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

We loved the Tamarind! We have been to over 20 Caribbean islandsand found this to be one of our favorite places to stay. Everything was perfect-the room was charming-good AC, great shower, comfortable mattress-everyting worked perfectly. The grounds are beautifully kept. I think what Iiked best was that when you opened your door the gorgeous beach with its white sand and crystal clear water was about 18 inches from your door step. The food was exceptionally delicious. And the staff could not have been more accommodating, in fact they seemed to anticipate our every wish.

We were looking for a break in March involving the sun, a clean beach and few people around. We found exactly that place in Canouan Island.

We stayed at Tamarind for four nights during March 2007. The hotel is exactly as promised, friendly staff, non-intrusive service, a great Italian restaurant and a clean, long beach. The island itself is a peaceful paradise, where time is just a concept.

Our room, done up completely in wood, was exactly six steps away from the beach. At night there were no mosquitoes around, and as amateur stargazers we were even able to catch up on stargazing with a night on the beach. All night one can hear the waves wash up on the beach, as they have been doing for thousands of years.

The trip to the island is a different story. Since it has a small airport with a few scheduled flights, allow for plenty of time for connections. The scheduled flights, which are run by local airlines, sometimes work on a +/- 2hrs timetable so expect to be stranded at the airport for hours. Also, plan on carrying some snacks with you since these airports are very small.

Take the optional $95pp trip to the "lifestyles of the rich", the Raffles resort, which is run by the same people - Mr. Saladino of CRD. It includes transfers to/fro and a lunch at the resort. We did not like Raffles, since it is less friendly than Tamarind, and Mr. Saladino was often seen at the Italian restaurant on Tamarind, which just confirmed that the food was better at Tamarind.

As vegetarians, we were very well served by Delvin, the young restaurant manager, who made sure that the chef had created some options for us.