Bequia Beach Hotel & Barbados & Grenada

Overlooking Friendship Bay, the island's finest stretch of sand, the Bequia Beach Hotel is an intimate, elegant retreat cast in the style of a relaxed and luxurious home. Exclusive but unpretentious, its real charm and individuality comes from its very special atmosphere.

Tucked away on one of the region's most undeveloped islands, this hotel has been a labor of love for its Swedish owner, and the carefully planned interiors have a laid-back charm that makes you feel instantly at ease. Along with carved furniture, rattan, chic retro posters and fashionably battered suitcases, you'll find all the modern comforts you’d expect. The rooms are positioned around large grounds littered with almond trees, with stepped paths leading between levels on the steep hillside. The hotel has two restaurants, one on the hillside open seasonally and the other by the beach, serving Caribbean dishes with a European accent and in both cases, offering alfresco dining with glorious views. Kayaks, paddle boards and snorkeling equipment are all available, and along with the two pools, there's a beautiful spa, gym and sauna.

The resort offers a good range of accommodations from large ocean suites with sea views to split-level beachfront suites and family villas. All are individual in style with contemporary colonial interiors and private terraces.

Set on the sleepy island of Bequia, this lovely resort combines laid-back Caribbean charm and a beautiful beachfront setting. The Swedish owner, Bengt Mortstedt, has created a characterful retreat which mixes colonial style and retro chic, and you can see the passion he has put into developing the resort.

Set among spacious, beautifully tended gardens, the resort sits on one of the island’s best beaches yet surprisingly, even at busy times you can often find you have the beach pretty much to yourself.

Although favored by couples, Bequia Beach Resort also welcomes families. From Monday to Friday they offer supervised activities for children aged 4-12 years; families wishing to use this service must register on arrival. Babysitting is also available for a local charge.

Although the largest of the Grenadine islands that stretch south from St Vincent, Bequia measures just 7 sq miles so nowhere is very far away.

Bequia Beach Resort is located on the south east coast of the island on beautiful Friendship Beach with far reaching views of other Grenadine islands. This quiet beach is a gorgeous sweep of pale golden sand curving round in a slightly sheltered bay. If you time it right, you can often watch fishermen at the other end of the beach bringing in their catch.

The capital, Port Elizabeth, is about ten minutes’ drive from the resort. There’s more of a village than town feel here with only one main street, but you’ll find a string of local bars and restaurants, colorful buildings and a handful of shops all backed by lush hillsides.

Skirted by 97 kilometers of contrasting coastline, Barbados is an island that rewards exploration. Along the southern and eastern shores you can expect dramatic cliffs, crashing waves and stunning ocean views, while the north and west of the island are lapped by the more tranquil waters of the balmy Caribbean Sea.

Culturally, Barbados is a blend of West African spice and British tradition, giving it a unique flavor. Islanders and tourists alike come together on a Friday night in the south coast village of Oistins for the weekly fish fry, a quintessentially Bajan experience, while historic Bridgetown, the capital, is a diverting destination full of colonial character.

The topography of the island interior is markedly less dramatic than the neighboring volcanic islands of Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent, though the countryside of gently rolling hills and sugar cane fields hides brightly colored, traditional wooden houses, quaint little churches, colonial plantation houses and the natural wonders of Harrison’s Cave.

Known as the ‘Isle of Spice’, this little island is an alluring mix of lush rainforest, sparkling waterfalls and powdery white beaches, infused with the heady aromas of nutmeg, cinnamon and cocoa.

Grenada’s sheltered beaches are some of the finest in the region, rarely crowded and affording picture postcard vistas of soft sugary sands and swaying palms. The calm turquoise waters provide optimal conditions for snorkeling and scuba diving, with some of the best reef and wreck diving in the Caribbean.

The mountainous interior is fertile and dense with vegetation, criss-crossed by rivers and hiking trails and home to monkeys, colorful lizards and around 150 species of bird. Historic plantations still produce some of the best cocoa in the world and you can also visit traditional rum distilleries or nutmeg producers.

Grenadians are a friendly and welcoming people, and a great way to get to know them is with a visit to the Saturday market in the pretty capital, St George's. The island also boasts some fantastically rustic eateries offering hearty home-cooked cuisine, while Grenada’s smaller outlying islands, Carriacou and Petite Martinique, offer the chance to really get off the beaten track.