A charming, historic boutique hotel set in a secluded section of 18th century Nelson's Dockyard, offering casual elegance and friendly, personal service, provides the perfect backdrop for relaxation, romance, special events and being active if you choose. The 32 rooms and suites are housed in 4 historic buildings on the waterfront and a headland 100 yards across the bay. The hotel offers a small non-swimming beach, spectacular infinity edged pool, a spa and two excellent open-air restaurants, Pillars and Boom. There is a complimentary boat shuttle to the swimming beach in Freeman's Bay and kayaks to explore the harbour. The perfect hotel for relaxing in peace and quiet or for finding plenty of activities (sailing, scuba diving, hiking, snorkeling, yoga) and fun (several restaurants and nightlife) only 5 - 10 minutes away. A great spot for honeymoons and weddings for 2 to 200.
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HOTEL STYLE
Quiet
Boutique
Languages Spoken
English, French, Russian
Location
Nelson's Dockyard, English Harbour Antigua
The Admiral's Inn
395 reviews
Getting there
Good for walkers
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travellers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
Just came back from an amazing week at Admirals Inn with my family of 3 college/teen boys. The property is beautiful. It's English Countryside meets Carribean feel. The Inn is steeped in history with beautiful views of the English harbor. We stayed in 2 gunpowder suites with patios overlooking the harbor - rooms were big and cleaned beautifully every day. The property was not overcrowded at all - we were always able to get a chair at the pool. What makes the Admirals Inn truly special is the fabulous staff. Everyone conveys happy, positive energy and they are all working so hard to make your stay great. Montana, Shama, Katerina, and Shenice helped us plan every detail before we arrived and then all our changes and needs when we got there :) We wanted to have Cordelia and Antonia come home with us because we loved seeing and talking to them everyday so much at Pillars :). Melinda, Sherene, and Cheryl were also so wonderful to us at Pillars and Boom. Reggie making us amazing drinks and a just a joy to speak to. The best bonus was to get tenderdered back and forth by Deshawnti and/or have him serve us with a beautiful smile at the pool. Paul happily driving us back to the Boom side anytime needed after tender hours. Bottom line is everyone who works there exudes happiness and great vibes. Pillars and Boom were great. Favorite restaurants outside the the Inn: Colibri (ate there 2x), Le brasserie, Maia/South Point, Loose Cannon for lunch on the beach. (all walking distance or a tender ride)
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Date of stay: December 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Words can hardly express how enjoyable our stay at The Admirals Inn was. The building itself is stunning, like a moment frozen in time - steeped in history which leads you to imagine all the different people who would have visited and lodged over the centuries. The views are sensational and we enjoyed them every morning over breakfast which was well worth including in our package. We actually stayed across the water in one the Gunpowder Suites but that meant we could see the Inn from a distance, which makes it even more impressive and gave us immediate access to the pool which is also over the water from the Inn. The food at Pillars (restaurant attached to the Inn) was phenomenal albeit a little pricey but no more expensive than anywhere else in English Harbour and definitely worth the price. The drinks, unmatched! Especially if Reggie Is working and you ask him to take you on a cocktail journey throughout the evening, on two occasions I asked him to suprise me with different cocktails during dinner and boy did he not disappoint ... Legend!
Speaking of the staff, a special mention of Shama who patiently and helpfully answered all my questions before arriving and even helped us pick the right room for us. Of Marion who was always a delight and so willing to help with taxis and any bookings we made across the island. And lastly of Cordelea who was often serving at breakfast and who's enthusiasm and entertainment would set you in the best stead for the day ahead. She knew our breakfast orders after day 2 and would even have our drinks waiting for us on the table as we arrived (you can get a boat from the Boom side to Admirals in about 30 seconds).
The wildlife was also great. From turtles, to mongooses and all the birds in-between, pelicans included. Everyone at Admirals makes you feel welcome and, frankly, lucky to be there. From the guys doing the boat shuttles to the management (I can't remember the restaurant managers name but she was aweosme)... you couldn't ask for better people.
