Outstanding Vacation

We recently visited the Royalton Saint Lucia and were Hideaway guests. The vacation met our expectations and surpassed many. We have mixed reviews on the butler experience. We did not meet our butler until we went to the Hideaway desk and asked how it worked, which was the day after arrival (end of day). We then had 2 butlers, Monique was great, we joked that we knew when it was her day off when we didn't see a butler at all. Food is great, beach is small but great, service is very friendly [... read more] and shout out to Chester who was at our bar by our room. He greeted us with a smile and many laughs at the end of each day. It is people like Chester and Monique that make a vacation very special indeed!! The amount of bars and restrooms throughout the pools and beach, and hang out spots were outstanding. No matter where you sat, you had both within a very short distance! A little far from Toronto to travel due to the 2 hours from Airport in Saint Lucia. We had delays at the Airport for both sides of our trip, which essentially made the trip almost 12 hrs....uggggg

Amazing Resort

Fantastic in every way but one. Hotel staff in all areas seem miserable and unwilling to help. Very slow, unapologetic service. The facility is amazing, rooms are spacious, food is all delicious. Bugs are outrageous. Way too many bites.

Resort was absolutely beautiful and well maintained

The resort was absolutely beautiful BUT they ALWAYS ran out of things. You ask for a Mohito they are out of mint. You ask for oatmeal that is an item on the breakfast menu, they are out of Oatmeal, I ordered the salmon burger from the Sports Bar, they are all out of salmon burgers, I ordered pizza with prosciutto and arugula from the Italian restaurant, they give you plain pizza with prociutto NO arugula, they ran out. I went to the coffee bar and ordered a specialty coffee, they ran out of [... read more] whip cream. I went to the food truck ordered Nachos, they ran out of Nachos. It didn't matter which restaurant or bar I went to, they always ran out of something everyday all week long. It took me 20 minutes to get a drink as the pool bar tender kept serving others that came after me, instead of him asking who is next. The Hideaway areas adults only but they are (not adults-only) We paid for adults only and it was NOT because we had to go over to the Royalton to have dinner, where it is full of children and all the pool areas have children as well. Far from St. Lucia’s main attractions and far from the Airport Noise from the amphitheater can be heard in the room and wanting to turn in early was not an option because of the noise. We had an ocean-view room and you only get glimpses of the water We could not swim in The Ocean because of sea urchins, jelly fish and some fish rock that stings you, we were called out of the water every time someone got stung. Service is extremely slow Definitely NOT worth the money paid The resort ITSELF is absolutely beautiful and well maintained, but service was absolutely brutal most of the time. The plus side is the A la Carte restaurants they can accommodate you without a reservation so depending on how you feel when its time for dinner you just show up and they seat you, which was great. There was always chairs to be found around the pool areas without any problems, which was great The rooms are spacious and clean, we got free WiFi throughout the resort which was great, we can call home from the room at no charge which was great. The best People working there were: 1) Amanda our concierge in building 3 - lovely and always listening to us complain 2) Sammy at the Martini Bar, very friendly, happy guy, genuinely wonderful 3) Kertain at the omelette station, he is amazing, just plain wonderful, fast, efficient, great personality, lovely guy 4) Jenna serving around the pool area, always taking care of us when we were around the pool, lovely young lady It is sad that I can only acknowledge so few people that actually made an impact on us in a whole week, we are frequent travelers and we have never experienced the running out of food and products along with the poor, slow service.

WONDERFUL VACATION!!!

