Frank's St. Lucia Page

St. Lucia is the supposed "gem" of the Caribbean and in many ways it does live up to that reputation. The landscape is the most beautiful out of any of the islands and the overall variety that nature affords the visitor is quite amazing. The most popular sites are all located near the village of Soufrierre on the southwest of the island. These include the Pitons, Diamond Falls and Botanical Gardens, Piton Falls and the Sulpher Springs. Marigot Bay, where Dr. Doolittle was filmed, is also worth stopping into. Most people, however, only venture out for a day trip and spend the largest portion of their time at one of the resorts. Most resorts on the island are all-inclusive with only a few offering a choice of half or partial board. I stayed at the Rendezvous resort which is located just to the north of the capitol city of Castries. I was also able to visit LeSport, Rex Papillon, Club St. Lucia, Anse Chastanet, and the Bay Gardens Hotel.
St. Lucians are friendly, but mostly only when money is involved. They seem a crafty lot when it comes to separating a tourist from his/her money. One of the more profitable scams is the "tour guide" scam. A seemingly-friendly local will approach you and offer to show you around. It's possible that they may not even offer, they may just ask for a lift and then tell you about things you are passing by. Whatever the case, when your temporary acquaintenceship is over, they will ask for a ridiculously large amount of money for their "services". Stay aware, negotiate a price if you accept their services, and don't pay them any more than what you feel is fair.
The two experiences we had with car rental companies does not instill faith in the system either. It appears to be standard practice for car rental companies to drop your vehicle off with only a quarter of a tank of petrol. This wouldn't seem to pose too much of a problem, but when this is done on Good Friday and all of the petrol stations are closed, your rental vehicle turns into an $80/day hunk of useless metal.

*St. Lucia*
	Enjoying a hot afternoon in Castries.
	Castries, St. Lucia
	The view from our balcony.
	The beach at our resort.
	The Pitons
	Petite Piton
	The village of Soufriere.
	A beach black from the volcano eruption many many years ago.
	The sunset from our beach.

Rendezvous - This resort was labeled as one of the best on the island and its main selling point is "couples only" which is defined as no children, singlets, triples or couples other than heterosexual. It is a quaint resort with 100 rooms ranging from apartment-style to beach bungalows. The resort is located right next to Vigie airport, the domestic airport and planes fly, quite loudly at times, directly overhead thanks to the positioning of the resort right off the end of the runway. We were quite disappointed with the resort when we first arrived, probably because we had pictured something more "Club Med" than what really exists. I must say, though, after a day or two we warmed up to the place and had an enjoyable stay overall. There were complications which I well expand upon in a bit.
The resort offers the standard in entertainment: water sports (to exclude jet skis), volleyball, table tennis, archery, diving (with lessons), tennis, nightly shows, etc. There are two pools, the main one bragging a swim-up bar and a covered gazebo/tree house. There are two restaurants: the Terrace Restaurant and The Trysting Place. The Terrace Restaurant is a covered outside buffet-style restaurant that is literally right on the beach. The Trysting Place is an indoor restaurant with air conditioning and a dress code. Both restaurants serve outstanding food, albeit in different styles and settings.
Overall the staff was quite friendly and helpful but we felt that we did not receive what we paid for. Rendezvous is one of the more expensive resorts on the island and the accomodations (ocean-view class) that we were in were not up to par as far as we were concerned. The apartment-style setting yields much-too-small rooms, we experienced problems with water pressure/temperature on a daily basis and one of our closets flooded due to a bad air conditioning unit. That may sound like a rare occurence but it also happened to three other couples that we hung around with.
The main body of problems was encountered when we dealt with guest services, specifically the wedding coordinator, Olive. First of all, she did not provide us all of the information that we needed to arrange a ceremony. Secondly, she was quite helpful until a problem arose, when she then threw her hands up in the air and said, "I can't help you" and "nothing can be done." When we called the manager in we were suddenly provided options to solve our dilemma. It is obvious that the wedding coordinator is not completely competent at her job and has her own prejudices. Also, a couple of things that were advertised as being included with the ceremony (i.e. wedding cake) ended up costing us out-of-pocket. Also, the photographer charges $177 for shooting one roll of 36-exposure 35mm Kodak Gold 100 film. He's OK at his job, just not what you would expect for that kind of money. A lot of our pictures turned out quite well but we heard of others that couldn't find any good pictures out of the entire lot.
To end on a positive note, the vacation ended up yielding many pleasant memories and we must say that the food at Rendezvous was outstanding. We would not return to Rendezvous, nor to St. Lucia for that matter, but we came away feeling that we had a good overall vacation, even if it cost us way too much for what we received. If someone had their heart set on visiting St. Lucia but doesn't want to break the bank getting there, I would recommend staying at Rex Papillon or Club St. Lucia if you're after all-inclusive, or at the Bay Gardens Hotel if you're looking for a real value and feel like fending for yourself for meals quite often.
LeSport - This is the northernmost resort on the island, located literally on the very northern tip of the island. This resort primarily caters to health-conscious individuals looking for a relaxing and reconstituting vacation. The prime attraction at this resort is the Oasis health club which offers everything from meditation exercises to massages and mud treatments. The resort has its own semi-private beach with a small reef a few yards out which accomodates some great snorkelling. The food is good and the atmosphere is a rather laid-back one. The resort does allow children but the average client isn't the type to bring children.
Rex Papillon - Located on the northwestern shores of the island, this resort has a great view right onto Pidgeon Island. This is the resort for those who don't desire to spend their life's savings on a vacation and don't mind the family atmosphere. The pool is shaped like a butterfly and can accomodate quite a few people at once. The resort is nicely located right next to Rodney Bay, just to the south of the village of Gros Islet. There is a main restaurant which doesn't allow "beach attire" or shorts or you can eat at the snack bar near the pool. Just out the main gate there are plenty of restaurants and small shops to suit most any customer. A definite drawback is the fact that the resort requires you to wear a bright yellow non-removable wristband to identify you as a guest.
Club St. Lucia - Located at Smuggler's Cove just to the south of LeSport, this resort is what you think of when you think of the word resort. It can accomodate 800+ guests and offers the standard in facilities and entertainment. There is nightly entertainment and a separate club for children. The food is primarily cafeteria-style and drinks are all served in small plastic cups. Accomodations are somewhat older but quite roomy. Club St. Lucia is quite a bit cheaper than Rendezvous and doesn't even charge for local calls. This is yet another resort which forces you to wear wristbands.
Anse Chastanet - If you're looking to "get away from it all", this is the resort for you. This resort has a wonderful view of the Pitons and is quite out of the way with the only access to the resort being a 2-mile road which is more of a track than a road. Anse Chastanet boasts the island's best diving and snorkelling thanks to a beautiful reef right off its coast. This place is not for the weak; it is situated on the side of a hill/ mountain and requires a bit of walking and climbing to venture around its grounds. It has a beach that has been somewhat blackened from ages-old volcanic activity and is quite isolated from everything.
Bay Gardens Hotel -The ultimate in value. This hotel offers full, partial or no board and is a great value at approximately $130/night (no board). It is conveniently located near Gros Islet and Rodney Bay and the accomodations are outstanding for the price. This is the newest hotel on the island and offers the most modern accomodations. There are roughly 56 rooms (if memory serves me correctly), all of which look onto a pool. The hotel has a main pool and a smaller pool. The Bay Gardens Hotel is just up the road about a 5-10 minute walk from the Rex Papillon.

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page