Our family of four (kids 12 and 9) travelled from Jan 9-16
.
Airport- You get off the plane onto the tarmac and go into the airport. There are 4 lines in which you go through their customs and stamp your passport. They will staple a piece of paper to your passport. Do not lose this as you will need it when you depart or else you could pay up to $150 to replace this. You pick up your bags and have them scanned through a single scanner. They did not seem to be looking at the scanner as our bags went through. As you start to exit a sunwing rep asks where you are going. Patrick or Lucy show you where to bring your bags and you pack onto small buses. Very tight quarters but at least they are airconditioned. It is about a 20 min drive to the resort.

Registration- It is somewhat time consuming as you do get the pushy people who are determined to register first. You get your room key, the safe key, and your remote. They had a man playing music, refreshments and finger food while you waited.

Rooms- They walkways are raised platforms with stairs and are a little bit difficult to negotiate your luggage. We stayed in room 225 supersaver room ( end unit). It was a standard room with two double beds. It was clean and simple( exactly as I was expecting).Sure there was no fixtures covering the bathroom lights but I was ok with that as I knew with the wood floors and roof it would be rustic. The water pressure was stronger than at home, the A/C worked great, the hammocks were comfy, the beds were fine ( and I have back problems). There was a note to place all bathroom toilet paper in a garbage. (bathrooms in the lobby did not have this note, and I am expecting they do not have great sewage treatment plants) Yes we were given 1 bottle of water each but we just kept filling it in the numerous filling stations including the gym. Our maid service was great, we had ample towels , face cloths, etc and had beautiful towel art every day. I know others who did not have the same luck with the maid service as we did though.

The Resort- There was always staff cleaning. The staff here are very hard working and need to be commended for this. The animation crew are always around and friendly. There is alot of walking but we did not have issues with this .

Bars- We alway found something we would drink. Somedays the bar list was 5-6 types and others it was 10-12. It depended on the availability. You have to remember . EVERYTHING needs to be shipped to the island and it depends on the mainland, weather, boat availability etc. They do have a funny rule though. We brought Bubbas to use and they were not allowed to fill them . We were allowed to order a couple of drinks each and pour them in but they wern't allowed to do this. We never had a problem getting more than 1 drink per person either

Food- Would I consider the food pretty average Yes but you could always find something. It seems to cater to the Italiian menu a little more with more salads etc. Anyone I talked to at any other resort with a buffett, it seemed what we were eating was pretty standard. The wait staff was great. They always had a smile. When I went for my coffee, they remembered how I took it. We did eat out one night to Bite on the Beach ( too the right as you are looking at the water). The food was really good and it was also Canadian owned. They also have resident moray eels and a large baracuda that they feed.

Beach- The sand was beautiful and soft. Henry Morgan likely has the deepest beachfront along West Bay. Usually had no problem finding a beach lounge. When we would come back from snorkling around 11:30 is when we would have difficulty but we went to the pool for a bit
and by lunch time people would be leaving for lunch and we would would snag a few longers for the rest of the afternoon. The young man that rakes the beach is great. He really works hard and always has a smile for you.. There are beach vendors that walk back and forth along the beach selling their wares. A simple No Thank you takes care of them. I found that using your manners got you alot futher there. If you do not want to be bugged, stay higher on the beach. They days in which the cruise ships are in, the more beach vendors there are and more people wandering the beachfront. Also on Roatn, if you pay in american dollars you will get your change back in american dollars.There are also alot of gaurds along the beachfront. Every establisment had their own and then also police would occasionally patrol. Also my daughter and I would walk up to the main road to look for a few shops and we were not concerned for our safety. We did not have any issues with sand fleas till the evening before we left. It had started to rain and we were outside on the beach for the fire show. The next morning I likely had a hundred and they were itchy. We did a few things wrong. I had rained, we were on the beach at dark and no repellent. Our bad.

Snorkling- AMAZING- You could snorkle in front of our resort but you do not see near as much. The best snorkling is (looking at the water) to your left. You can walk down to the "iguana wall" , just past infinity bay resort. If you look closely you can find iguana's on the rock. The reef comes very close to shore there and you can snorkle in and around the reef. To get to the 2 reef walls farther out the best place to go is to the infinity bay sign and go straight out there. They may have a large floating climber in the water, but go out directly behind it. There are usually a couple of guys in kayaks that can help direct you out and sit on the edge of the "basin". We seen octapus,squid,baracuda,parrot fish the length of your arm etc etc etc. I did not see a see turtle but others I talked too did. I also heard the diving is the best also. We snorkled with the kids every day.

Ziplining- We went on a tour sunwing was recommending with Caribe Sky Canopy tour. We have zipped before and we all enjoyed ourselves immensley. They guides were great and we were not concerned for our safety at all. They had short zips and really long zips ( maybe 2000 ft) that the kids had to go with a guide or they would not be heavy enough to make it across. We also sprayed for mosquitoes before we left the resort. Did not see any and no bites.

