Grenada lodging & island hopping
 

Hello. We have been to USVI/BVI, Mexico/Riviera Maya, Bahamas, Maui, etc. We love the beauty of St. John, the quaintness of Akumal (Mexico), Maui had amazing food and whale watching. So, we do like variety. We had picked St. Lucia for our next trip but in researching, realized we may like the authenticity of Grenada better and it does seem to get more bang for your buck, plus I like the idea of hopping over to Curacao. I'm having a hard time deciding where to stay. We do like a beautiful, quiet beach but we live 10 minutes from the beach in FL and that's not our main goal. We want to be able to walk to some restaurants if there are not good options at our hotel but also willing to rent a car for a few days for things like hiking, waterfalls, sights- which is a must for us. We like local culture, history and nature but would like to walk or have access to a beach on our "lazy days". Looking for moderately priced lodging <200 night (or a little more) but I seem to find that the food/dining at the moderately priced places are not as well reviewed and we love good, local food. Not huge fans of buffets- especially if it's every meal. We've stayed in some places where the lodging was great but we spent too much time and cab fare going to eat. We want a clean facility with a comfortable bed (non smoking) with staff who can give us good directions, advice. I see more affordable places near the university but not sure that's what we want- I'm thinking the Grand Anse area has access to nice beach areas but wonder if it's overly crowded and too far from other activities on the island. Also, if anyone has island hopped, where to an for how long? Thanks in advance.

Moved from Europe to the Caribbean forum

Your impression of Grenada seems a bit odd to me and I wondering how you came to such a conclusion about it, same with St Lucia. Neither of these islands are like any of the Americanised places you have been before and I don't mean that in a derogatory way, since I like the US and it's American ways. Since you like hiking and waterfalls etc I don't know why you chose Grenada over St Lucia. Grenada does have those things too, but St Lucia scores higher IMO for the area around the Pitons especially if beaches are not your no 1 priority.
I can't see how you can easily hop from Grenada to Curacao and I don't understand why you don't know where to stay in Grenada either, most people stay on one of the beaches eg Grand Anse or Lance aux Epines, Grenada is not an island where any places gets crowded, so again I'm confused at your impressions. Grenada has loads of local restaurants, renting a car is a good idea to get around the island.

I'm guessing you mean to hop from Grenada to Carriacou (not Curacao) -- which is doable by ferry.

Yes, auto-correct error. Thanks.

Your reply seems a bit odd to me. My post never compared "Americanized" anything to these places- simply stating that we've had Caribbean experiences and what appealed to us in previous trips. Clearly, I realize that St. Lucia/Grenada are different which is why I an visiting one or both. I said that I chose Grenada because you get more bang for your buck and it seems less crowded than St. Lucia. Additionally, I have multiple friends with common travel interests who said that St. Lucia was beautiful but overrated (in their opinion). I was not really asking what areas to stay in but what hotel/lodging would be a good pick and what had the most walkable drinking and dining. Thank you for the reply but it was absolutely no help at all- with the exception of the car rental bit- it seems you misinterpreted much of my question. The Curacao was a spell check error- clearly I meant Carriacou. I've found helpful advice on another forum have already planned my itinerary.

So what lodging help did you find? Iam having difficulty as well.We are doing Grenada and St. Lucia both and like the same things as you , as well as being from Florida.

Maybe not. But holy hell that was a nasty unpleasant response to a normal question.

tinkr: I love the southern part of St Lucia. Mountains and hot springs and wonderful people. https://www.fonddouxresort.com/
The cottages at Fond Doux are old world Caribbean. Fresh fruit and flowers. And unlike Florida, no alligators!!