Mount Cinnamon Beach & Wellness Resort

Rooms and decor

Picture a green hillside above a long white-sand beach, with villas in pink, orange, yellow and blue scattered down the slope like a dream fishing village — that's the first thing you see as the car turns into Mount Cinnamon Beach & Wellness Resort. This small boutique resort is the work of Sir Peter de Savary, a British businessman who fell for the Caribbean and decided to build his own place in Grenada, open since 2005. There are only 37 villas and suites, which keeps the whole feel relaxed and personal — no big crowded lobby, no long check-in queue, just staff who learn your name from day one. Every unit is angled to open onto a full Caribbean sea view, and many are roomy enough to feel more like condos than hotel rooms, with a small kitchen, a sofa and a private balcony for morning coffee over the water. The look is Caribbean Colonial with a boutique twist — bright tones against light wood furniture, high ceilings and slow-turning ceiling fans. It's a place that doesn't shout about luxury; it sells privacy and a view good enough to soften you up.

Food and amenities

The heart of a stay here isn't only inside the resort — it's the Cinnamon Beach Club on Grand Anse, which the resort owns. This near-3-kilometre white-sand beach has long ranked among the Caribbean's most beautiful, with water clear enough to see small fish darting and sand as fine as powder. The beach club has loungers, wicker umbrellas, a bar, restrooms, changing rooms and staff who bring food and drink to your chair so you never have to get up. Guests use it free, and with few people around it feels like a private beach. Divers get excited about Aquanauts Dive Centre, the resort's own operation with full PADI courses and trips to Grenada's best-known sites. The one not to miss is the Underwater Sculpture Park, the world's first, by artist Jason deCaires Taylor, where coral has grown over the statues into a startling artificial reef. Back at the resort there's a sea-view outdoor pool for an evening cocktail, a Peloton Fitness Center that's rare to find at a resort this size, and Savvy's restaurant serving Caribbean-European food such as grilled mahi-mahi with mango sauce and local Grenadian lobster. The pool bar doesn't close until the last guest heads to bed.

Location and getting there

Grand Anse sits in the sweet spot between resort quiet and town convenience — only about 10 minutes by car from St. George's, Grenada's capital and cruise port. If you want to wander the Market Square spice market, see Fort George (built by the British in the 18th century), or photograph the pastel Carenage harbor, it's a short taxi ride away. From Maurice Bishop international airport (GND) it's only about a 15-minute drive, easier than the resorts on the north of the island. Grand Anse itself is full of local restaurants, bars and souvenir shops within walking distance of the beach club. Nature lovers can take a day trip up to the Grand Etang rainforest around its crater lake, Annandale Falls, and the local chocolate estates Grenada is known for worldwide — this is the Caribbean's Spice Island, growing nutmeg, cinnamon and cocoa for export. In short, the location suits anyone who wants beachfront privacy without being cut off from town and good food.

Things to know before booking

Straight talk to help you decide — the thing reviews complain about most, and the one to brace for, is the very steep hill. The resort really is on a slope, and walking from the topmost villa down to the pool, restaurant or lobby can feel like a small workout each time. There's a golf cart you can call, but you'll wait, sometimes 5-10 minutes at peak. Older guests, anyone with bad knees, or parents with a small child and a stroller will find it tougher than a flat resort, so if a lot of walking isn't for you, ask for a villa on a middle or lower level rather than the top. Second, this is a boutique resort of only 37 units, so some facilities — a full multi-room spa, several restaurants under one roof — won't be as complete as at a big chain; if you want lots of choice in one place, it may feel a little thin. Last is the internet: some reviews note that Wi-Fi in certain villas is slow and unreliable. Grenada is a small island where the network still isn't as fast as Europe or Asia, so if you have important work to do, keep a local SIM as backup.

Our take

After reading through the real reviews and comparing it with the other resorts in Grand Anse, Mount Cinnamon Beach & Wellness Resort delivers privacy, a full Caribbean sea view from every villa, a beach club on Grenada's prettiest beach and its own dive center, and it does all of that with pride. If the trip in your head is a couple stretched out on loungers at the beach club, diving the Underwater Sculpture Park in the morning, then back on the villa balcony with a rum punch as the sun drops behind the hill, this place nails it. But if you expect a flat, easy-to-walk resort with a spa and several restaurants of its own, the steepness may tire you more than you'd like. Overall we give it 9.1/10 — best for couples, honeymooners and divers who want privacy and name-you service over big-chain luxury.