Royalton Hideaway Saint Lucia: Good Week in Saint Lucia

Group of four stayed at the Hideaway Royalton at the end of April. Overall, the resort is very nice and I have no complaints. Is there room for improvement? Yes….but generally speaking, this was a good holiday. We chose this resort fairly last minute, so not many options were available. Mostly we wanted to avoid the Sargassum problems in the DR and Mexico so we needed an island that was not being as affected by it. The check in experience at the Hideaway Lobby gives a terrible first impre [... read more]ssion. Because the resort is two hours from the airport, you will arrive tired and hungry. The employees in the underwhelming Hideaway lobby make a bad situation even worse. They were abrupt, snarky and not at their best, which makes their guests not at their best either. There were snacks that looked like they had been sitting out all day and the welcome drink was a watered down luke-warm cocktail. They need to improve this area of the resort. Surely there is an area in the main lobby (which is a much more attractive area) to give hideaway guests a better welcome experience. I have stayed in the “club/exclusive” areas of other resorts and the check in experience is always special. I will say that the key card on your resort bracelet is a handy thing….much better than a card. After finding our room all on our own (correct—- no one offered to show us to our room) we were relieved to see a nice clean room with a beautiful ocean view. Things were looking up. Our room was kept immaculate for the rest of our trip. Housekeeping knows what they are doing. The restaurants and bars are all very good. We ate at all the restaurants, the buffet, the food truck and the sports bar. Food was good everywhere. I preferred Dorado for breakfast over the buffet. Service at all the restaurants was also very good. My travelling companions got a lot of bug bites sitting on the patios for dinner, but the bugs didn’t bother me. Just lucky I guess as they were really bitten up and bug spray didn’t seem to help. You do not need reservations at restaurants except for the Teppanaki. For all other restaurants, you check in and they give you a buzzer which will go off when your table is ready. If you don’t want to wait for a table, be sure to go at 6:30 or earlier. None of us became I’ll or had tummy trouble as others have been complaining about this month. We also did not speak to any other guests who were ill. Obviously getting sick can happen to anyone, anywhere. Cleanliness and hygiene at this resort is top notch and their food practices were also good from all we saw. The beach was a bit of a disappointment for me, but I am a beach girl so my expectations are pretty high. This beach is very small, does not have a nice sand bottom after the first ten feet, and the loungers are just jam packed together side by side. I only spent one day there, but I did go down to swim/float in the sea everyday. I just didn’t sit there. The pools were fantastic. They all have beautiful views and lots of chairs. I participated in aqua aerobics and hung out at the Hideaway Pool most days. The drinks at all the bars were well made and there are pool servers who will bring you drinks if you don’t want to get up. I am not a big frozen cocktail person so I mostly stuck to vodka, cranberry, soda or Rum and Diet Coke. I was very happy that the pools were so nice since the beach was not the greatest. I was unable to stay awake for all the shows, but I can say they are all pretty typical of resort shows. The theatre is very short on chairs though—- more seating is required. I headed off to bed early most nights. There is no turn down service which is something an adults only experience needs to compete with other adults only resorts like Secrets and Excellence. There is also no liquor or snacks in your room, which again is something other “club” level areas have at other resorts. Not a big deal this time, but the Royalton should really add these services to the Adults Only side if they want to compete. There were very few kids at the resort because of the time of year, but I would never pay extra for the Hideaway Adults Only section if it was Christmas or March Break… it wouldn’t be worth it as kids can go everywhere on the resort except for the Hideaway pool and Dorado. We did take a private tour from one of the beach tour guys that was great. I had been to the island previously and didn’t want the mud baths offered on all the other tours, so the private tour was better for us as we were able to choose our own activities. I spoke to many who loved all the excursions so you can not go wrong with any of them. Coffee shop is great for your morning coffee or a mid day snack. Check out was as bad as check in, sadly. They make you go to the Hideaway “lobby” to check out but then you have to head all the way up to the main lobby to grab your transfer! So ridiculous. If you are going to charge extra for the Hideaway Adult only experience, don’t ruin it by herding you together with families and kids on a two hour van ride. Airport check in was a breeze. So, overall the resort is nice. We had a good time and service was as expected except for the areas I mentioned earlier. Would I return to this resort? I would not, but only because I am still searching for that perfect beach and there are so many other islands to see.

Bel Jou Hotel: Wonderful resort!

Beautiful resort with great views and food options. The staff are very friendly and helpful, willing to go out of their way to accommodate their guests. The entertainment was good and we enjoyed ourselves. Taxis were easily accessible to explore different areas and beaches.

Royalton Hideaway Saint Lucia: Needs some work

Room and staff were great. Food sucked. Restaurants were very disappointing. Resort was not near capacity which was even more disappointing. Pool bar on Adult side had nothing but sad ‘80’s music. Buffet was extremely disappointing.

