Prior to booking we naturally read the hotel reviews, which totally confused us. Some guests apparently left after a couple of days, others loved it.Well I am pleased to say, we loved it! If you are looking for elegant guestrooms or loads of on-site facilities, the Gem is not for you. But if you seek a laid back, peaceful retreat for an extremely lazy holiday, look no further. Okay, the Gem is bit rough around the edges but the friendliness of the staff and the superb location on Mourne Rouge Bay, more than compensates for the lack of superfluous luxuries. The hotel¹s restaurant, Sur La Mer, offers wonderful home cooked food and there¹s a great atmosphere around thebar each night. The Nextescape rep offered all the usual sightseeing excursions but you will find the ever-helpful Julia can arrange excursions for you at a cheaper rate. We went on a sea trip to Carriacou, one of our holiday highlights.

So what's in a name? Quite a lot, and a bit more besides, if this little bolt hole tucked away in Morne Rouge is anything to go by. An unpretentious two star self catering or all inclusive establishment, the Gem sits in splendid isolation at the northern end of Morne Rouge Bay, a peaceful backwater but only a short hill walk from Grande Anse and readily accessible for the capital St.Georges.
The bar and Sur La Mer restaurant are slap bang on a classic stretch of Caribbean white sand beach, the food decent West Indian based (good portions too) in a building extensively refurbished since Hurricane Ivan three years ago.
Fifteen one and two bed apartments, simply furnished and fully serviced, have ocean or garden views though the beach is hidden, and 29 more rooms are due to come on stream next door.Clean and functional, it's family run with a loyal long term staff.
Now and again some infernal party boat hoves into view but generally softly lapping waves are the only background noise.The on site Fantasia night club draws a crowd from far and wide on Wednesdays--old time reggae night--pure pleasure, no dance hall ragamuffin biznis either, and at weekends. Don't despair, it's fully soundproofed so no disturbed sleep, but much better to get along anyway with your dancing shoes. For once, a hotel that lives up to its name.

This hotel seems to polarise opinion so I will try to highlight both plus and minus points.

LOCATION:

The Gem is at Morne Rouge beach, at the end of a hilly dead end road from Grand Anse. The hotel stands behind the associated bar/restaurant and a nightclub, and the hotel rooms front the car park. Although it is the only hotel behind the beach, there is another hotel (The Mariposa) a few yards up the road, but last month it was closed for renovation. Next door to the Gem is a construction site for a new hotel and pool.

Plus Points: Due to its location there is no through traffic. It is only 20 yards from the hotel rooms to the beach.

Minus Points: The relative isolation means that it’s a 20-25 minute walk (up and down a steep hill on a road with regular construction traffic), to the supermarket and the Grand Anse area. Unless you are happy to walk in 30-degree heat you will need to take taxis or hire a car if you want to get out and about. There is a variable level of noise from the construction site next to the hotel.

BEACH:

The beach is a crescent of white sand, with calm water. Trees at the back of the beach provide some shade.

Plus Points: The beach is ideal for families and non-swimmers as the water is calmer and shallower than at Grand Anse. In the mornings you may have the beach more or less to yourself.

Minus Points: Internet photos are old and do not reflect the current situation – the hotel needs to update its website. At the back of he beach is a makeshift corrugated iron fence fronting the construction site, and many of the trees have been felled. You won’t be able to avoid noise from the building work. When cruise ships are in, boats ferry passengers to the beach for a few hours from late morning.

ACCOMMODATION:

We stayed in a one-bedroom top floor oceanview apartment. There is a living room, functional kitchenette and a separate bedroom. Off the bedroom is a bathroom with a tiny sink, toilet and large shower (no bath). Aircon is in the bedroom only. The TV is in the bedroom.

Plus Points. The oceanview apartments have good-sized balconies. The top floor apartments have the best views and high arched ceilings make them feel more spacious.

Minus Points: The furnishings are very, very old. The aircon in the bedroom struggled to get below normal room temperature. The toilet cistern mechanism kept breaking. Many of the balconies are not entirely private as the access route to other rooms is in front of them. The views are not what you might expect: rubbish piled on one side of the building, the construction site next door, a rusting ship’s container and building materials in the car park, and the restaurant/night club building in front of the hotel. The attached photos were taken from our top floor apartment. If you choose a lower floor or non-oceanview room you may be looking out at rubbish.

FOOD & DRINK

The Sur La Mar restaurant/bar fronts the beach and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Plus Points: The bar is handy for the beach and serves snacks and sandwiches during the day. There is a Happy Hour each evening. The restaurant has about 10 main courses on the evening menu. Room Service is available.

Minus Points: The bar and restaurant are dark, gloomy and uninviting. There are stools outside the bar but the restaurant has shuttered windows and no outside dining area, apart from a couple of plastic tables and chairs on the beach.

SUMMARY

If your main priority is a beach, and you are happy with basic accommodation and facilities, then The Gem may be for you. If so, I would strongly recommend paying extra for an Oceanfront apartment and requesting a top floor unit.

If, however, you have expectations of good accommodation and an idyllic location based on the website description and photos, prepare to be disappointed.

Unfortunately the hotel appears to be stuck in a time warp The ‘You get what you pay for’ argument is valid, but only up to a point. Yes, this is a 2 star hotel, but while acknowledging the hurricane damage of a couple of years ago, there is no excuse for the rubbish surrounding the building. The management appears happy to keep things as they are, but renovation – or at the very least redecoration – is long overdue. We cut sort our stay there (having to pay a 3 night penalty) and moved to another hotel.

I think that anyone who complains about the Gem is really snotty. Are you expecting super exclusive all inclusive standards at the price they are offering? Or are you wanting the opportunity to cater for yourself, in a large apartment right on a lovely bay, and get to to know the area through hiring a car or walking to a few places? My wife stayed for 5 nights as part of our honeymoon in the Caribbean and found it perfectly acceptable overall. Pluses include the birdlife in the gardens around, the lovely bay, easy access to local malls and St Georges, the size of the apartments themselves, and a nearby headland from which to get a fantastic view across the bay to St. Georges (best to see in the evening as the cruise ships put out and the bats play around). Minuses include the slightly dodgy toilet and the dirty kitchen equipment, the sea container in the carpark and the very noisy nightclub chucking out at 4am.
Local costs: taxi to airport or St. Georges = US$16; local minibus for same = US$1. Car hire = US$70 per day incl CID. Groceries on par with europe except for local produce which is cheap.
Grenada itself seems to have suffered after the hurricane of 2004 though they were desperately trying to tart things up for the Cricket World Cup.