We will definitely be back ♥️
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Date of stay: October 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Stayed here for nine nights. The hotel is split onto two sites - the Dockyard site where the main hotel is with Pillars restaurant and the alternate side where they have the Boom Restaurant and pool and the gunpowder rooms. We stayed in the latter. The room we had was superb, excellent facilities , great (quiet) a/c, lovely bathroom and nice balcony. House keeping of a very high standard. Transit between the two sides of the site is by boat which is both very frequent and free of charge. Outside of boat hours a car transfer is offered which is also free or alternately you can walk round (takes about 10 mins) - the hotel is also situated near a selection of restaurants for those that want to walk to alternate dining venues. The hotel sits in what is a UNESCO world heritage site and is a must to visit (free for hotel guests). Dining options are covered with Pillars and Boom restaurants which have been reviewed separately. Two minor draw backs. One is that the dividing walls between rooms in the majority of the hotel appear to be very thin and as a result noise travels … we were lucky as rooms either side empty for some of the time we stayed but when guests did stay in next door rooms the noise is considerable (normal talking etc..) Other issue is the use of the Boom restaurant area by non residents. Both issues were passed on to hotel management on check out. Excluding those two issues we had a brilliant time.
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Date of stay: November 2024Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Beware high season as no doubt whole area will be crowded
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
What can I say about this incredible boutique hotel? Within a day of arriving, it felt like my own home filled with friends and creature comforts.
The staff are without exception, truly unique. Welcoming, hospitable and so incredibly friendly. As a solo traveller, there is something very special about being greeted by name by all staff members, I truly felt as if I belonged there.
I can’t really name all those who made my stay so perfect as they were all outstanding but Montana, Shama, Cecil and Cordia really excelled themselves. Housekeeping were excellent, my room prepared promptly every day, Reggie in the bar and his delicious gin and tonics really hit the spot and the salads in Boom restaurant after a sublime swim in the infinity pool, all added to a perfect experience.
My room, Room A was very comfortable with its terrace and daybed and I really appreciated having filtered water, so no plastic.
The grounds are beautifully maintained and the hotel being in the World Heritage Site of Nelson’s Dockyard is surrounded by fascinating history.
I rarely return to the same place for my holidays, but Admiral’s Inn has been exceptional and I will return.
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Date of stay: December 2022Trip type: Travelled solo
Room Tip:Parking is available outside Admiral’s Inn, within the dockyard. There is an excellent...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My wife and I very much enjoyed our stay in this boutique hotel. This is an ideal hotel for anyone who appreciates history as it is a former outpost for the British navy and the surrounding area of Nelson's Dockyard is also very interesting. This property is very close.....walkable distance to a number of good restaurants and the onsite restaurant, Pillars is also excellent (separate review of Pillars).
The rooms are a bit on the small side but nicely appointed. I think the best feature of our room was the view of the harbor and surrounding cove! The staff was very friendly, accommodating and helpful with all of our questions and requests.
We stayed in the main part of the inn but the property also has suites (Gunpowder suites) that are located across the cove. This is also where the infinity pool and the Boom restaurant are located. The property operates a small boat which ferries people to and from this area from the main inn. We spent several lazy and wonderful afternoons lounging at the pool and enjoying some of the libations available at Boom. This small boat will also ferry you to and from a separate beach, Galleon Beach which I recommend doing at least once during your stay as it is a much nicer beach than the microscopic beach at the inn.
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Date of stay: February 2024
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My wife and I loved our stay at Admiral’s Inn. We thought the hotel property and views were stunning (the original building, the pillars dining area, boom and the pool) and quite unique. We were even more impressed by the quality of the service at the hotel. We found every member of staff we spoke to from front desk to cleaners to restaurant staff to be extremely warm and friendly. Being on honeymoon we really appreciated the lengths they went to to make our visit feel special. The champagne and flowers in the room and waterside table with flowers on the first evening will live long in our memories.
Our standard room on the top floor of the original building was small but met our expectations given what we’d read on the website. To us, the character of the building more than made up for the lack of space.
The availability of snorkelling gear and a free shuttle boat to galleon beach were the icing on the cake. A great stay overall.
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Date of stay: February 2024
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Our arrival was lovely, greeted, offered a rum cocktail and led to our beautiful Gun Powder suite which overlooked the infinity pool and harbour. The room was beautiful, large with a lovely large balcony. We dined at the Pillar’s restaurant on our first evening, which was pleasant, but not outstanding. The outdoor environment was wonderful. Our bed was really comfortable, but our first and last night’s sleep were both ruined by an incredibly loud night club which cranked up the bass from 1am - 4am. Our suite was on the end with windows looking towards the night club. I wouldn’t recommend booking room 4 until the owners and other local businesses do something about this terrible noise on Friday and Saturday nights! The pool is beautiful and I enjoyed it to myself each morning before breakfast, but in the afternoons it is overrun with people who come to the pool restaurant for lunch and then stay around the pool. Pool staff were great, as was the food at Boom, but the day guests spoilt the experience. The management needs to think about the quality of the experience they are offering, considering the price for a room only holiday. The manager on the Gun Powder side was helpful regarding restaurant bookings and beach suggestions.
