When I think of a luxury hotel, I think of stunning design, impeccable service, unique settings, and incredible food – Hermitage Bay in Antigua has it all! Here’s my honest (not sponsored) Hermitage Bay Antigua review.
My husband and I had the opportunity to stay at Hermitage Bay thanks to Hilton credit card points, and it turned out to be our favorite luxury hotel stay yet. Our other favorite is Zemi Beach House in Anguilla.
P.S. This property is luxurious in every way AND all-inclusive, even including your arrival in Antigua. More on all of this below!
Table of Contents
Booking Hermitage Bay
Hermitage Bay is part of Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH), a collection of hundreds of boutique hotels and resorts scattered around the globe. SLH is affiliated with Hilton, so this has been a great perk for us!
Hermitage Bay can be booked directly on Hilton or through SLH. There are also partner websites such as Booking.com. Additionally, it’s one of the best (if not the best) point redemptions available through Hilton.
Rooms start at around 190,000 points a night, with the cash rate starting at $2000-$3000 a night. This means your points can get you well above the average value for Hilton points. It went up this past year from 120,000 points a night.
Additionally, this hotel does allow you to use free reward nights. So you can book utilizing your free reward nights through the Hilton Honors credit card. We love our Hilton credit card; learn how to earn points here.
There are three important things to know before booking a flight and starting to look at this hotel.
- Each year, Hermitage Bay closes from August to October. During this time, no one can stay at the hotel.
- They provide free airport transfer upon arrival if you book at least 3 nights. You’ll want to reach out to them to arrange this after booking.
- This is an adults-only property. Children must be at least 14 to stay and will incur an extra $400 nightly surcharge to share a room with two adults.
Location
Hermitage Bay is located on a secluded bay (Hermitage Bay) on the West side of Antigua in the Caribbean. All beaches in Antigua are public, but the hotel and its rooms occupy almost the entire bay. You’d need to drive over 15 minutes from the main road to get down to the coast, so few people who aren’t hotel guests venture down here.
There is nothing within walking distance of the hotel, but you really don’t need anything since Hermitage Bay includes everything in your stay. Many excursions will pick you up from Hermitage Bay (especially if they are on the water) as well.
The last note about the location of this hotel that is important to note is that it is on a hill. You will either have to do a lot of uphill walking or call for one of the available golf cart rides to get around.
Getting There
As mentioned in the previous section, getting there is made really easy with the transfer included if you book 3 nights! However, even if you don’t stay three nights, you can still arrange a taxi from the airport to the hotel.
Not only was a black SUV waiting for us, but they met us as we were getting off the plane and took us through a separate customs line, where we went through very quickly without waiting. Such a nice arrival process if you book 3 nights!
Google Maps will tell you that the drive is 35 minutes from the airport, but if you arrive during rush hour or there is a crash, etc… the drive can take over an hour. This is what happened to us, and it felt like it took forever to get there! Our flight got in at 3 pm, and we got to the resort around 5:30.
Also, the last 10-15 minutes of the drive are extremely bumpy. We were in the dark and bumping along the road… it was actually unbelievable how rough the road was, but once we pulled up, we instantly fell in love.
Villas
Now, most hotel reviews I have on my site will say rooms for this section, but not this one! Hermitage Bay has 30 villas at its resort, with three options: beachside, pool, and hillside pool. There is one two bedroom villa as well.
Each of the villas is absolutely stunning! Here’s a little more about each:
- Beachside villas: Set along the beach, these villas have private decks, many with swings, and plenty of space for relaxing.
- Pool villas: These split-level villas are wrapped in tropical gardens with your own private pool and the beach close by.
- Hillside pool villas: Offering a bird’s eye view of beautiful Hermitage Bay, these villas are perched high up on the hillside, surrounded by greenery.
While all are available with points, we booked a beachside villa (it was the cheapest option) and absolutely loved it. When I tell you, my mouth opened wide, and I was speechless when we walked in – absolutely stunning space.
