Shoal Bay Villas — Hotel in Anguilla

We stayed at Shoal Bay Villas on Anguilla’s Shoal Bay East beach… and So Glad we did! Anguilla is a destination that people come back year over year. Many time repeat visitors told us they have stayed at several places and we found the best. The beach at Shoal Bay East is incredible, the pool is nice but you will probably spend most your time in the warm turquoise ocean, and good beach restaurants are a short walk away. See above for Shoal Bay East beach description and restaurants recommendations on the beach or a drive away.||Shoal Bay Villa loans snorkel gear and in a closet by the pool they have beach toys for the kids and ocean flotations. Pretty nice snorkeling is just out to the right on the far side of the close reef.||Shoal Bay Villas offers a variety of accommodations at different price levels - all air conditioned with covered balconies or patios and full kitchens equipped with a full-sized refrigerator, microwave, stove, blender, and coffee maker. We chose a one-bedroom villa closest to the ocean view. The view to the ocean was amazing and wonderful for sitting with a cocktail, having breakfast, or enjoying wonderful sunsets. The staff is very helpful with restaurant reservations and other suggestions to make your visit to Anguilla special. Get this: you are assigned your own private beach lounges with shade so no need to get up early and reserve a spot.||We decided to stay on what many return visitors we spoke to consider Anguilla’s most beautiful beach - Shoal Bay East voted one of the 'Top 10 beaches in the Caribbean' by USA Today. It definitely lives up to its reputation with a relaxed vibe and breathtaking warm crystal-clear turquoise ocean water, powder-like white sand beach with palm trees, and nice laid-back beach restaurants/bars on the beach. ||At sunset a whole other beauty appears sparking a discussion about which of the many good restaurants to have dinner. Wonderful!… Anguilla is what we aspire for in a Caribbean adventure!||Like most beaches in Anguilla, it is easy to find a quiet spot on Shoal Bay East beach. The beach has very gentle waves making it great for swimming and relaxing to the sound of gentle waves. It also has some of the best snorkeling on Anguilla along the nearby reefs on the east end of the beach accessed with a short swim from the shore. Shoal Bay East is a Caribbean paradise. ||Shoal Bay East Beach Restaurants: Very good Anguilla beachfront restaurants are located within a few minutes walking distance. Do not miss Madeariman open for lunch and dinner - wonderful location, food, and service. For lunch Ola’s Bar and Grill, Tropical Sunset, and Elodias are nice. For a truly Caribbean vibe join the fun and dancing with a painkiller rum drink and live reggae music on Sunday evenings at Gwen’s Reggae Bar and Grill. Located at the west end of Shoal Bay East beach, the upscale Zemi Beach House offers a wonderful breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was great to treat ourselves to their fantastic (and pricey) breakfast buffet. Dinner at Zemi Beach House’s 20 Knots laid back luxury beach restaurant was exceptional, well priced, and the lighting and music made it special (try the Caribbean mild curry and seafood dishes).||More good dinner options are located a short drive away from Shoal Bay East at Anguilla’s Island Harbour such as Ben’s Pit Stop for French food, Artisan for Italian, and you must treat yourself to the wonderful grilled lobster with your feet in the sand at Falcon’s Nest - amazing!||Anguilla is a relatively small Caribbean island but mighty in its offerings - stunning uncrowded soft sand beaches with breathtaking warm turquoise ocean water and gentle waves, great culinary scene with a variety of upscale restaurants as well as laid-back beach restaurants/bars, upscale accommodations with feet-in-the-sand laid-back luxury, low visitor numbers making it uncrowded, and English spoken everywhere. Also, what makes Anguilla exceptional is the genuinely friendly people who make you feel at home with wonderful hospitality. We have been fortunate to have visited 23 Caribbean islands and now consider Anguilla...

