Spice Island Beach Resort

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Quick Verdict

Spice Island Beach Resort is the flagship all-inclusive in Grenada and, in our view, the best hotel on the island. Sixty-four suites — every single room is a suite — strung along eight acres of Grand Anse, the two-mile arc of pale sand that regularly turns up on Caribbean best-beach lists. It has been owned and run by the Hopkin family for decades, and the difference shows in the way the staff remember your drink on day two and your name on day one. AAA Five Diamond, Small Luxury Hotels of the World, a Michelin Key and Green Globe certification are all on the wall, and unusually, they are all deserved.

It is a true all-inclusive, and a generous one: premium drinks, all gratuities, green fees at the Grenada Golf & Country Club, water sports, tennis and beachfront yoga are in the rate. What you are not getting is variety. There are two restaurants. There is one modest pool. There is no entertainment program beyond live music at dinner. If your idea of a great vacation is a beautiful suite, an extraordinary beach and nothing to decide, this is close to perfect. If you need ten restaurants, book Sandals Grenada instead.

Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Directly on Grand Anse — the island’s best beach	Only two restaurants for a week-long stay
All 64 rooms are suites, 620 to 1,500 sq ft	Highest nightly rates in Grenada
Family-owned; genuine staff continuity	Classic Caribbean decor, not contemporary design
Private plunge pools in Anthurium, Almond and Royal suites	One modest freshwater pool
Premium drinks, gratuities and green fees included	No evening entertainment program
Beachfront yoga pavilion and Janissa Spa relaxation lounge	Not adults-only, and no kids’ club to absorb families
AAA Five Diamond and Michelin Key certified	Entry-level suites sit back in the gardens, not on the sand

The Resort at a Glance

Detail	Info
Rooms	64 suites, all categories (620-1,500 sq ft)
Restaurants	2: Oliver Restaurant and the Sea and Surf Terrace & Bar, plus in-suite dining
Bars	Sea and Surf Terrace & Bar plus beach and in-suite service
Pools	One freshwater pool; private plunge pools in Anthurium, Luxury Almond and Royal Collection suites
Beach	Grand Anse — approximately two miles of white sand, calm water, public access
Airport	Maurice Bishop International Airport (GND), roughly 10-15 minutes by road
Ownership	Independent, owned and operated by the Hopkin family; Small Luxury Hotels of the World member
Adults-only?	No — families are welcome, but there is no kids’ club program
Spa	Janissa Spa, with relaxation lounge and cedar sauna included; treatments charged extra

Rooms and Suites

Entry-level suites

The Oleander Garden and Superior Garden Suites are the entry tier at around 620 square feet, which is larger than a standard room at most five-star Caribbean resorts and roughly double the size of a base room at a big-chain all-inclusive. They sit in the gardens a short walk back from the sand, with the tropical planting doing the work that a sea view would otherwise do. They are comfortable and generously proportioned, but be honest with yourself about what you are paying for here: at Spice Island rates, a garden suite means paying luxury money for a non-beachfront room. If the budget only reaches this tier, consider whether a beachfront category at Coyaba down the beach serves you better.

The Seagrape Beach Suites at 945 square feet are the first genuine step up — beachfront, with the sound of the water outside the door. For most travelers, this is the category that makes the resort make sense.

Pool suites and Royal categories

The Anthurium Pool Suites run about 1,200 square feet with private entrances, walled tropical gardens and personal plunge pools — the category that turns a stay here into something properly private. The Luxury Almond Pool Suites step up to roughly 1,500 square feet, of which there are only six, each with its own pool and garden. The Royal Collection Pool Suites are also around 1,500 square feet, configured as private mini-villas with four suites in the collection.

At the top of the beachfront ladder are the Royal Cinnamon and Royal Saffron Beach Suites — approximately 1,440 square feet, positioned directly on the sand. These are the suites that get booked a year out for anniversaries and honeymoons, and they work as well for a family with older children as for a couple, given the space.

Our pick

A Seagrape Beach Suite if you want to be on the beach at the most sensible price, or an Anthurium Pool Suite if privacy matters more than proximity to the water. The Anthurium is the sleeper category here: a private plunge pool and a walled garden mean you can spend an entire day without seeing another guest, on a resort small enough that you would otherwise see all of them. Royal Cinnamon and Saffron are the splurge, and they are worth it if the occasion justifies it.

