If you haven’t heard of Roatan yet, a small but insanely beautiful island off of mainland Honduras, get ready to add it to your bucket list ’cause it’s bound to become a top travel destination in the next couple of years. Do yourself a favor and also add Grand Roatan Resort to that list too, a beautiful and peaceful property located on Roatan’s jewel, West Bay. I had the great pleasure to spend 3 days at the resort, which invigorated my senses with its sights, tastes, and sounds.
How to get there:
Fortunately, several US cities now have non-stop flights to this island in the middle of the Caribbean such as Houston, Miami, and Atlanta! Otherwise, international connections are often made through San Pedro de Sula airport in mainland Honduras, just a short flight away from paradise.
After a shuttle ride from the airport, I arrived at the resort and began to discover what makes it so special. At check-in I was met with the friendliest staff that I’ve ever encountered who made themselves available for any and every request and also made for lovely conversationalists since I was traveling by myself. Whether it was the head chef busy with his high-demand work schedule but always sending a warm smile and hello my way, the hotel managers, or various staff on the property, everyone was willing to strike up a conversation with me. Their hospitality will make you immediately feel at home in the resort, no matter how many thousands of miles away from your actual home you are. I could have stayed around the hotel grounds and chatted with them forever, but I was getting ahead of myself… I hadn’t even checked into my room yet!
The resort:
Grand Roatan Resort is home to several different types of accommodation that can appeal to every traveler: there’s ocean view suites, bigger apartment-style rooms for larger groups/family trips, and bungalows perched up on a hill, where I stayed and felt like I was in the remote jungle. All rooms are equipped with modern furniture and clean, stylish designs. My bungalow was a gorgeous two-story room that was very large, complete with an outdoor shower, a wooden lanai and hammock, and all the modern amenities one could want like a big TV, fast wifi, filtered water dispenser, adjustable air conditioning, you name it. I loved the little touches that made my room at Grand Roatan feel like home, from the fresh flower petals on my bed at check-in to welcome information on the desk.
What to do:
Grand Roatan Resort has everything one would expect from an island beach resort: a massive infinity pool complete with a volleyball net + floaties (great for kids and families) a swim up pool bar (great for adults like me!), the most pristine, private white sand beach and unimaginably turquoise water, and rental shacks where guests can rent snorkel gear, dive gear, or stand-up paddle boards for use. The hotel actually sits on the second largest barrier reef in the world, the Mesoamerican Reef, and right off the property is the very best snorkeling/diving on the entire island (seriously – all tour guides for the island refer visitors directly to this exact beach for the island’s most vibrant snorkeling). I wasn’t even knee-deep in water before I started seeing schools of colorful fish swim around me, seemingly unencumbered by my presence. Along the beach is also the hotel’s outdoor restaurant, Iron Shore Grill, with the loveliest selection of local food items, many of which were fresh caught from the ocean just meters away. The resort even incorporates the unique natural landscape into its hotel – the jungle walkways throughout are lined with coral that was once underwater where the current hotel grounds now stand, keeping in line with the undisturbed natural environment.
You could spend your entire vacation lounging at the resort and spending your time among its vibrant underwater life, but its also centrally located to many the other popular sightseeing spots on the island. Take a short taxi ride to the cute, laid-back beach town of West Bay to eat at restaurants with delicious Caribbean cuisine, walk around tourist shops, and visit nearby Half Moon Beach. Very close to the resort also is Gumbalimba Park, where visitors can have unique animal interactions with monkeys, parrots, iguanas, and more that call the park home. There’s also ziplining available here – great activity for families and adventurous travelers alike. After you’re done exploring the island, the peace and tranquility of Grand Roatan is the perfect place to come back to.
Social Responsibility:
Above all of the wonderful amenities, the attentive staff, and the beautiful grounds, though, what really sold me is the onus on social responsibility. It’s one of the main pillars of the resort and what made it so unique and unforgettable in my opinion. Omar, the Director of Marketing and Sales at Grand Roatan, was nice enough to give me more in-depth information about how the resort gets involved with the community. He explained that Grand Roatan Resort partners with local Abundant Life Foundation which works to create sustainable futures for the people of Roatan, mobilizing the community through education and conservation. ALF builds schools, funds scholarships for students, and organizes reef cleanups among other wonderful initiatives, and it’s even in the process of constructing a brand new affordable living community for locals. Grand Roatan works hand in hand with Abundant Life to ensure that as Roatan develops, it is doing so in a sustainable and beneficial way for both the island and its inhabitants. The resort even encourages guests to bring school supplies and books in order to fulfill resource needs at local schools, so definitely check their wish list here for more info when planning your trip!
In addition, the hotel’s beach was carefully & miraculously chosen by a mama sea turtle to hatch her eggs! Locals have never seen anything like it before and say its a once in a lifetime occurrence! Grand Roatan has risen to the occasion – they blocked off the area where the eggs were hatched and carefully helped the baby turtles find their way to the ocean once they hatched a few days ago! You can check out this web page they created here to learn more, and see videos of the rare happening. I was seriously impressed with the resort’s commitment to sustainability and social responsibility – it made me proud to stay at not only the most beautiful resort in Roatan, but also one that has its heart and soul in the right place.
With many new expansion projects on the horizon for Grand Roatan such as a full-blown spa, gym complex, and many more rooms coming in the near future, it’s only going to develop into an even more spectacular accommodation than it already is. I sincerely believe in this hotel and I believe in Roatan – both the resort and the island itself have everything a traveler could be looking for in a tropical getaway. What are you waiting for!?
Muchas gracias to Grand Roatan Resort for hosting me during my stay! As always, all opinions are my own.
