Virgin Atlantic Flying Club - Sticky Wicket- Antigua ????

The Virgin web site for shared lounge facilities says the following;

Antigua

The Sticky Wicket is now where we invite our guests to embrace the sport and ambience of cricket. This restaurant has an elegant lounge decorated with cricket memorabilia and a courtyard overlooking Antigua'a newest cricket field where you can feast on its good food while watching a live match.

NB: All spelling mistakes in the above are copyright Virgin Atlantic as I did a copy and paste :D

Anyone got any experience of this "lounge" and any other tips about check-in at ANU?

Also I have flow Virgin lots of times but only on the Airbus not the 747 so we are in UC and I have seats 6A and K reserved for both the outbound and return - are these the best ones? Seatguru gives them a ^ but you can't always trust what they say.

1. Sticky Wicket is great in my opinion, the food is normally very good, fresh and served quickly (last time I had pumpkin soup and sticky wings). The courtyard overlooking the match/sports arena is very sophisticated and the cricket memorabilia is worth a look (especially if you like cricket). Overall, the setting is fantastic and the surroundings are relaxing, tranquil and a great pre-flight retreat. You will certainly enjoy it better than most non-hub lounges.

2. Seats 6A and 6K are good if you are traveling as a couple (they are very close together, more so than 1A/K in BA F I think). My mother and father travelled in these seats and enjoyed them, with me in 7A, which was another great seat. However, if you are tall (and your particular flight has UC seats on the upper deck) the seats on the upper deck are actually longer...but perhaps too near the noise of PE? Further, beware that row 6 and 7 on the main deck may not have overhead bins! In all, I think you have made the right choice. It will be very quiet at the front and you will be served quickly. In my opinion, it is best to avoid all seats near the bar unless you are in a party mood as as you will never get to sleep.

3. Check-in? No particular comments. Works well. Depending on your hotel, you may be able to check in from the hotel itself.

Enjoy Antigua! (As it happens, I will be doing the same trip again shortly).

Thanks D1AKD for all the above.

We fly next month but we won't see anything of Antigua as it is just a stop off as we are getting married on Necker ^:D

Congratulations! :-: I'm sure you will both enjoy the island. I've stayed in one of the Bali houses before (I can recommend the outside stone shower! SRB does too...lol) If you have opted for a room in the 'Great House', you'll have the most breathtaking view of the entire island. ENJOY!

Congratulations! :-: I'm sure you will both enjoy the island. I've stayed in one of the Bali houses before (I can recommend the outside stone shower! SRB does too...lol) If you have opted for a room in the 'Great House', you'll have the most breathtaking view of the entire island. ENJOY!

That's what I heard from SRB too ;)

We have Bali Cliff for the first week and Bali Hi for the second ^

That's what I heard from SRB too ;)

We have Bali Cliff for the first week and Bali Hi for the second ^

GREAT options and both near Lovers Cove!! Bali Cliff will be PERFECT! Very secluded, built into the rocks with a FANTASTIC outdoor bathroom and it has the most amazing views out to sea. Bali Hi is equally amazing (especially the top floor, plunge pool and the views along Turtle Beach). Be sure to visit Bali Hi beach.

Anyway, I must get ready for my flight home and now I want to go back to Necker!!!!!

Congratulations BA1A! :)

Hi,

Congratulations and enjoy Necker BA1A!:):

Regards

TBS

Thank you very much Jenbel and TBS ^

1. Sticky Wicket is great in my opinion, the food is normally very good, fresh and served quickly (last time I had pumpkin soup and sticky wings). The courtyard overlooking the match/sports arena is very sophisticated and the cricket memorabilia is worth a look (especially if you like cricket). Overall, the setting is fantastic and the surroundings are relaxing, tranquil and a great pre-flight retreat. You will certainly enjoy it better than most non-hub lounges.

Mmmmm - yes and no... Sticky Wicket definitely far superior to Club whatsit that BA use to the point that Mrs Rotorhead and I wander over there and pay in preference to spending time in the free third party BA lounge whenever we're transiting through ANU. However, service was adequate but not great the last few occasions, in particular staff getting very surly indeed about giving change to bills - they seem to think it is a right to keep 25%+ of an already hefty bill for a few beers.... left a sour taste. Not that that is an issue when you are using old Beardies vouchers ;);)

Does anyone know if it is still open, or whether it is a victom of the Stanford collpase ?

I haven't been through Antigua since the Stanford collapse but a chum did say that it was closed when he went through recently (June)

The Sticky Wicket which belonged to Allen Stanford was expropriated by the Antigua government along with all of Stanford's other assets. To this day the government has not paid a penny in compensation to the 28,000 victims of Stanford's fraud which was aided and abetted by the Antigua government.

I would urge anybody with a sense of decency to avoid the Stick Wicket and dine at the Big banana at the airport, the food is good, its air conditioned and there are monitors showing the status of the flights.