True Blue Bay Boutique Resort

Rooms and decor

Picture a resort painted in pastel blue, pink, yellow and orange, scattered across villas and little houses on a hillside above the bay, set among palm trees and an herb garden — that's the first impression True Blue Bay Boutique Resort gives you. There are about 80 rooms across several buildings, from boutique singles and studios to family villas with a small kitchen. The owners are British-Grenadian couple Russ & Magdalena Fielden, who opened the place in 1998 and grew it slowly and patiently. Most rooms use local wood furniture and bright fabrics that Magdalena chose herself, and some have hand-painted Mexican tiles she brought back from home, blended with Caribbean charm into something that's become the signature here. Almost every room has a balcony or small terrace opening onto the bay or garden, family villas have a kitchen so you can cook, and the top-floor rooms get the widest bay view. Plenty of reviews say it feels like staying at a friend's house with good taste rather than a hotel — not showy luxury, but warmth with personal detail.

Food and amenities

The heart of a stay here is the activities and the shared spaces spread across the resort. Start with the 4 swimming pools stepped down the hillside — a main pool by the bay with a pool bar, a quiet adults' pool, a shallow kids' pool with shaded seating, and a view pool where you can sip a drink and watch the sunset. Down the hill is Spice Island Marine, the island's big marina with sailboats coming and going, and the base for diving with Aquanauts Grenada, the PADI dive center right on the property, which runs trips out to reefs and the famous MV Bianca C wreck. The free activities guests love most are the morning yoga class in an open studio catching the sea breeze, and the Caribbean cooking class with a local chef teaching Oil Down, Grenada's national dish, followed by lunch from what you just made — the kids get a real kick out of it. For dinner, the resort's heart is Dodgy Dock, the waterfront restaurant opening onto the bay, serving Caribbean–Mexican fusion using herbs from the resort's own garden. Wednesday is live music night that draws Grenadians too, Sunday has a brunch buffet reviews rave about, and there's a daily happy hour at the waterside bar for rum punch as the sailboats come in.

Location and getting there

The location is True Blue Bay's trump card for anyone who doesn't want to lose time traveling. The resort sits on a hillside above True Blue bay on the south side of Grenada, about a 5-minute drive from Maurice Bishop International (GND) — you can land and be sipping rum punch in your room within half an hour. The bay out front is the clear turquoise water of the Caribbean, and the big marina next door makes it an easy place to start a sailing trip or a dive. The resort itself isn't on a postcard white-sand beach, but there's a free daily shuttle to Grand Anse — one of the prettiest beaches in the Caribbean, 3 kilometres of fine white sand — just about 10 minutes away by road. To see the capital, St George's, with its pretty Carenage harbour and world-famous spice market, it's another 15-minute drive. From True Blue you can book island-hopping trips, rainforest waterfalls, or chocolate-factory and spice-garden tours through the resort counter. In short, easy to get in and out, but still in a quiet corner of the island that isn't crowded with tourists.

Things to know before booking

Straight talk to help you decide. The thing that comes up most in reviews is the beach — the resort sits on a hillside above the marina bay, not on a long white-sand beach in the classic Caribbean style. If your picture is walking from your room straight onto sand, this isn't it; you take the hotel shuttle to Grand Anse instead, and while it's free and easy, it runs to a schedule you'll want to plan around. Second is the age of the buildings — the resort has been open since 1998 and not every building is fully renovated, so some reviews note dated furniture, weak shower pressure, or a noisy air-con unit in certain rooms. Before booking, ask for a room in a recently renovated building, or check the latest room photos on Booking or Agoda. Third is Wi-Fi, which isn't strong in every corner, especially the villas at the far end of the hill away from the lobby — if you need to work online, ask ahead. And one small thing worth knowing: there are mosquitoes in the garden in the evening, normal for a tropical resort with leafy grounds, so bring repellent or use the resort's spray. On weekends the marina area can carry some boat noise, so ask for a room that doesn't face the dock directly for a quieter stay.

Our take

From reading real reviews and going through plenty of photos, True Blue Bay Boutique Resort sells "friend's-house atmosphere plus loads of free activities plus genuine care for the environment" so well that it's become one of the most memorable places to stay in Grenada. If the trip in your head is waking up to a sea-breeze yoga class, eating a fresh-fruit brunch in the garden, diving with Aquanauts in the afternoon, or riding the shuttle to Grand Anse and coming back for rum punch at Dodgy Dock as the sailboats come in, this resort ticks every box — and the owner-run, family feel will make you feel more looked after than a big chain ever could. But if you're expecting a luxury resort on a postcard white-sand beach, brand-new rooms throughout, and perfection in every square inch, this one may feel a bit ordinary. Overall we give it 8.6/10, best for outdoorsy couples, families with older kids, and travelers who want Grenada with care and a story rather than gloss.