It's the end of the school year and I'm exhausted. Being a
small business owner while staying efficient at my full time job burned
me out good and proper. I was barely hanging on by a thread of chill. I
was flustered, pressured, worried about the many deadlines threatening
overhead and dealing with personal health issues that had no mercy on my
weary soul. When the True Blue Bay Resort and Villas suggested I try a weekend stay
in one of their astonishing Waterfront rooms I, get this, I was
hesitant. Yes, you read that right. A fantastic Caribbean hotel offered
me the chance at an all inclusive stay-cation and my first thought was
but my clients though...
As
the week went on, it became ever more clear to me that I had a bigger
problem than exhaustion, self negligence. That isn't easy for me to say.
Anyone I told about my
pending stay-cation was loosing their mind with envy. I, was thinking
about the time I'd loose sitting around at a hotel when I could be
writing...don't hurt me!
I knew I had to make a bold decision to put myself in
check. It is not enough to talk about showing yourself love and care but
we must practice it. I've said before that I actively have changed the
way I speak to myself. On the weekend after the closing of the school
term, I dared to also take a bold step in how I treated myself. So, I
took a deep breath, I bit my lip, I packed my bags plus a quarter of
my work load against my better judgement and I got a room!
The
True Blue Bay Resort and Villas is located on the
Southern coast of the island of Grenada, about a 5 minute drive from
our international airport. It was easy to get there from our city's main
bus terminal because the hotel is near the most thriving part of the
city capital. They are off the beaten path though, so it did coast me a
gentle fee for the bus driver to go off his stipulated main route and
give me a lift into the hotels front entrance with my heavy bags. I
always expect the driver to act like this request is a hassle but on the
few occasions I've gone down that off route coarse (at
most 3 times for work) they have been really kind and accommodating and
I appreciate it.
As
we got to the hotel I could feel the adrenaline starting
to course through my veins. I have not stayed at many hotels in my
life, a night at a small bed and breakfast when I was kid, on my way to
secure travel documents and last year when I had my life changing
experience in Pittsburgh for the NOAH conference sums it up. This was
different.
This was a hotel in the Caribbean. This was the tropics, a place to
which people save their entire
lives to see even if just once. A place where I was born and raised and
loved. This was a hotel influenced by my culture, by which my economy
is heavily influenced. I was about to be a part of something heavily
marketed to an international crowd with local eyes and it almost felt
voyeuristic. As locals we don't pay much mind to the hotel market
outside of work and business. Hotels are structures we give little
notice to when we pass them, they are not viewed by we locals as having
personal significance. Yet, here I was going on stay-cation and being s
tourist at home.
As a person who enjoys travel I could feel my curiosity stretch with my grin.
I made my way to the front desk and let them know I had a
reservation. Some of the staff remembered seeing me on the premises for
work or a portion of the chocolate festival a while back and I was
greeted with a hearty 'Hi again, welcome back!' it was nice! While I signed myself
in I was asked if I needed help with my bags. I did, and two staff
members escorted me to my room. The glorious waterfront 42!
The Room: We entered and I was given a brief layout of the room, the
location of all the amenities and instructions as to how to contact the
front desk for any help I sought. They also directed me as to how I could order off of the room
service menu, print out provided. I got a quick tour of my room and yes,
I was paying attention. Since my first experience of a proper hotel was
in the United States, I was secretly ready to see how my home state
stacked up! The lovely staff member showed me where everything was
including blow drier, iron and ironing board and the necessary remotes.
Even
though
their was a heavy dose of neutral colours there were little details that
made me happy as they were atmospheric to the Caribbean. The room was
decorated with vibrant Caribbean hues as accent walls. What looked to me
as a water colour styling. Perfect for a room on the
waterfront, I thought. It had that clean and sterile feeling you want
from any hotel. I attributed this to it's white walls, comfy white
linen, minimalistic wall décor and room furnishings.
They made it
so that you remember where you are, a beautiful island in the Caribbean,
but you are not made to feel over come by it. I loved the accents walls
in Caribbean colours, the décor of fish in the iron hangings,
the tiny starfish on the drapes and the woven style of the chest of draw
furniture.
I must admit when I saw the furniture I was a little moved.
It made me think of Saturday mornings at our local market. So many
locals make their living out of carpentry and weaving of natural
materials and I felt good that our local hotel housed furniture that put
that kind of work proudly on display because this too is a part of who
we are as a people, innovative and colourful.
As
the name implies, the room over looks the waterfront
harbour scene at the edge of the dock upon which the hotel restaurant is housed. Perfect for sunset gazing over open water and lazy boat sails
curtsying to Caribbean breezes.
It is also wheel chair accessible. As a visually impaired
traveller, accessibility is something very important to me and the
comfort of my stay. My room was spacious and minimalistic in design even
with it's furniture so there was little chance of bumping into edges or
knocking things over, which I am known to do with my poor depth
perception. Less clutter more safety, if you've got a disability can be
extremely handy! Yay for beauty and functionality working together.
I turned in early Sunday night but realised that if I left
the balcony door near my bed open, the sound of the ocean lapping
against the deck was just the right volume to lull me to sleep. My
drapes were thick enough so that bugs couldn't get in and I basked in a peace I haven't had for a while.
Stay tuned for a little highlight of the grounds in a post to come! Or do you want to see more of the available rooms? If so
click here!