The rooms match the vibe of the entire resort – soft luxury, calm tones, lux bedding, and hidden tech like the TV that pops up from the desk in the center of the room. Calm, natural tones are found throughout the resort, including in your room.
All rooms are at least 1,140 square feet and include a daily-restocked minibar, turndown service, a large veranda with ample seating and great views, and an outdoor shower.
The only weird thing about the rooms is that the toilet is not in a separate space, so you can’t really use it while someone is in the bathroom. The bathroom has a door, but the wall above it is open, so anyone in the room can hear you. This was my only complaint about the resort!
The deck was huge, and we loved having the outdoor space – we used it daily for relaxing with an ocean view! There’s the swinging bed and the two lounge chairs, but then there’s also a day bed, a small table and chairs, too – all covered by an overhang. There was also space on the beach with chairs and a small table.
The room is full of thoughtful touches like a handwritten note from the concierge desk, fruit and champagne waiting in your room, setting water on the nightstand each night, a personal space to wash your feet after the beach before going into your villa, a hidden TV, a Bluetooth speaker for music… all those things that make a stay extra special.
Being on the beach was great. This was our babymoon, so walking a lot wasn’t really high on my list of things I wanted to do, and yes, they have the golf carts, but I just would have wanted to walk sometimes!
However, I would have loved to stay in one of the hillside villas for the views. We got a tour of the resort in a golf cart during our stay and got a taste of the views – gorgeous!
We loved how boutique and bespoke it felt! Unlike major resorts, it is quiet and calm throughout your whole stay. It never felt crowded or too busy. There were some days when we practically had the beach to ourselves!
Amenities
Hermitage Bay is not your typical all-inclusive resort with a long list of activities they hand out on a sheet. There’s still plenty to do, which I’ll get into, but this is a resort meant for relaxing and taking it easy.
There are many different activities you can participate in; they are listed below. Everything is included unless otherwise mentioned; you need to pay.
- Pool and poolside bar
- Beach with luxurious chairs and service, including bringing you food and drinks, setting out towels, and carrying your belongings.
- Water sports like kayaking and SUP.
- Snorkeling gear
- Gym with workout equipment
- Yoga or Pilates class (they alternate) at the spa. I did a Pilates class, but I was the only one there. The instructor was about 15 minutes late.
- Walking tour of the grounds and organic garden every Tuesday
- Cooking demonstration on Wednesdays with the restaurant chef.
- Live music at the poolside bar every evening.
- Charter a fishing expedition; take a tour of some of Antigua’s historic sites; play golf or tennis at a nearby venue; sail; hop on a helicopter to the neighboring island of Barbuda for lunch at Nobu. These activities are not included and are pricey. We asked about a boat rental, and it was $600 for half the day.
Make sure to let the concierge know you want to participate in the activities. If no one signs up in advance, they may cancel it.
Garden Spa
What luxury stay is complete without a luxurious spa treatment?! Located on the hillside, you’ll find the small but beautiful hillside Garden Spa. Treatments are not included, but I thought they were not badly priced, considering the hotel is $2300 on average a night.
A 1-hour massage is $150 and absolutely worth it! They were running a special while we were there, and the hour massage included a 30-minute facial as well for no additional cost. I was pregnant, and they easily accommodated me and did a great prenatal massage. See their spa menu here.
This was not the fanciest spa I’ve been to; there were no additional saunas or pools when you book a treatment, but really, you don’t need them here, given how secluded it already is.
Food and Drink
When you think of food at an all-inclusive, you probably don’t think of an amazing dining experience, but Hermitage Bay is different. The food here was incredible, and the drinks were equally as good. Top-shelf ingredients and liquor were available everywhere and included in your stay.
Breakfast
Breakfast is served every morning at the same restaurant where dinner is served. It’s to the right of the main desk, where you check in, and opposite the pool. You can sit on the beach and enjoy the great views while you eat.
