Grenada is a lovely island. The people are very friendly, and there are lots of things to do. We stayed at this boutique hotel for a week and picked it over other properties because of the reviews on Trip Advisor and its relatively lower price range in the luxury category. Unfortunately for us, this property did not meet our expectations.
PROS: Staff persons are friendly. The Manager was gracious in allowing us to check into our room early after a morning flight from Trinidad. The hotel’s landscaping is wonderful. The villas are very cozy and are decorated beautifully. Each has a full kitchen, so you could cook your own meals after going to the grocery store (20-minute walk). The views are very nice. Breakfast was good. The beach water was relatively warm, compared to other places I've been, and the sand was so soft, that you would sink into it. Complimentary wireless internet is a great perk. Sarah is a delightful staff person.
CONS: The service was sub-par for a property in this price range. By service, I am referring to staff promptness and friendliness in addressing the needs of guests as well as the frequency and types of issues, relating to a room, meals, service, or staff person. If the service had been better, I would have rated it higher.
VILLAS: We stayed in a 1-BR and a 3-BR. There were ANTS throughout both villas--on the kitchen counters and walls, even numerous ants in one of the beds in the 3-BR (Villa 6). We killed as many ants as we saw and reported this to the front desk—it was after hours, so there was no front desk staff to assist us when we first noticed. Villa 6 had some gigantic ants on the wall behind the sofa. One of the white beddings in Villa 6 had three large stains in it that were covered up by the orange blanket. It would seem that housekeeping would have noticed the stains when cleaning. We reported it, and it was replaced. Some of the draping in the master bedroom in Villa 6 had stains, which were cleaned after we revealed them. The 2nd bedroom on the lower level of Villa 6 is underfurnished. It was in need of a chair and more décor to be consistent with the rest of the villa, and there was no closet to hang clothes in this bedroom. The faucet in the lower level bathroom in Villa 6 emits slightly murky water that smells sulfur-like. We could not get hot water to come out of the faucet in the upper level bathroom in Villa 6. Villa 3's refrigerator did not completely close, so food in it did not stay cold. The first day, we had complimentary bottles of water in the warm refrigerator, but not on subsequent days and weren't sure if this was a one-time occurrence. We reported the refrigerator issue to management, but nothing was done. Hot water did not last long when taking a shower in either villa.
HOTEL: The walk to the villas can be rather arduous, especially to Villa 6 (3-BR), which is near the top of the hill. We don’t mind walking and were in no hurry while on vacation. However, if you need something from the front desk, this can be a problem. We were told that we were supposed to have beach towels in our room, but we never had any, so not sure if that was a mix up. The hotel does not have a landline to the front desk or housekeeping and distributes pre-paid cell phones with 5 ECD complimentary. The cell phones were nice to have. It would also have been nice to have had a landline to make communicating with the front desk easier. I had a hard time trying to figure the cell phone out. I think I noticed days later that the hotel numbers were programmed in the phone, but the phone is of no use if you are out of minutes. After hours, there is no front desk staff, and when we wanted beach towels for a tour before 8 AM one morning, the security person at the front desk could not help us. I had to remind the hotel that 4 of my companions, who arrived a few days later, needed a taxi from the airport to the hotel, even though I had an email conversation confirming the hotel taxi for additional persons before I left home. When the taxi driver arrived to get them from the airport, he thought there were only 2 persons, so the car was not very big. Toward the end of our stay, I discovered that mosquitos were biting me at breakfast and, perhaps, the beach, too. Bring mosquito repellant.
BILLING: The hotel charges 4.5% for using a credit card to pay the bill. The hotel’s website had a cheaper rate for a 3-BR than the rate the hotel staff person quoted me via email, so I prepaid and booked the 3-BR online via the booking service and did not pay the 4.5% credit card service charge for the 3-BR villa. We had breakfast included in the rate in Villa 3, but on a few days, we received different menus, and the menu that was not for the breakfast package had items that were cheaper. The hotel did not seem to know when we were leaving, so when I notified them that we needed a taxi for our early morning flight, they abruptly knocked on our door around 4:00 PM and handed us the bill, which we learned had to be paid by 6 PM.
BEACH: The beach is about a 5-minute walk across a small road and garden area from the front desk. The hotel’s beach lounger chairs would be more comfortable with cushions and small tables between the loungers to sit food and other items on. It would also be nice if the hotel provided towel service at the beach bar. The hotel beach bar is way too expensive--$70 USD for 2 meals, 3 cocktails, and a large bottle of water ($6 USD). The food was good, but I would skip the hotel beach bar unless you are OK with this price range. I recommend Umbrella's for lunch--it's .5 miles walking on the beach, is relatively cheap, and is really good—the passion fruit juice is 5 ECD. I understand now that the hotel is expanding its organic and farm-to-table practices, but we were not informed of this while there, and the menu did not indicate this.
The ocean at the beach has a strong rip tide, which will pull and push you when you are in the water. It probably has to do with the direction of the current, and the small mountain near the Flamboyant and Mt. Cinnamon. I believe the Spice Island Beach Resort (next door) had a red flag at the beach every day we were there, and we could hear the waves from the balcony of the villa. Though the beach was not the calmest, you can still enjoy the ocean, and we did. The Coyaba's beach appeared calmer, and there were always people in the water near the Coyaba but rarely at the Mt. Cinnamon, Flamboyant, and Spice Island Beach Resort. However, the Coyaba's beach is more public. Mt. Cinnamon's beach is less frequented. There are also a few people (I'd say 2 per hour) walking by trying to sell items to people in the lounge chairs at Mt. Cinnamon. I have experienced the selling of items on the beach at many places before, and this was not a nuisance.
We had an unfortunate experience with one of the hotel's beach staff persons and our reef walker shoes, and when we reported this to the front desk, the manager was going to investigate and get back to us. We had to inquire again to get a response, but the staff person had not been at work since the incident, so the manager did not reach any conclusion or contact the staff person via phone. Anyway, we were not satisfied with the level of response and believe that, if the hotel does not show accountability for its staff persons, the service in this area will not improve. In general, we find it problematic for beach staff persons to touch or move the personal belongings of guests and extremely unprofessional and disconcerting for staff persons to tamper with and/or ask guests about their belongings. Hopefully, incidents like these will not occur again, and we have never had such an experience anywhere in the world. We are very diligent with our belongings and don’t think this type of behavior is characteristic of Grenada.
I have been fortunate to have experienced some truly impressive and luxurious properties all over the world. Sadly, this is not one of them. This hotel may be ranked as one of the top boutique hotels in the world, but the service really needs improvement. This property has the potential to be so much better. That said, I do not expect to stay here again and will not recommend Mt. Cinnamon to others.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
