“We’re not into mass tourism,” said Christine Noel-Horsford, the Grenada Tourism Authority’s director of sales for the USA, at The New York Times Travel Show. So even with the addition of 32 nature-themed suites at Sandals La Source Grenada Resort & Spa (bringing the total number of guestrooms to 257), you’re not about to see high-density megaresorts. Instead, marketing manager Francine Stewart said, “We have smart development that will not change the character of the island.” Here’s what Stewart means by smart development:
- Mount Cinnamon is undergoing a $25 million renovation, including the addition of 32 new suites and villas to its current 23. Phase one will be completed this season.
- Silver Sands Hotel, slated to open in December on Grand Anse Beach, will be a $60 million, luxury getaway with 57 rooms, 12 suites, and nine villas.
- Levera Beach Resort, a 375-acre development with a conservation focus, will debut in four phases, starting with the Turtle Beach Hotel in December. Turtle Beach will have 80 units in 40 cottages, plus 20 casitas and villas, a holistic spa, and farm-to-table restaurants.
- Kimpton Kawana Bay Grenada Resort, a 146-guestroom hideaway on a hill overlooking Grand Anse, will open in 2019.
- There’s improved airlift, too, with the addition of a fifth JetBlue flight from JFK on Mondays and a weekly Mint service flight on Saturdays. On April 4th, American Airlines will shift its departure time from Miami to 10:40 a.m., allowing passengers to arrive earlier, at 2:23 p.m. Return flights will be 3:13 p.m. to 7:07 p.m.
- Stewart praised Sun Hunters’ new 4WD tours, the emergence of Calypso Island as a day-trip destination, and the prospect of sports tourism (Grenada will host the Grenada Invitational Track and Field Meet on April 8), not to mention established events such as Carnival, starting the first weekend of August and ending the second weekend of August.
“Millennial and older travelers, too, want to connect with our lifestyle—to experience the life we live —and we do live an awesome life,” said Stewart. “And we make it easy for guests to have that experience.”
However, she left me with one intriguing thought about Pure Grenada: Despite its small size, she told me, “we are still discovering waterfalls.”
For more information, visit puregrenada.com.
