Elba Carlota Beach & Golf Resort — Hotel in Antigua

Staff|We were greeted by a lovely lady behind reception. She was warm, friendly and welcoming. |All staff members were polite and friendly many would say hello when passing. The staff work extremely hard and work long hours. ||Room|We booked the prestige room. The room was decorated nicely, the bed was huge and so comfy!! This included a mini bar which was stocked daily. We were meant to have bathroom and slippers too though this was never provided in our room. The room also had coffee making facilities, an iron and ironing board. There is plenty of storage and hangers for clothes. Our room was always cleaned well. And everything in the room was in working condition. There are lots of channels on the TV in different languages, so there is something for everyone. |In the bathroom, there are complimentary items such as a comb, cleaning cloth, shower cap. There is also a shower gel/shampoo combo bottle in the shower. So this can save you from packing your own. I have long hair and the hairdryer was decent, so this is another item you don't need to pack. |Twice within the week of our stay our bathroom towels were taken but were not replaced so we were left with no bathroom towels. After a phone call to reception this was solved, both times.||Pools and beach |There are three pools, 2 larger and one kids pool. One of the pools are heated which also has a large jacuzzi. Most of the entertainment is in the heated pool. We only took part in the pool party so can't comment on the other daytime activities. By the restaurant they have a screen which displays the daytime activities, they have plenty going on. |People start putting down towels as early as 6.45am! By 8am all sunbeds with umbrellas are gone, only sunbeds with no umbrellas are left. There is a 10€ deposit needed for each beach towel. You are given a very tiny laminted card (easy to lose due to the size) that you need to give in (to the life guard) to exchange towels. The pool area was always clean and rubbish free. ||There is lots of space behind the children's pool to the fence to the beach. The hotel could do so much with this space.. add an adults only pool, more sunbeds, another bar. ||The beach is right outside the hotel. There aren't lots of sunbeds so it's worth getting down there early. It's 12€ in total for two beds and an umbrella. The beach is lovely, with soft golden sand. If you want a bigger beach head left when you come out the back of the hotel and head in the direction of the marina. ||Bars and restaurants |The restaurant is a large size and tables are spread out. There is a lot of choice at breakfast. Fruit, pastries, cereal, yoghurt and cooked food - fry up, pancakes, churros. The food at breakfast was the best out of all the meals in the day. Personally, I think breakfast opens too late at 8am, I think it should be 7am. We had a day trip booked and were unable to have breakfast due to the hotels opening time. I was dissatisfied with food during dinner. The hotel did do themed nights such as Asian, Mediterranean etc. However, I feel there wasn't much choice for food during dinner time. We ate at the restaurant for dinner three times, but my friend and I weren't impressed. So for the rest of our holiday we went out for dinner in the nearby town. ||I'd advise they install self serve wine and beer taps in the restaurant to help out the staff here as they are rushed off their feet. Trying to get there attention for a drink in the evenings proved to be difficult.||The bars always had long queues, especially the inside bar during the evening. The two staff members behind the bar worked hard to try and get the queues down but the wait was always so long. This was annoying as you pay for all inclusive but can hardly get a drink unless you are prepared to queue for ages. ||I was disappointed with the snack bar by the pool, this just seemed to be left overs from breakfast and lunch. There were hotdogs in stale buns, some pastries and stale toasties. ||Other issues|There were a small group of French lads who were quite rough in the pool and I found them a nuisance. Yes everybody is on holiday to have fun. But these were being too rough and rowdy for the environment they were in and had no care for the people around them. They were throwing inflatables around, purposely chucking them up in the air trying to hit other people in the pool. They would try take up the whole pool to throw a ball around, which they were throwing ridiculously hard, the ball hit a young child on the head. The French lads just laughed and continued. I could see other families with young children were bothered by the lads behaviour. I felt the staff (animation team or life guard) should have stepped in and spoken to the Frech boys about their behaviour. But they did not. ||I was very disappointed with the cleanliness of the public toilets. Especially, the ones by the pool nd the ones by the restaurant. These were constantly dirty and smelly.||I personally would not return here, there are too many negatives. I think the management and owners need to really look at and listen to the feedback they are getting from customers and actually take action if they want to...

Elba; Balanced Hotel Review – A Mix of Highs and Lows ( my honest opinion, everyone’s take will be different)

We’ve just returned from our stay and wanted to share an honest and balanced review. There were definitely some great aspects to the hotel that we appreciated, but a few ongoing issues stopped it from being a place we’d personally return to. That said, others may still enjoy it depending on what they’re looking for.

🌟 What We Enjoyed: • Food: The food overall was very good, with plenty of choice across all meals. We found lunchtime to be the highlight, with consistently tasty and well-prepared options. Dinner was fine but not quite as strong.

• Rooms: The rooms were spotless and kept to a high standard. Beds were comfortable, and while the pillows were very soft and hollow, we made do by placing a towel between two for extra support.

• Location: A real highlight. The hotel is right on the beach, which was brilliant, and a shopping centre is just a 2-minute walk away. The nearest town is about a 25-minute walk, great for an easy day trip.

• Adults-Only Sun Area: This was a huge plus — the adults-only section at the back of the hotel was peaceful, clean, and had excellent sunbeds that worked perfectly. A lovely spot to relax away from the main pool area. The only thing missing here was a drinks machine or small pool, which would have made it perfect.

