It’s my second week in Grenada with seven members of my family, so to make sure we kept the peace and unity, we went to events, spaces and places that everyone could enjoy. Over the weekend the Sunday lunchtime barbecue at Petite Anse Boutique Hotel was the perfect choice for a combination of family, food and fun and while travelling up to the North Coast of the island we got a chance to see the breathtaking exterior of Grenada’s mountainous terrain.
Back in 2010 we ran a feature in Complexd Travel on Petite Anse Hotel on page 66-69 of the Caribbean issue. After a brief visit in 2009, I was mesmerized by the unrivaled view of the Caribbean sea and neighboring islands Carriacou and the Grenadines. After anchoring off the southern coast of Grenada, owners Philip and Annie, who at the time were sailing around the Atlantic for fours years, spotted a piece of land with a private beach and had the right amount of determination and courage to build a charming hotel where no one had dared to go before.
‘We didn’t choose Grenada, it chose us!’
The drive from Grenada’s capital St. Georges to Petite Anse in the parish of St. Patrick was a long journey, but things got exciting when we drove deeper into the countryside and roads that were once lined with palm trees became lined with juicy ripe mangoes. They looked juicy and tasted even juicer when we got the chance to sample a few offered to us by a group of young men prodding the trees with sticks. It kept our bellies at bay in anticipation of the barbecue ahead.
Obscured by tall trees and vegetation there was no sign of the coastline until we walked onto a nicely paved pathway and under a neatly trimmed bush, which revealed the stunning view that I was captivated by on my first visit. Kids jumped in and out of the pool, clusters of people congregated around the bar, and restaurant and a group of dedicated domino players had set up table right in the middle of everything. It was like gate crashing a family gathering, but upon entering we were instantly embraced as part of the clan.
Every Sunday Phillip and Annie host the barbecue with a choice of Chicken; Fish; Ribs and Pork, served with classic barbecue sides like potato salad and fried plantain thrown in for good Caribbean measure. Their new chef Maxwell joined the company a few months earlier, but was already well acquainted with the large Texan grill, which the couple sourced on Ebay. The focal point was the stunning view from the restaurant balcony, but the restaurants vintage furnishing – collectibles from Phillip and Annie’s Worcestershire home in England added to the warm family friendly atmosphere.
I was genuinely pleased to hear from Phillip and Annie that business was going very well since they opened in 2009. With a fair share of visitor from Europe, North American and weekend visits from locals, they place their success on being a family-oriented business and go out of their way to be hosts rather than just hotel owners. Guest are even invited up to their plantation home for cocktails and a taste of country life as-well as a guided tour of the land where all the produce for the restaurant is grown.
They acknowledged that adapting to life in Grenada was fairly easy because of the friendliness of the people and their willingness to support the local community. During our time at Petite Anse we didn’t just enjoy the food and beautiful surroundings, we got a chance to experience what a regular Sunday might be like for a large Grenadian family who cook, share and laugh together and that intimacy is what makes Petite Anse so unique.
‘In life there are wants and needs and although we may not get everything we want, we have everything we need to life a perfectly healthy life’
– Phillip & Annie – www.petiteanse.com