Hi everyone. I had a fairly stressful time putting together our holiday in the Caribbean and had many anxieties! Can I say that we had the most blissful, peaceful time enjoying the beauty of Bequia, Friendship Bay and the Sugarapple Inn. Lionel and Cilla were incredibly helpful with the various queries that I had prior to the trip. We were met off the ferry from St. Vincent by Franklin, whose services we made much use of during the rest of our stay. He waited while we stocked up on groceries before heading to the inn. This was worth doing, as it is a little trek back and forth to Port Elizabeth. Sometimes we used Franklin, particularly in the evenings, but it was easy to use the dollar (actually dollar fifty) vans during the day.
We rented two interconnecting apartments. They were spacious and comfortable, the kitchen/living area opening to delightful vistas. The airconditioning was most welcome. Being careful to spray the room with Baygon early evening was enough to keep mosquito annoyance to a minimum. I would advise visitors to store all food that is not tinned in the fridge, as there were quite a few ants in the kitchen, and they did manage to infiltrate some of our food - and food is not over-cheap on Bequia! I assume that this would be a problem in any of the apartments, as the kitchen/dining area is very open. We were in Units 5 and 6.
We enjoyed having the choice of pool or beach (5 minute walk max) to relax, most of the time having both entirely to ourselves! One evening we used the barbecue facilities to cook some fish that we bought off a boat near the fish market in town. Great! The open eating and barbecue area lends itself to parties, so I think the Sugarapple would be a great venue for a holiday for family groups/celebrations, or groups of friends.
We planned a couple of trips, and Cilla was really helpful with this. We hugely enjoyed the Tobago Cays trip with Fantasea. She also arranged a tour on St. Vincent for us, where we saw the Pirates of the Caribbean sets, apart from other things.
The staff at the Sugarapple Inn are warm and friendly. I had the wonderful surprise of beautiful flowers and a card when they realised that I was celebrating my birthday. It was so helpful to be able to get laundry done, and the house-keeping team were so easy-going when we hadn't quite vacated the rooms early enough for them to be able to do their cleaning! Well, we WERE on holiday!
If you are wondering whether to go to Bequia, just do it, before it becomes too well-known a secret! We certainly plan to return. Thank you, all at the Sugarapple!

We stayed 9 nights in mid-August and booked two adjoining one-bedroom apartments. This is the slower time of year and the staff was available during the day at the office or by phone. The apartments are thoroughly equipped and nicely furnished with extremely comfortable beds and large kitchen area with a round table by the windows. We loved the fact that we had the option of air-conditioning or having everything open to enjoy the breezes. The grounds are beautiful with flowers blooming and we were very fortunate that mangos and guavas were ripening just steps away! Sugarapple is located a short walk to Friendship Bay and beach which is lovely and picturesque. We spent more time on the Caribbean side of the island, where there are numerous restaurants, shops, great beaches and the main port, which we easily reached by taxi (Franklin was great), flagging down the 1EC vans or even on foot. Silla booked us an amazing day boat tour of some of the other grenadine islands with Fantasea. Cell phones were provided and it was most helpful that they had the numbers of the restaurants. This was our second trip to Bequia and we would definitely return to the Sugarapple Inn. We are already missing the warm smiles of the staff and the beautiful location in Friendship village overlooking the sea.

This property was extremely delightful. Great for lovers, family or friends looking to for a get-away retreat. The hotel staff was extremely friendly and accommodating. The place is self sufficient. Although Concierge is a service is limited to banking hours (8an-4pm), there was someone available just a quick dial away. The only thing I would warn guest is to ensure you have a way to contact the concierge during 'off' hours. We stayed during holidays 2010 so understandably staff would work during the day and be gone by 6pm at the latest.

