We just returned from a wonderful, although short, 4 night stay in the "Paw Paw" villa at Maca Bana. I've often relied upon TripAdvisor comments when booking hotels, and this time was no acception. I've never felt compelled to contribute my comments afterwards to this website (it's difficult to come up with new comments when all of the other writers have already raved!), but the Maca Bana and Grenada were so enchanting during our stay that I felt compelled to do so this time.

Michaela, the on site manager, could not have been more helpful. She was so pleasant and gracious, and she happily handled the arrangements for our jeep rental and half day island tour with a local guide. She also gave us a very thorough and helpful review of all of the amenities in our villa when we checked in. The villa was unbelievably well appointed, and it was nice that we didn't have to figure out how to operate all of the high tech gadgets on our own! We even had an espresso/cappucino machine to experiment with.

Paw Paw sits on a spot that's basically carved out of the cliff, and there's a shear drop from the villa right down to the beach. The view has to be seen to be believed. The water is lovely, and the surf was up for a few days during our stay so it was fun to watch the surfers. We also enjoyed watching the cruise ships and private yachts coming and going into St. Georges. The view at night was spectacular, and the villa was so private that we never felt the need to deprive ourselves by closing the drapes. We have a hot tub at home so I didn't expect that we'd use the one in the villa much. However, we ended up sitting in it at least once each day - just so we could lean over the edge and survey the unobstructed scene below!

I would assume that March is still the high season, but Magazine beach had VERY light traffic and we usually had it all to ourselves in the morning. We had two wonderful meals at the Aquarium - what an exotic feel the place has at night - and it too is carved right out of the cliff and has lots of tropical foliage. The road down to the Aquarium and the beach is indeed steep (no high heels!) but not very long. It seemed a bit shorter (and easier) each time we made the hike. We also ate at the Beach House, and had a fantastic meal there with great service. I thought that the Aquarium's prices were a bit lower though, which frankly surprised me. We had so-so meals at True Blue, La Sangesse and the Beachside Terrace. The villa "startup kit" of goodies in the fridge provided all we needed for breakfast (HUGE basket of fruit) and mid day snacks.

The island is lovely, and all of the people we encountered were very friendly. We were happy that our half day tour included the rain forest (we even got to give a banana to a monkey) but we were glad that we didn't venture there on our own since the roads are VERY poorly marked. Overall it was a wonderful visit, and we'll surely return to Grenada and to the Maca Bana. We didn't see any other hotels that we thought looked nicer, and certainly none that had as much character or charm, or that were located in a lovelier spot.

Where to begin.......
An increadable trip that i will remember forever!
I chose to go to Grenada because i was going to be traveling alone, i needed to get the hell away from huge crowds and I wanted to go somewhere off the beaten path....Grenada seemed like just the place to get the revitalization i was needing at the point I was in my life. When I had discovered Maca Bana Villas during the course of my research, i wrote a letter discribing what i was looking for and asked what they had to offer for my situation. I immediatley got a letter from Mekala (sorry if i did not get the spellling correct, sweetest girl on earth though) She wrote me the most encouraging note that Grenada, Maca Bana Villas was just the place for me and that I needed to come.....
I ended up arriving in Grenada at night, I was picked up from the airport promptly....Mekala was up waiting for me at the Villas when i arrived and showed me to the place I would be residing for 10 days....I remember that next morning when i woke like it was yesterday... there was a beam of sunshine comming through the crack in the drapes...probly about 5:00 in the morning..I had traveled for nearly a day to get there but had the a burst of energy to jump up....pull the drapes open and from my bay window........the most beautiful sight i ever had seen.....the caribbean sea......right there before me.....sun rising, private mile long beach....oh my god!!!! I thought i was in heaven :)
That was just the begining of a uterly fabulous trip...
I felt completely comfortable alone during my visit in Grenada, the people were overly friendly. The Food at the restaraunt was delicous, great beer at the ocean side bar...
I experienced sailing on the scaramouch....gotta do kinda thing, for sure...be sure to arrange that!!! I did some hiking in the rainforest with a a kowledgable guide. Took a drive around the island ( again with a guide that knew all the cool places to check out. The rum distillary...that stuff will surely put some hair on your chest ;).... the beauty of the oceanside villages, colors...
All the sunsets were awsome. One night I hopped in a van with a few other cool visiters for a trip to the other side of the island to check out the leatherback turtles coming up to lay their eggs....oh my god, big huge turtle, at night, digging his hole to lay 100 hundred eggs by moon light....had to pinch myself to make sure i was just dreaming.....
Anyhow, If you have the chance to visit Grenada..
Stay at the Maca Bana Villas. The people there are exceptional in all ways. I stayed at the Rock Fig......Loved every single minute :) !!!!!

