DefinitiveCaribbean logo - The Definitive Caribbean Guide - written by James Henderson, and Caribbean travel specialists. James Henderson is of Britain's most respected travel writers and the author of The Cadogan Guide to the Caribbean & the Bahamas.
Raffles Canouan
Category: Hotels and Resorts
Island: St Vincent and the Grenadines
Location: Canouan Island
Rooms: 88
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Aerial view of Raffles Canouan, Grenadines
Raffles Canouan from the sky

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Reception area at the resort, Raffles Canouan
Raffles Caouan reception

 

Entrance to the Canouan Church, Canouan Grenadines Hotel
Steps to the church, Canouan Island

 

Four poster bed at the Premium Personality Suite, Raffles Canouan
Premium Personality Suite, Raffles Canouan

 

Pool terrace, Canouan Grenadines hotel island Saint Vincent
Main pool and beach area

 

Ocean-view Palapa Huts in the sea, Raffles Canouan Island
Raffles Amrita Spa Palapa Huts

 

European Gourmet Cuisine at La Varenne, Trump Club Privee
La Varenne, overlooking Canouan Island

 

The jet service from Raffles Canouan, Grenadines
The Raffles Jet at the airstrip

 

View out to sea from Godahl Beach, Canouan dive centre
Godahl Beach, Canouan

 

Everlast boxing ring, Raffles Canouan Island
Multi-gym equipment, Raffles Canouan

 

Trump International Golf Club with views over the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic
Dramatic 13th green, Raffles Canouan

 

Raffles Amrita Spa treatment room, Raffles Canouan
Massage bed and changing room

 

The bed at the Premium Orchestra Suite, Raffles Canouan
Bedroom, Premium Orchestra Suite

 

The restaurant on Godahls Beach, Raffles Resort Canouan
Fine dining on Godahls Beach

 

Looking up at the Church spire, Canouan island
Church spire, Raffles Canouan

 

Drawing a picture at the The Sugar Palm Kids' Club, Raffles Canouan Island
The Sugar Palm Kids' Club

 

Aerial shot of Canouan, St Vincent and the Grenadines
Canouan Island aerial view

 

Sitting by the square at night, Raffles Canouan
The square, Raffles Canouan

 

Double basins and Bulgari bathroom products, Raffles Canouan
Bathroom study - Raffles Canouan

 

Living area in the Premium Orchestra Suite, canouan grenadines hotel
Premium Orchestra Suite, Raffles Canouan

 

Self-service at Jambu's, Raffles Canouan
Breakfast at Jambu's, Canouan

 

Looking over the Trump International Golf Club from a villa, Raffles Canouan Island
View of the golf course from a villa

 

Sunloungers on Godhal Beach, Canouan, Grenadines
Beach view out to sea, Canouan

 

Bedroom in the Garden View Suite, Canouan Island
Two bedroom Garden View Room

 

View over the Raffles Golf Course, Raffles Canouan
Fairways and Greens, Canouan Island

 

Living area and patio - Orchestra Level, Grenadines
Garden View Suite Living Room

 

Reception and golf buggy transport, Raffles Canouan
Reception at night, The Piazza

 
Raffles Canouan is a large and extremely luxurious resort in the Grenadines in the south-eastern Caribbean. Set around the broad Carenage Bay in the northern half of Canouan island (which it shares with The Grenadines Estate villas), the hotel has an elegant, even glitzy air and sleek contemporary design, with touches of the Orient as well as Italian inspiration in its brightly coloured suites. It has 88 very spacious rooms and suites and 5 villas (with pools), four restaurants and extremely extensive facilities that include a spa, a golf course, a casino, a beach club, children’s club, beauty salon and gym. Raffles Canouan is the first venture of the famous oriental hotel chain into the western hemisphere and it has successfully transferred its gracious service while at the same time maintaining Caribbean charm and style.

KEY FEATURES
An exclusive, elegant, Grenadines resort, 88 rooms and suites with private terrace, air-conditioning and fans, satellite TV, phone/fax/internet/voicemail, frette linen and towels, Bulgari bathroom products, in-room dining, twice-daily maid service, laundry, baby-sitting, golf cart transport, 2-5 bedroom villas with pools, four restaurants (French, Italian, international), Villa Monte Carlo casino, extensive Amrita spa with ocean view, Kids’ Club, boutiques, beauty salon, large main pool, beach club with pool and Jambu’s restaurant, watersports and scuba, 4 tennis courts, par 72 Jim Fazio golf course, multi gym with boxing ring, meeting rooms, business services, internet office, The Grenadines Estate villas office, jet service available from Barbados, airport transfer.

