserrat pages.
One of the small touches that put Galley Bay about other resorts is no plastic cups! You will not find half-drank pina coladas sitting around attracting the bees. In your room, each guest is given a Galley Bay water bottle to fill up with whatever drink you want; whether water or a mixed drink. Other than replenishing that, each drink whether poolside or while dining will be glass. Less waste, more classy!
Last but not least, the people; where to begin? While Galley Bay Resort and Spa itself is excellent, it would not be anything without its great staff. Everyone we’ve encountered has a smile on their face and they truly want to go above and beyond to make your stay what it is. After day one, they do not even need to ask you what you are drinking. If your drink is empty, they will casually walk by and place a new one in front of you.
If you are lucky enough to be here during sea turtle egg hatching, be sure to be added to their 24-hour call list. Should staff be made aware of a hatching, they will call you no matter what time of night, to help protect the hatchlings on their mad dash to the ocean.
Everyone’s opinion on what makes a vacation perfect differs as much as their desired location. To us, it is peace, quiet, sand, waves, cocktails, local food (wings count!), and the people. At Galley Bay, you get all of that and then some. It has checked all of our boxes on each of our visits. There is so much to see in the world that it is not often we will return to the same place twice. Yet there will be a third and fourth visit to Galley Bay in the future.
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