The American University of Antigua has its own student housing, and for a lot of students it is the right call. It is close to the classrooms, it is arranged for you and it is full of people on the same timetable. But it is for students only. Your partner cannot move in with you. Your mum cannot stay for the white knuckle fortnight before your exams. And some of you will simply study better somewhere quieter, with a garden and a kitchen that is yours.
That is where an independent apartment comes in. I stayed at LambLion, a family run set of eleven self catering apartments in the middle of the island, about 20 minutes by car from the AUA campus in Coolidge. This guide covers AUA housing as the university describes it, what to look for if you live off campus, and how visiting family can stay close without paying resort prices.
One thing first, so nobody is confused. LambLion is independent accommodation. It is not AUA housing and it is not connected to the university. Check your own housing rules with AUA before you sign anything.
Where is the American University of Antigua? It is in Coolidge, next to the airport
The American University of Antigua College of Medicine is at University Park, Jabberwock Beach Road, in Coolidge, on the north side of Antigua close to V. C. Bird International Airport. That is the address the university gives on its own admissions page. It is a few minutes from the airport and roughly 15 minutes from St John’s by car, depending on traffic.
LambLion sits in the green middle of the island, on Freemans Main Road between Sea View Farm and Freemans Village. The drive to the AUA campus is about 11.5 km, which is around 20 minutes in normal traffic. The airport is about 9 km away, so arrival day is easy too.
| From LambLion to | Distance | Drive time, roughly |
|---|---|---|
| American University of Antigua, Coolidge | About 11.5 km | Around 20 minutes |
| V. C. Bird International Airport | About 9 km | Around 15 to 20 minutes |
| St John’s town centre | About 8 km | Around 20 minutes |
| Mount St John’s Medical Centre, St John’s | Edge of St John’s | Around 15 to 20 minutes |
| The nearest beaches | Varies | Around 15 minutes |
Drive times are estimates. Rush hour around St John’s and the airport roundabouts adds time, so leave a margin before an exam.
Does the American University of Antigua have student housing? Yes, and it is for students only
The American University of Antigua offers student housing, both on campus and in selected apartments arranged by the university, according to the AUA housing page. The university lists different groups of housing at different prices, including lower cost options with shared bathrooms and shared laundry. Students in university housing pay their own utilities, and they choose their own internet plan.
The rule that matters for families is simple. University housing is for students. Visitors and family members cannot live there. So if your partner, your children or your parents are coming with you, or coming to visit, they need their own place to stay.
AUA housing costs are charged per academic period, and the details change from year to year, so ask the university’s residential services team for this year’s prices before you compare anything.
Accommodation near the American University of Antigua for visiting parents and partners
The best accommodation near the American University of Antigua for visiting family is a self catering apartment within a short drive of Coolidge, because your family can cook, do laundry and come and go on their own timetable while you are in class. A hotel room works for a weekend. For two weeks around an exam block, a kitchen and a second room are what keep everyone sane.
This is the stay I would set up for my own child.
- A two bedroom apartment if both parents are coming, or if a sibling is joining. LambLion has two of these, each with a full kitchen.
- A one bedroom apartment for one parent or a partner, with a separate living room so someone can sleep while someone else studies.
- A studio for a short visit, with a kitchenette, for one or two people.
- A hire car so your visitor can do the school run, the supermarket and the airport without waiting on taxis.
Every LambLion apartment has free Wi Fi, air conditioned bedrooms, free self service laundry and free parking. You can see the rooms on the apartments page and in the photo gallery.
And there is the part parents tend to notice first. The owners live on the property. Lionel and Lorilyn Walker have run LambLion for about twenty years. Walking me through the garden, Lionel pointed at an old tree and told me this.
This is one of the first plant we planted here and it’s still alive. We’re here now, twenty years.
Lionel Walker, owner of LambLion
If your son or daughter is a long way from home for the first time, it helps to know there are two grown ups on site who have seen many students come and go. You can read more about them in the story of the family behind LambLion.
Living off campus as an AUA student works best with quiet, a desk and a kitchen
Living off campus as an American University of Antigua student works when the apartment gives you three things, a quiet room to study in, a proper kitchen so you are not living on takeaway, and a short, predictable drive to Coolidge. Everything else is a bonus.
