The almost total lack of information and reportage of AKR on SCUBABoard has always puzzled me, as well.
They have shifted their business model
away from "dive groups" (clubs) to
individuals and a very heavy reliance on
Cruise Ship Divers, both are immensely more profitable. At the same time, they upgraded their rooms situated offshore "on the key" and also added a pool. This has been part of a push to market differentiate by raising weekly rates to what was an extreme. The place stayed empty for quite some time, maybe 18 months, before they realized that maybe this wasn't the perfect plan.
The lowered the rates again for week-long guests and kept on the effort for the day visitor- the Dolphin Show is a huge draw, and guests show up in droves, not only from cruise ships but as day visitors from other island resorts. Everybody wants to swim with Flipper.
AKR has
always had a good and consistent product that offered diving, meals and lodging that satisfied many, many visitors over the years~
and they still do!
Upsides to AKR: Consistency; Nearby West End if you want Bars/Restaurants; the best Dive-Op (boats esp.) infrastructure if you want to dive the North Side; if the North side gets weathered-out (common Sept thru Feb), they have the equipment and money to take you to the South side; restaurant order off a menu; the lagoon offers the best muck dive on Roatan, but not for the squeamish; AKR is located within the Marine Reserve, you will see increased populations of common Caribbean larger fish and crustaceans; DMs are well trained.
Downsides to AKR: Better rooms are on a separate cay, necessitating a quick shuttle boat quite ride constantly; it lies in the shadow of Roatan's prevailing wind and is in a heavily wooded zone: bug city; the advertised shore dive is marginal; North side diving is darker and deeper than South side; there are 60 some steps up/down to the restaurant; DMs are not known for being Naturalist guides.
Rarely does anyone complain about AKR, here or anywhere, at least not those who seem to have a grasp on dive travel and what to really expect. It gets consistent positive comments from visitors.
Trip Advisor seems to me to be populated by people who go on vacation to do some diving.
Search results: anthony key resorts roatan - TripAdvisor As you wade through the reports, see many from day visitors (cruise ship divers/dolphin snorkelers). The others from actual week-long SCUBA visitors are worth a read, but generally confirm my theory of being from casual divers on vacation~ so temper their reports accordingly.
There is no reason why you won't come away from AKR grinning from ear to ear.