STYLE
Elegant contemporary, part Italian feel to the leisurely spaced, brightly painted villas with chic, stylish interiors. A certain exclusive atmosphere and visible elegance (where the rest of the Caribbean has steadily been dressing down, here some guests dress up)

CLIENT PROFILE
A broad range of wealthy travellers (families, couples, golfers) in a good mix of nationalities, US, Italian and other Europeans, some celebrities
 
Your first view of Raffles is most likely to be from the air, as your plane swings over the north of Canouan. The resort will be laid out beneath you - the shallow water in the curve of Carenage Bay, where two spa buildings stand out on stilts, the curved lines of rooms and suites enclosing the main pool and central buildings and the bright green fairways of the golf course that clamber over the high ground. Raffles is in the north of Canouan, in a private area that it shares with The Grenadines Estate villas. The view is fleeting though, as you will soon bank and swing in to land at the airstrip at the southern of the island, where you draw up at the tiny, brightly coloured, thatched terminal building.

Once you are back through the entrance gates of Raffles you pass the beach and spa and then turn inland, where you will see the hotel laid out before you in a huge amphitheatrical bay. The brightly-coloured cottages and villas stand at different levels on the hillside, ranged above the neatly tended grass of the golf course. At the point at the far side of the bay is the casino.

Incongruously, at the heart of so many modern buildings painted in light mustard and ochre, stands a stone parish church in traditional English style. It belonged to the community of islanders that used to live in this part of the island. After a hurricane about a century ago they moved to the south side of Canouan, abandoning their settlement. The church has now been restored and looks very attractive (it can be used for weddings). You will pass it as you arrive at ‘the Galleria’, the main 'Square' and the heart of the resort.

You pull up at the Reception building, which is tall and open-sided, its stone-clad columns softened by hanging muslin drapes. As you look around you can see that the Galleria establishes a couple of the resort’s main decorative themes. The white drapes, neatly stretched from ceiling to floor, strike a contemporary note among the traditional stone of walls and reproduction antiques. And then, hard next to it, Raffles’ oriental heritage comes through in the shallow ornamental pool which is laid with smooth grey rocks.

Next you will be taken to your room. In all there are 88 rooms and suites at the resort, set in lines that radiate from this central area around the side of the bowl, all laid out in ‘streets’ that are beautified with sprays of brightly coloured bougainvillea. Some have spectacular views, taking in the electric blues of the sea inside the reef and then the deep sea and sky beyond it. The rooms are generally very spacious and they are extremely nicely presented. The interior colour scheme feels quite earthy, with sandy-orange ochre or a blue wash under hefty beamed ceilings, but the furniture gives them a sophisticated, contemporary feel. Reproduction antiques and modern pieces, stained dark, stand stark against the subdued walls and materials. Many of the beds are four-posters made from wrought iron and hung with muslin drapes. Cushions, lamps and ornaments strike a note of urban chic. All the rooms have some outside space with wicker daybeds. Certain categories have their own plunge pool.

All the suites come with their own golf cart, so it is easy to get around the large resort, though it is a pleasant walk down to Jambu’s, the main dining room, to start the day. This is set in a large open-sided pavilion with a polished wooden floor set with dark tables and with woven straw chairs. Like the Galleria, the dining areas are sectioned by muslin hangings (and the building is also surrounded by a shallow pool with grey rocks), but in traditional Caribbean style it also has louvers, reaching out at angles, which provide shade and cut up the breeze. Jambu’s operates for all three meals.

Next to the dining room is the huge main pool, which is surrounded by a tiled deck set with loungers and parasols. The pool is crossed in a couple of places by wooden bridges and there is a bar beyond it where you can get any drinks you need. Just beyond the pool is the main beach on Carenage Bay, where you will also find loungers under palm-thatch parasols.

If you head inland from Jambu’s you pass the shop, which stocks beach essentials as well as some clothes, books and newspapers, and then the Sugar Palm Kids’ Club, where there is an organised programme for children from four to 14 years old. If you head uphill from here you find yourself back at the Galleria. Opposite the Galleria is Bellini’s Bar and La Piazza, their Italian restaurant, whose full length doors open onto a lovely view of the golf course on one side and the bay on the other. You will also find their more elegant boutiques, which carry jewellery and clothes, and a business centre. Downstairs from the Galleria is the gym and the golf pro shop. The ninth and the eighteenth greens are right there and a bar overlooks them.