Quiet is the reason to live in the middle of the island
Central Antigua is countryside. There is no strip of bars outside the window and no pool party on a Thursday. What you hear at LambLion in the evening is insects, birds and the wind in the banana leaves. For a medical student, that is not a small thing.
A kitchen saves money and keeps you well
Eating out in Antigua adds up quickly, and a basic science semester is long. A full kitchen means batch cooking on a Sunday, lunch in a box and a proper dinner after a long lab day. The one and two bedroom apartments at LambLion have a stove, oven, fridge and microwave, and the studios have a kitchenette. For where to shop and what things cost, my guide to spending one month in Antigua has the details.
There is also the garden. Guests at LambLion are welcome to pick what is in season, the papaya, bananas, mangoes and herbs, which is how I ended up eating fresh fruit every morning without buying any. The garden page shows what grows there.
Laundry on site matters more than you think
Scrubs, lab coats and a fortnight of clothes do not wash themselves. Free self service laundry on the property saves a weekly trip and a pile of coins.
Studying at AUA, or visiting someone who is? Check your dates, or message LambLion and the family will reply fast.
When do AUA students arrive in Antigua? The main intakes are September and January
The American University of Antigua is taking applications for its September 2026 and January 2027 classes, according to the university’s current admissions page. In 2025 AUA moved to a trimester calendar with a May entry as well, so check the start date for your own class with admissions.
Those start dates drive the demand for apartments. Late August, early January and the weeks around exams are when good off campus places go, and when parents start looking for somewhere to stay. If you know your dates, book early. A medium term apartments booking for a whole semester is a different conversation from a weekend, and the family will talk you through it.
Check your entry paperwork early too. Visitors from the UK are allowed in for up to 90 days without a visa, but studying needs the right permission, as the UK travel advice for Antigua and Barbuda explains. AUA’s admissions team guides students through it.
Where do AUA students do clinical rotations? Mostly outside Antigua, with a hospital link on the island
Most American University of Antigua students spend their basic science years on the island and then move to clinical rotations at affiliated hospitals abroad, mainly in the United States and the United Kingdom. On the island, AUA is affiliated with Mount St John’s Medical Centre, the main public hospital, which sits on the edge of St John’s.
So the people who need a short or medium stay near the hospital are often not first year students at all. They are visiting faculty, examiners, students on an island based placement and doctors on short contracts. If that is you, LambLion is around 15 to 20 minutes’ drive from Mount St John’s, and my guide to apartments near St John’s covers the town side of things.
Getting from central Antigua to the AUA campus is easiest with a car
Getting from LambLion to the American University of Antigua is easiest by car, a drive of about 20 minutes along the main roads north to Coolidge. Antigua drives on the left. Hire cars are easy to arrange, and a temporary local driving permit is issued with the rental. Taxis are not metered, so agree the fare before you get in.
Antigua’s buses are private minibuses that run on set routes, mostly from St John’s, and they are cheap but not built around a lecture timetable. Ask Lionel and Lorilyn which routes run past the property, because they know the island far better than any map.
Students who share a car with a classmate, or who stay for a full semester, usually find a long rental cheaper than daily taxis. That is worth pricing before you arrive.
Who stays at LambLion while studying or visiting AUA
LambLion suits the people university housing does not cover. That means a student whose partner is coming too, a parent visiting for a fortnight, a family settling a first year student in before the semester starts, or a visiting lecturer who needs a quiet base for a month.
It does not suit a student who wants to walk to class, or who wants the social life of living with classmates. If that is you, take the AUA housing, and send your parents here when they visit.
The place itself is simple and well kept. It is Green Globe certified, with solar panels, solar water heating and rainwater harvesting, which you can read about on the sustainability page and in my Hold The Throne listing for LambLion. For a wider look at the island’s areas, see where to stay in Antigua, and if you are thinking of working from here between semesters, read my guide to working remotely from Antigua.
Medical school is hard enough. Come home every evening to somewhere quiet and green, with a full fridge and a mango tree outside, and the hard part gets a little lighter.
Book a quiet base near AUA directly
Eleven self catering apartments in central Antigua, about 20 minutes from Coolidge. Book two nights or more directly and get 15% off the nightly rate.