Sandals Grenada Resort & Spa

Sandals Grenada Resort and Spa fits well into the brand’s vision of all-inclusive luxury, sprinkled with those signature romantic touches, such as fire pits on the beach, two-person hammocks and swinging chairs, and rooms with private pools and soaking tubs.

The lobby is an open-air gazebo in all dark wood, and leads out onto a courtyard, which most of the property features are centered around. There are a lovely spa, a few small shops, five of the 10 restaurants, and in the center, a large pavilion with pool tables and board games called the Living Room, where the nightly entertainment takes place. While the property extends over 17 acres, the layout is easy to navigate, and it actually feels like all of the buildings are very close together, without much breathing room. The amenities are shared with hundreds of other couples, which doesn’t lend to a very intimate, authentic setting. While there are quiet, peaceful corners to be found for couples who want to relax, the main pool is often bumping with loud dance music and games during the day, and young couples enjoying the flowing drinks. The beachfront area is quiet, though the beach in front of the resort is short and surrounded by manmade jetties to protect it from the rough open seas.

Some of the rooms are suites that offer butler service, and all rooms have chic, modern style and nice bathrooms. There are three sections of the hotel: The Pink Gin Village, Italian Village, and South Seas Village. Each village contains a large block of rooms with a certain look (the Italian village rooms have more marble and European flair, for example).

The 17-acre Sandals Grenada Resort occupies the southern tip of the Southwestern corner of the small, friendly island of Grenada. It sits on the end of a small, quiet stretch of sand called Pink Gin Beach – and since it’s at the very end of the island, this area is exposed to the open seas. The ocean here is often very rough and choppy, so swimming is restricted to roped-in areas right near the shore. It’s a very private, secluded property, with no other resorts or hotels close by.

The hotel is located directly next the Maurice Bishop International Airport, and it's only about a five-minute drive to the terminals; the occasional plane will be heard passing overhead. Free roundtrip airport transportation is provided. It’s a 25-minute drive up to coast to reach the town of St. George’s, Grenada’s capital, and a 10-minute drive to the popular two-mile-long Grand Anse beach.

There are 20 different room categories to choose from at the Sandals Grenada Resort, split between the standard Luxury Level, Club Level, and Butler Level; each step adds a few amenities, such as room service (available for Club Level and above). Butler Level rooms include a personal butler and premium liquor brands.

Rooms have a chic, modern style with dark mahogany furnishings, and contemporary patterns and fabrics in dark blues, teals, neutral tones, and silvers. The overall look is very polished and upscale, yet less taste-specific than some other resorts (allowing for broader appeal). The stylish marble bathrooms have rainfall showerheads and either separate bathtubs or shower/tub combos. All rooms have flat-screen TVs, iPod docks, mini-fridges stocked with juices and soft drinks (Club Sandals and above have alcohol, too), and coffee- and tea-making facilities.

Many rooms, including the Pink Gin Beachfront Suites, have private decks with romantic outdoor soaking tubs, and while decks can face directly out onto pathways or toward neighboring rooms, there are curtains for full privacy. The Skypool Penthouse Suites in the Italian Village have a spacious living/dining room, a butler pantry, and a large balcony with a striking private infinity plunge pool and an outdoor soaking tub. The excellent Rondoval Suites are a unique kind of circular cottage with a cone shaped, thatched roof. The Rondovals have excellent bathrooms with a large, round stone tub, and private patios with waterfall pools and whirlpool tubs. While the entire property is meant to be of five-star caliber, the higher-tier rooms do certainly enjoy some extra-indulgent features.

As an all-inclusive property all food and drinks, including alcoholic beverages and 24-hour room service, are part of the room rate. There are 10 dining options in total, including the casual English pub and a French bakery for snacks. Highlights include fine Italian, seafood on the beach, French cuisine, Caribbean-inspired dishes at Spices, and Sandals’ first steakhouse, Butch’s Chophouse. There are five bars scattered across the property. Nightly entertainment ranges from karaoke, to live reggae music, to a staff talent show. Other events include cocktail parties, wine tastings, and a weekly chocolate buffet.

The elegant Red Lane spa features large couples' treatment rooms with jetted tubs. Spa treatments are an extra fee, but the steam room and saunas are available for guests’ use. Activities include shuffleboard, tennis courts, yoga, and an excellent fitness center with new machines, classes, and on-site trainers. A variety of water sports are available at the beach, such as kayaking, Hobie Cat sailing, windsurfing, and snorkeling, and glass-bottom boat tours. The on-site dive shop offers free unlimited diving for certified scuba divers.

Other stops in the main courtyard include island tours, a photography studio, wedding planning, and a few small gift shops. There are also five conference room options of different sizes. Airport transfer is included for guests, and Wi-Fi is free throughout the property. A huge perk is that weddings are free for guests staying at least three nights.

The Sandals Grenada Resort has five pools in total. The largest is the main pool in the South Seas Village, featuring a swim-up bar and an in-pool volleyball area. It's dotted with daybeds and flanked by Grecian-style columns, and there's a large hot tub perched on a terrace overlooking the main pool and bar. This pool is often the center of action, with loud dance music, games, and activities – those looking for a party will find their way here most days. Guests seeking a quieter atmosphere may head over to the pool at Pink Gin Village, a smaller, V-shaped pool that faces the beach. There is also a medium-sized whirlpool close by, and plenty of shaded lounge chairs.

There are two waterfall river pools, which are long, tiered pools that are meant to look like a flowing river. The one at the Italian Village has a number of swim-out rooms that face directly onto the pool. The last pool is a small, quiet pool at the end of South Seas Village, lined by swim-up rooms.

As the Sandals resort is located at the very southern tip of Grenada, it is exposed to currents from the open ocean, which makes for rough, choppy waters most days. The hotel has aimed to guard against that by creating a manmade jetty and piers to create a cove -- but the result is that there are just two roped-in areas where guests can swim. The beachfront lining this cove is wide but not very long, and the golden sand is often rocky. Compared to the overall size of the 17-acre resort, the designated beach area is quite small. There are a variety of daybeds, lounge chairs, and hammocks filling up most of the sand, though umbrellas and shaded areas fill up quickly. Two nice piers with swinging chairs and a gazebo and the water-sports area mark the end of Sandals' part of the beach.

Pink Gin Beach extends for a good length beyond the piers and water-sports building, and guests can access it by walking -- however there are no lounge chairs and swimming is not allowed on that side of the beach, so walking is about all you can do there.