THIS HOTEL IS VERY NICE, THE FOOD IS VERY GOOD WITH LOTS OF CHOICES FOR EVERYONE. THE STAFF HERE WAS ALOT OF FUN AND INTERACTED WITH THE GUESTS WHICH IS WONDERFUL--THEY WERE VERY HELPFUL, POLITE, FUN, AND REALLY MADE FOR AN ENJOYABLE HOLIDAY. LOVED THE LAYOUT OF THIS RESORT, PLENTY OF BARS, RESTAURANTS, BATHROOMS BY THE POOLS, LOUNGERS, UMBRELLAS THAT YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO GET UP AT THE CRACK OF DAWN TO SAVE. LOVED THAT YOU DIDN'T NEED RESERVATIONS AT THE RESTAURANTS ( EXCEPT JAPANESE).  [... read more]NEVER HAD TO WAIT TO BE SEATED, RESTAURANTS WERE NEVER OVERCROWDED AND ALWAYS LOTS OF STAFF ON HAND. AFTERNOON ENTERTAINMENT BY THE POOLS WAS ALWAYS ENJOYABLE, THE STAFF WORKS REALLY HARD TO MAKE SURE YOU WANT FOR NOTHING AND KEEP YOU VERY ENTERTAINED THROUGHOUT THE DAY. COUPLE STAFF MEMBERS THAT WENT ABOVE AND BEYOND TO MAKE OUR HOLIDAYS A MEMORABLE ONE--MARLON, JOHNNY AND STEPHEN AT THE HIDEWAY POOL BAR, TRAVIS AT THE ITALIAN RESTAURANT, JELONIE AT THE ROOFTOP BAR AND THE ENTIRE STAFF AT THE SEAFOOD GRILL FOR MAKING MY HUSBANDS BIRTHDAY SO WONDERFUL. I AM SURE THERE ARE MANY MORE HARD WORKING STAFF BUT THESE ARE THE ONES THAT STOOD OUT FOR US. THE VIEWS OF THE OCEAN ARE AMAZING AND THE RESORT REALLY DID A GREAT JOB WITH THE DESIGN OF THIS RESORT TO TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF ALL THESE AMAZING VIEWS. OVERALL THIS WAS ONE OF OUR MOST RELAXING HOLIDAYS EVER!!! I WOULD DEFINITELY RETURN TO THIS HOTEL AND FOR SURE WOULD RECOMMEND IT!!

Very Friendly Staff and Amazing Weather

Staff was very friendly and always helpful, Marlin & Johnny at the pool bar and Giovonni at the bar just outside of the sports bar we super. All staff we dealt with at the Restaurants polite and helpful. The Dorado was our favorite. Rooms were very nice, except our friends room the air conditioning did not work, they had to ask three times to have it fixed, and when they got it fixed it only worked for one day and then stopped working again. We met lots of very nice travellers and made lo [... read more]ts of new friends.

Hideaway at Royalton Saint Lucia

Overall this was a beautiful resort, however, you need to be prepared for service that is not the fastest where you sometimes can wait up to an hour to be seated at a specialty restaurant and another hour to receive your drinks and appetizers. Bar service was variable; if you stay in the hideaway section, the service at the beach bar (including the grill) is amazing, but if you are at the main pool, be prepared to wait and wait and have others served around you. I understand they have a high t [... read more]urnover in staff, so this might be part of the issue. There are plenty of pools (and pool bars that people stay in all day drinking and drinking and you can figure the rest out) and smoking policies for designated areas only but not enforced by security or staff where people smoke at the bar and pool all day. Concierge service was outstanding and they ensured they knew your name and asked you daily how you were doing and what they could do to make it better. This was the customer service I had hoped for. This resort has plenty of specialty dining and activities, pool etc, but the beach is quite rocky with very sharp rocks and water is rough which makes it difficult for swimming. Bring water shoes with you to protect your feet. Overall, I would consider this resort again, and am hoping since the resort is only a few years old, they will work out some of the issues with time.

Amazing resort

We stayed in a junior suite at the Saint Lucia Royalton hideaway resort with an ocean view. The room was beautiful and well maintained. The staff were very helpful and friendly. The resort had numerous restaurants providing a good variety of well prepared delicious food. The nightly entertainment was enjoyable and the beach and pool areas were amazing. I would highly recommend this resort.

Great service with a great view!

The Hideaway beach was clean and the water was clear. Very shallow though, not great for deep swimming, but fun to wade around in.We saw cute fish and crabs every day. The pools were also.lovely and didn't smell like chlorine. The service was great! I love dirty bananas.