During your stay you will definitely spend some time over at Godahl Beach, which is back towards the main entrance, past the Raffles Villa (one of a number of self-contained villas within the hotel). Here you will find the beach bar, Godahl’s, which has a less formal feel of course, and another style again. It is made with dark hardwood topped with palapa thatch which gives a feeling of the South Seas (an impression increased by the two spa treatment rooms set on stilts in the bay). At the front the bar gives onto a deck and then the sand with its palms. There are tables inside but the area looks particularly good at night with its lighted torches and tables out on the sand. Godahl’s hosts a barbecue several night a week.

The Amrita Spa is close by. The two rooms set on stilts may be the most distinctive (they even have glass floors, so you have a view of the sea during your treatments), but the other nine rooms are also equally special in their own way. They are set on the steep hillside, each one higher than the next and with an increasingly fine view.

On the other side of the resort, to the north of the golf course, you will see that the hillside is dotted with private villas. There is an ongoing programme of villa construction and some of them are included in the inventory of the hotel – giving you the privacy of the villa along with the facilities of the resort. Beyond here, at the far point of Carenage Bay, overlooking the hotel from the other side, is the casino, Villa Monte Carlo. It is one of the few casinos in the Caribbean with a European rather than an American feel. There is also a restaurant there, La Varenne, which serves fine French cuisine.

Raffles is a large resort and with its considerable facilities it suits many different types of traveller, including families and golfers as well as the usual Caribbean couples on an escape – the hotel is large enough for couples to escape to extremely comfortable privacy among the rest of the activity. Raffles has a glitzy edge to it too, with a cast of celebrities that come down over the winter season. Jet service is available from Miami and even London if you would like it. But perhaps the most exceptional aspect of the hotel is the way they have managed to train their staff. The level of service is unexpectedly attentive for the Caribbean and yet it is not formulaic or forced. The natural charm of the West Indians among the staff (and there are plenty of other nationalities too) has not been suppressed by all the training and this gives the large hotel a very personable atmosphere. Raffles Resort Canouan is the oriental hotels chain’s first venture into the Caribbean and it has a very good feel to it.

Update - The extended runway received its approval in late October 2008 and so aircraft up to the size of an Airbus 320 are permitted to land in Canouan now. These include private jets of course, with a range afield as North America and even Europe. Raffles has recently bought a Citation CJ3 for the purpose. It is available for transfers from Barbados and elsewhere around the Caribbean. The hotel has also added a 54ft Persching motoryacht, which is available for transfers and overnight trips around the Grenadines. On land they have added a crèche for babies to their Sugar Palm Kids’ Club and have renovated Jambu’s and Bellini’s, where they have introduced a new Mediterranean and seafood grill. And finally they have extended one of the holes on the golf course, which now makes it (apparently) the longest par 3 hole in the world. It is 210 yards long, with of course significant downhill.
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Beach & Swimming
There are two main (serviced) beaches within the grounds of the hotel. Both are on the eastern side of the island, where the sea is shallow and has a lovely shade of jade and blue because of a reef set offshore. This reef also breaks the big waves off the ocean, leaving the lagoon calm and excellent for swimming.

The main beach, Carenage Bay, is at the heart of the resort, below Jambu’s and the huge central pool. You will find a bar there where you can order a light meal, rather than having to go back to the main dining room. Around the corner to the south is Godahl Beach, where you will find the beach bar, set in a pretty wooden building with palm thatch. It is open each day and several evenings a week when it hosts the beach barbecues. The spa is also close by.

There are other, unserviced beaches in the meandering coastline of the north of the island to which you can escape. They include Mahault Bay. You can take a picnic and get the hotel to run you around.

There is a huge swimming pool at the heart of the resort, just behind the main beach. Several of the suites and all the villas have their own plunge pools.
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Sports & Recreation
There are plenty of activities on offer at Raffles Canouan. Their main watersports area is on Godahl Beach, where you will find kayaks, pedalos, small sailboats and windsurfers. There is also a beach volleyball court there if you wish to play. There are reefs to explore with a mask and snorkel, but if you wish to go deeper then scuba diving is available. Deep sea fishing can also be arranged.