What a fabulous find in Grenada, West Indies--Maca Bana Villas!
When my husband and I were planning a trip to the Caribbean, we searched for a destination that would be restful and relaxing. And did we ever find it! Our incredible two-bedroom, two-bath villa (Mango) complete with gourment kitchen, hot tub, and a deck that wrapped around the entire villa was amazing. The villa itself had every possible amenity that you would need or want--up-to-date appliances, air conditioning (not just ceiling fans), beautiful linens, fresh flowers, and daily housecleaning. The view from our deck was more than memorable--a breathtaking scene of the Caribbean and the surrounding hills. The property has 7 villas ranging from one-bedroom (1-2 persons) to two-bedroom (3-4 persons), an infinity-edge swimming pool, and a restaurant--"The Aquarium"--for those who don't want to prepare all of their meals or leave the property. The staff was so guest friendly and ready to assist at any time--booking tours, rental cars, and restaurant reservations. Of all of our trips to the Caribbean (St. Martin, St. Bart's, Nevis, Aruba, Puerto Rico), this destination was our favorite--and definitely due to Maca Bana Villas. No longer will we stay in hotels or B&B's--Maca Bana has changed us for life!

My husband and I stayed at Maca Bana at the beginning of November 2007 on our honeymoon. We wanted somewhere quiet and luxurious and away from the crowds. We decided not to go for an all-inclusive place, as we prefer the choice to do our own thing with food, and wanted somewhere with more of a personal touch. Maca Bana certainly fulfilled all our expectations.

The location of the villa is extremely convenient for the airport – the transfer took about 2 minutes in a taxi (provided by Maca Bana). We were slightly concerned that, being so close to the airport, we would be disturbed by noise from planes. However, this wasn’t the case at all. I guess this is because the villas are screened from the airport by the hills behind, and because there are just so few flights that come in and out.

Maca Bana itself consists of seven individually designed villas arranged around a very pretty central garden (with attractive planting, ponds and waterfall), and swimming pool. As we were on our honeymoon, we were recommended to stay in Paw Paw villa, as it is probably the most secluded, being at the furthest end of the garden on the cliff-edge overlooking the sea. The villa was small but very nicely appointed, with its own kitchen (with every appliance or utensil you could want), an enormous comfy bed, and a bathroom with double sinks and a walk-in shower. However, the best thing about this villa has to be the view. It really is stunning. You wake up in the morning, open the curtains and there’s nothing between you and the most fantastic panoramic view of the beach, the tropical hills in the background, St Georges around the coast in the distance, and the sea stretching away. The balcony is perfect for two, with an under-cover seating area, a table, two loungers and a fantastic hot-tub. The balcony does stay in the shade almost all day – perfect for us, but I guess it might be an issue for a real sun-worshipper. The size of the villa was perfect for our honeymoon, but I think if you were after a bit more space (especially somewhere to sit and eat inside), you might be better going for one of the lager villas.

The villas all overlook the beautiful Magazine Beach, which is along the coast from the more famous Grand Anse beach. Access to the beach is down a very steep road (tricky in high heels!), through the Aquarium restaurant/beach bar (owned I believe by the same people who own the villas) – only a 3 or 4 minute walk. Coming back up the hill is more of a trek (it really is very steep), but just keep thinking about how good it is for toning-up your thighs! I think that November is just outside the main tourist season, but throughout our stay, the beach was pretty quiet. The all-inclusive Rex Grenada hotel is at the far end of the beach from the villas, but most of the people there seemed to stay at that end of the beach (although I don’t know how busy it would get in peak season). Maca Bana has an arrangement with a guy who rents out loungers on the beach, so you get to use them for free.

If you prefer not to swim in the sea, the pool is small but perfectly good, with a great view, and as there are so few villas altogether, I can’t imagine it would ever be crowded. We almost always had it to ourselves.

Michaela, who manages the villas, arranges for your fridge to be stocked with some basics before you arrive, and could probably get other things in for you if requested. She was generally extremely helpful, arranging a hire-car, a tour guide and recommending good places to eat. The Aquarium restaurant is good, and you can put any food you buy there on the bill for your room, which is always handy. We particularly recommend the barbeque on Sunday, when a live band plays reggae (which we could also hear perfectly from our balcony – great if you prefer to enjoy the music away from the crowd).

In terms of the island generally, there’s too much to say to put in this review. We thought it was amazing. Definitely go into the rainforest in the middle of the island and look round St Georges. Ask Michaela to arrange a tour with the completely charming Telfor Bedeau – he knows everything there is to know about the island, and took us to some amazing places. Make sure that your hire-car is an off-road type vehicle, as some of the roads (especially if you get off the main roads) are interesting… In terms of restaurants, we went to quite a few different places, but our favourite was the Beach House, just down the road – good food and cocktails, and the ambience is great.

One final word about choosing Maca Bana over other places – we did a lot of driving around the island and saw quite a few of the other places we had in mind before we came. I think that we would have been disappointed if we had chosen to stay at one of the places (such as Spice Island) on Grand Anse itself. The area around Grand Anse is MUCH more touristy (if anywhere on Grenada can be called touristy), and I don’t think it would have felt anywhere near as special or exclusive. We also went to La Luna (for an evening meal), where we were seriously considering staying , but I think we would have been equally disappointed. It’s much bigger than Maca Bana, and the gardens, the villas (not that we went inside any of them) and the pool/restaurant area just didn’t seem to have the same feeling of quality or individuality that you get at Maca Bana. The food there was good, but we felt it was over-priced.

To sum-up, we had a fantastic time, and we would definitely recommend it to anyone wanting a quieter stay away from the all-inclusive crowd, but still feeling like you’re indulging in a little bit of luxury!