Breakfast is served at the restaurant from 7 am to 10:30 am each day. Every morning, you’ll get some amazing options:
- Coffee, including espresso drinks, and fresh juice (these rotate depending on the fruits available)
- Order any fruit and baked goods. We always got a little something – how could you not!
- Order your entree. Entrees range from healthy small plates to full-blown breakfast plates with pancakes and bacon.
The breakfast menu stayed the same each day while we were there, except for the juices and the fruit on the fruit plate.
Lunch
Lunch is served at the beach club at the end of the beach. Unlike breakfast, some of this menu changes daily and includes my favorite food options! You simply walk up to the beach club between 12:00 pm and 2:30 pm and are seated.
Like breakfast, lunch follows a set kind of sequence of food options. We never said no to any of them, of course. How could you?!
- Order your drinks, I got a fresh coconut every single day
- A few small “sharing plates” are always brought out – they will ask if you want them, but I highly recommend saying yes!
- Your choice of other small plates and entrees – plus a few sides, if you’d like to add them on
Live music happens during lunch, and we loved the sing-along feel! Everyone working at the beach club was having a blast and was honestly the kindest people.
After our first day, they recognized us and knew I’d want a coconut. It was so sweet, and it’s the little things like that that make this place special.
Sushi Happy Hour
A Nobu trained chef who prepares you sushi during sunset – I mean does it get any better than this!? Probably one of the coolest and most unique things you’ll find at a resort. Sushi happy hour included two rolls and all the drinks you want.
To participate, simply sign up for a time with the concierge to secure a space. However, people did walk up and were accommodated without issue. Fresh sushi at that eye-catching beach bar every day starting at 4:30 pm until about 6:30 pm, reservations are available every 30 minutes.
A perfect combo is sushi and a sunset! And yes – again, they accommodated me being pregnant and cooked my sushi for me!
This is available daily and is one of the few times we saw others up close on our trip, HA.
Dinner
After finishing sushi happy hour, there’s dinner. Or, space out your reservations and take a nap between – we did both. No wrong answers here!
As with sushi, you’ll make a reservation for the time you want dinner, between 6 and 9:30 pm. The dinner menu was really, really good.
There are so many great options, all fresh and delicious! Some options were on the menu each night, but others did change. Dinner was always so relaxing and a great way to end our night.
In addition to being delicious, the presentation of these dishes was great. They had premium options included, like steak, octopus, and surf and turf.
Music starts at the pool bar around 7 pm, and so if you time dinner right, you’ll have live music along with your meal.
Drinks
There are more than enough drink options to keep you satisfied at Hermitage Bay! This is an all-inclusive, so your drinks are all included as well. They have the pool bar, beach bar, beach club, mini-bar, and beach chair service, so you won’t have a shortage of opportunities for a great drink.
While bartenders will gladly make you anything you request, their dedicated cocktail menu has many good options. I loved that they could make anything I asked non-alcoholic. They even had non-alcoholic prosecco, which I ordered several times.
You can also purchase high-end bottles of wine with dinner if you want to feel really fancy!
Service
One of the things we loved the most about our stay was the service. It honestly was just incredible. Everyone was so kind, always had a smile on their face, remembered our names, and went above and beyond to make our time special.
We were there celebrating our babymoon, and we didn’t even have to think about ways to make it special; they were always one step ahead. For example, we were chatting with one of the staff and mentioned we wondered what the view was like. He offered to take us up to enjoy the view in a golf cart – we didn’t even have to ask!
Interactions were warm, check-in/out was seamless, and, of course, the service at the airport, where we had a separate immigration line, just put the whole experience over the top for us!
Overall
Overall, as you can tell from the title and this review, Hermitage Bay is definitely my favorite hotel I’ve ever stayed at. It doesn’t even feel right to call it a hotel or a resort; it’s really something even better.
By far, this is the best Hilton redemption I think is possible, and I don’t know if any place will ever top it! Hoping I’ll get the chance to visit one day again.
Ready to book? Check out rooms here.
Leave a reply