Spice Island Beach Resort

An Unsurpassed Vacation Experience After 30+ years of travel, we've just returned from an exceptional resort experience. Pampered by a property and staff which appears to outnumber the guests, we relished each day except the last, having to go home. Thank you to the Hopkin family for continuing such a personalized and exquisite resort experience for ~40 years! BEFORE leaving home, the resort sent an inquiry email AND a follow-up phone call asking about any special room, food or vacation requests. Impressive service we’ve never experienced! LOCATION - about a 11-12 minute drive from the airport, we rented a car to explore the island more than we had during our previous Grenadian visits. However, Spice Island offers transport. The resort is located on the best stretch of the Grand Anse beach. ARRIVAL - greeted with our names by the front office manager and the bellman in the covered circular portico, we were escorted and efficiently registered. Accompanied by the front desk staff to suite 30, the Royal Clove, we had the courtyard, room, and amenities tour. They also provided a Spice Island cell phone to contact them while on resort property or touring the island. Getting used to the rainy season humidity took about a day. COURTYARD - The tropical foliage and plantings are varied and well-manicured. Surprising to us, we saw that there was a sauna which worked well and warmed up quickly. There is also a very useful and decorative drying tree. Having the private POOL and perimeter wall are what really made the room experience the best that we have ever had. ROYAL SUITE LIVING ROOM and BEDROOM - Some room attributes: full-size living room, four-poster bed, love seat, chairs, tables and ceiling fans. Notable features include: plenty of drawer space, one A/C unit per room, several remote controls and Alexa, great for music! Cabinet amenities: tea kettle/tea, Nespresso coffee machine/capsules, toaster, Gordon’s gin, Absolut, Johnny Walker Black, Grenadian dark rum, red wine and champagne. The champagne was iced-chilled each day until we consumed it. Refrigerator amenities: sauvignon blanc, tonic, club, canned juice, ginger ale, Coke, beer, rum shot bottles, and several water bottles. THANK YOU to the gentleman who helped us with the TV remotes. BATHROOM - very large area with a double vanity and plenty of counter space, huge jacuzzi/tub/shower, excellent water pressure and temperature controls, toilet/bidet/scale (not private), laundry bin, and closet area with hangars, iron/board, hairdryer and safe. Nice room and pool towels as well! There is a laundry service. The bathroom tends to be warmer than the bedroom and living rooms since there is no A/C in the bathroom. THANK YOU to the plumber who replaced the leaking sink valves within a couple of hours. PUBLIC AREAS - lovely, serene ‘clover-shape’ pool and beach area cabanas/chaises, no observable ‘towel-chair saving,’ The beach is public. Resort public areas and landscaping staff are always visible and friendly tidying or maintaining the property and foliage; many even greeted us with our names! And if there is a rain shower, everyone is out in force squeegeeing, mopping and drying every floor and surface. RESTAURANTS’ STAFF - First off, kudos to managers we met - head chef Brenda Joseph and assistant food and beverage manager Caralena. Resort servers and bartenders are amazing! Shirlyn and Kevin made the first impressions only to be quickly followed by a myriad of others: Kenitta, Tracy, Gillian, Rachel, Dainisha, Danah, Dellorna, Jeron, Shawna, Lyndonna, and Katrina. THANK YOU to Fabian for trying to locate a preferred liquor. RESTAURANTS - Situated in a garden terrace venue with vines, trellises, and lattice, you will find Oliver’s and Sea & Surf restaurants, quite enjoyable! Whether you have breakfast/most dinners at Oliver’s or lunch/some dinners at the Sea and Surf Terrace-Bar, the food was delicious and perfectly timed at every meal. The dinner menu varied every day. Daily breakfast and weekday lunch menus are the same, but because of the numerous offerings, we still never ate the same meal twice. Three special moments for us during the week: (1) the fish catch of the day - swordfish, tuna, mahi, kingfish, and local couvalli (sp?) our favorite because of its texture, taste and not one we’ve seen in the US. (2) Wednesday - Caribbean night…we tried the local ‘Oil Down’ with chicken, pork, codfish, breadfruit, potatoes and, of course, the coconut milk. Heavy but tasty! (3) Lastly, we had mentioned to Caralena that the sample menu online showed frogs’ legs. Even though they were not on the menu, Caralena coordinated with the chef Brenda for us to have them on our last evening along with another of our French favorites, sweetbreads. Such a sensational epicurean delight for the finale! HOUSEKEEPING - The “Shhh… / Service” sign was helpful. Calling to arrange a daily room service is fine. We only met Tonya, who was also so pleasant and efficient. The staff met every room need. And if we had special requests, each was met within the hour, if not minutes. There is also an evening turndown service. The ice bucket is refilled most of the time twice a day. CAR VALET and ‘DOOR’ MEN - always pleasant and efficient. One in particular, Chard, was in-training and showed such enthusiasm and hospitality. SPA & GYM - Janissa spa offers numerous body and facial treatments. We tried several and each session was rejuvenating. The staff is very pleasant and professional, especially Audrey. The gym abuts the spa. While the gym can be a bit warm, there is plenty of equipment: 2 Technogym treadmills, 1 bike, machine equipment for core, chest/back, and shoulders. Free weights, bands, ab and kettle balls and more… Never more than three guests in the gym, it opens at 7 am but will be opened by the front desk if you wish to go earlier. RECOMMENDATIONS of NOTE: Heed the public areas/courtyard signs “Slipper When Wet.” They are not kidding. Take bug spray and After Bite. There were only two times at dusk when it was needed, but it was very helpful. The ‘same/next day’ laundry service may not occur unless the request gets processed before 9 am. If you desire privacy, the Royal and pool suites provide that atmosphere compared to the ocean front. The ocean front accommodations, however, have the best view. Read less

