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Grenada – flight and first impressions

I agree with Bob Tickler that British Airways (BA) have known better days as have their stewardesses.

As we boarded the plane as part of long queue the stewardess confessed it was her first flight and showed us down the wrong aisle. The flight entertainment did not come on for 30 minutes into the flight and compared to Emirates it was a poor selection, no classic movies for example.

You needed oxyiocetaline welders to cut through the tough steak and the red wine was served after I finished.

The plug was the American variety. There were all sorts of gizmos but how you called a stewardess I have no idea.

Their safety video featured Michael Caine and Joanna Lumley, no doubt to promote Britishness, but only reminded me what a brilliant ad Saatchis produced in the 70s when the company was so capably run by Lord King and Sir Colin Marshall.

In the company of Andrew Roberts’ superb biography of Churchill and a well informed guide book on Grenada the time passed. Grenada is four hours behind us so we arrived 4-45 pm their time.

An early introduction to Grenadian warmth was a man in the immigration hall – not always the most welcoming of places – greeting everyone with a loud “Welcome to Grenada!”.

Never one to miss out on his creature comforts Bob had commandeered a mini-fleet of BMW 7 series with drivers to convey us to our Spice Island Hotel Beach Resort.

The driver’s greeting impressed me: “Thank you for choosing Spice Island”. The houses we saw looked well-built, there was gleaming Olympic Office and we were informed the country won its first medal in the last Olympiad. There was no urban roadsides sprawl such as you see in the Indian sub continent.

Daffer was impressed by the hotel greeting and rightly so. We were offered a cocktail, the formalities accomplished – Bob beaming when told that every drink and meal was inclusive – and shown to our spacious rooms.

There we were explained all the amenities. There was barely time to shower and change for dinner. We ate well at their Oliver restaurant but by this time we finished it was well after midnight UK time.

One feature I noted was the general manager, a rotund jolly fellow called Brian, the beverage manager, and the front desk lady with whom I had already communicated, all toured the tables and gave helpful info on the stay. There is no doubting their friendliness or how hard they try.

Grenada endured a devastating hurricane (Ivan) in September 2004 which destroyed the whole island and tourism is now its main economic asset.

As we retired there was soft sweetness in the air, you could hear the breakers lapping against the beach and we are all confident that our short stay will prove an enjoyable one.

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About Nancy Bright-Thompson

A widely-respected travel editor, Nancy is a past president of the Guild of Travel Writers (GTW). She and her husband Phil now run a horse sanctuary in East Sussex. More Posts