Food and Dining

Oliver Restaurant

Oliver is the resort’s main restaurant and one of the most highly regarded hotel dining rooms in Grenada — Caribbean-Creole cooking built on local produce, island spices and fresh-caught seafood, with proper vegetarian options rather than an afterthought pasta. Breakfast runs 7:30 to 10:00am daily; dinner opens at 7:00pm with a last seating at 9:30pm. Live music accompanies dinner, and Friday nights bring a steel band, at which point the dress code relaxes.

Speaking of which: Oliver enforces smart casual after 7:00pm. Smart jeans, polo shirts, dress shorts and sandals are fine; sleeveless tops on men and sneakers are not. It is a mild dress code by old-school Caribbean standards, but pack for it.

Sea and Surf Terrace & Bar

The daytime venue, open for lunch from 12:30 to 3:00pm, serving international dishes with a Caribbean accent right by the beach. Sunday brings a barbecue lunch buffet, which is the one moment in the week when the resort feels like a party. Cover-ups are required over swimwear in all public and dining areas — a small formality that says a lot about the kind of place this is.

The honest limitation

Two restaurants. That is the fact you need to sit with before booking. Spice Island does the food well — well enough that Oliver draws non-guests — and in-suite dining is available and properly executed, so you can break the routine. But a seven-night stay means seven dinners in the same room, and by night five some guests start looking at the menu differently. Two mitigations: Grand Anse Beach has genuinely good independent restaurants within walking or short-taxi distance, and Grenada is one of the Caribbean’s most interesting food islands, so eating out once or twice is a pleasure rather than a compromise. It does mean paying twice for those meals.

Bars and drinks

Premium drinks are included — wines by the glass, signature cocktails, spirits — served at the Sea and Surf bar, on the beach, and in-suite. There is no swim-up bar and no bar crawl to be done; service comes to you, which is the whole model here. Rum is where Grenada shines, and the staff will happily walk you through the island’s distilleries, up to and including the fearsome 75% River Antoine.

Beach and Pools

Grand Anse Beach

This is the reason to book. Grand Anse is roughly two miles of soft pale sand curving toward the hills above St. George’s, with calm, clear, swimmable water for most of the year. Spice Island occupies eight acres of it. Unlike Pink Gin Beach at Sandals, Grand Anse is a public beach — as all Grenadian beaches are by law — which means vendors, local families on weekends, catamarans, and the vibrancy that comes with an island actually using its own coastline. Some guests want a hermetically sealed private strand; if that is you, this is a mark against. For most people it is the opposite: you can walk twenty minutes along the sand to bars, the craft market, and the Umbrellas beach bar, and feel like you are in Grenada rather than in a resort.

Pools

One freshwater pool, and it is modest. Spice Island’s answer to the pool question is that many of its suites have their own — the Anthurium, Luxury Almond and Royal Collection categories all come with private plunge pools, which is a far better arrangement than sharing a big one. But if you book a garden or beach suite without a pool and the sea turns choppy, you have limited options. This is a beach resort in the traditional sense.

Activities and Entertainment

Daytime

Included water sports cover Hobie Cat sailing, kayaking, paddleboarding and snorkeling straight off the beach. The resort’s own inclusions list also references PADI-certified diving among its water sports — Grenada is a world-class dive destination, with the Bianca C wreck and the Molinere Bay Underwater Sculpture Park both nearby — but dive packages at boutique properties are usually run through partner operators, so confirm exactly what diving is covered at the rate you book.

On land, green fees at the nearby Grenada Golf & Country Club are included, as is tennis and cycling. Beachfront yoga runs as scheduled classes or private sessions in an open pavilion, which is one of the nicest small touches here. Beyond the property, Grenada rewards exploration more than almost any island its size: the Belmont Estate chocolate tour, the Grand Etang crater lake, Concord Falls, the spice market in St. George’s, and rum distilleries that still run on nineteenth-century waterwheels.

Evening

Live music at dinner, a steel band on Fridays, and then quiet. There is no show, no disco, no themed white party. Evenings at Spice Island are for a long dinner, a rum on the terrace, and the sound of the water. If you want more, St. George’s and the Grand Anse strip are a short taxi away and have a real bar scene, especially around St. George’s University.

