The superstars’ playground of Antigua

Apr 12 2008 by Our Correspondent, Liverpool Daily Post

Beautiful beaches, fantastic food and superior service – what’s not to like about this superstars’ playground. Gilly Pickup reports

ELEGANT retreats, friendly locals and leisurely lifestyle... this is Antigua, sunniest island in the eastern Caribbean.

With a necklace of 365 pristine, palm-fringed beaches, (according to the unsubstantiated count of the tourist board) sun worshippers are in their element. Where else could you stay for a year without visiting the same beach twice?

This crunchy Caribbean island can be sure its never-ending stream of celebrity visitors like the Beckhams, Peter Gabriel and Roger Moore give it iconic appeal.

Giorgio Armani owns a rather splendid place on the northwest coast at Galley Bay Heights, while Eric Clapton went one step further and not only bought a home here, but also built a drug rehabilitation clinic.

There is no shortage of places for travellers to hang their hat in Antigua, but Galley Bay Resort is the kind of place for which the phrase “exclusive hideaway” was invented.

Nestling on one of Antigua’s west coast beaches, Galley Bay offers guests mega-doses of superior service, great food and understated, rustic luxury.

Though there are plenty of complimentary facilities for those who stir from their sun lounger, like tennis, croquet and windsurfing, this big-on-peace, hide and chic resort languishing in 40 acres of lush tropical gardens bursting with hibiscus, oleander and bougainvillea is somewhere to take your relaxation seriously.

On the remote northeast coast of the island, surrounded by a reef-protected bay, is Antigua’s newest eco-friendly retreat The Verandah, which opened at the end of last year.

It is near Devils Bridge, a natural limestone arch carved by the sea which explodes in a never-ending frenzy of spray.

Only a short boat trip away are the uninhabited nature sanctuaries Green Island and Great Bird Island, home to West Indian whistling ducks, rare lizards and laughing gulls.

The resort’s low-rise villas are built in classic Caribbean design with gabled roofs and timber-clad frames, designed to blend with the palm tree perfect surroundings.

It is an idyllic location where tiny hummingbirds build nests lined with cobwebs on flowering Dagger Trees and cheeky bananaquit birds swoop down at breakfast to steal sugar from the tables.

But if – perish the thought – all this luxuriating in heavenly hotels should begin to pall and you are hell-bent on wasting energy, you could cycle or take a drive round the island. The minus side is negotiating pot holes large enough to hold a party in. On the plus side, driving is on the left.

Wherever you venture, you will see crumbling sugar mills, remnants of the old plantation days.

A thriving sugar industry once drove the island’s economy. Betty’s Hope, built in 1650, was one of Antigua’s first sugar plantations and its success led to the island’s rapid development of large-scale sugar production.

Antigua is still proud of her British ties, and for a frisson of historic atmosphere visit Nelson’s Dockyard, the only working Georgian dockyard in the world.

Nelson was stationed here 200 years ago to develop British naval facilities at English Harbour and enforce stringent commercial shipping laws that made him unpopular with locals and traders.

Due to hostile attitudes, Horatio spent almost all of his three years in Antigua on board ship. He declared sulkily in correspondence that the harbour was “a vile spot” and that the island was an “infernal hole”.

High above English Harbour and the dockyard stand the ruins of garrison buildings and fortifications of Shirley Heights with Guadeloupe and Montserrat visible in the distance.

On Sunday afternoons, the bar at this former British lookout station, with its gasp-inducing drop to the churning waters of English Harbour, pulses with harmonious rhythms. Steel bands pump out old Bob Marley songs and the whole area becomes an impromptu open-air club where tourists and locals enjoy boogying and sizzling barbecues.

While most leisure pursuits for visitors to Antigua involve the sea or golf, cricket is the national passion.

The island’s most famous son is cricketer Sir Vivien Richards who has a home here.

St Johns, the island’s capital, a mass of wooden houses brightly painted in bold poppy reds, rich saffrons and giddy neon pinks, has renamed the rickety street where he was born in his honour.

There isn’t really much to see in St Johns, though some may feel it is worth a visit for the duty free shopping.

For seekers of a chilled-out holiday, the slice of paradise that is Antigua is one big stress buster... the perfect antidote to the strains of everyday living.

Virgin Holidays (www.virginholidays.com; tel 0871 222 0304) offer seven nights at all-inclusive Galley Bay Resort from £1399 including return flights from Gatwick and transfers. Prices based on two adults sharing. Seven nights at the Verandah Resort on an all inclusive basis including flights from Gatwick from £1,159 per person. (Child prices from £529.) 10 and 14 night packages available from £1,499 and £1,849 respectively.

Virgin Holidays offer seven nights at all-inclusive Galley Bay Resort from £1,399 including return flights from Gatwick and transfers. The price is based on two adults sharing.

Seven nights at the Verandah Resort on an all inclusive basis including flights from Gatwick start from £1,159 per person. (Child prices from £529.) Ten and 14 night packages are available from £1,499 and £1,849 respectively.

To book a holiday, visit www.virginholidays.com or call 0871 222 0304.