Where to stay in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: best areas and types of hotel

If you have one week, sleep on Bequia. It has the widest choice of guesthouses, apartments and small hotels, a walkable harbour at Port Elizabeth, and ferries back to St Vincent and south toward the Grenadines. Spend your first 1–2 nights near Kingstown or on St Vincent's south coast so arrival day is short, then move by ferry.

With 10 nights or more, split the trip: St Vincent, Bequia, then one southern island such as Canouan, Mayreau or Union. Each move costs half a day, so two bases in a week is the practical maximum. If your trip is built around a resort or a specific beach, choose that island first and plan ferries around it.

St Vincent is the arrival island and the largest. Kingstown has the market, the ferry terminal and the highest concentration of city hotels and guesthouses, but it is a working capital rather than a beach base. The south coast and the Villa–Indian Bay stretch are quieter, closer to beaches, and about 20–30 minutes from the airport by road. The Leeward coast toward Layou and Barrouallie suits travellers who want small guesthouses and a car.

Bequia is the default base for a first trip. Port Elizabeth and Admiralty Bay hold most guesthouses, apartments and small hotels within walking distance of the ferry dock, restaurants and water taxis to Princess Margaret Beach and Lower Bay. Friendship Bay on the south side is quieter and more resort-like.

The southern Grenadines are for a second half of a trip. Canouan has a small resort cluster and a golf course; Mayreau is tiny, with a handful of guesthouses above Saline Bay; Union Island at Clifton is the transport hub for the Tobago Cays and has the most budget beds of the three. Tobago Cays itself is a marine park with day-sail access, not a place to stay overnight.

Guesthouses and small hotels are the backbone outside the resorts. Expect a simple double with a fan or air conditioning, a private bathroom and often breakfast; some are family-run and cash-friendly, though cards are more widely accepted than a decade ago. Apartments and villas suit groups and longer stays, especially on Bequia and in the southern Grenadines, where a kitchen cuts food costs.

Resorts cluster on Canouan, on Bequia's Friendship Bay side and at a few St Vincent beaches. They are the easiest option for a short, fixed trip because transfers and water sports are arranged for you, but they isolate you from the ferry-hopping that makes the Grenadines work. Yacht charters and crewed boats are a third route: you sleep aboard and move between islands, which removes the ferry timetable problem entirely.

Rates are quoted in Eastern Caribbean dollars, fixed at 2.70 to the US dollar, so the conversion is easy. Peak season runs December–April, when northern winter drives demand; Christmas, New Year and Easter are the weeks when the best rooms sell out first. May–November is cheaper and greener, with a real chance of rain and the hurricane season running June–November.

Book December–April stays by October if you want a specific guesthouse or villa. For the southern islands, where a single property may have four or five rooms, book two to three months ahead and confirm the ferry or flight before you pay a deposit. Ask directly about airport or dock transfers, air conditioning charges and whether breakfast is included; these are the items that move the final bill most.

Ferries link St Vincent with Bequia and the southern islands, but schedules are limited and can change with weather, so build your accommodation around the sailing, not the other way around. Small planes serve some southern islands. Inter-island moves usually eat half a day once you count the dock, the crossing and the transfer at the other end.

Plugs are type G at 230 V, so UK travellers need no adapter and US travellers do. Driving is on the left and needs a local permit. Tap water is not recommended for drinking on the smaller islands; bottled or filtered water is normal. Travel insurance that covers ferry delays, water sports and medical evacuation is worth having on an island chain where the nearest hospital may be a boat ride away.