My husband and I returned home this morning after 14 nights at The Tamarind and we just couldn't wait to pass on our comments to anyone who is considering staying at this hotel.

We were met promptly from the plane by the hotel driver and driven the short journey to the hotel and were immediately given a nice cold cocktail and a very warm welcome. I will admit that we were very tired on arrival after a very long journey and didn't fully appreciate the beautiful setting until the next day. We were taken to our suite which was outstanding. All the rooms face the gorgeous beach and are very comfortable.

The next morning, we quickly realised what a stunning location this hotel is set in. The beach is perfect. The sand is white and the sea was calm, clear and blue. There are lots of wooden sun loungers set under thatched parasols scattered along the long beach. Each morning, the staff lay out lounger covers and beach towels so that guests can choose where they want to settle. They also rake the beach every day to remove any seaweed that has been washed up overnight. There is a beach bar which opens around 10 am each day where you can get a nice cold drink, ice-cream or cup of tea! You can also order from the lunch menu and your food will be delivered from the main kitchen to you on the beach.

The main restaurant serves wonderful food, beautifully presented in a beachfront location. All our meals were of top quality and extremely tasty.

Everything about this hotel is excellent but we would like to pay a special tribute to the staff. Everyone is so polite and welcoming and do absolutely anything for you to ensure you have a great holiday. We got to know many of them very well and they are efficient, warm, friendly people. We would like to make particular mention of the management. We have never stayed anywhere where the management are so dedicated to ensuring that each guest is made to feel special, welcome and important.

We went on two boat trips island hopping. The first one was on a catamaran. What a brilliant day. The bar on board is open all day and drinks are included in the price of your ticket. We were also treated to a first class inclusive lunch. We went to two gorgeous islands on that trip then to a further 2 islands later in the week on a speedboat trip. Again another perfect day and a whole new experience. The final trip we did was to St Vincent which we visited by air. The hotel arranged our flights and transport. They arranged for a taxi to take us around St Vincent and we had a beautiful tour. Any island that you wish to visit, they will do their utmost to arrange it for you.

The hotel closes on 10th September for 1 month and we were therefore there during the low season just before closure when there were fewer guests. This made no difference to us. The Tamarind is a small, intimate hotel and you are made to feel special no matter how many people are there.

Admitedly the island is remote and has to be reached by flights on a small plane from Barbados in our case. This was a whole new experience and great fun. In our opinion, it is worth the long journey to get there because what awaits you is absolutely fantastic.

We are already planning to return next year and cannot wait. We would recommend this hotel to everyone who wants a relaxed holiday in a peaceful, stunning location.

We stayed at the Tamarind in early June for two nights while picking up and returning from our catamaran yacht charter. We had a party of seven in three rooms. It is clean, the people friendly and mostly accomodating. Everything worked well and was in very good repair. We were met promptly at the airport and greeted with a refreshing fruit cocktail upon our arrival to the hotel.

We only ate in the main restaurant and the food was quite good. I would highly recommend the pizza from their wood-fired oven.

It is perfect for picking up a private charter since they can come right to the resort dock.

We had considered both Raffles and Tamarind for our honeymoon and ended up booking the Tamarind and upon our return to the UK and having visited both properties I can say that we made exactly the right decision. Here's why!

It can be a bit of a trip to get to Canouan but well worth the hassle, we flew in to Barbados with BA, great flight and then travelled with Air grenadines to Canouan, via, Mustique and Union Island ( suggest that you spilt your luggage as they have a tendency to "lose" one of your bags for a day as the aircraft are quite small), however even missing my bags for a day didn't dampen our spirits. We were met at the airport by two lovely guys who took us for the short 10 minute trip to the Tamarind and before we knew it we had a rum punch in our hand, the bags had been taken to the room, we were met by Valeria ( for whom nothing was too much trouble, including helping us to organise several trips more of which later) and then we were shown to our room.

As per the rest of the reviews on here the rooms are beautiful, all with a view of the beach, ours was a suite with a huge bedroom, ensuite, walk in closet, lounge and seperate shower.