Children

Families are welcome and the larger suites work well for them — a 1,440 sq ft beach suite comfortably handles two adults and two children. But there is no kids’ club program of the sort you find at Royalton Grenada, and the atmosphere is adult and quiet. Older children who like snorkeling and swimming do fine here. Toddlers who need structured entertainment do not.

Spa and Wellness

Janissa Spa is the resort’s wellness center, and the arrangement is smarter than most: the relaxation lounge and cedar sauna are included in your rate, so you can use the spa daily without booking anything. Treatments — massages, facials, body work, couples’ rituals — are charged separately, and honeymoon packages frequently bundle a complimentary massage.

Add the beachfront yoga pavilion and a fitness offering, and the wellness side of this resort is more substantial than the small footprint suggests. It is worth noting that the sauna-and-lounge inclusion is genuinely rare in the Caribbean; most resorts charge for thermal facilities or fold them into a treatment purchase.

What’s Included vs Extra

Included	Extra
All meals at Oliver and the Sea and Surf Terrace, plus in-suite dining	Janissa Spa treatments (lounge and sauna access are included)
Premium drinks — wines, cocktails and spirits	Excursions, tours and island transport
All gratuities	Meals at off-property restaurants
Hobie Cat sailing, kayaking, paddleboarding, snorkeling	Boutique purchases and premium wine list bottles
Green fees at Grenada Golf & Country Club	Weddings and vow renewals
Tennis, cycling and beachfront yoga classes	Certain dive packages — confirm at booking
Janissa Spa relaxation lounge and cedar sauna	Airport transfers unless bundled into your package
Wi-Fi

Spice Island is a true all-inclusive: there is no board upgrade to buy and no half-board rate hiding underneath. Gratuities being included is the detail that most affects your final bill — you are not signing 15% onto every drink, which at these rates over seven nights is real money. Airport transfers are sometimes bundled into promotional packages rather than being standard, so confirm at the point of booking.

Pricing and How to Book

Price ranges by season

Season	Months	Nightly rate (2 adults, all-inclusive)
Low	Late August-October	From about $850-1,000 (entry-level suites)
Shoulder	May-July, early December	About $1,000-1,200
High	January-April	About $1,200-1,500 for entry suites
Peak	Christmas and New Year	Highest of the year; book 9-12 months ahead

Pool suites and Royal categories sit well above those figures — expect $1,800 to $2,500+ per night for the Royal Cinnamon and Saffron beach suites in high season. The resort publishes a special CARICOM all-inclusive rate from around $990 per night for Caribbean-resident guests, and runs periodic promotions including summer discounts of up to 35% and fall offers around 25% off with a beachfront dinner included. Rates change with season and availability — confirm the current rate and exactly what’s included before you book.

Best time to book

Grenada sits at 12°N, below the main hurricane track, which makes the September-October low season a far better proposition here than in the northern Caribbean — and that is when Spice Island’s discounting is heaviest. If you want a specific suite category, particularly one of the six Luxury Almond suites or the four Royal Collection villas, book eight to twelve months out; a 64-suite property sells out of its best rooms quickly.

Where to book

The resort’s own site frequently carries the best offers, including the seasonal percentage-off promotions and honeymoon inclusions, and as a Small Luxury Hotels of the World member it is also bookable through SLH. Compare against Booking.com and the luxury OTAs, but expect direct to win on value-adds rather than headline rate.

Check current rates before you commit — Spice Island runs frequent seasonal promotions, and the difference between the rack rate and a live offer can be several hundred dollars a night.

Compared to Nearby Resorts

vs Calabash Hotel and Villas

Calabash on Lance aux Épines is Spice Island’s closest peer and its most direct rival — a 30-suite boutique all-inclusive ranked among the very best in the Caribbean by U.S. News, famous for breakfast cooked to order and served on your own terrace. Calabash is smaller, quieter and set on a more secluded beach; Spice Island is bigger, has the better beach for swimming and walking, and offers more suite variety. Couples who want total seclusion should book Calabash. Anyone who wants Grand Anse on their doorstep should book Spice Island.