Not quite 5 star

The hotel feels and looks still new; the staff are kind and helpful; the beach was adequate; and the food was better than average. However, I’d give the Hideaway at Royalton St Lucia lower marks for the following: The trip from airport to resort is 2 hours up and down hills, switchbacks, and through heavy local traffic; and, the bus had no music and no interpretive presentation to learn about the island and pass the time. The Hideaway lobby is hum drum, nothing about it makes you feel special [... read more]. By the time we arrived (about 7:30pm) our butler had left for the day (shift ends at 7:00pm), so no special orientation was given about our guestroom nor the resort. The Diamond Club service/butlers were slow to respond initially, but then things got better as the week went on. One of our party was not given his butler phone for 2 days, despite celebrating his 50th Bday the next day of arrival. Don’t bother saying what special occasion is that you’re celebrating as you won’t get any recognition unless you buy the hotel’s Birthday Package. The adult Beach area is unacceptable - everyone is squished into the North end of the beach with hardly any sand space and the shallowest of water (thigh deep). Any real swimming needs to be had in the family section. The beach chair covers and umbrellas were left torn and or broken for days, or not repaired at all. The beach was never combed for garbage (fruit chunks, banana peels, rib bones)in the adult area. Unfettered feeding of fish with people food in the shallow waters made it feel like swimming in a stew. The coffee machine in the Diamond club lounge was incomprehensible, even some staff did not know how to use it. There were never any serviettes with the snack service in the Diamond lounge. Liquor bottles were left sticky. Dorado restaurant for Diamond Club members was lovely; however twice we encountered serious frustration from the servers in the Grazzie and Tex Mex restaurants. The Martini bar (main bar off the entertainment area) ran out of martini glasses on a Saturday night - not cool. The entertainment troop is talented and professional, although watching the same performers 7 nights in a row gets a little repetitive despite the varying dance numbers. Sometimes the pre-show performances were better. The excursion to the Pitons, mud bath, snorkeling and waterfall was ok, but I expected more. The mud bath is very small, and very crowded, again like a human stew. The snorkeling was below par as it took place off a beach rather than at a genuine reef. The waterfall was also very small and overcrowded - no wow factor. Lunch in Soufriere was very good however. You won’t miss much if you don’t go on this tour. The trip back to the airport again takes 2 hours. Going home, the bus picks you up at Noon, and the buffet doesn’t open for lunch until 12:30. How convenient for the hotel to save on the cost of a box lunch for our upcoming 2 hour voyage back to the airport. Paid too much for this trip.

Truly exceptional getaway!