You can of course go on a day sail. These visit the nearby Tobago Cays, just a few miles to the south. They are one of the loveliest places in the Caribbean.

There are several tennis courts at the resort if you wish to play tennis. Sunset walks to the spectacular ridge on the golf course can be arranged and you can borrow a mountain bike to explore the north of the island. Group yoga is available and there is also a diet of activities such as aqua-aerobics. A personal trainer can be provided. There is even a boxing ring in case you would like a sparring session with a pro.

Right next to Raffles you will find the excellent par 72 Jim Fazio Trump International Golf Course. It has 18 holes and some truly spectacular views – on the 13th tee you can see for miles north and south along the Grenadine island chain. But it also has an unforgiving rough (island scrub), occasional cross-winds and some very challenging holes. Beware Hole 15, which has caused grown men to weep. Hole 16 is reckoned to be the longest par 3 hole in the world. It is 300 yards long but it has an elevation drop of 240 feet, making the green (theoretically) achievable in one stroke.

The Casino
Trump Club Privee is set in Villa Monte Carlo, a modern building with classical arches and balustrades across on the other side of the bay from the main section of the resort. The casino is very much in European style, giving it a very different atmosphere to other casinos around the Caribbean, which are largely dominated by slot machines. There is a large gaming room in which you will find a bar surrounded by tables offering traditional games including roulette, vingt-et-un and dice games. La Varenne, their french restaurant is located in the same building.
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The Spa
Raffles’ Amrita Spa is set next to Godahl Beach, slightly away from the main part of the resort. There is a reception area at the sea’s edge, reached by a stone path and rope balustrades from the beach bar area. There are eleven treatment rooms in all, two of which are set in their own thatched buildings on stilts out in the shallow water of the bay (these two have glass floors so that you can see down into the water). The other nine treatment rooms are set on the hillside above it, reached by a funicular railway. The cottages are all made with hardwoods with a double pitched, thatched roof, and they have a lovely feel about them, with a Jacuzzi on the balcony and of course a superb view over the sea.

All treatments are preceded by 30 minutes of relaxation and another 30 minutes of downtime afterwards. There is a long menu of procedures which include beauty treatments as well body polishes, wraps and scrubs and several types of massage – including a number of Asian and Thai massages. They even have a treatment for parent and child, which includes a massage for the mother or father and a back massage and a manicure or pedicure for the child. All the therapists have been through training in Singapore.
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Staff
Raffles Resort Canouan is the oriental chain’s first resort hotel in the Caribbean (they have other, mainly urban hotels in the United States and Canada as well as in the Far East). The staff is one of the success stories of Raffles Canouan. The majority is West Indian (some come from the Grenadines themselves, even Canouan, but many come from St Vincent, or ‘the mainland’ as it is known), but others come from all over the world, from other Raffles’ resorts, and the mix works very well.

The general manager of Raffles Canouan is Gilbert Madhavan, who has spent many years working for the chain.
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The Rooms
Raffles has both suites and rooms, 88 of them in all, and they are all extremely spacious. And they take best advantage of their situation by opening onto the excellent views of the bay. Raffles is set over a relatively large area and all rooms have their own golf cart to help you get around.

Inside most have terra cotta tile floors and an earthy wash to the walls. With elegant furniture and excellent decoration and fittings that give them a strong contemporary and a sophisticated feel. The rooms are air-conditioned, but there are also louvers that you can open to allow in the natural air - their size means that the air can circulate well. All the suites have some outside space with wicker daybeds. Certain categories have their own plunge pool. There are Raffles Amrita products in the bathrooms.

The Raffles Villa is a four bedroom villa with its own service within the hotel. Other villas that form part of The Grenadines Estate , a community of private villas mainly to the north of the golf course, are also in the inventory of the hotel.
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Dining
There are four restaurants at Raffles Canouan, each with a different setting and atmosphere. Jambu’s, which has a sleek design with some traditional Caribbean features such as polished wood and louvers, is set close to the main beach. It serves all three meals and has international cuisine. Snacks are also served at the bar next to the main pool in case you do not want to move from the beach.

On Godahl Beach you will find a beach bar, Godahl’s. This is set in a very pretty thatched wooden building that has a feel of the South Seas. It serves grilled fare and holds barbecues several times a week, in which your food is cooked in braziers down on the beach itself.

