Spice Island Beach Resort

I vacillated between 4 and 5 stars. The presence of large family groups over Christmas killed it for me. Dominated meal times and sucked up service / kitchen time. We had a sea grape room which couldn’t be faulted. As others have said, avoid the vet low numbers by the water sports centre. We were10, so that was ok. Bar service was slow / inconsistent in the evenings. Wine was relatively low cost Australian and S American. Purchased bottles off the wine list reasonably priced. Took us a few days to realise there was a wine list. It was only as we saw on Christmas Day that people had bottles. Too many buffets at lunch and dinner, probably as the holiday season. Food was good generally. Would I go back - maybe. Staff did generally try to please

We just spent 7 days at Spice Island with our two children- 4 and 6 years old over the New Year holiday. We had a very chill and nice relaxing vacation. We gave this hotel a 4.5 stars overall. Main reasons the hotel didn’t get a full 5 stars: 1.) Not a private beach 2.) Inconsistent Service 3.) A little tooo chill for a full 7 days Room- amazing room right on the beach, enough space for the 4 of us. It was comfortable and had everything we needed. Waking up and walking out on the beach every morning was so convenient and beautiful. If the kids needed to relax or grab something it was so close. I didn’t like how close locals or anyone on the beach could see inside the room or get close to it. More on that below… Food- We definitely had some amazing dishes. The ice cream was unreal and some of the dishes were so flavourful. We were never hungry, thats for sure! The lunch menu got boring after 4 days. Would recommend a change up. There are 2 restaurants about 7 meters apart. Some days the service was incredibly slow, waiting 2 hours to finish a meal service. Some days it was faster. The slow service made it a pain at times and felt like a waste of the day. Kids Club- Kids had so much fun making crafts and playing with other kids. It was indoors, not much outdoor activity. Spa/ Gym- nothing over the top but it gets the job done. The gym had all new technogym equipment. We had a couples massage and it was nice and professional. Pool- The kids enjoyed it and had fun playing. Chairs were always available. Sometimes the pool area wasn’t the cleanest. Old towels and empty cups sitting around. Staff- some staff were incredibly friendly and warm and some were just not and made you feel uncomfortable for even asking for something. It was very bipolar service. They need consistent and proper training. Beach- This is what I struggle with most. The sand and water are so beautiful. Turquoise warm water. Soo gorgeous. Butttt… the locals drinking, music, swearing, laying on top of each-other was not my vibe. My kids crocs and sandals went missing from the beach. The security was there but sleepy and never said anything and sat by a palm tree all day, didn’t walk up and down. These locals are right next to your belongings and so close to the room that it killed it for me. I get that it’s their country and public beach but I just don’t want men drunk with beer bottles in their hands talking to my kids and my kids saying they are scary mommy. Teenagers humping on the beach. Cruise ship people pulling up towels next to us. Not my vibe!!! Some people might not mind and this might not bother you but for me it was a huge safety issue. I couldn’t take my eyes off my 4 year old daughter. The road and public beach were seconds from our room and spot on beach. Vibe- not much going on, a little sleepy. It was nice to relax and not feel any stuffy or pretentious vibes. It was truly super chill. A few more entertainment pieces to spice it up would have been nice. Overall, great value!! Few little things that could make this place beyond phenomenal!!

