You may or may not have heard of the Essential Hotel Collection, and if you haven’t you soon will. The collection is made up of a few hand-picked, luxury hotels and resorts throughout the Caribbean. Each of them are privately owned, places of personality who offer exquisite service and luxury.

The Calabash Hotel is the only hotel in Grenada to be part of the collection and it is a true honour!

To peruse the other gorgeous resorts in the collection, and to receive some great deals and rewards, have a look at www.essentialhotelcollection.co.uk.

From the instant you set eyes on Castaway – A Grenadian Idyll, you can help but think “WOW”. Even with all the hustle and bustle of the flower show going on around, the exhibit has an amazing ability to transport you to a tranquil beach in the tropics.

Then the steel pans start up and the party began. Passersby, media and celebrities immediately flocked over to the exhibit, drawn in by the bright colours, music and the rum punch. Even other exhibitors abandoned their own stands and made a beeline over to us – Grenada stood out like a shining beacon and we all new we were headed for gold.

Awards are something Suzanne Gaywood is used to. As we speak she is down at Buckingham Palace rubbing elbows with the Royals to collect her well deserved MBE.  This is her 9th Chelsea Award, and I imagine they’ll be many more to come.

For more photos of the flower show, have a look at the album on our facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/calabashhotel

Grenada’s devastating beauty resonates from its golden lined shores to its mountainous interior, which seems to reach up to the heavens and is showered the most fantastic tropical flowers that will adorn the little beach shack at the centre of the exhibit.

Entitled Castaway, the exhibit is an inspirational piece of art with a very powerful message:

“We want to send a clear message about the importance of preserving the natural riches of islands like Grenada for future generations.  Action now to embrace sustainability can help to ensure Grenada survives as a paradise for the castaways of today and tomorrow, and RHS Chelsea provides an opportunity to raise environmental awareness.’’ – (Suzanne Gaywood, Exhibitor and Designer)

Suzanne was recently appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). A regular exhibitor at the Chelsea Flower Show, where she has mounted displays of plants from the Caribbean island for more than a decade, her honour is in recognition of her services to tourism in Grenada and to horticulture.

Team Grenada will be joined on Press day, Monday 23^rd May, by LCpl Johnson Beharry VC , recent semi -finalist of ITV’s ‘Dancing on Ice’ programme, & Celebrity chef Gary Rhodes OBE

With the help of three of our villa owners, we managed to raise the substantial amount of money to pay for the equipment as designated by Dr. Earlyne Thomas. At the ceremony Leo Garbutt stated that when he was asked to assist the Eye Clinic, the request hit the right spot as his mother in law needed a lot of assistance with her eyes as she had glaucoma, an all too common ailment in Grenada.

In receiving the equipment Dr Thomas,  thanked Leo Garbutt and the other donors for their generosity and stated that she knew that the equipment would help in her daily diagnosis’s at the Eye Clinic.

The Calabash has been nominated in the category of “Grenada’s Leading Resort” by the World Travel Awards which will take place in Orlando in September. The nominations are based on last year’s voting and recommendations made by travel, tourism & hospitality industry professionals.

Added to this Grenada has been nominated in the “Caribbean’s Leading Honeymoon Destination” and Grand Anse beach may well be voted “The Caribbean’s Leading Beach”.

Very exciting news for the hotel and the island, so fingers crossed everyone!

The aircraft owner, a commercial airline pilot living in Miami Beach, was flying his small plane to Grenada. His cousin, Bancroft O. Nyack, joined him for the trip to his home in the island country. They left Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport at about 8 a.m. Thursday but never made it to their first stop to refuel the Piper Turbo Aztec at Providenciales International Airport in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Authorities think the plane, owned by Compton, may have crashed about 10 miles northeast of Plana Cays, two small islands in the southern Bahamas.

Crews from the U.S. Coast Guard have been searching the waters around the area where the 1981 Piper was last heard from about 11:30 a.m. Thursday, said Petty Officer 3rd Class Sabrina Elgammal, a Coast Guard
spokeswoman.

David Van Sickle, the pilot of a corporate jet who was airborne nearby contacted the Federal Aviation Administration to report an emergency distress call from the Piper, recently purchased by its owner. It’s not clear if the former or Nyack, who also is an FAA-certified pilot, was at the controls when the plane went down.

The Piper had lost power in both engines and was descending rapidly, according to a discussion on FlightAware.com, which tracks flights internationally.

“It was gut-wrenching speaking to [the pilot of the Piper] knowing there was nothing I could do but try my best to quickly get as much info from him and relay it clearly to Miami and hope the rescue goes
well,” Van Sickle wrote in an e-mail to a pilot friend, Robert Reid of Toronto.

The plane’s owner regularly flew 757 and 767 jets for a major airline out of Washington, D.C., said the man’s brother, who did not want to give the name of the airline. He described his brother as a “a very private
guy” who wouldn’t like strangers reading about him.

He said Nyack, 30, is a cousin who was visiting South Florida for about a week before leaving to return home.
Nyack’s family owns the Belmont Estate plantation in northern Grenada, according to Belmont’s website. Belmont Estate, an authentic 17th-century plantation that allows guests to participate in the workings of a fully functional plantation, is Grenada’s top tourist attraction.

Our thoughts go out at this difficult time to all at Belmont Estate and we hope for some positive news on this story.

Simon Cowell

The pint sized impresario will be visiting Grenada’s sunny shores over the festive period to play Santa. He’s selected a rather luxurious sleigh for his gift deliveries – a 12 berth/43metre super yacht called ‘Slipstream’. Apparently it will set him and his shipmate, Sir Philip Green, back to the tune of £625,00 per week. We’re pretty sure they can afford it.

A source said “Simon wanted a change of scenery rather than spend another Christmas looking at Michael Winner’s gut at Sandy Lane for dinner.”

He should be on his way to Grenada right now after having left Barbados, and his reason for coming to Grenada? To deliver presents to his ex-girlfriend and best mate Sinitta and family who are apparently on the island.

Slipstream - the big sleigh

The source went on to say “Then he is off to Antigua for cocktails with Amanda Holden and her husband Chris Hughes. And then Jacqui St Clair is planning to meet up with him when he hits St Barths.

“Simon hates winters in England and has been looking forward to this trip for months. He chose this yacht because of the high spec. It oozes luxury – as soon as he docks the three-storey beast, people will be impressed.

“He could have gone for something more discreet, but that isn’t Simon’s style. He turned 50 this year and decided it would be his Christmas treat to himself.”