For a more formal evening you can try one of the two other dining rooms. La Piazza is their elegant Italian restaurant. This overlooks the golf course from full height French windows. In the distance on the opposite hillside you can see the fourth restaurant, La Varenne. This is based in the Villa Monte Carlo casino and has a French menu.

Room service is available 24 hours a day.
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Weddings
Raffles Canouan is happy to hold a marriage ceremony for you and has a resident wedding co-ordinator to help arrange the details. They will see to all the legal aspects and provide a pastor for the marriage itself, however they will also liaise with you to design all the aspects of the celebration, including food, music and drinks for the reception as well as a cake, flowers, video and photography etc. You may chose to be married in their church, the original parish church for the north of the island, which has been restored and is an extremely pretty setting. However, it is also possible to stage the ceremony in other locations too. You might opt for the beach, or Villa Monte Carlo on the hillside. The 13th hole on the golf course, with its spectacular views up and down the islands, is also a popular choice.
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Children
Raffles has an extensive programme for children, which is based in their dedicated kids’ club, the Sugar Palm Kids Club. This is situated down by Jambu’s near the main pool. It is open daily in the mornings and afternoons, 9am-12 noon and 1-5pm (sometimes in the evenings too) and caters for children between four and 14. It has a series of activities indoor and outside including arts and crafts, face painting, mask and jewellery making and t-shirt painting and then treasure hunts, nature walks and swimming and running games. There is a playground in the form of a pirate ship.

UPDATE - On 15 February, 2009 Raffles opened their new RAFFLES CRÈCHE for children from 6 months to 4 years of age. Cost US$15 per hour. It is staffed with Certified Childhood Educators. The Sugar Palm Kids Club remains complimentary.
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Rates

 

01 May-

18 Dec

2009

19 Dec-

08 Jan

2009-10

09 Jan-

11 Apr

2010

12 Apr-

17 Dec

2010

Meal Plan

BP

BP

BP

BP

RESORT VIEW

Room

Junior Suite

One-Bedroom Suite

Two-Bedroom Suite

*375

*450

*525

*720

1,050

1,650

1,850

2,900

850

1,225

1,475

2,325

495

750

840

1,335

OCEAN VIEW

Room

One-Bedroom Suite

Two-Bedroom Suite

One-Bedroom Personality Pool Suite

Two-Bedroom Personality Pool Suite

665

1,175

1,840

1,420

2,085

1,500

2,650

4,150

3,750

5,250

1,140

2,000

3,140

2,425

3,565

665

1,175

1,840

1,420

2,085

OCEAN FRONT

One-Bedroom Personality Pool Suite

Two-Bedroom Personality Pool Suite

1,940

2,605

4,450

5,950

2,950

4,085

1,940

2,605

VILLAS

Savan - 2 bedrooms with pool

Mopion - 3 bedrooms with pool

Raffles - 4 bedrooms with pool

Balliceaux  - 4 bedrooms with pool

Mopiceaux – 5 bedrooms with pool

2,700

4,000

5,800

5,800

7,500

5,550

10,500

12,500

12,500

20,000

4,150

7,875

10,500

10,500

12,500

2,700

4,000

5,800

5,800

7,500

 

All rates are in US$ per room/suite/villa per night, BP = including full buffet breakfast, non-alcoholic drinks in mini-bar, airport transfers, tropical fruit basket on arrival, non-motorised watersports, one golf cart per unit, Sugar Palm Kids Club for ages 4yrs up, tennis and use of fitness centre.  Rates are subject to 10% Government Tax and 10% Service Charge.  Children under 17 years stay free when sharing with parents. Extra person rate US$99 per night plus 20% tax and service.  Meal Plans: A la carte meal supplements are per person/child per day and are subject to 15% tax and 10% service: Adults - dinner US$68, lunch and dinner US$98. Children 6-17yrs – dinner including soft drinks US$34 and lunch and dinner including soft drinks US$44 – children under 6 yrs are complimentary. Children must be on same meal plan as parents. Supplements may apply for special menus/meals. All rates are subject to change without notice.  * Special promotional summer 2009 rates.

 

Mopion, Raffles, Balliceaux and Mopiceaux villas all come with a butler and chef.

