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Style: Spacious and very open villa that uses plenty of terra cotta and dark hardwoods – in doors, French windows and balustrades - to give a natural tropical feel. Intentionally simple but elegant
The Beach: A couple of minutes walk to Tom’s Bay
The Rooms: Huge and open master bedroom with a four-poster and a sunset view through the trees. Second twin bedroom downstairs
Key features: Cool Caribbean islands rental; full kitchen, fridge/freezer in open-plan kitchen/living, wooden ’New Zealand’ deck with daybed and dining room, telephone, DSL broadband, CD player, locally made furniture, bedroom with a view.
Children: Welcome
Staff: Maid service one morning a week (can be arranged more often) |
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Description
Driftwood is a delightful two bedroom rental villa set on Carriacou, Grenada’s small and laid back sister island in the Grenadines. It is a very nicely designed house, intentionally quite lean in appearance - relaxed rather than over-styled or self-consciously minimal - and extremely open, so that it offers the best tropical ‘inside-outside’ living. It has a strong sense of family personality and is pleasantly decorated with bright paintings and stylish fittings.
Although the romantic name Driftwood is appropriate for the easy nature of Carriacou the island, it actually belies the prettiness of the wood in the villa itself, where dark hardwood louvers are set against the cream walls and the furniture, picture frames, lamp stands and beds are made of wood. The floor on the upper storey is polished wood and the ‘New Zealand Room’ a raised deck at the side of the house, is made entirely of wood.
Driftwood sits very slightly inland in the Snow Hill area in the north of the island, in a small community of private villas. You climb a short drive surrounded by greenery and then the villa appears before you, set prettily in a garden, all off white stucco, hardwoods and a double-pitched tin roof framed by the trees. Behind the criss-cross balustrades on the verandas, French doors and very large windows open onto the rooms, encouraging any passing breeze and cooling the house in the traditional Caribbean manner. Driftwood is fan ventilated rather than air-conditioned.
Stairs at the corner of the house bring you through a louvered wooden gate onto a tiled deck, the main sunbathing area, on the middle of the three levels of the house. There are loungers here to make the best of the sun by day and Adirondack chairs in which you can sit out in the evenings. The deck is partially covered (by the New Zealand Room), so there is also an area where you can get out of the sun. The main dining table is also under here, so you will eat most of your meals here.
The balustrade, a series of cross-cross struts in classic Caribbean style, continues right along the front of the house, running into a covered veranda. From here, French windows open into the main living space, a large, open-plan sitting room and kitchen. This room is also tiled and again wood is used throughout, in the louvers that screen the windows and in the furniture, which was produced on Carriacou. The armchairs and sofa are made from rough-hewn branches of white cedar, so they are stylishly rustic.
The kitchen is set to one side, behind a large island but very much open to the room. A large fridge-freezer and a cooker stand against the wall beside white cupboards on which you will find the main work-surface. The island, which acts as a breakfast bar, is made of greenheart wood. It is lit by large hanging lamps and the work-surfaces are covered by chrome spots.
The sitting area is large and open (there is another veranda at the back of the house, so the room opens up completely to the light and air). It has a large sofa and a couple of armchairs, covered in light material, set around a low table. There is a CD player with some CDs. On the rear wall of the room is a desk. You can feel the personality of the owners in the living room. Around the walls there are photographs and paintings, some of which are painted by the owner.
Set against the far wall is a shallow-pitched set of wooden stairs which leads to the upper storey. This is taken up entirely by the main bedroom and bathroom and is equally open to the light and breeze as the living room floor. The huge four-poster bed, which is covered in muslin netting, sits in the centre of the room, facing forward, looking over the veranda. It is from here that you get the best of the view (as well as from the bed itself), which looks west out over Hillsborough Bay, to the furthest hills of Carriacou, the offshore islands and eventually to the sunset. There is no rear veranda on the top floor but light is let in through glass walls. There is a large bathroom with an open shower.
The New Zealand Room is accessed from the bedroom. It is a deck, made of wood, with louvered sides to give it shade and it is entirely dominated by a large raised bed, an ideal place to spend a few lazy moments during the day.
The second bedroom is on the ground floor, level with the garden, beneath the main living room area. This is slightly more functional in design, but it is comfortable enough and has the benefit of A/C. It has twin beds and its own shower room. Other rooms such as the laundry are also downstairs.
Driftwood feels larger than you might expect of two bedrooms as it has so much ‘liveable’ space, much of which confuses indoors and outdoors in the best Caribbean tradition. It is very comfortable and has classic style, making it ideal as a Caribbean island villa rental. |
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Beach & Swimming
Driftwood is set back from the shoreline at Tom’s Beach, where there is a reasonable section of mid-brown sand. There is snorkelling not far offshore at both ends of the beach.
The closest of the island’s excellent beaches is at Anse la Roche, just north of Bogles. Although development is possibly on the cards there, the beach has no facilities at present and so you will have to take all you need in the way of water and food. Alternatively you can head down to Paradise Bay on the other side of Hillsborough, another excellent stretch of sand, where there is a beach bar. |
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Sports & Recreation
Watersports are limited on Carriacou. The scuba diving, however, is pretty good and there are several companies. Try Carriacou Silver Diving in Hillsborough, which is not far away. They will also rent you snorkelling gear.