vs Sandals Grenada

Sandals Grenada is a different category of product: 250-odd rooms, ten restaurants, six bars, five pools, included PADI diving, and a couples-only policy, on the smaller Pink Gin Beach cove four minutes from the airport. It costs meaningfully less per night and delivers vastly more variety. Spice Island counters with the beach, the suite sizes, the personal service, and the sense that you are staying somewhere Grenadian rather than somewhere corporate. It is genuinely a matter of temperament — and if you want the adults-only guarantee, only Sandals provides it. Our adults-only roundup sets out that trade-off across the region.

vs Coyaba Beach Resort

Coyaba sits on the same Grand Anse sand at roughly a third of the price, with 80 rooms, a true all-inclusive plan and an optional premium tier. You give up the suite sizes, the food quality and the polish, but you keep the beach — which is the single most valuable asset either property owns. For travelers who want Grand Anse without ultra-luxury pricing, it is the obvious comparison. See our Grenada guide for the complete lineup.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Spice Island Beach Resort all-inclusive?

Yes, and comprehensively so. The rate covers all meals at Oliver Restaurant and the Sea and Surf Terrace plus in-suite dining, premium drinks, all gratuities, water sports including Hobie Cats, kayaks, paddleboards and snorkeling, tennis, cycling, beachfront yoga, green fees at the Grenada Golf & Country Club, and access to Janissa Spa’s relaxation lounge and cedar sauna. Spa treatments, excursions and off-property meals are extra.

How many restaurants does Spice Island have?

Two: Oliver Restaurant, which serves breakfast and dinner, and the Sea and Surf Terrace & Bar, which serves lunch and a Sunday barbecue buffet. In-suite dining is also included. This is the property’s main practical limitation for stays longer than four or five nights, and worth planning around — Grand Anse has good independent restaurants within easy reach.

Is Spice Island adults-only?

No. Families are welcome, and the larger beach and pool suites accommodate them comfortably. But there is no kids’ club, no children’s programming and no water park, and the atmosphere at dinner is decidedly adult. It works well for families with older children who are happy snorkeling and swimming; it is not a match for families who need structured childcare.

How far is Spice Island from the airport?

Maurice Bishop International Airport (GND) is roughly 10 to 15 minutes by road from Grand Anse Beach. Transfers are sometimes included as part of a package rather than as standard, so check when you book. Grenada is a small island — nowhere on the south coast is more than half an hour from the airport.

Is Grand Anse Beach private?

No. Under Grenadian law all beaches are public, and Grand Anse is genuinely used by locals, vendors and boat operators along its two-mile length. Spice Island maintains its own section with loungers and service, and the beach is wide enough that it never feels crowded, but you should expect occasional vendor approaches and a lively local atmosphere at weekends. Most guests consider this a feature.

Is Spice Island worth the price?

If you book a beach or pool suite, yes. What you are paying for is 620 to 1,500 square feet of space on the Caribbean’s best-known beach, a staff-to-guest ratio that a 64-suite family-owned property can actually sustain, and a rate with no gratuity sting at checkout. If your budget only reaches an Oleander Garden Suite, the value case weakens considerably — at that point a beachfront room at a good mid-tier property on the same beach delivers more of what you came for.

Final Verdict: 9.2 out of 10

Spice Island Beach Resort is the best hotel in Grenada and one of the last genuinely family-owned luxury all-inclusives left in the Caribbean. Sixty-four oversized suites on eight acres of Grand Anse, many with private plunge pools and walled gardens, run by a family that has been doing it for decades with staff who have been there almost as long. The inclusions are unusually generous and unusually honest: premium drinks, all gratuities, golf, water sports and spa lounge access are in the rate, and there is no optional package to be upsold.

It loses points only where its size makes it inevitable. Two restaurants is not enough for a week, one small pool is thin insurance against a rough sea, and the entry-level garden suites ask luxury prices for a non-beachfront room. Nothing here is badly done; there is simply less of it than a resort at this price point elsewhere would offer.

Book it if: you want the best beach in Grenada, a suite big enough to live in, and a level of personal service that no chain can replicate — and you are happy for evenings to be quiet.

Skip it if: you need dining variety over a long stay (Sandals Grenada), you are traveling with young children who need a kids’ club (Royalton Grenada), or your budget caps out at the entry-level garden suites.

For everything else the island offers, read our guide to the best all-inclusive resorts in Grenada.