• Staff: On the whole, staff were friendly and helpful. There were a couple of moments where queues weren’t well-managed, but nothing major.

• Wildlife: We really liked the cats and birds around the site — they gave the place a nice, relaxed vibe and added a bit of charm to the environment.

⚠️ Room for Improvement:

• Air Conditioning: This was unfortunately a major frustration. It didn’t work properly during our stay — we woke up hot during the night, and despite complaining multiple times (five or six!), nothing changed. Some guests mentioned they eventually got their settings lowered after repeated requests, so consistency seems to be lacking.

• Check-In & Service Delays: The check-in process took far too long, and there aren’t enough staff at reception. Even for small things, we were waiting 15–20 minutes. We also had to replace our key card about 10 times which was a hassle.

• Slippery Floors: Around the pool and walkway areas, the floors are extremely wet and slippery — safety is definitely a concern. The indoor toilets were fine and clean, but still too wet. The outside toilets, however, were dirty and needed more attention.

• Sunbeds: Around the main pool area, many sunbeds were faulty and would drop flat the moment you sat up, which was frustrating. Thankfully, the sunbeds in the adults-only area were fantastic — sturdy, clean, and no problems at all.

• Drink Availability: The drinks themselves were decent for all-inclusive, but cups ran out early most days, and the drinks machine kept running out of gas, which was annoying in the heat.

• General Maintenance: There’s a lot of wear and tear around the hotel — from broken lights to peeling paint, it feels like it’s overdue for a refresh. The gym is very poor, with the only treadmill out of order, and very little usable equipment ( that again was broken/ breaking) 2 x Sauna both out of use too.

• Outdated Look: The overall colour scheme (lots of orange) gives the hotel a very dated, “Fawlty Towers” feel. That said, with a relatively small investment, this place could look and feel far more modern and welcoming.

🧾 Final Thoughts:

All in all, this is a hotel with plenty of good features — the location, beach access, adult-only area, and food stand out positively. But at the same time, several recurring issues — like the Aircon, maintenance, and slippery areas — pulled the experience down for us. Would we stay again? Probably not, but we wouldn’t discourage others from trying it. If your expectations are realistic and you’re looking to relax in a beachfront spot with some charm, there’s still plenty here...

I stayed here from 19th to 29th July 2024 and enjoyed my stay. This is an excellent family hotel for families with young children under the age of 10 years. It has lovely, helpful staff and great food throughout the day. The entertainment ranged from excellent for children and good for adults. The hotel always had something going on to either join in with or watch. The reception staff were good at their job and gave out all the info we needed on disability scooter hire, car hire, excursions, safe hire, the hotel itself, sending up the handy man to repair items like a leaking bidet to replacing batteries in the TV remote and hiring out tennis bats & balls plus table tennis equipment too. Deposit needed.

I didn't know before I left the UK that the hotel does not take cash/Euros. Most things are all inclusive, but deposits need to be paid for hiring out sports equipment, paying for the safe, and for the €35 payment to keep your bedroom on for a few more hours before your flight. I only used my cash outside of the hotel or in the little shop near reception. I would recommend taking a Travel Money prepaid currency card so as to avoid charges on your bank debit/credit card. It can be used to pay everywhere as you have a pin number. As a grandma with the family, I enjoyed my holiday there.

Negatives: there's not many at all. Just three, two of which did impact on me daily.

WIFI CONNECTION This was my biggest gripe. It depends on how much you want or need to use the wifi at this hotel. I know away from home and work, we should have a rest from our phones & wifi. I would normally agree with this. However, there were 6 of us plus a baby in our family. We were divided into 3 rooms on different floors of the hotel so we needed to send quite a few messages daily to say when we were going down to the dining room, or to the pool or at what time we were heading to the beach or back to the hotel. Even to decide a meeting point and a time. There are phones in the bedooms, but of course we didn't spend much time in our rooms to receive phone calls. The strength of the available wifi is slow, and in many parts of the hotel, it cuts out completely and disconnects. There is no wifi connection at all in the dining room. I found myself constantly checking the state of my wifi connection before each message was sent. I usually had to enter & re-enter the user number & password number about 10 times each day. Two of our family members had mobile phone contracts where they were able to use their phone in the Canaries, just the same as at home. Four of us didn't. Fortunately, one of those lucky two was a 13 yr old teenager who liked playing his online games. I couldn't do the same with my mobile phone contract without risking high charges on my return. The hotel slow & disconnected wifi drove me insane on holiday! That's why I've deducted a star for Service. The hotel is definitely in need of some wifi boosters located around the place.

ROOM SERVICE The maid comes in every day to make the bed & empty the waste bins. I suppose different countries have different ways, so that could be the reason for the following.

During my 10 day stay, my room maid did not:- • replace used teacups & glasses & items on the welcome tray such as biscuits & milk.

• change the bed sheets at all in 10 days.

• always replace the towels when they were left in the bath for changing. Instead she folded them up & hung them back up. The towels were changed once during my stay.

• replace the used teabags next to the kettle, nor the used milk cartons during my stay. 😳 No more biscuits either! I ended up bringing the teabags up from breakfast - they are only there at breakfast time - and I bought milk and water from the Spar to keep in the fridge. Remember, the fridge switches off when a person leaves the room!

LIFT DOORS didn't seem to have a sensor so that they should open again once they sense an obstruction in the doorway...