Xel-Ha
Hillside, Fort Jeudy, Southeast, Grenada
3 Bedrooms, 3 Bathrooms
Maximum Occupancy: 6
Description
Xel-Há (pronounced Shell Ha) is a striking modern villa in Grenada, built in Mexican style set above a wild and undeveloped section of the island’s southern coastline. It is in the Fort Jeudy area, on one of the finger promontories to the east of the island’s tourist heartlands of Point Salines and L’Anse aux Epines and is secluded and quiet. The houses in Fort Jeudy, which are mostly private homes owned by Grenadians, are well spaced from one another, so it is easy to cut yourself off for a week with just family or a few friends.
After a fairly bumpy ride, you will be greeted on arrival by Whisky the dog (he belongs to the manager, so it is not a problem if you would prefer him not to be loose). The Mexican style of the house is immediately visible, in the rounded façade and arches, the Spanish roof tiles and the walls of adobe plasterwork. These are painted in an earthy yellow ochre. As you draw closer you will also get a sense of the stylised rusticity of the house too. Hefty, natural wood beams are built into the structure.
The formal entrance to Xel-Há is a small courtyard where banana plants and golden palms stand guard around a mosaic of the sun laid into the floor. It is shaded by a latticework of sticks. The courtyard frames the huge wooden front door which opens into a corridor (with a loo off to one side) leading into the main living room. For all the prettiness of this formal entrance, practically speaking you will probably find yourself using the other smaller entrance to the house, which leads through the kitchen.
Either way, you come into the large living room and the striking style of Xel-Há’s interior is laid before you. The walls are a mustard colour, off-set by the various rich browns of the wooden furniture and the door- and window frames. The roof has exposed beams. The other colour that appears at Xel-Há is blue, sometimes a royal blue, otherwise navy, and it runs as a theme throughout the house. There is an earthiness to the decoration in Xel-Há, in the earthenware and the unshined metalwork on the walls – there are metalwork sconces and lizard decorations. The floor is made of stained concrete etched into paving stones and the beds of heavy natural beams.
The living room looks forward to the front of the house and it is divided invisibly into two halves, with the sitting area to the left and the dining section to the right (the same side as the kitchen). Here there is a hefty wooden dining table that seats eight on tall-backed wooden chairs. Like all the furniture at Xel-Há, they were made in Trinidad with local hardwoods. A hatch (as well as a door) gives into the kitchen, which has the same theme of yellow ochre, with wooden cupboards and a blue-tiled splash-back. Off the kitchen is a laundry.
On the other side of the living room, in the sitting area, three square wooden seats surround a low wooden table. Their covers are white, which are then splashed with bright cushions. There is a cable TV in a cabinet against the wall.
The bedrooms give off the main living room. The master is on the right. At its centre is a large four-poster made with hefty limbs of wood bound with rope. The walls of the room are the same yellow ochre, and they are off-set by a rich navy blue, in the cover on the bed and in the curtains. There are dark louvers at the French windows (which give onto a terrace at the front of the house) windows and metalwork lamps on the bedside tables. The rustic impression of the room is softened by white muslin hangings around the Indian voile of the linen. There is a TV opposite the bed. The bathroom is spectacular. Its walls are washed blue and the basins are terra cotta earthenware with a navy blue glaze. There is also a huge low bath-tub, of polished concrete, and an outside shower, again dressed in blue, with a pebble floor surrounded by beds of plants.
The other two bedrooms are on the other side of the living room. The second, which sits at the front of the house like the master and gives onto the front terrace, has a four-poster in similar hefty style and the same rich blue and white hangings against the yellow walls. It has a rustic bedside table made of unfashioned tree sections and there are tall urns in the corner of the room. There is a cable TV. The vanity in the bathroom is made of wood, with the same circular pottery basins.
The third bedroom, which is at the rear of the house, has twin beds made of the same rough-cut wood (but not four-posters). The room is relatively simple by comparison, but it has the same yellow ochre walls and slender metalwork fittings.
Outside the living room at the front of the house there is a shaded area, covered by a roof of beams and coconut palm thatch. In one corner is a bar and in the other an outdoor dining table and a built-in seating area. There is a barbecue around to the side. Beyond here you come out onto the pool terrace, where there are wooden loungers. There is a whirlpool to one side. The terrace is surrounded by a low wall except on the pool itself, which has an infinity edge giving onto the expansive view - of the meandering south coast of Grenada framed by the ocean to the right and the rising mountains to the left. Directly beneath the pool there is lawn and then ‘bush’, natural dry coastal vegetation. The land drops away slowly to the coast, which meanders into the distance.
Xel-Há is relatively remote and so you it is important that you are happy to be self-contained, though of course it is not far to the activity of the main tourist areas with its beaches, bars and restaurants. When you do want to stay in you will be well looked after by your housekeeper, Sonia, who is happy is to cook (and prepare meals) during working hours.
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Rates per Night
| Bedrooms | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Low Season
May 1, 2001 - Dec 19, 2009
7 Night Minimum | $325 | $379 | $429 |
Christmas - New Year
Dec 19, 2009 - Jan 9, 2010
14 Night Minimum | $643 | $643 | $643 |
Rate Notes
- Security Deposit: $55 Non-refundable Damage Deposit Waiver
- 8% tax not included.
- Rates in U.S. dollars.
- Rates based on double occupancy per bedroom.
- Weekly rate is equal to seven times the nightly rate unless noted above.
- Rates subject to change without notice.
- Holiday rates and date periods may vary. Holidays may include Christmas, New Year's, Thanksgiving, Easter, President's Day, etc.
- Additional fees may apply. Call for details.
Rental Notes
- There is a dog on the property. He belongs to the manager, so it is not a problem if you would prefer him not to be loose.