The room was tastefully decorated with local flowers and a basket of fresh fruit and a bottle of champagne ( Proper french stuff :-) )as we had decided on the Romance Package ( again definitely worth the little extra that is charged, we then showered had a quick dinner and thats where is became obvious that we were not going to lose any weight on the this holiday. The food was SUBLIME! Breakfast the following morning was the same, excellent quality as was lunch and so it continued. All served by an excellent staff including Merrick ( absolute star, who surprised us with evenings of private dining at the end of the jetty ) and Shanique and the rest of the girls who always greeted us with a smile!

The beach was superb ( we both agreed better than Raffles ), and was cleaned every morning by another little star, Randy, who made sure that no matter how early went to the beach our loungers were ready within minutes and a friendly chat always ensued, nothing was too much trouble for the guy.

The bar on the beach again was staffed by great guys, Kurt and Peter to mention just a couple. Again nothing was too much trouble and the cocktails were excellent.

We arranged to go to Raffles twice. Now don't get me wrong this is a SUPERB resort, 5 star all the way but it's big and spread out ( golf carts are fun though ) and sometimes can be quite formal, (not what we wanted for our honeymoon ) and although Raffles is exquisite, we were glad that we chose the more friendly, smaller and definitely more relaxed Tamarind, this way we got to have the best of both worlds, ou relaxed little base and the grandeur of Raffles when we wanted it (at a cost!)

Finally I would like to say that the excursions were excellent, we did the island tour ( short and sweet ), we went to the Casino and lost to a croupier who pulled 4 Blackjacks in a row!!!, spent the day at Raffles and had a great time but the best 2 days we had were with Captain Kelly. Valeria arranged for Cap Kelly to pick us up with another couple, Neil and Julia, on our 2nd day and they 2nd to last, we got on well ( shame they left so quickly )and did a tour to Bequia and then convinced our beloved Captain to stop off at Mustique as it was the only Grenadine Island that all of us hadn't been too! GREAT DAY, must say that I preferred Bequia to Mustique! Although Basil's bar is one to tick off the list!

Then we hired Cap Kelly for another day as we wanted to go back and see more of Bequia, all I can say is that I have chartered many boats in my time and Cap Kelly was the best guy that I have ever encountered, caring, always smiling, explaining the local knwoledge to us, arranging a taxi on Bequia to the Hawksbill Turtle Sanctuary, sharing a beer with us at the end of a lovely day! A really TOP CAPTAIN!

In conclusion I have no hesitatuion in recommending Tamarind as one of the best hotels I have had the pleasure of staying in in the Caribbean. If its modern glitz, rich and famous clientelle and a beautiful pool that you want then stay at Raffles. If it's great food, the best beach on Canouan for swimming and cleanliness, a relaxing holiday with some of the friendliest people I have come across, then stay at Tamarind. We will definitely be back!!!

I almost don't want to write this review as I'd like to keep this island and hotel a secret, but the staff deserves their praises. This destination is certainly not for late night partiers or those looking for lots of action. If you want seclusion and beautiful beaches to yourself, this may be your place. The hotel staff was great and the restaurant was very good. I recommend getting the all inclusive plan, it is well worth it, and not only because it's the only restaurant around! We did venture off property one night and it just wasn't the experience we had hoped for. We planned on going to Raffles for a dinner, but never made it; we were quite content where we were. My husband played golf there and had a great time; however, he does suggest bringing more golf balls then you think you'll need (tough coarse)! The only dive shop on the island is (conveniently) located at the Tamarind. We went on 4 great dives all within a short distance of the hotel. It was nice to not have to travel several hours to get to a good dive site. Overall I couldn't have been more pleased with the staff who went out of their way to make us feel comfortable and welcome, I miss them! They even searched our room for a ring I left behind and sent it home to me in the States. With any luck, we'll return to the Tamarind-soon! If you go sooner then we do, tell them Allyson & Peter said hi!
Regards to all the staff,
Allyson & Peter