Galley Bay Resort & Spa

This was a very mixed experience. I will detail the pros and cons: Pros: excellent food, excellent service for the most part other than beach service, nice people, lovely and calm beach with no vendors harassing you nonstop. Cons: Our room had multiple issues, unknown black “stuff” constantly falling from the ceiling of the patio, it appeared to be rotted wood or some kind of insect activity. Our room’s ceiling had two major leaks over the area above the patio door and to the left of the bed, it rained a lot and we had nonstop drips all night and a significant amount of water one morning all over the floor. The paint was literally peeling off all over the outside of the room and stairwell. Landscaping was a mess with weeds all over. Finally, we saw the beach service waiter only 3 of the days we were there and then only once basically each day. Overall, this was not up to our expectations for the cost and we would not return for the price we paid. We stay all over the islands a few times a year and have done this the past 13 years. For the money we could name at least 8 resorts with far superior standards.

Location is the best part of the Galley Bay resort. If you want beautiful beaches and warm Caribbean waters this place is the best! Pros: 1 - Great beach and pool area. 2 - Clean rooms 3 - Pleasant staff Cons: 1 - Rooms need updating, my room was freshly painted as I was getting paint on my hands after using the bathroom sink. The sink counter is painted wood, no finished counter top. 2 - They say they stock the room refrigerator daily but I had to ask repeatedly for more soda, water and coffee. ( I don’t drink so didn’t care about alcohol, but that was lacking too) 3 - Food options limited during our stay, some restaurants closed some days altogether. I expected to be able to grab a meal or snack at any time, like other all inclusive resorts. Also, only saw 1 beach attendant taking drink orders 2 times during the week we stayed. If you advertise the service you should perform it better than that. 4 - Food average. You got the same meal weather you dined at the Sea Grape of made a reservation at either the Gauguin or Ismays, just presented differently. All in all, very disappointed with the food. 5 - Constant unpleasant smell of sewage like odor, especially on the lagoon side. Overall, 2.5 stars out of 5. I don’t know if the resort is understaffed or unmotivated to make any changes, which is too bad because it has a lot of potential, but for the money spent you can get a better deal staying at another resort on the island.

We just completed an eight night stay at Galley Bay. Our time there was absolutely wonderful. The beach was excellent, the food was awesome, and the staff was amazing to say the least. Some days we felt we had the resort all to ourselves which was perfect for us. It was the most relaxing time we have had on vacation. The beach and the sunset views are beautiful. We thoroughly enjoy our time there and look forward to a return visit. If you are looking for a clean, quiet, and peaceful resort with a great staff to accommodate your needs this is the place for you.

Beautiful location; impeccable staff and food was just magnificent! We came in a group of more than 100 people! We had fun! There are many restaurants and move around with a buggy! The location is the best so far! Kenya has been very helpful with luggage!!

Absolutely phenomenal time! Galley Bay and its staff were superb. My wife and I spent nine days there and we can't wait to go back. From the rooms, the food, the beach and especially the staff, this resort had it all. If you need a break and want to recharge your batteries, this is the place. Located adjacent to St John, the location was perfect, the excursions offered were amazing - and well worth the price. A must do is the sailboat ride with Captain Sean. Recommend taking that trip early as he teaches you about the island and offers same great places to go off resort. Another mention - if you need transportation, use Dory Edwards. His prices are fair, his vehicle clean and has cell phone chargers readily available. He knows the island very well and will take you wherever you want to go. If you don't have a clue, no worries - Dory will lay out a series of options. Dory is well worth the money, and he is just a good human being. The staff know him well, so he is super easy to get a hold of. Finally - a word about Elite Island Resorts. This is our second trip with them (first was Palm Island which unfortunately was severely damaged by Beryl) and they are fantastic. We worked with Katrina Lindsey who is an absolute star...... Due to my job, I have to constantly move dates...and vacations around. Katrina worked tirelessly to meet out ever-changing schedule. She bore the brunt of these changes and never complained a bit. Everything she coordinated was true to her word. Most importantly, she provided sage advice to us on how to maximize our precious time away as these two trips were the first time we ever visited an all-inclusive resort. Thank you so much, Katrina - you were the primary reason our vacation was a huge success. In closing, Galley Bay is a wonderful place to visit. You will enjoy every minute of your stay.

We had been recommended this hotel by 4 different people so we felt we should book a holiday here. The location was outstanding and epitomised the carribean dream. The hotel was nice, a bit sparse in places with only a few tables at the bar and a large expanse of decking by the beach that could easily have been dressed a bit better (parasols/ tables / chairs) just looked a bit bare. Food was nice but a bit hit and miss some days. The staff were great (some a bit off hand but not rude) and were mainly attentive. We spent most of our time on the beach but disappointingly were never offered drinks. We spoke to guest relations and they claimed they offered this service but we saw one guy once in the 10 days we stayed. A hotel of this calibre / cost should be looking at the finer details to ensure their guests feel valued. Having said that we were invited to a dinner at Ismays as we had stayed at their sister hotel on Palm Island and this was a thank you for being a repeat customers. This was a lovely touch and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We had a lovely trip and can see why people recommended it to us but we felt something was lacking.

My wife and I have been going to all inclusive for nearly 20 years. Recently we have been traveling to smaller and nicer resorts, traveling up scale a bit. We found Galley Bay to be wonderful! Drinks were tasty and not overly sweet. Even loved the drink of the day. They were real cocktails and not the typical all inclusive drinks with red or white syrup. Service was amazing. The staff really seemed like they wanted to help you and were very friendly. Except for Rum bar. My wife took a spill on her first day and had an injured foot. The water sports team helped her in and out of the ocean every day. There is a shipwreck right off the beach and the guys will take you over there in the cat- super chill and fun. No plastic bottles and they gave you two very nice steel water bottles that we refilled with filtered water. All resorts should be doing this! Breakfast coffee shop was the bomb. Iced coffee made with espresso and then shaken with ice- super delicious. Also great cookies and parfait in the am. Food was consistently excellent. We didn’t have a bad meal. There are only three restaurants, but menu changes daily so wasn’t an issue. 50$ upcharge per person for the Ismay restaurant. It was better than the other restaurants - but I am not sure is was 100$ better - there seems like better ways to do it. Here are some things we didn’t love. This resort is all open air and on the ocean front- which I love. However, even with the fans overhead it was still crazy hot- feels like temp 90+ at 8 pm! I literally thought I was going to pass out after dinner a few times. Thank the lord that they had just dropped the long pant requirement the week we were there- because there is NO way I could have survived with long pants. We had the Gauguin suite. There was no ocean front suites available. This was a spacious suite but a bizarre layout. Apparently you were only supposed to air condition the bathroom and the bedroom and not the connecting room- which is strange. Air condition the whole suite. The lady at the rum shack was a complete pill. She could not have been more bored with here job. I asked her what her favorite run was and she said “ we don’t have it here” so,,, ok. We thought we might get a little education on the finer points of rum- no- she just poured a shot of what you asked for- we felt that we were bothering her by asking questions.