We had a really lovely family holiday at SIBR with some lovely highlights. We'd definitely go back sometime – though probably not at a peak time. Long read coming, sorry: + For the first four or so days it felt like we had the place to ourselves .. the resort must only have been around half occupied before schools broke up and it was great – really personal service, everything was fast, the beach was practically empty etc. (there’s another side to that below...) + We had two lovely rooms, even if they were the most basic Garden Suites ... there was plenty of space, they were nice and cool, 2 mins from the beach & main resort centre, kept very clean, nicely stocked mini bar, plenty of towels, generally very good. We were happier I think to be set back a little bit into the resort as the beachfront rooms are literally steps from the public beach and maybe didn't have as much privacy. The second (sofa) bed in the boys' room was decent. + SIBR is a very nice, high quality property throughout (though maybe not middle east 5* quality) .. it has a decent small gym (though some of the equipment disappeared mid-stay - maybe being replaced) and a very nice spa which we used. + The food was consistently very good .. our boys weren’t always up for the slightly fancier meals in the main restaurant but the staff were always happy to do some fresh fish or meat with fries & vegetables. In our view there was enough variety across the two options for dinner and we definitely didn’t go short of food! They also offered an afternoon tea option every day which we didn’t go need to go anywhere near! The less formal restaurant was open most nights and our boys preferred that menu – but that’s where the young families ate and it was sometimes a bit chaotic/loud. Breakfast was very good and lunch too. We enjoyed very much the occasional BBQs for lunch. + Resort location was excellent .. the Grand Anse beach is great (though definitely not one of the best in the world) and the resort is really well positioned at the quieter end of it. The sea was fantastic for swimming in (though there are hardly any fish etc to see). It was nice to walk along for a few km, though as it’s a public beach, the livelier end was pretty lively at weekends with sometimes some really loud party boats moored just off the beach. + Some of the service in the bar & restaurants and throughout was absolutely top notch – regularly addressed by name and some lovely touches (opened the gym early for us, delivered oat milk to the room, we mentioned one of the boys had burned and they delivered fresh aloe vera to the room for example). Some of the F&B staff were the best we’ve had anywhere - e.g. Katrina & Lyndonna (and others, sorry we didn't get more names) + We liked Grenada a lot – it's beautiful, small enough to get around easily; we did a nice tour organised through the local agent; it felt safe. There were a few things we were disappointed with and had to raise a couple of them with the hotel (not really addressed): - When the hotel filled up around Christmas Eve/Day, the service notably dropped off. It felt a touch over-full and we had quite a few meals which took too long, parts of the order were missed, drinks took ages, water refills had to be chased. Really small points individually but added together and done multiple times got quite annoying. We were probably a bit spoiled by the first half of our stay. A lot of guests were families with young kids (we have no problem at all with that having been through it for many years!) but the last couple of lunches and especially the last breakfast were chaotic and not relaxing. - We have food intolerance in the family which the staff ask about and we clearly mentioned when checking in. For the first few days they were great at managing it – not letting us order anything inappropriate, suggesting & even making alternatives. But after those few days they totally forgot about it (apart from Katrina) – really not so good. Hopefully they do a better job with allergies rather than intolerance. We raised both of these points with reception who said the manager would probably want to get in touch to discuss but that didn’t happen. - They had an entertainment schedule which was a bit of a mystery to us (I found on the last but one day it was posted on the reception desk so it was probably my bad) – so we had no real idea what was happening... and we missed out on a sunset boat cruise because no-one told us until too late it was happening. We really liked Fabian who was in charge of it - saw him regularly and loved his energy and care for guests having a good time. The resort had some really good evening music ... but often they were playing to a handful of people after dinner because many guests had gone to bed well before 10pm. All in all though it was a really lovely holiday and we'd love to be back there right now. Maybe just about worth the price. In Tripadvisor terms half was 5*, half was 4* maybe. We’d stay at SIBR again for sure, but not during a peak school holiday period. We rounded up to 5* on balance because of some of the superb staff. Thanks for a lovely time.

Old fashioned elegance with service to match. Set in an idyllic location at the end of Grand Anse Beach, it rests on a dreamy section of the beach, provides superb food, and the staff that are determined to ensure you have a wonderful experience.

The resort is faultless! Impeccable! Everything was truly wonderful. Excellent accommodation, food, staff, bar, location service……. Stylist beach front rooms with extremely comfortable beds, well stocked minibar. All extremely clean. Excellent attention to detail. Would love to go back..