Sunwing Reps- I have heard some negative comments about the reps ( Patrick and Lucy)but with did not have any major issues. When you book an excursion though, be aware that they need a minimum amount of people to go for the price they are quoting. if they do not get the amount they need , the excursion can be cancelled or you will pay more by having a private tour. They support certain excursions as with all reps. We had wanted to go to gumbalimba park . They did not support this excursion. I wish I would of taken more inititive to find someone else to take us there as I heard from another traveller that they really enjoyed it. Live and learn I guess
Leaving- If you are coming back to Toronto, you have to have your bags at reception at 6:30 am and you leave for the airport at 7:30. Our flight out was about 10:50 ish. Your best bet is to have one person get in line for the check in (straight ahead) and another person get in line to pay the visitor tax( when you walk in, to the left). I have not seen it except in Roatan, hand written plane tickets. Wow! You go to the next stop and they take your receipt for the visitors tax and the paper they staple in your passport when you arrive and stamp your passport. Your carryons get scanned and you go through the metal detector. I was patted down and my daughter had the the wand waved over her. Alot of people stated that the women were checked more then men ????? Then onto the tarmac and home. The flight used to have to stop in Belize but not anymore. We were the first flight to come home directy
It was a good family vacation. You just need to go in with realistic expectations or you will be disappointed. We also managed to get great weather the whole week

Stayed at the HM for 3 nights. The shuttle we ordered from the airport took over an hour to arrive, eventhough they had our flight information. The resort itself is on beautiful grounds, lots of pretty flowers and plants all around. There's a lot of rooms and further back small little house they call villas, so its a short walk to the front reception area/pool/beach. There are no ramps, which is unfortunate because there were many elderly people visiting and having a hard time with rooms on the second floor. The reception area leads to one pool and the beach.

The room we had was very clean (but expect lots of little ants). It was small, with tv and ac (but missing ac remote). One the third day our shower head came off and it was replaced fairly quickly by a different type shower head.

The staff tried to be helpful. All young staff - wasn't sure who was running the place. They ran out of beach towels on one occasion and it took about 2 hours to get one. Another time it took amost an hour to just rent snorkel gear. Other than that, the staff was very energetic, trying to get guests to participate in contests, games, etc.

It's all-inclusive, so three buffet meals a day plus watered-down alcoholic drinks. The food was not good, it lacked flavor. Lots of cold rice and mayo type dishes. The pasta station, salad station and dessert was always fine.

The best part was the beach. The hotel is located in the middle of a long beach, which has beautifil fish and coral on one end (walking distance). However, if you want to go into town, you need to take a taxi (not walking distance).

We had booked a 2-bedroom villa at the Henry Morgan. There were only 2 of us - my husband and I - but we appreciate having the space.

There is nothing especially memorable about this hotel, other than *most* staff were really helpful.

Never had any problems with the buffets - don't like lines? Show up an hour after it opens. There is always food to eat and unless your vacations are centered around food in the buffet, then you shouldn't have problems. Walk along West Bay beach for other eats - Thirsty Turtle is a good bet, skip Foster's. Up a 5 minute walk from Thirsty Turtle is the West Bay mini mall where you can grab other snacks - we loved the food and the owner of Hungry Munkey, and Mangiamo is a good albeit expensive-ish place to stock up on other items you may be missing at the Henry Morgan resort selection - big water bottles, diet soda, chips, vodka, rum, etc.

We tried the food at Celeste's Island Cuisine - not bad. Baleada is good (not great as others exclaim) and the Lobster dinner for two is ok. Most memorable were the parrots that keep you company during the day.

Best tip we can provide is rent a car for the day. It's very reasonable at approx $49 USD including taxes and "insurance". If you can't find one from Yony's rentals (2 minutes up the street from Thirsty Turtle), then take cab to the airport and rent from there.

Roatan is small enough to explore within a day if you have tons of energy like we do, or spread it over 3 days and visit Sandy Bay, Oakridge, Punta Gorda, French Harbour, etc.

Would we stay at HM again? Probably not (we don't stay at the same place twice). If you are considering the HM, book the 1 or 2 bedroom villa. For a couple of hundred bucks more than the regular room, it's an upgrade worth thinking about.

We stayed for one week. The rooms were very clean , service was excellent from your employees, beautiful beach,and excellent service from all your staff . I have traveled 3 times to Costrea Rico, El Salvador , Panama, Cozumel,San Andreas, Domincian, Cancun,Etc. The food at your establishment does not rate a star. Food at beach bar Bags of chips and salsa seven days,and three days macaroni, creamy potatoes3 days, cold french fries 1 day , bread with little pizza sauce 3 days are not snacks. The buffet breakfast first day no food at 800 am , missing plates, out coffee , no cups etc. Lunch 1 and 2 day hardly any food, supper again no food. All improved after talking to my Sun Representative. The long line to get food , the first time anywhere I did not get coffee service or beverage service for breakfast , lunch or supper in all my travels.I do not rate your establishment 4 stars and we spent $1750 per person my most expensive holiday in all my travels Had trouble once and in Cozumel which had 3 restaurants and buffet and one restaurant had problems. The manager agreed and fixed the problem. I seldom complain. I own a large restaurant, bar , and motel and understand the business. I feel sorry for employees that have to say sorry no towels , food, etc because they are trying their best We also had 3 day we could not get a change. for beach towels.It is also the first place that does not accept 12 on z thermal coffee mugs. The bar menu very limited,especially when they run out of mix. The owner has to take responsibility . We heard may many people complaining and you need management to take care of your customers.