We’d decided on our last Caribbean visit (2 weeks on Carriacou + 1 week on Grenada) to seek out Bequia (pron. Bekway) to explore it and some of the other islands in the Grenadines archipelago, before returning for another stint on Grenada. Our latest trip was planned around 25 days in May '12. We rarely, if ever, stay in hotels, preferring to self cater, mainly for the flexibility it allows. So, after much research (including TripAdvisor) we decided to stay at Bequia’s Sugarapple Inn, in Friendship Bay, which lies to the SE on the island’s tropical Atlantic side.
Well, we couldn’t have chosen better. The position is wonderful with views across the bay and out towards some of the smaller uninhabited Grenadine islands with Mustique looming on the horizon. The Sugarapple apartment was excellent; spotlessly clean and well equipped with the usual (cable) TV, free wi-fi, iPod dock facilities, a locking/coded safe and a hairdryer in the bathroom. All of the furniture was clean and in very good condition. Lots of drawer and cupboard space meant stowing our gear wasn’t a problem, though we've learned to travel light. There were nice touches too; fresh flowers appeared during our stay and sometimes there was a perfect sugar apple on the dining table – for us to try - delicious, by the way..
On our arrival the bed was beautifully decorated with flowers and, even more importantly, proved to be very comfortable. The mozzy nets were spotless and in good repair; this we’ve found is a good indicator as to the degree of care and attention proprietors expend on their properties. My only observation is that frame nets are more convenient than the centrally draped type, which, when tucked in, often results in a bit of struggle to get in and out of – Sugarapple has the latter, but I wouldn’t level it as a criticism, just a personal preference. In fact we discovered that despite the ubiquitous mozzies, a good spray with BOP before retiring and with Baygon tabs plugged in, it wasn’t necessary to use the nets at all. When we did get bitten it was likely to be from daytime visits to the local supermarket where we’ve found, in the past, that mozzies and ‘nippers’ lurk in the dark corners, at a time when you’re least likely to have sprayed up with repellent. (Top Tips: 1: spray the interior of your rental car with insect killer before using; the blighters often lurk there, especially in older vehicles. 2: Only use insect repellents with 50% DEET. NB: pump packs are better value than sprays. Of course < 50% is less effective and without it all other remedies are utterly useless - even citronella [oil] only lasts for about an hour and candles and coils are useless out of doors: believe me!)
Our Sugarapple apartment’s light and airy kitchen/dining area had large storm shutters, which opened fully on two sides giving a wonderful panoramic view and allowed the breeze (sometimes a forceful wind) to cool us down. The kitchen featured the main amenities, sufficient pots & pans and utensils, fridge, a gas cooker but oddly it lacked a microwave, which would’ve proved useful from time to time. A minor problem (there had to be one or two) was the temperamental A/C, which turned off if any attempt was made to change the programming. However, this was easily resolved by resetting the trip in the electrics wall panel.
The apartments’ management is first class and the daily maid service is, in a word, faultless. Cilla, the manager, is charming, knowledgable and helpful as is her assistant, Ronelle, who proved invaluable when SVG decided to abandon us on the island, announcing that they were not flying direct to Grenada for the rest of May, this despite us having booked and paid for tickets! But that’s another story.
Sugarapple’s grounds and gardens are beautiful; colourful, green and very well maintained (strimmed to within an inch of its life, in fact) and dominated by a mighty, fruit laden mango tree. There’s a small, well maintained swimming pool (untried) and a covered BBQing area, which tends to be used during the ‘on’ season – we were staying in the ‘off’ or green season – for ‘green’ read rain. NB: There’s a convenient path leading, via a gate, to the Bequia Beach Hotel and its excellent restaurant and bar. This is also the quickest (4 mins.) route to Friendship Bay’s beach, the sea, where swimming is safe and for local boatmen to take you on excursions to Mustique, Petite Nevis, Quatre Island, Moonhole etc.
In short, then, Sugarapple can be highly recommended, based on our personal experience, which I’m pleased to say is not inconsiderable having travelled around the Caribbean every year for the last 12 or so years or so. There’s absolutely no doubt that we’ll return.