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Date of stay: February 2022Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Admirals Inn and Gunpowder Suites, Owner at The Admiral's Inn
Responded Feb 22, 2022
Dear Nicolai We are delighted that overall you were very happy with your stay. We are working with National Parks who control the area to try to get a noise restriction in place to reduce the volume of the bass and music on Friday and Saturday nights. Regarding Boom we have put in place a high season policy which only allows non hotel guests who buy a day pass to use the pool and sun loungers and we restrict the number to 10 day passes when the hotel is full so we are a bit perplexed as to your experience with the pool in the afternoon. Perhaps some of the hotel guests from the Admirals Inn side of the property were confused for day guests. We look forward to welcoming you back for a future stay. Sunny Regards Admirals Inn & Gunpowder Suites Team
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
We only stayed one night, having holidayed on another island and wanted to guarantee that we didn’t miss our BA flight back to the UK. So glad we chose this place! We had one of their Gunpowder Suites which overlooked the Boom Restaurant, Pool, waterway and the Admiral’s Inn across the way. Such a lovely place to sit in the morning and watch the birds and everyone coming and going. We ate at Pillars the first night and there was more than one vegetarian option on the menu, which is always a bonus. It was a beautiful setting by the water and service was great. Breakfast wasn’t so brilliant - being a vegetarian, it would have been a struggle to come up with anything other than the one “Healthy Breakfast”, which was Muesli, plain yoghurt and fruit. It was OK, but not sure I would want it every day for a week! We couldn’t get a late check-out, but we could leave our bags in the lounge area on the Gunpowder Suites side and after we’d had a very lovely lunch at Boom, we reluctantly returned and were given a little room by the laundry to shower and change. A taxi had been arranged to collect us and off we went. Everyone was so very accommodating. Our room was also very comfortable. I was particularly pleased that water was provided in a filtered jug, thus doing away with plastic waste. I was also amazed to find just outside the hotel, that there were so many shops, bars, restaurants, museums, boats and all sorts going on, but you would never know it within the hotel - it was like a little Caribbean oasis of its own. We will definitely be back!
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Date of stay: March 2022Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Lovely hotel in a great location. Really historic building, super friendly and helpful staff, pool with a view. It is situated on 2 sides of an inlet and you get a boat from one side to the other. The same boat takes you to a really lovely local beach. The restaurant was good although I thought the breakfast a bit overpriced. And a special mention for their good treatment of solo travellers, I felt very comfortable.
The hotel is in Nelson’s Harbour which normally you have to pay to get into, I found I could wander round the whole thing, and go into the museum, without a ticket, so that is a plus.
The only reason I didn’t give this a 5 star review was the room was pretty small with quite low beams. The bathroom was also very small and ther was quite a big step down from the shower which was slightly tricky when wet.
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Date of stay: July 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Admiral’s Inn situated in Nelson’s Dockyard is a wonderful hotel with prime views overlooking Antigua’s truly iconic location. Rooms are stylishly decorated and give a real feeling for the era when the dockyard was at its peak. Lack of some amenities eg minibar, kettle was a little irritating - particularly as the local curfew made meals and refreshments more challenging. What lets this hotel down is the food. Breakfast was reminiscent of a basic south coast B&B - a menu presented on a scrappy laminated sheet offered restrictive options and the delivery was disappointing and poor value (tip: go to the Bakery in the dockyard for great pastries and sandwiches). The Caribbean dinner was more disappointing with a tasteless fried plantain (banana family) starter, a shrimp and rice main which had no inspiration and a basic fried banana desert - all for an expensive restaurant price tag it didn’t justify. We got the feeling that something is not quite right with the management of the hotel. This should be a 5 star establishment but it does fall short.
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Date of stay: February 2021Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Yes we have hammocks and sun loungers on the beach but we don't encourage swimming. We also have an infinity edged pool with great views and daybeds and sun loungers. We run a complimentary boat to Galleon Beach which is 5 minutes away and we provide complimentary snorkel gear, kayaks and paddle boards if you want to make your own way there.
There are more places to choose from in the English Harbour area.
PRICE RANGE
C$466 - C$814 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
the admiral`s hotel nelson`s dockyard national park
LOCATION
CaribbeanAntigua and BarbudaAntiguaSaint Paul ParishEnglish Harbour
NUMBER OF ROOMS
32
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