 

A three night deposit is required to secure all reservations based on first and last two nights of stay which will be forfeit if the reservation is cancelled within 14 days of arrival during the winter season and 7 days during summer. Special deposit and cancellation policies apply to Christmas/New Year bookings when the minimum stay requirement is 10-12 nights (12 for the villas). Please contact the resort for further details.  

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Special Offers
RAFFLES BONUS NIGHTS
Stay at Raffles this summer and get FREE nights: Stay 7 nights and pay for 6, stay 10 nights and pay for 8 OR stay 14 nights and pay for 11. Offer applies to all room categories for stays from 01 May-18 December 2009. Offer must be mentioned at time of booking and cannot be combined with other offers.

SUPER FAMILY OFFER - 50% DISCOUNT PLUS…
Enjoy a 50% discount off the published room rates for new bookings for One and Two-Bedroom Ocean View Suites for stays from 01 May-18 December 2009. Plus enjoy 10 hours complimentary babysitting/crèche. Plus free meals for children under 6 yrs and 50% off meal plans for children 6-18 yrs. Plus complimentary soft drinks are provided in your room and replenished daily. Also complimentary Sugar Palm Kid’s Club and all rooms come with a golf cart. Note – One-Bedroom sleeps 2 adults and 2 children and the Two-Bedroom a family up to 7 persons.

GOLF & SPA INDULGENCE
Buy one Green Fee (18 hole) or Spa Massage Treatment or Package and get the second (lowest one of two) on a COMPLIMENTARY basis. This does not have to be booked in advance and can be combined with other offers. Offer valid for stays from 01 May-18 December 2009.

50% DISCOUNT ON OCEAN VIEW ROOMS AND SUITES
This former Liat Launch Offer is now available when booking ANY airline or charter to Canouan (CIW). As Liat only operates 4 days per week to Canouan, Raffles Canouan is pleased to extend the 50% off to ALL Ocean View Rooms and Suites bookings for stays from 01 May-18 December 2009. Conditions apply. Please contact the resort for further details.

All offers subject to availability and to change/withdrawal without notice. Offers cannot be combined (unless otherwise stated) and must be mentioned on booking
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Raffles Canouan Classic 2009
Raffles Canouan is pleased to announce the launch of the first annual Raffles Canouan Classic Amateur Golf Tournament held 29 November to 05 December 2009 at The Trump International Golf Club, Canouan Island.

The Trump International Golf Course has the longest par 3 in the world and was recently voted No.8 in the Top 10 Golf Courses in the World by Ultra Travel Magazine.

The golf programme will run over a course of 7 days with prizes up to the value of US$10,000 (non-monetary). The golfers with the two lowest net scores per hole to count; with the lowest cumulative score over the 3 competition rounds will be crowned The Raffles Canouan Classic Champions 2009.

Prices for the Raffles Canouan Classic Package start at US$2,750 per person, double occupancy, including tax.

All package prices include:

- Six (6) nights Accommodation.
- Full Board including three dine around - a la carte dinners - Unlimited Green Fees
- Gala dinner at the Villa Monte Carlo including house wines & champagne
- Day excursion to the Tobago Cays including lunch.
- Complimentary tournament gifts, non-alcoholic beverages in the mini-bar, access to the Trump Club Privée & RafflesAmrita Fitness Centre, complimentary full time use golf cart per room and all non-motorised water sports.

Alcoholic beverages are not included except on the excursion to the Tobago Cays and the Gala Dinner. All taxes are included.

Please see
here for further information and for the Raffles Canouan Classic itinerary.
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Availability

The time is fast approaching for the Raffles Canouan Golf Classic being held on 29 November - 05 December, 2009. There are still a few spaces remaining, please see above for details.

 

Latest 2009 FESTIVE SEASON availability (as of 07 Nov) for those last minute bookings - rates recently reduced, see above rate table.

 

Wide Open Available from 19 Dec- 04 Jan  

(07 Nights Minimum Stay)

01x Resort View Junior Suite

03 x Ocean View Suite- 01-Bedroom

01x Ocean View Suite- 02-Bedroom

02 x Ocean View Personality Pool Suite- 01 Bedroom

08 x Ocean View Personality Pool Suite- 02 Bedroom

02 x Ocean Front Personality Pool Suite- 01 Bedroom

02 x Savan Villa -02 Bedroom w/ Pool

01 x Mopion Villa- 03 Bedroom w/ Pool

04 x Balliceaux Villa- 04 Bedroom w/ Pool

 

