Exploring the Beauty of Grenada 2/12/2008 10:49:53 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment I found this article about Grenada. Not the usual place one thinks of for a vacation, but according to the author definitely a place to consider.
By James Ruggia
Published on: February 11, 2008
With its rugged mountain skyline and long stretches of beach that suggests a Caribbean Bora Bora, Grenada deserves better luck than it's had in its recent past. The people here grow spices in their backyards and flower bushes around their front doors. Between the soft aromatic breezes, which blow scents of spice and flower, to color schemes that seem to tumble out of a Crayola Box, it's a place that always compels you to stop and breathe in the beauty.
Grenada isn't the sculpted beauty of the fairway and the green. Instead, it's a rough, natural beauty that just keeps coming at you. With a 97 percent literacy rate and a highly evolved work ethic, Grenadians are a proud people who work hard, keep appointments punctually and are genuinely hospitable. They're also quick to express their gratitude for the U.S. military intervention that put a stop to an atypically chaotic political situation.
In 2004, Hurricane Ivan also showed them that nature could wield a brand of chaos that made that military intervention seem mild. Though 80 percent of the island was ruined, in less than four years the people here rebuilt their homes, cleaned the streets and put freshly renovated hotels back in business. For example, La Source, one of the island's luxury hotel icons, re-opened on Feb. 1. Grenada received about 270,000 cruise visitors last year, and 135,000 overnighters bringing it almost back to where it was before Ivan.
New developments are gathering steam as arrivals return to nearly what they were before the storm. For example, in 1953 the young Peter de Savary, on vacation with his family from England, fell in love with the cliff top view of the Islander Hotel. From there he could look across at the serene harbor and old Fort St. George. That fort, where the British wrestled control of the island from France in 1763, became the scene of the infamous execution of former Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and his cabinet by the revolutionaries in the coup d'etat in 1983. During the subsequent intervention the Islander Hotel became a fortress for the Cuban military and it was leveled by American bombs.
As you walk around that windy peak, you can still see the tiling of the old Islander Hotel as you look out across at Port Louis, where de Savary is building what promises to be the island's coup de grace. Much of Port Louis lay under tons of scrap metal and waste before de Savary arrived to reclaim the landscape of his fondest memory.
De Savary has a long track record of developing luxury properties like the Abaco Club in the Bahamas and the St. James chain in Antigua. The project, one of two he is developing in Grenada, is rising around a 350-slip marina that will be managed by Camper & Nicholson and will dock the mega-yachts preferred by the wealthiest travelers. Two five-star hotels, high-end villas, duty-free designer retail outlets and a state-of-the-art spa will give Grenada that St. Tropez-like scene it needs to compete with other high-end Caribbean nations.
De Savary's style is to create the larger opportunity matrix that attracts investors who then build and manage specific venue components. Expect the top-end brands to come in and manage the venues. He has a strong relationship with Ritz Carlton, which is likely to end up managing at least one of the properties.
De Savary's other Grenada project, Mount Cinnamon, located just a short drive from Port Louis, overlooks expansive Grand Anse Beach. The project, now in the first of five phases, is already home to 21 luxury villas (20 more will be built), most of which have been sold at prices ranging from $500,000 to $800,000. The restaurant Savvy's offers the villa owners quality dining when they don't feel like cooking. The folks at Mount Cinnamon and at Port Louis will serve as rental agents for the villa owners. A 125-room boutique hotel will be built on the grounds as well.
Of course, De Savary isn't the only developer at work in Grenada. A 110-room Four Seasons is under construction on 80-acre Hog Island. The resort, which will be connected to the mainland by a bridge, will also most likely feature an 18-hole golf course.
The island's current high-end property is the 64-suites Spice Island Beach Resort (www.spicebeachresort.com), which straddles Grand Anse Beach with her sister property the Blue Horizon Garden Resort (www.grenadabluehorizons.com) situated behind it on the hills. The owner of the Spice Island, Sir Royston Hopkins, a man who began as a kitchen staffer at the hotel and who now belongs to the British peerage, became "Sir Royston" based on all he did to establish modern Grenadian tourism.
"People come here because the island hasn't lost its environmental or cultural integrity," says Hopkins. "It's still a one-on-one relationship between visitors and the people here and we will keep it that way by avoiding high volume tourism. Low density, eco-friendly development is our direction. Less is more."
The waters of Grenada feature more than 30 dive sites and I tried out five of them with Aquanauts (888-446-9235, www.aquanautsgrenada.com). They range from easy to difficult, making it a great place for new as well as experienced divers. The Aquanauts' team puts divers at ease and inspires confidence through their gentle but assertive manner, and in this regard, they are perhaps the best I ever dove with.
My most compelling dive in Grenada was the one that looked least interesting in the brochure. The Marine Park's series of underwater sculptures tells the story of Caribbean slavery through several moving tableaux of slaves. Besides these sculptures Grenada's dives also feature exceptional reefs and some wonderfully preserved wrecks.
The center of the island is home to fine rainforest parkland, which covers 13 percent of the island, including Grand Etang National Park, replete with monkeys, iguana and plenty of birdlife. At 2,750 feet, Mount St. Katherine is at the center of the rainforest region. Tours of the island also visit the Rivers Rum Distillery, which has been at work filling bottles since 1785, not too long after the French introduced sugar production. Rivers Rum produces a 150-proof bolt of white lightning that clears the sinuses and cleanses the mind.
Though only 12 by 21 miles, Grenada offers a lot beyond its beaches and fine diving. Fortunately, things are looking up for the island, which is more than a little due for some good luck. It's been a long journey from coup d'etat to coup de grace, and you can be assured that your clients would love this place.
For more information, call-566-581-8176 or visit www.grenadagrenadines.com.
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