St. George's, LaSource Reviews

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LA SOURCE, GRENADA, CARIBBEAN

I last reviewed this resort for a trip back in July 2004, and waxed lyrical about how great it was. I returned again this year ( the delay only due to the devastation caused by Hurricane Ivan) and must say that I still love the place!

This resort has high standards, and is perfect for single females who might worry about going away on their own.

Anyway, my last review 5 years ago is as follows;

"I'll be returning!"
LaSource Grenada
NiciJ
Perth, Scotland
16 Jul 2004

"LaSOURCE, Grenada, is a fabulous, relaxing resort for everyone.

I have just returned from two weeks pure bliss and now refuse to reset the dual time on my digital watch I will be going back as soon as possible and have already been researching dates/flights/etc for my next visit!

If you would like just a few words of advice, let me keep it brief " IF YOU CAN, GO!!"

Due to carrier delays from London Gatwick, we arrived in darkness, but were picked up in a lovely air-conditioned limo for the short transfer to the hotel. Yes, the hotel is very close to the airport, however, during the entire two weeks, I only heard (say) 6 flights arriving/taking off; we are not talking London here! There are only a few days every week when a big plane lands here.

(NB we were flying Excel Airways - Excel One, and although the plane we should have been travelling in was stuck in Tobago, we actually lucked out and got onto a Jumbo Boeing 747 instead. Flight was VERY enjoyable and luxurious. Incidentally, Excel Airways seem to be the only carrier from UK that flies direct to Grenada.)

The ease of transfer to resort was wonderfully quick and easy and we arrived at reception to a cool cocktail to sip whilst we checked in. Our bags were taken up to our room, and we were very happy with the accommodation. Our room had a lovely four-poster bed with fan above the bed, excellent air-conditioning and a lovely roomy bathroom with hair-dryer, magnifying mirror and bathrobes suitable for the complimentary spa treatments.

As we arrived in darkness, we could only guess what was outside our window & balcony. In the distance, we could see the beautiful lights of St George across the bay, but it was the sound of the waves crashing against the shore that we loved. As soon as we woke the next day we rushed to the window/balcony and saw that the beautiful golden beach and gorgeous Caribbean Sea was a mere stone's throw from our room. Absolutely perfect!

There are numerous activities available at this resort, too many to list, and there are lessons available in all. Check out the resort's own website; "theamzingholiday.com"

Guests can be as active or inactive as the mood takes. The all year round high temperatures make the more energetic sports a little prohibitive for us used to Britain's cold climate, but nonetheless we had a go at Tennis, Golf & Archery, taking lessons in all from lovely happy and helpful staff. Closer to the beach, all the water sports staff worked hard providing us in lessons and/or support in Windsurfing, Sailing and Water-skiing amongst other activities. I was absolutely useless at the water skiing, but other guests seemed to be natural at it!

I attempted to master the Windsurfing, and by the end could sail right out almost out of sight, however I'm not yet able to turn the thing round and sail back, so every excursion out on the windsurf lead to the water sports staff (many thanks, Oscar!) sending the motor boat out to collect me and windsurf board. Even though by the second week they knew I was only going one way, the staff were unfailingly happy to rig up a windsurf just for me, and were equally happy to pick me up when I started drifting over to South America!

The employees at this resort were the best I have ever come across. Everyone we spoke to said the same, and all were planning on returning to this resort again, even those who would not normally consider returning to the same holiday destination twice. One couple were there for their 16th visit! The guests were mostly British/American/Canadian, the majority British whilst we were there. Without exception, everyone was great. People said Hello and Good Morning, etc as we passed and the whole atmosphere was very relaxed, happy, informal and friendly.

Yes, if you want to find faults, you can, but why would you?! You're on holiday, so just CHILL, man!! The place is paradise on Earth, and if you want to complain, please don't come here!!

My biggest regret of the whole holiday (other than perhaps having booked a longer holiday!) was not taking the complimentary scuba dive sooner. I waited until the last possible slot to do the "try dive" and then had to squeeze in another four dives (and tests) to get my PADI Open Water certificate before I left. The diving staff were, in my inexperienced opinion, absolutely brilliant. I was very happy with the safety procedures and training. Qualified divers may book one complimentary dive per day and all equipment is supplied. If you wish to ask me any questions, please don't hesitate to email me here and if possible I will be pleased to answer any queries you may have about the resort, flights from UK or scuba diving arrangements there.

Go. It's fabulous!"

SO, what can I add to that from my latest trip end of Sept / start of Oct 2009?

For a start, the refurbishment since Hurricane Ivan is great. There's now an air-conditioned restaurant for breakfast / lunch / dinner and a fabulous outdoor (undercover) restaurant/bar right on the beach with lovely sea views and breeze called Oscar's. The bathrooms have all been done up and all the rooms that I saw looked freshly decorated.