Room Availability

No Minimum Night Stay Requirements

02 x Resort View Room (till 28 December)

08 x Resort View Junior Suite (till 28 December)

02 x Resort View 01-Bedroom Suite (till 28 December)

01 x Ocean View 02-Bedroom Suite (till 29 December)

01 x Ocean View Personality Pool Suite- 01 Bedroom (till 28 December)

01 x Ocean View Personality Pool Suite- 02 Bedroom (till 31 December)

01 x Ocean Front Personality Pool Suites- 01 Bedroom (till 31 December)

Raffles Villa  04 Bedroom with Pool (till 28 December)

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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 Raffles Canouan, or if you wish to telephone them, their telephone number will be revealed if you click on the CONTACT TELEPHONE NUMBER link.
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UK Tour Operators
If you wish to book through a tour operator or travel organiser, please follow the TOUR OPERATOR link below.
See List of UK Tour Operators
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Locality
To the north of the resort area, Canouan is pretty undeveloped, though private villas are gradually springing up there and it will eventually become a villa community (it is being developed by Trump Villas). You can walk or explore this area by mountain bike.

If you would like to explore the rest of Canouan then you will need to take a tour, which can be arranged through the hotel, or a taxi. It is not far back into the small town of Charlestown, through which you will have passed on your way to Raffles. This area of Canouan is mostly a very simple West Indian community with a few local bars and restaurants. Many of the islanders still depend on fishing and farming for their livelihood. After a quick walk around the town you will probably end up on the superb beach, where you will the Tamarind Beach Hotel (which is also owned by Canouan Island, the overall owner of the north of the island). Here you will find an excellent beach bar that looks out onto the Caribbean Sea. In the bay you will see the yachts of the Moorings company, who have their Grenadines base here.

You can of course arrange a trip to the other islands nearby. Mayreau is tiny and sleepy and has barely a hundred inhabitants along with a handful of excellent beaches. Heading north, Mustique has a completely different feel to it, as sophisticated as Mayreau is simple. Bequia has an almost supernatural charm and is well worth a visit. But the best known and most spectacular islands in the area are the small collection of the Tobago Cays, which lie a few miles to the south-east of Canouan. They are four uninhabited islets in spectacular, incredibly clear sea and excellent reefs. They are one of the most magical places in the Caribbean.
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Meet & Greet
Once you touch down in Canouan you will be greeted by the hotel staff at the airport, inside the tiny, brightly coloured airport building. From there you will be taken by Mercedes minibus or 4x4 to the reception area in the Galleria at the heart of the resort.

If you are travelling via Barbados, you will in fact be met at the airport there. A member of Raffles’ staff will escort you to your inter-island plane and get you on your way. You do not need to clear Customs and Immigration in Barbados. Your luggage may well come to Canouan on a different plane as sometimes the loads are too big, so you are advised to take a change of clothes and your swimmers in your hand luggage.
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Getting To and Around Canouan
Getting to Canouan can be quite a complicated procedure as it involves at least two flights for most people. From the North American mainland there are two main options, first to fly via San Juan in Puerto Rico, from where there are direct flights into the small island, and second to make a long haul flight into Barbados (which is also the best bet anyway for those flying from Europe). There is a meet and greet service at the airport in Barbados for travellers going to Raffles.

Raffles is happy to help you with organising your inter-island flights and add it to your bill. In fact, if you stay more than seven nights then they will include the flights from Barbados. If you want to arrange your own travel from Barbados then there are quite good routes across to Canouan. You can charter a small plane privately, but be aware of the many hopper flights make the way across on a ‘share charter’ basis. In Barbados the Raffles staff will meet you airside, arrange for your luggage to be collected and then take you straight out to the waiting plane.

The runway on Canouan is licensed to take coma small jets and so it is possible to charter a private jet from Miami as well as from Barbados. And in this case, if you stay more than ten nights in a suite then it entitles you to a transfer in the hotel jet from Barbados.

There is an island tour of Canouan available to guests of Raffles. Alternatively there are taxis that will run you down and back. There is barely a reason to hire a car.

If you wish to go further afield to one of the other Grenadine islands nearby, then there are plenty of motorboats and yachts that are available for private charter.
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Raffles Canouan Video
Please see below for a video of Raffles Canouan, an exclusive resort in the Grenadines in the south-eastern Caribbean. Ideal for spa treatments, golf and other sporting activities.

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