There are several excellent day sails based in the island (people come from as far afield as Grenada and Barbados for them), which visit the islands off Carriacou and also the Tobago Cays a few miles to the north. If you would prefer to travel independently, you can get one of the water-taxi men to run you out to Sandy Island off Paradise Beach. They are happy to pick up from Tom’s Beach. |
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Locality
Driftwood is in the north of Carriacou, in a small villa community called Snow Hill close to the village of Bogles. Hillsborough, the island’s capital town (more of a village, really) is just a few minutes away. Here you will find supermarkets, a couple of ‘sights’, including the small museum, and a handful of restaurants, including Callaloo and the Garden Restaurant. Close by, towards Bogles, is the Round House, a very nice restaurant set in a private house.
Beyond Hillsborough along the coast is Paradise Beach (though you have to go inland to get around the airport), the liveliest beach on the island. And not far beyond here is Tyrell Bay, where there are several restaurants and bars to go with a fantastic view of the sunset through the yachts and local trading boats. Try Turtle Dove and Lambi Queen, or the bar on the pontoon in the bay.
There are also a number of islands off Carriacou, which make for excellent day trips. It is also possible to go there independently - the easiest to reach is Sandy Island, a ribbon of coral and sand just off Paradise Bay. You can arrange for a boatman to take you out there – and collect you again later in the day. |
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Useful Hints
Down Island Villa Rentals can arrange for a cooked meal to be delivered to Driftwood on your first evening so that you do not have to think about it on your arrival. It is part of their restaurant delivery and fresh food ‘Heat and Eat’ service. They can also stock your villa with groceries in advance if you wish. After your booking is confirmed, Down Island will send out a provisions list. Alternatively please see the Provisions List and email it to Down Island Villas when you confirm your reservation. The cost of the shopping will be added to your account. These services are subject to a service charge of up to 15%. |
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Rates
| | 16 Apr-15 Dec 2009 | 16 Dec-15 Apr 2009-10 | 16 Apr-15 Dec 2010 | | Driftwood (sleeps 4) 1-2 guests Extra persons | 160 20 | 185 20 | 160 20 | Rates are quoted in US$ per night and are subject to 10% service charge. All rates are subject to change without notice. Minimum rental 5 nights 30 Apr-15 Dec and 6 nights 16 Dec-29 Apr. A deposit of 25% of the total rental cost is required to confirm bookings and is refundable less 10% if cancelled 60 days prior to arrival and is non-refundable if cancelled within 60 days of arrival. Full payment due 60 days prior to arrival. |
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How to Book
If you wish to make further enquiries or a reservation, please use the WEB LINK or DIRECT EMAIL ENQUIRIES facility at the top of this page to make contact with Down Island Villas in Carriacou, or if you wish to telephone them, their telephone number will be revealed if you click on the CONTACT TELEPHONE NUMBER link. If you wish to see more villas available for rent on Carriacou through Down Island Villas, please click on the name. |
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Getting to Carriacou
Getting to your villa in Carriacou can be a little complicated. The easiest access is probably via Grenada, from where there are usually three daily flights on SVG Air. However the latest flight is at about 4pm, so (depending on your international connections) you may not be able to make the island on the same day. You might consider a two-centre holiday with a villa in Grenada. Another option is the fast ferry, the Osprey, which runs twice daily both ways between the islands. The last sailing to Carriacou is at about 5.30pm.
Barbados is better served with international flights than Grenada and so it may be easier to route your journey via there. Inter-island flights are not ideal, but you can take a share charter flight to Union Island. From here there are two different options, a short hop by plane (be aware that the last flight usually leaves by about 4pm) or a water taxi ride from Union Island to Carriacou. Another option to consider from Barbados, the most direct of all, is to take a private charter in a small plane. This is obviously convenient and, if there are enough of you, prices will be comparable. The option of a private charter probably gives you the best chance of getting to Carriacou on the same day. Contact SVG Air.
A couple of days a week there are also services from Carriacou via Canouan, which is not far away in the Grenadines. Canouan can be reached from San Juan in Puerto Rico.
For more details on flight times, please see Getting to Carriacou. |
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Meet & Greet
Down Island Villas will meet you at the airport or the ferry dock in Hillsborough when you arrive on Carriacou. They will take you to Driftwood, where the housekeeper will settle you in and answer any questions you have about the villa or about the island.
On departure, most guests drive themselves back to the ferry dock or the airport, but if you would prefer, Down Island will arrange transport for you free of charge. |
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Getting Around
It is well worth exploring Carriacou island during your time there and so a car is a useful addition to a visit. You can visit the beaches for the day, collect your groceries and eat out when you do not want to cater for yourself. We recommend a rental car with every Caribbean vacation villa rental and suggest that you make a reservation in advance through Down Island Villas, who use our recommended Carriacou car hire company, Martin and Wayne Jeep Rentals. Or you can do so through your travel organiser.
Down Island’s delivery driver will bring the jeep to Driftwood so that you can complete the paperwork. They will then accompany you to the Police Station in order for you to get your local Grenadian driving licence (price EC$30 for each driver), and give you an orientation tour of Hillsborough and the area at the same time. Be aware that at the height of the season between December and April, as well as during August and Thanksgiving (November), cars on island can be booked up, so it is a good idea to reserve one in advance.
Buses do run around the island, from Hillsborough past Snow Hill to Bogles and across to Windward. You will need to walk down to the main road. Services are unpredictable. Taxis will come to the villa itself. |
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Thank you for your interest. |
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