The Caribbean is mourning one of its most legendary hoteliers, Grenada’s Sir Royston Hopkin, who passed away over the weekend. 

Hopkin was the proprietor of the renowned Spice Island Beach Resort on Grenada’s Grand Anse Beach. 

Hopkin, a former CHTA Caribbean Hotelier of the Year, was also a past president of both the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association and the Grenada Hotel and Tourism Association. 

“A bright light has gone out in our industry this weekend, but Sir Royston’s love of our industry, our CHTA, our region and the beautiful resort he labored over will live on forever,” said Patricia Affonso-Dass, president of the CHTA. “[Hopkin was] a giant of a man, a bright light that lit up a room – not a man of half measures, but rather someone who believed that anything that was worth doing was worth doing excellently.”

Hopkin was made a knight by Queen Elizabeth II in 2005 for his contribution to the Caribbean and its tourism industry. 

He had been chairman of the Spice Island Beach Resort since purchasing a majority interest in the then-Spice Island Inn back in 1987. 

— CJ