This was a great vacation, and our first time to St. Lucia. I can't say enough great things! I highly recommend this resort. Don't listen to any bad reviews you read.... honestly, people are crazy. This place was great! Location: Worth the drive. If you don't do well on bumpy roads, dear gosh bring some gravol. It was a life saver. About 90 minutes (without traffic) from the airport to the hotel. Beautiful views, totally worth it. Resort: Beautiful resort, it's relatively new and it show [... read more]s. Very modern. After a day we had the layout downpact and it was easy to get to everything, nothings that far of a walk. Rooms: We stayed in building #3 (hideaway), which is arguably the worst hideaway building because it's closest to the rest of the resort... but that honestly wasn't an issue. Our room was spacious and modern. We had a leaky ceiling, but it leaked into the bath tub, so we really didn't care (and it got fixed by housekeeping notifying maintenance, we didn't have to do anything). Our iron didn't work, but that got replaced as soon as we notified staff. Some of the US plugs in our room didn't work for our devices (i.e., straighter didn't plug in because it wasn't two skinny prongs). FYI! I have to say, I hated the bathroom layout.... it was odd having it all open, but wasn't really that big of a deal. Nice big balcony. My BIGGEST complaint, and realistically my ONLY complaint was that since ALL the rooms face inward technically all rooms are an ocean view.... we paid extra for an ocean view, and quite frankly I felt like that was a bit of a rip off. Apparently lower floors are garden view, and upper floors are ocean view... Not worth it. I also rarely saw people in their swim out room pools... most of them stayed shaded all day, or were pretty open to other guests (they're all attached). I was glad we didn't pay for that upgrade. The other complaint I have (... okay, 2 complaints total), would be evening noise. Two of our 7 nights we had music blasting until 1030/11pm, which was a little ridiculous. The stage is in the middle of the resort, which is aesthetically nice, but logically the worst idea ever. With our balcony doors closed, and TV up relatively loudly we could not drown out the noise. If you have small children, or want to sleep before 10pm.... it wasn't happening. One night we were exhausted, and wanted to sleep at 10, and absolutely could not. Frustrating. Food: UNBELIEVABLY GOOD. Wow. All of the restaurants were amazing. Great staff, great selection, good quality. We visited each restaurant at least once (with the exception of the Calypso restaurant, as we aren't huge seafood people). We often went to the buffet or Italian for lunch, and we did the tex mex for dinner twice because it was so good. We never had to wait for a table, and service was as quick as a regular restaurant. The buffet was also great, even though we were hideaway we chose to go to the bigger main buffet for every breakfast because the dorado was small, slow and limited in selection (we went once, it was fine!). We appreciated how they sat hideaway and diamond people in one section, and families in another section. Pool/beach: no complaints! The hideaway pool was lovely, always able to get chairs and an umbrella. Bar only got crazy busy once or twice, and we enjoyed drinking premium liquor all week (grey goose, yes please!). The beach was nice too, clearly man made/maintained, but we honestly hung out by the pool most of the time, and wandered down to the beach when it was loud aquafit time. Always able to find a place to relax when we needed it. The jet ski's were a lot of fun, and provided a beautiful view once you were out in the ocean. Be wary of who you rent them from... we paid $40USD for 30 minutes (2 people on one), and friends paid $25, $40 and $30 when they went... always a different price? Odd. We have traveled twice a year for the last 4 years, and this is byfar the nicest resort we have been to. We are a young couple, no children, and loved our vacation. Make sure you save some breakfast sausage for the stay dogs... they're very friendly and precious.

Third visit to a Royalton Resort and Loved It!

This was a third time to a Royalton resort with the first two visits to the Royalton at Dominican Republic. Everything about this resort met or exceeded our expectations. Resort staff were very friendly and accommodating. Food was great with many A La Carte's to choose from. Only downside may be the Beach area which is smaller then what we are used to with lots of seaweed in the water. But we were aware of this prior to booking and did not consider it a major issue because the Pool at Hideawa [... read more]y was great.

A gem of a resort

awesome resort. Beautifully laid out. The staff is amazing and will go out of thier way to please. The food is fresh and delicious with a local and Jamaican flair, we especially liked The steakhouse. Nice sized portions. The pools are amazing, lots of bars and always something to see in the evenings. Don't forget to visit Columbian Emeralds where I won a beautiful piece made with larimar, valued at 2,700. We met so many people, I think my heart is still there.

Beautiful Resort, friendly service.

The staff was friendly and helpful, room was amazing, presidential suite. Butlers were awesome. Went above and beyond to look after us. Food was overall good. Only complaint was hideaway section was very quiet. Not much going on in the way of entertainment. Also that vendors on beach were very very pushy and would not let up. Down your throat every time you walk the beach. Wich is quite small btw. Also take the helicopter as the ride is around 1.5 to 2.25 hrs with tranffic. On very very windy ro [... read more]ads.

It was ok

The place is too new. Like every other review the food does take long at a la carte restaurants. We noticed that even though this place is only about 4 months old, some of the roofs of the restaurants were leaking. Room was beautiful. Don't pay for diamond club if you're at the hideaway. Didn't notice a difference except for the a la carte reservations. Didn't know what to ask out butler to do. He was very friendly though. The diamond club section of the beach is on the opposite side of the hide [... read more]away section so we never even went there. Fishes are always in the ocean and sometimes they nibble but it doesn't hurt. Sometimes bars ran out of beer but replenished within the hour. Overall nice place but not worth what we payed. We stayed in the Royalton in riviera maya and it was far superior to this and we weren't even in diamond club.

