The food was excellent and so were the waitstaff but I was completely appalled by what the women who work there have to wear! I felt like I was transported back to the 1960s in the USA (recently read The Help by Kathryn Stockett), silly maid costumes, black or powder blue dresses, little white aprons and what looked like a doily on their heads. Also, the owner(?) sat drinking at the bar, very unfriendly and questioned my going down the spiral staircase to view the fantastic panoramic photographs of the island. There were no signs suggesting that the staircase led to the hotel guest rooms.

This belated review was a second visit to Mustique, but the first time staying actually on the island for a week instead of sailing. All correspondence with Stan prior to arrival was cordial and jolly – it emerged we had birthdays on consecutive days, so a party in the Firefly was assured!

Patrick picked us up at the tiny airfield and we made the journey of moments, just in time for a fantastic sunset viewable from the bar. We had already been told when we booked that we had the last room available, so we knew there would be no wiggle room for changing rooms if we weren't happy. No need – the Hummingbird room was exactly as it had been described. I think people do appreciate Stan and Liz's 'honesty section' of their website for what to expect. As has already been reported here, there are no doors to the bathroom, so yes it is definitely best to go with someone you already know very well.

The room was kept immaculately clean by housekeeping, and a couple of wooden easy chairs by the big windows overlooked the bay below. Although there are only a few rooms, I don't think we heard a peep out of any other rooms while we were there, so I guess there is a clever design in play. Walk in showers were great, as are the in-house fragrant smellies.

The food was OK with menus changing every 3 days-ish, only mystery was the banana shortage for some reason – virtually every day there were none available for breakfast pancakes and desserts.

When they go for it on party night, they really do – I must admit to guiltily sloping off by 10.30 on the birthday night as we were still winding into the second day of our much-needed hols – but Stan and his mates partied on! It wasn't very loud or intrusive by the way, so nothing to worry about if you are not party-minded (plenty of Abba and Beatles hits :-)

Exploring - the great selling point of the Firefly is that the electric cars are included, and we loved exploring the island. It was noticeable how much everyone looks out for each other as well – one very well-known resident of the island rocked up on a vintage motorcycle to check we were OK as we had pulled over to check a map trail, and directed us accordingly. What a very nice man.

There seemed to be one of the electric cars that was a bit 'temperamental' – which we had first, but got another one from the second day. Not sure what the problem with it is but it conks out embarrassingly on the hills!

We spent most mornings in a secluded bay with barely another soul around, and the kitchen will pack up a picnic with everything you need in a coolbox, fold up chairs etc all stashed in the back of your mule. The firefly pool is very mellow for the afternoon, with hammocks, huge double sunbeds and plenty of towels, suncreams and so on all stashed away in cubby holes down there. Just take yourselves and a good book.

Good things to know. You can get international papers on order at the bakery in Britannia Bay. The supermarket is pretty well-stocked for most things including a range of wines and spirits. The Pink House has really very beautiful stuff to wear if you've not been able to find much at home out of season. There is a brick barbecue grill down at Lagoon Bay if you want to cook fresh seafood from the fishermen, which is located by the tables and benches that you can book if you really need to. We saw a party of friends grilling split lobsters after a swim, and wished we'd had that idea!

Things we didn't do on this visit: have a meal at Basil's (only drinks), or use Ali's cafe. We also heard there was a stunningly decorated little chapel somewhere but didn't know anything else about if it was available to visit. Also want to see the Bat-Cave.

Our only niggle came at the very end – as we had booked and paid for the trip on Amex, we had no reason to believe there would be a problem settling our final bill with it. Unfortunately it seemed they had stopped taking it shortly before we arrived, so we were forced to use our British debit cards without prior warning, which could be annoying for people with a large final bill for drinks and extras.

We are heading back to the island this winter, and for the purposes of 'compare and contrast' are trying the Cotton House for this visit. It will be really interesting to see how the differences play out in things like the quality of picnics, transportation around the island, hotel dining and standard of accommodation. We'll also be attempting to set the first 'Mustique Treasure Hunt' online. Will report back in due course!