Spent 2 amazing weeks at Spice Island 24 June - 8 July. The hotel is set on the beautiful Grand Anse Beach. We had a Sea Grape room which open directly onto the beach and are the best rooms in our opinion. They are well designed and styled and have everything you need. The sound of the sea in the rooms is amazing. The hotel was at low occupancy while we were there so we had the beach to ourselves most days. The choice of food is excellent and we enjoyed some lovely meals and delicious cocktails. The Pina Coladas were some of the best I’ve ever had!! The staff are all very welcoming and really make your stay very special. They are all excellent but a special mention for Katrina and Lyndonna. The grounds of the hotel are beautiful and brilliantly maintained by the staff - shout out to Junior who does a great job. We will definitely return to Spice Island - this was our 3rd visit to the beautiful Island of Grenada ( previous visits we stayed at Mount Cinnamon) but now we’ve stayed at Spice Island we realise that this is where we want to be!!! Spice Island is understated elegance and class. Well done Spice Island and look forward to returning. Read less

Our third visit and certainly not our last, in fact we’re returning in a couple of months which says it all ! Its a stunning property, totally relaxing, spotlessly clean with imaginative understated decor which we love. We stayed in a Seagrape beachfront suite which opened directly onto the beautiful Grande Anse Beach, perfect for an early morning walk. We were more than happy with the food at all mealtime’s, something to suit most tastes. The staff are just one of the hotels many assets, they are immaculate, well trained and remember your names very quickly, the word no is not in their vocabulary. We love the beach service, those boys work hard in the hot sun, thanks guys. Any minor issues are dealt with promptly. The front desk was always manned and we we’re always greeted by name and with a smile. Housekeeping was great as was the turndown service. Thanks to all the staff who made our vacation so enjoyable, we look forward to seeing you again soon. Read less

We’ve just had yet another wonderful week at this beautiful hotel. It was low season and occupancy was low, which was fine by us. We had a Sea Grape Beachfront Suite, which is very spacious and comfortable. And there’s so much storage space for clothes: quite a contrast from the hotel we’d occupied during the previous week. The USP of Spice Island is its quality feel. You sense it immediately upon arrival. The entrance is impressively Caribbean, staff members are super-smartly dressed, charming and efficient. We like the location for its daily walks up and down Grande Anse Beach and over the headland to Morne Rouge / BBC Beach. Because of low occupancy for the season, the breakfast buffet was unavailable: it was table service, as for other meals. We regretted this and had looked forward to the usual service from Natalie -- but we caught up anyway. The lunch menu was extensive, with very generous portions (sometimes we decided to share, and evening meals were very well-presented. Wine quality was good and the bar staff were very attentive. So many staff members are excellent that to name them would be a very long list. However, we have a shout-out for Lyndonna. Towards the end of our stay we had no neighbours in our block of four Sea Grape Suites. In fact, most of the hotel was empty. We had a 4pm check out and were given and extension to 2pm, for which we were grateful. If we wanted the room for a little longer we would have had to pay $350US. We decided against it and had a late lunch. By the way: a little black and white cat lives on the beach front. She is skinny, begged for food and we fed her. We hope that someone else will do so — and get a lot of affection in return. We would like to see her when we visit again. And we also hope that the very pleasant intern Ida has a full time job. Read less