There is now an extra swimming pool and also a large jacuzzi, perfect for bubbling in with a champagne at sun set if you fancy feeling decadent! (That's you, Joan!)

The spa has been greatly expanded, and I believe as of 1st November the inclusive treatments are all to be a minimum of 50 minutes. I'm not big on spa treatments, so I can't really give knowledgeable account of this aspect, although the few treatments I went for were relaxing and lovely.

The beach now has an almost completely surrounded safe swimming lagoon, which also houses some lovely underwater sea life for snorkelling in, if that's your thing.

As Grenada has no "private" beaches (they belong to everyone, which I think is great) the beach vendors do walk up occasionally, but they are polite and not too intrusive. You can have a nice chat with them if you are the friendly type, they will converse even if you don't buy anything. They will not encroach into the pool area or any strictly speaking non beach sand under your foot area!

As a more experienced diver now, I still found the dive staff were brilliant. Some of the staff are quite young and may not have the hours of diving under their belt as some of the long toothed staff in the older tired Egyptian resorts, but they are keen and very willing to help. If you want to carry your own kit to the dive boat you will have to fight them for it as they set everything up for you (whether it's your own kit or La Source's) and put it on board; makes for a lazy diver though when all you have to do is carry your fins & mask to the boat!

A previous review I read on another site indicated that the timetable was not kept at the diving department here, but I must say, when I was here earlier this month it was me that missed the timetable, not the staff. Even when I turned up 2 hours late for my dive, they leaned over backwards and sorted out a dive for me, generally right there and then even though I was the only diver guest wanting to go. I cannot praise them highly enough for this, this was truly an excellent service by far exceeding that I have received ANYWHERE (and I have been to a few diving resorts since I first qualified in La Source back in 2004!).

The dive guides are keen to spot the marine life and point it out to the guests, I dived with Davidson & Chris and both were lovely. The boat was usually piloted by "Captain" Jack and he did not miss a single location when I was there, finding the wrecks was not a problem, he obviously knew what he was doing, and he kept safe distance before coming to pick us up after every dive, so thanks to all of them.

Obviously this time I did not take any lessons/courses in diving, but I spoke to some of the other guests who had done either a refresher course or the try dive, and all spoke highly of the instructor and seemed more than happy with the procedures. I am not sure how many instructors there are, but the one that accompanied myself and Chris on a dive towards the end of my stay was definitely competent and also friendly.

The whole water sports department is presently headed by CJ (Coddington Jeffrey I believe) and it would appear he is setting and raising the standards across the board for teaching and the services provided. On my last day I turned up at the beach hut at lunchtime looking to try the water skiing and although the staff might have been having their own lunch at the time, within 5 minutes someone was getting the speed boat over and Randy was happy to give me instruction, despite the conditions being bad (too choppy, and other resorts might have told me water skiing was "off" because of it, but not here).

In any event, I was as useless at it as I was the last time I was here 5 years ago! Will try again next time though! : )

This trip I was a solo traveller, and La Source clearly has this market identified as it was absolutely brilliant! Every night there are "hosts" who will meet you in the Terrace Lounge and get you to meet the other "singletons". After that, they host tables for the evening meal and it's a great way to meet the other solo guests. There's no pressure to join in at all, if you want to eat alone you can, but I had a wonderful time here because I met so many lovely folk; Kerry, Margaret, Sophie, Monica, Eleanor, Roger, Richard, the list is endless, I could go on, but you get the idea I trust.

The hosts are the staff who are teaching/coaching/taking various classes throughout the day so you will recognise them before you meet them.

There's loads to do in this resort and I just wish I had tried to pack more in like Belinda, action woman, did (admittedly I was a lazy mare on this last holiday!). The variety and classes available will keep the most active person in the world busy for the duration.

The food served here has got to be the best on the island, it is just fabulous; I saw many a guest (mostly Kim!) take photographs of the presented dishes, they looked as good as they tasted!

At the end of the day, I had a fantastic holiday, and I am already looking into booking a return trip next year. As I said before, "IF YOU CAN, GO!"

NiciJ's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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LaSOURCE, Grenada, is a fabulous, relaxing resort for everyone.

If you would like just a few words of advice, let me keep it brief " IF YOU CAN, GO!!"

Due to carrier delays from London Gatwick, we arrived in darkness, but were picked up in a lovely air-conditioned limo for the short transfer to the hotel. Yes, the hotel is very close to the airport, however, during the entire two weeks, I only heard {say) 6 flights arriving/taking off; we are not talking London here! There are only a few ...