chantillycpl's Grenada Travelogue / Travel Journal

“Please don’t tell anyone in the outside world about this� -- the words of Paradise Bay Resort owner James Post. What Mr. Post does not want us to tell you is he cannot deliver on anything he promises. This man is a living Walter Mitty. Had it not been for the fact we were staying at this facility to attend the wedding of our close friends’ son we would have checked out much sooner than we did. Mr. Post’s website boasts of gourmet cuisine representing Caribbean and French cooking. A menu was never shown. Upon arrival we were served celery soup followed by diced chicken in a cream sauce over a piece of toast. Breakfast the following morning, and every morning, consisted of coffee – which took nearly 30 minutes to prepare – toast (although one morning there was no bread), and an omelet which was nothing more than plain old scrambled eggs folded in half, that tasted as if it had been prepared with lard in a rusty skillet. The Internet-advertised 7-course Sunday lunch never materialized. Other food & beverage notes: It took more than 20-minutes to find a corkscrew. After tasting the wine we realized we would have been better off if they couldn’t locate one. No top shelf liquor is available, and mixers are limited to water, orange juice and fruit punch. No one bothered to bus the tables at night, meaning those who arrived for breakfast were greeted with tables full of dirty plates and glasses. Now on to the accommodations: We were guaranteed via email that a suite with a king bed and pullout sofa bed would be ready for us. The king mattress was in the villa, but it was leaning against a wall. Two twin beds were in the main bedroom. The sofa bed was actually located in the suite’s entrance foyer. The only lighting in our suite was provided by three plug-in lamps. None of the wall or ceiling fixtures were in operating condition. This meant no porch lights when entering the suite at night and no lighting in the bathroom. Speaking of the bathroom, there was no mirror, no shower curtain, and no shelf or counter to store toiletries. And let’s not forget the fact there was no hot water… ever. Furniture in the suite consisted of three wicker side tables… not one dresser, no closets… we truly lived out of suitcases for three days. The villa did not have air conditioning, so you can imagine what our clothes were like after three muggy days in the Caribbean. There was no maid service so beds were never made and fresh towels never delivered. Mr. Post brags about his resort being the only “green� resort in Grenada. Perhaps if the windmill which he claims became operational in 2006 worked that claim might be true. The windmill sits idle and electricity for the entire facility is provided by a generator which on at least one occasion went down, resulting in no water resort-wide. As for Mr. Post’s ability to host a wedding: Our villa was located next to the pavilion where the reception would be held. We noticed that 36 hours before the reception there were no toilets or sinks installed in the pavilion, and no doors on what were to be the rests rooms. Hookups were eventually completed, but the toilets were not flushable! It wasn’t until an hour before the wedding was to begin that an electrician installed the grounding rod to establish electric service at the pavilion. We had the opportunity to review the menu prior to the reception. While one or two of the courses were actually served, the others were nothing like what was on the menu. Additionally, the amount of time between courses was inexcusable and many of the local guests left before the main course was served because it was getting late.

24 hours after the event not one effort had been made to clean the pavilion. Tables were still covered with linens. Glasses, plates and beer and wine bottles littered the area. Open cartons of orange juice had been left out on the bar overnight and the entire following day. One has to wonder if they were disposed of or put back into service. The Paradise Bay website claims there is a gym with all major exercise equipment along with Aerobics, Tai-bo and Kickboxing. None of that exists. There was no water in the swimming pool or hot tub, and no sauna or steam bath, as indicated on Caribbean Travel & Life’s Website. The two beaches, while wonderful to look at from your verandah, were not conducive to swimming. The resort does not even provide beach chairs. It is possible that one day Paradise Bay will be able to deliver on what it promises, but not with James Post in control. Until that day comes, it is our recommendation to look elsewhere. We spent our last night in Grenada at The Flamboyant and highly recommend you spend all your nights there.

Grenada is a lovely place and the locals are very friendly towards Americans. Rely on a resort or hotel that has been in business for many years.