Review Grafton Beach Resort November 8th – 14th 2004
Posted: Wed Nov 24, 2004 6:40 pm
Perhaps I should preface my review by admitting that this was not our first choice of hotel, we had to accept it after Le Grand Courlan failed to honour our booking. Undoubtedly this has coloured my views somewhat.
The hotel is nicely located on a hillside above Stonehaven Bay; most rooms appear to have a sea-view. People with mobility problems should be aware that between pool level and the beach there are 70 steps and a ramp to negotiate. The hotel is set back on the hillside, so the steps are in sections, but they still have to be climbed! There is a narrow, quiet road between the hotel grounds and the beach bar. There are a delightful number of birds in the grounds, even if some of them join you for meals! Also very close (a 10 minute uphill walk) is the Grafton Bird Sanctuary – don’t miss it! Feeding times are 8 am & 4 pm.
The beach is very pleasant, despite some rocks along the shoreline. It does have a small number of stones on entering the water and shelves fairly rapidly. Towards the end of our stay there were some very impressive breakers coming in from the Caribbean! It is long enough for that essential post-breakfast stroll and affords the opportunity to watch the local fishermen pulling in their nets. In the time we were there, we didn’t see any boats from the hotel being used at all. (A shared facility with Le Grand Courlan.)
During our stay the majority of guests were British (about 55%), with about 35% German-speaking and a small number of Dutch and Americans.
The pool and swim-up bar is one of the most attractive features of the resort, though if I had young children I would be concerned that there is very little shallow water. Within a couple of paces from the steps, you are in quite deep water. There is a tiny paddling pool, nicely shaded, which is pretty full by the time a couple of mothers and their toddlers are in it!
The pool bar has plenty of seating and the majority of it is in the shade throughout the day. Service at this bar is patchy. The staff here are pleasant enough, but it was quite common for the bar to be 30 mins late opening and for the only bartender to then disappear for 10 – 15 mins at a time.
There are far too few loungers and sunshades, both by the pool and on the beach. As a consequence, there was a steady stream of people reserving places from 6.30 in the morning.
Meals are served in the open-air restaurant. I found breakfast to be very acceptable, with the usual cooked items and omelettes or fried eggs to order. There was also a range of pastries, breads and cereals. However, I know my wife who avoids cooked breakfasts, was disappointed by the limited range of fresh fruit.
Lunch was either served in the restaurant or the beach bar. We sampled the beach bar twice and found the food to be reasonable and served with a smile! This bar is also shared with Le Grand Courlan.
The lunch in the restaurant was a great disappointment generally. On previous all-inclusive holidays in other islands, lunch has always been a full meal – here it was not. Starters were very limited; dessert was ice cream – if you asked for it. It was rarely offered.
Dinners were equally disappointing. It was necessary to book for dinner, at breakfast time, even in the main restaurant. They would only take 12 bookings per half hour, so unless you were in breakfast by 8 am, dinner was either 6.30 or about 8.30 pm.. We soon learnt that it had to be 6.30 as the trays of food were not replenished with any urgency and the already limited desserts were mainly gone. Meals were always buffet-style; these were without doubt the worst meals we have had in the Caribbean. At the Carvery, small family-sized joints were generally rationed to one slice per person. Staff were good at clearing the tables, but on many occasions a ‘please’ or ’thank you’ was ignored, leaving the impression of a poorly trained staff.
The a la carte restaurant may have been nice, we never found out, it serves 8 tables per evening Monday – Friday and then is seafood only. Why have a restaurant that the majority of the guests won’t be able to use?
Seating in the bar area is quite insufficient for times when the hotel is nearly full, as it was when we were there. Incidentally nearly all the major hotels were full or overbooked during our stay– the consequence of hurricane Ivan affecting Grenada.
Would I go there again? –No thank you!
The hotel is nicely located on a hillside above Stonehaven Bay; most rooms appear to have a sea-view. People with mobility problems should be aware that between pool level and the beach there are 70 steps and a ramp to negotiate. The hotel is set back on the hillside, so the steps are in sections, but they still have to be climbed! There is a narrow, quiet road between the hotel grounds and the beach bar. There are a delightful number of birds in the grounds, even if some of them join you for meals! Also very close (a 10 minute uphill walk) is the Grafton Bird Sanctuary – don’t miss it! Feeding times are 8 am & 4 pm.
The beach is very pleasant, despite some rocks along the shoreline. It does have a small number of stones on entering the water and shelves fairly rapidly. Towards the end of our stay there were some very impressive breakers coming in from the Caribbean! It is long enough for that essential post-breakfast stroll and affords the opportunity to watch the local fishermen pulling in their nets. In the time we were there, we didn’t see any boats from the hotel being used at all. (A shared facility with Le Grand Courlan.)
During our stay the majority of guests were British (about 55%), with about 35% German-speaking and a small number of Dutch and Americans.
The pool and swim-up bar is one of the most attractive features of the resort, though if I had young children I would be concerned that there is very little shallow water. Within a couple of paces from the steps, you are in quite deep water. There is a tiny paddling pool, nicely shaded, which is pretty full by the time a couple of mothers and their toddlers are in it!
The pool bar has plenty of seating and the majority of it is in the shade throughout the day. Service at this bar is patchy. The staff here are pleasant enough, but it was quite common for the bar to be 30 mins late opening and for the only bartender to then disappear for 10 – 15 mins at a time.
There are far too few loungers and sunshades, both by the pool and on the beach. As a consequence, there was a steady stream of people reserving places from 6.30 in the morning.
Meals are served in the open-air restaurant. I found breakfast to be very acceptable, with the usual cooked items and omelettes or fried eggs to order. There was also a range of pastries, breads and cereals. However, I know my wife who avoids cooked breakfasts, was disappointed by the limited range of fresh fruit.
Lunch was either served in the restaurant or the beach bar. We sampled the beach bar twice and found the food to be reasonable and served with a smile! This bar is also shared with Le Grand Courlan.
The lunch in the restaurant was a great disappointment generally. On previous all-inclusive holidays in other islands, lunch has always been a full meal – here it was not. Starters were very limited; dessert was ice cream – if you asked for it. It was rarely offered.
Dinners were equally disappointing. It was necessary to book for dinner, at breakfast time, even in the main restaurant. They would only take 12 bookings per half hour, so unless you were in breakfast by 8 am, dinner was either 6.30 or about 8.30 pm.. We soon learnt that it had to be 6.30 as the trays of food were not replenished with any urgency and the already limited desserts were mainly gone. Meals were always buffet-style; these were without doubt the worst meals we have had in the Caribbean. At the Carvery, small family-sized joints were generally rationed to one slice per person. Staff were good at clearing the tables, but on many occasions a ‘please’ or ’thank you’ was ignored, leaving the impression of a poorly trained staff.
The a la carte restaurant may have been nice, we never found out, it serves 8 tables per evening Monday – Friday and then is seafood only. Why have a restaurant that the majority of the guests won’t be able to use?
Seating in the bar area is quite insufficient for times when the hotel is nearly full, as it was when we were there. Incidentally nearly all the major hotels were full or overbooked during our stay– the consequence of hurricane Ivan affecting Grenada.
Would I go there again? –No thank you!