03 May 2024

Grenada

We offer a wide choice of cheap flights to Grenada together with Grenada hotels, tours and self-drive itineraries.

Other Caribbean Reviews

The Urban Spice Man

Escape from a frenetic schedule was the plan for actor Simon Shepherd. And gorgeous Grenada was where he found sanctuary, spice and all things nice.

1 La Luna resort 2 The beach at La Luna 3 The capital, St George

KNOWN AS THE SPICE ISLAND of the Caribbean (with constant intoxicating wafts of nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and ginger), Grenada is a gorgeous place. At the southernmost tip of the Windward Isles and about 15 by 9 miles, it has a population of 95,000.

Grenada incorporates a mad mix of cultures – French, English, Caribbean – due to its changing colonisation for 200 years. It shows in the French and English architecture in the capital St Georges, and in the bizarre patois (part French, part Caribbean).

St Georges is home of Parliament – early Georgian buildings with the House of Representatives and a Senate.

The pretty harbour Carenage is a jumble of fishing boats, brash island cruisers and their gaudy catamarans, inter-island ferries, yachts and a (nameless) restaurant that served us one of the scariest meals imaginable. If anybody comes at you with a plate of soused conch (tender lambie souse) run like hell!

We were on a day’s outing from our sanctuary of Laluna, the brainchild of the charming Bernardo Bertucci, a fashion consultant, who left his glamorous life in New York a few years ago. He turned his back on the world of Prada, Armani and La Perla to find a less hectic life.

Bernardo chose the Caribbean and six months later he settled in Grenada. From the deck of an estate agent’s boat he fell in love with a secluded bay on the western tip of the island. Within two days he’d bought one end of it and about ten acres of hillside behind.

Stunning five star

Laluna is not just another hotel; it doesn’t have stunning five star facilities. It’s pared down life: a hip minimalist design. Its welcome, simplicity, elegance and naturalness outweigh more deluxe places.

We arrived in the early hours after an exhausting day’s travel. The hotel was dark, the guests long asleep. Delicious sandwiches were waiting for us in the room.

Behind the white-sand crescent of a beach is Laluna’s main building, with the restaurant, bar, swimming pool and offices. There are no walls and the roof is made of elephant grass thatch from Vietnam.

Furniture is Balinese and wooden, with cream linen cushions.

The restaurant at night is softly lit and one of the most romantic settings you could wish for. Is the food to match? Indisputably yes.

Indonesian, Caribbean and very Italian-influenced, Benedetto Le Fiura’s cooking is excellent – from his Calloloo soup (spinach-like leaf made into thick soup with olive oil, garlic, nutmeg, ginger and coconut milk) to zuppa de Benedetto (lobster, clams, shrimps, crab, and king fish in a velvety tomato sauce).

The hotel’s 16 air-conditioned thatched cottages are scattered on the hillside. Each has a large outdoor deck with a big daybed and a plunge pool and is surrounded by hibiscus, jasmine and bougainvillea.

Our very large bedroom had a king-size carved four-poster bed. The bathroom was half outside and you could shower in privacy under the stars. City cares were suddenly worlds away. To touch base with reality on day four, we dragged ourselves away. What we saw of Grenada was not the sarong and thong side of the Caribbean you see in magazines. It was far more interesting and varied.

First stop, rent a jeep. We headed through St Georges to the Grand Etang Rainforest Reserve, which is at the island’s centre and enveloped by a range of volcanic ridges. We visited Annadale Falls, a waterfall in volcanic rock where local lads dive 35ft into a small pond.

The following days were less adventurous and involved a visit to La Source, a well-known hotel on the wonderfully named Pink Gin Beach.

La Source is renowned for its spa element. I had a lovely and relaxing massage with Vennie, who had those firm but soft hands you often read about but rarely experience.

I noted that there were people on the beach. At Laluna we’d got used to sharing the beach with six or eight people most days and any more looked like a crowd.

We took Bernardo’s wife Wendy’s recommendation that night and went to a shack restaurant on Grand Anse beach – the island’s largest and most famous beach and home to the respected Spice Island Resort Hotel.

Simple and delicious

At the other end is the charming Coconut On The Beach restaurant, where you sit on plastic seats at small tables on the shoreline, lit by kerosene lamps, with boats moored for the night in front of you. The meal was simple and delicious – huge shrimps, lobster with mash, Pina Coladas and very happy diners enjoying the informality.

The smell of kerosene was strong at first but was soon overpowered by the garlic that accompanies each dish.

Next evening Bernardo and Wendy took us to their friends for cocktails. Azzura Castle, the venue for slaughter by liquor, was built on the south coast a few years ago along the lines of a Moroccan fortress: ochre-coloured, castellated walls, sitting proudly on its own peninsula.

Having been to Marrakech, its interior reminded me of a riad in the Medina – built around a courtyard with indoor and outdoor areas mixed up. It also has the most amazing folly that clings perilously to the rocks, beyond the pool.

It’s also for rent. Tempting…

And yet, for sheer relaxation – after three days my mind disengaged, my walk became a shuffle, my words came out in the wrong order, I slept ten hours a night – I’d revisit Laluna.

0330·100·2220i 0330 calls are included within inclusive minutes package on mobiles, otherwise standard rates apply. X 0330 calls are included within inclusive minutes package on mobiles, otherwise standard rates apply. X