Not bad resort

When to this resort for a week grounds are well done ,place is clean but beach is to small and rocky ,also the service is to slow even do by the end of the stay it was improve a lot . Also this is more of a family resort than a all adult resort .overal this was a good vacation

Needs a lot of fine tuning

This resort needs a lot of work. The grounds were mostly bare, most building were not complete (ie: missing finishes, decor, menu items, etc...). The spa was SUPER expensive. All bar's were shut down by 11PM every night and there was zero adult entertainment at night. The beach is TINY and full of sea earchents and eels. Even worse was the restaurants: we waited a minimum of 1.5 hours every night for our food to come out cold. And last but not least this is not an adults only resort. They have  [... read more]a tiny section which is not monitored or enforced. Paid and expected adults only and spent my entire vacation with kids running around everywhere. Will not be back to a Royalton, ever.

St Lucia is amazing; resort needs time

The grounds are beautiful; the food is great. Was impressed with the buffet's variety, freshness and the genuine eagerness of staff to get whatever you desire. Many cooking stations for fresh meats and pastas at night and egg and pancakes in morning. A la carte restaurants, Hunter restaurant took1 1/2 hrs to get our main course, at the Calypso 1 hour to get appetizers Biggest regret was not waiting to go to resort when it would have all what it advertised ready to be experienced by the guests, [... read more] and also staff properly trained and familiar with the various services, inclusions and offerings of the resort. Resort staff very friendly; the Diamond Club was still under construction and not open; Hideaway not exclusive to adults only or other guests; many amenities while offered not available. A disappointment for their rating of 5*

Phenomenal location and resort!

The Royalton was still under construction in some areas but one could hardly tell. Rooms and decor were the nicest we have ever seen. The food selection was above expectations to say the least and the staff were incredibly helpful and went out of their way to help any way they could. You could tell that for many of the servers that this was their first job. A little disorganized, but I am confident they will have it nailed down in no time flat.

Beautiful Scenery and wonderful resort!

Brand New only open 2 weeks and staff were amazing. This will definitely be a 5 star resort. the adults section has own beach and one restaurant but you can access all the restaurants in the resort. If looking for strictly adults ONLY then this is not for you. We will go back and recommend.

Getting There !

We were among the first group of guests to arrive on February 18th. The greeting was very warm, staff waiting at the coach with hot towels and rum punch. However they were not very organized regarding the Hideaway guests, we waited until all the Royalton guests were organized before we were taken to the Hideaway. Check in was very slow as they were having computer glitches, but nothing awful. On the way to our room the elevator broke down which was concerning, so we simply didn' t use it for th [... read more]e remainder of the stay.The main elevator didn' t work for our whole stay. The room was absolutely stunning, with a lovely balcony. Very quiet air conditioning. Over the course of the week things such as glasses were gradually added, however anything we asked for was brought quickly. Housekeeping staff were excellent. The phone jack was behind the headboard, so it had to be removed in order to hook up the phone, we found this quite amusing! On the first two mornings we were woken up early by workers, hammering and building, but someone must have complained as this stopped. The food in the restaurants was delicious, the only food concern was that the food in the buffet under the lamps was cold.The service in most of them was extremely slow. one evening in the Mexican restaurant I had completed my main course and my husbands meal hadn't arrived.We left and went to the sports bar, where the service was always very good. A couple of nights later we tried again, this time all went well for us. however many others walked out due to the slow service. The bar service everywhere was excellent, on the first night my husband asked for Courviossier and the next night it was there, great service. The pools and beach were great, we are beach people so spent our days there. Excellent swimming, nice and deep. I would be concerned once the report is up and running about the space for everyone. During our stay there seemed to be no differentiation between the Royalton and Hideaway guests, everyone could go everywhere this didn' t matter during our stay as the resort was quiet.But I would have concerns if it was full, as we paid for an adult only resort and would expect exactly that. Overall it was a wonderful week, the staff were so friendly and helpful. The island is beautiful, perhaps they should have advised the first guests that they weren't quite ready, we would have then been informed.