Having first visited the Firefly Plantation in Bequia, we heard a lot from "the locals" there about Mustique. All of them preferred Bequia and we understand why. In fact, I had this conversation with Patrick at the bar (fabulous guy) when we had been at the Firefly Mustique for a few days. He understood exactly what I was trying to say and we both had a good laugh about it. You can try as hard as you want to dislike the "Fantasy Island" aspects of Mustique...but it's just impossible not to fall in love with the place.
The whole island is pretty much immaculately groomed and just stunningly beautiful...a second home to many of the "rich and famous". Interestingly enough, Robin Leach (Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous) happened to be on the island and at at the bar several evenings. It couldn't have been more appropriate!
Bottom line...we just absolutely loved the place. We've traveled a lot in the Windward Islands and this is the ONLY place that even begins to rival Ladera for pure beauty. The pictures online just don't do the Firefly Mustique true justice. You have to see it for yourself.
We got up each morning, had breakfast, and went to Lagoon Beach in our little electric car the Firefly provides. Usually, for a while at least, we'd be the only ones there. We'd snorkel, get some sun, and then come back to have a few coctails and spend the afternoon by the pool...where we never saw another couple...even once. It was absolutely idyllic in just about every way possible. Six of the best days we've ever spent at any resort...I don't have enough good words to say.
We met nice people, the owner's Stan and Liz, the staff...Patrick, Arion, Natasha, Eve and even the cook...too many names to remember all of them. We met all the cats...Stan was often a fixture at the bar with Saffron sitting contentedly in his lap. And once he had it figured out, their big tomcat Mandu would be waiting for us outside after dinner. My wife had 'cat treats' with her. Dogs in Bequia...cats in Mustique...so you know.
This is a very small and very intimate place...just five rooms, none of them particularly large but all very beautifully done. However, the dining area and the bar can get a little full at times because they're small as well and the food and drinks are so good. A lot of people staying in private homes or on boats show up for dinner and drinks. But we never had a problem finding a chair in the lounge or getting seated for dinner.
I think two words best describe the Firefly Mustique...graciousness and beauty. It is the only resort on the island not owned by the Mustique Corporation. The only other business not owned by it is Basil's Bar in the harbor...well worth a visit while you're there.
One word of caution. Mustique is EXPENSIVE! Since we are neither "rich" nor "famous", we availed ourselves of the special 4 days in Bequia and 4 in Mustique (added two days here) Stan has on the website. It saved us quite a bit of money and took the aggravation of booking inter-island transportation out of the picture. We just relaxed and enjoyed the scenery.
And yes, we are already planning our next trip back to both places. We started doing it while we were on Barbados getting ready for the flight home...if that tells you anything.

We spent 7 days at Firefly Mustique the first week of June and loved every minute of it. We were seeking to simply eat, drink, relax, and be well taken care of – and Firefly accommodated us on every level. What really makes Firefly special is the people and their commitment to making sure your stay with them is extraordinary. Stan and Liz (the owners) were wonderful hosts. All of the employees were nice, but Patrick and Arian were who we dealt with most frequently and they were truly awesome. They are genuinely great people that are fully devoted to making their guests happy.

Our room (Royal Palm) was great. It was spacious, well decorated, very clean, and conveniently located close to the pool. The pool is a beautiful infinity edge pool with areas to each side to relax in the shade or in the sun. We watched the spectacular sunsets almost every evening from the pool.

The food was also very good. This was very important to us and it exceeded our expectations. For lunch, a picnic lunch was brought to whichever beach we happened to be at, which was very cool.

Firefly provides a little golf-cart like car for guests to get around in. We spent our days chilling on different beaches – which we generally had to ourselves, with the exception of Macaroni, which might have just a few people on it. We enjoyed exploring the beautiful island, hiking, and driving around admiring the villas. Each morning after breakfast, Arian would load up a cooler full of rum punch, beers, water, and beach chairs into our car. Awesome.

We checked out Basils bar, which was very cool – good spot to watch the sunset and have drinks. We went to the Cotton House on Tuesday night for the cocktail party, which was nice. The bar at Firefly was a nice hangout too. Great atmosphere, always some cool people hanging out, and just a good place to chill. We heard from others that the snorkeling and diving were good, but we didn’t do either.

I can’t think of any negatives, but you’ll want some sunscreen and bugspray – you’re in the tropics, so obviously the sun is intense and there are mosquitos and sandflies.

Bottom line: Mustique is a beautiful island and Firefly is a special experience. The great people, fantastic food, awesome hotel, and natural beauty of the island all exceeded our high expectations.