I hesitate to give glowing recommendations on Shoal Bay Villas, because it might mean getting reservations there in the future could become a problem. 😊 In all seriousness, I cannot say enough great things about this hotel and the staff. It is the ONLY place we want to stay when we come to Anguilla. It was our first time not only to Anguilla, but also to Shoal Bay Villas, but it won’t be our last.||We stayed in a one bedroom garden suite (I think it was #8), and it was right above the office. We loved it there. The suite was roomy with a full kitchen with everything we needed, and the a/c in the living room and the bedroom worked very well. We even had a little beach view between two suites. The grounds are impeccable, and although we didn’t use the pool in the time we were there, it was clean and looked inviting.||Don’t even get me started about the beach in front of the hotel. GORGEOUS! We spent all of our time there when we weren’t out sightseeing. We had a set-up on the beach with 2 loungers, an umbrella and small table, and our name was on it, so no waking up at 6am nonsense to reserve loungers. You were assigned a lounger set-up area when you checked in, and we LOVED this. No matter what time of day we moseyed on out there, we had loungers waiting for us.||And the owners Kathy and Rachel are simply the BEST! Personable, caring and always available if there were issues. It is evident that they care about the people who stay at the hotel. We rented a car from Bay Rentals, and Rachel arranged it all for us. She let us know exactly where it would be at the ferry terminal, and the car was waiting there when we arrived in Anguilla.||Close to the end of our stay, we had a little incident with the car. One tire blew when we went out to get some booze. A kind passerby helped us change the tire, and we made it back to the hotel on the spare, and Rachel took care of contacting the car rental agency to secure us another car. We opted to do without the car for our last day, and not only did the car rental agency refund one day’s rental fee, but Rachel also secured us a taxi to take us back to the ferry terminal.||The cleaning ladies did a superb job of cleaning the rooms every day, and no shortage of bath or beach towels. Tip them well as they work hard. We loved the container of water that was replaced daily just outside of our suite, which we used for washing out feet to get off any excess sand before taking it into our suite. It’s the little things like this that makes this place feel like home. ||I would not hesitate to come back to Shoal Bay Villas. Definitely a home away from home. And bonus that there are numerous restaurants in walking distance along the beach from this hotel. Thanks Rachel and Kathy. See...

Last year, my wife and I made our first trip to Anguilla. We stayed at the Aurora, which is an excellent, top-notch, first-class property with exceptional service. Wanting to explore the island, we rented a car and traveled all over, visiting different beaches and checking out some of the hotels and villas we had considered during our initial research.

My wife and I are beach lovers; we especially enjoy beautiful, west-facing beaches for sunsets. One day, we decided to visit Zemi Beach House. We pulled up to the property and walked down the hill to Shoal Bay Beach. We were overwhelmed by how beautiful the beach was compared to Rendezvous Bay, where the Aurora is located. Don’t get me wrong—Rendezvous Bay is stunning, but Shoal Bay rivals some of the beaches on St. John. It also has a natural reef surrounding the entire bay, so the water is usually quite calm.

While walking along the beach, we discovered Elodia's Beach Shack. We loved it so much that we decided to spend the remainder of our five days there. During our visits, we noticed a charming villa next door called Shoal Bay Villas. Intrigued, we went to the front desk and asked to tour the property. The beachfront villas were absolutely spectacular.

My wife and I have traveled extensively throughout the Caribbean, and there aren’t many places where you can walk straight out of your villa and be just steps from the beach. Not to mention, these villas come with their own kitchenette. Dining out is quite expensive on the island, so having the ability to prepare meals ourselves was a significant bonus. We also appreciated the privacy and the relaxed atmosphere compared to larger resorts.

So this year we planned a 2 week stay at Shoal Bay Villas and I have to tell you, it was paradise. We loved it so much we extended our time for an additional 3 days, we didnt want to go back. lol If you are someone looking for simple beauty and dont need to be waited on, hand and fist, you’ve come to the right place. Dont get me wrong, if you need something, they will do everything to accommodate you, but you’re not going to get drink service on the beach, like you will at the Aurora. However, you have your own blenders to make your own or Elodias Beach Shack is right next door and they will bring drinks to you. Shoal Bay Villas is absolutely hands down one of the best and most beautiful places we’ve ever stayed and I would highly encourage you to book your next trip there. Just as long as you realize, if you need dining service or drink service, stay at one of the higher end properties like Aurora, Zemi, Cap Juluca or the 4 Seasons. If you are self sufficient and just want to relax in your beach chair, swim, snorkel and watch a beautiful sunset from that chair. You have...