Radisson Grenada Beach Resort

Rooms and decor

Picture a Caribbean-style resort of three cream-and-pale-yellow wings — low roofs, white timber balconies — wrapped around a pool whose tiled deck runs straight onto the white sand of Grand Anse with no wall between them. That's the Radisson Grenada Beach Resort, a 4-star, 218-room international-chain resort on the most famous beach on the island. Step into the lobby and you hit an open-air zone catching the sea breeze, high ceilings dressed with rattan furniture and local woodwork, and the faint smell of spice — nutmeg, cinnamon, coriander — drifting through, fitting for the island known as the Spice Island of the Caribbean. Most rooms sit in the three wings facing Grand Anse bay, so almost every one opens its balcony door onto the blue Caribbean and the curving line of the bay. Inside, it's classic resort style — cream, navy and blue tones, tropical-print curtains, comfortable soft beds. It's not the over-the-top luxury of an island boutique resort, but it feels like a tidy, clean seaside home that's ready for you. If you prefer something simple and practical over loud design, it'll suit you.

Food and amenities

The heart of this resort is the beachfront pool deck — a big free-form pool whose deck slopes seamlessly into the Grand Anse sand, so a few steps out of the water and you're in the sea. Sun loungers and umbrellas run in long rows around it, and the Spice Bar, the beachside pool bar, serves proper Grenadian rum punch and snacks to eat while you soak. On the dining side there are 4 restaurants to choose from — Tradewinds, the main dining room serving the breakfast buffet and international food; Oui Sea Lounge for easy poolside meals; the beachside Spice Bar; and the Italian La Vue for a special sunset-view dinner. Families with kids will love the Kids' Club, with daily activities — drawing, games, and learning about Grenada's spices. For water-adventure types, the resort has the Aquanauts Dive Centre, a professional operation running trips to the coral and to the Bianca C wreck — a 180-metre Italian cruise liner from the 1960s that sank near the island, the largest wreck dive in the Caribbean and a Grenada icon. Rounding it out is a small spa and a fitness room open through the day.

Location and getting there

The Radisson sits on Grand Anse, a white-sand beach about 3 km long that travel magazines rank among the 10 most beautiful in the Caribbean — clear water, fine sand, a gentle slope good for swimming and for playing in the water with the family. It's only a 10-minute drive from central St George's, Grenada's capital, with its pretty horseshoe-shaped Carenage harbour and the old Spice Market. A short drive also gets you to Fort George, the high point that looks out over the whole of St George's. Maurice Bishop International Airport (GND) is about 5 km away, a 15-minute drive — handy if you want to check in and get straight into the pool. Walk a little further along the beach and you reach local restaurants and beach bars for local-priced rum punch, like Umbrellas Beach Bar, about a 15-minute walk from the resort. For adventurers, a 40-minute drive reaches Annandale Waterfall or Grand Etang National Park in the island's rainforest — a central beach spot like this covers both sea and mountains in one place.

Things to know before booking

Straight talk to help you decide. The most common gripe is the room decor: it's generic chain-resort style, without the standout character of the island's other boutique resorts. Some reviews say plainly that the rooms look more like a hotel in a tourist town than a Caribbean resort, so if you're expecting the hippest design or a boutique mood, it may feel a bit ordinary. The next frequent one is the breakfast buffet at Tradewinds, which gets middling reviews — the spread isn't as varied as 4-star resorts of the same level, some days it's refilled slowly, and there are few local options; it's worth heading out to try breakfast at the spots along Grand Anse, which are tastier and more fun. On Wi-Fi, the signal is weak in some corners, especially ground-floor rooms in the wing furthest from the lobby, and the air-con in a few rooms is getting on in years and makes noise at night — not in every room, but it turns up here and there, and if you hit it, ask reception to switch rooms on day one. Lastly, in the December-to-April high season the resort is fairly busy and the pool and Kids' Club fill up fast; if you want real quiet, May to July is less crowded and cheaper too.

Our take

After reading through hundreds of real reviews, the Radisson Grenada Beach Resort is the beachfront resort that sells the central spot on Grand Anse — Grenada's prettiest beach — with a pool on the sea, bay-view rooms, 4 restaurants, a Kids' Club and an on-site dive centre, at the most affordable price on this stretch. If the trip in your head is bringing the family to laze in the water on a Caribbean beach, dive the legendary Bianca C wreck, and sip rum punch by the pool in the evening without paying Spice Island Beach Resort prices, this fits the bill completely. But if you're after the over-the-top luxury of a boutique resort with bold design and genuinely premium service, it may feel like a typical chain. Overall we give it 8.0/10, best for families and couples who want a good-value Caribbean beach trip with everything on site, on the most famous beach on Grenada.