Coconut Bay Resort & Spa: Wonderful

If you’re looking for a small, quiet resort Coconut Bay is for you and only 5 minutes from the airport! The adult side is well appointed with two pools, a bar & plenty of lounge chairs with shade. The views are amazing

Anse Chastanet: Unique lush tropical design and setting with magnificent views of sea and mountains.

Anse Chastanet resort, authentic architectural design reflecting island culture and respecting hillside terrain. No main accommodation building. The unique individual room structures are married to landscape features. Gardeners keep the property in beautiful condition. Octagonal rooms clean and comfortable with artistic decor and balconies offering great views. No radio or TV, by intent. Musicians play in the bar during the evenings. Very friendly attentive staff. A ⁷number of intimate open [... read more]-air dining rooms to choose from and excellent food offerings striving towards gourmet, individual service (no buffet except one special theme evening by the beach). No swimming pool, which is Ok as it would not be suitable to the property. Excellent spacious sandy beaches with plenty of loungers and kept clean of debris on a daily basis. Swimming great with no crashing waves and good for snorkeling as well. Only thing found to disturb the tranquility is a tour company catamaran dropping off tourists (cruise ship passengers) on the beach for about an hour once or twice a day. Usually no more than 50. The resort cannot prohibit this as all beaches are public but is negotiating conditions with the government. The tourists cannot use the resort facilities though. This was my second holiday at this resort and the high quality of service and facilities have been maintained. A unique experience and setting here, not to be found in the chain resorts. For individuals with difficulty walking uphill, this property may not be as convenient though car shuttle service is available at no extra cost. I would definitely return again.

Secrets St. Lucia Resort and Spa: St James Cluc St Lucia

The resort was nice and had great potentail however when we arrived we found out that the club was closing permenantly the day we were scheduled to leave. So many of the services, like restaurants and entertainment were not available daily as the resort had few people staying obviously due to it closing after being bought by the Secrets organisation to create a 5 star resort on the same grounds.

Coconut Bay Resort & Spa: Trip of a Lifetime

Coconut Bay Resort and Spa. I don't know what to say other than "Wow". Gorgeous coconut and mango trees and beautiful flowers span this expansive oceanfront property. Our room was cleaned daily and we were left with a personalized note each day on our freshly-made beds. The view of the ocean from the fourth floor of the Harmony (adults only) side was stunning. There are several restaurants on sight, but we actually stuck to the buffet for the week. There was an amazing selection of eats and th [... read more]e staff was friendly and helpful. My husband and I took advantage of the water slides, lazy river and pools on the Splash side (families) and then enjoyed the sun on the Harmony side. With access to the entire resort, we had a great selection of pools, none of which were crowded. The hot tub was also relaxing. Entertainment was provided nightly and I was a huge fan of the "Silent Disco". It is quite windy, but not being a fan of sweating profusely, I found it to be absolutely perfect. The beach, like most Atlantic-facing shores, is suffering from the influx of sargassum. However, the resort makes efforts to remove it throughout the day. Once you wade past the shore a bit, you can snorkel or swim. I could go on and on about this place, so I will close with the fact that we are already talking about going back.

Secrets St. Lucia Resort and Spa: St-James Club “average”

I will say this, when it comes to serving there clients we had no complaints because they were very efficient. But the food I would not even give it a three star. After I came home I came down with a bug (which I was told most probably came from the resort), thank god it’s closing down, I would never go back especially for the money I paid. Jocelyne Marguerite Dupre

Coconut Bay Resort & Spa: Fantastic Resort & Exceptional Service!

First time to St. Lucia and the Coconut Bay Beach Resort and Spa was AMAZING! We stayed on the Harmony side (Adults only) but took a ride in the Lazy River. Shenika at Flip Flops is fun, friendly and always making you smile…great service. The Jerk Tree house was a great place to eat if you wanted authentic Caribbean food. Food was amazing, Silk and Calabash were my favorite. The Veranda was beautiful for morning breakfast. The main lobby restaurant had a wide variety of food and always found  [... read more]something new to try. A big shout out to the entertainment staff we loved every show and the Moon Beach Party, Pool Foam Party and Techno headphone dance party were a blast. Thanks to Nick, Jedi, Holder and Edward for always looking after us at the bar. You guys are amazing and so much fun! Had the a massage on the ocean and a reflexology session…the spa is fantastic! Lots of R&R, dancing and fun at this resort. Lots to do and I highly recommend Coconut Bay Beach Resort and Spa! So much so that my daughter and soon to be son in law are thinking of a destination wedding. We will be back Mya! Enjoy the time with your lovely family. It was so nice to meet YOU!! Best part is your so close to the hotel but wouldn’t know it. We had a blast on our girls getaway.

Secrets St. Lucia Resort and Spa: Looking forward to new hotel

It was a nice quiet hotel, not to big. Staff was amazing. Looking forward to the new one, hopefully we get first dips on the place. 👍 Could improve on the entertainment Plenty of food Fantastic and relaxing

Royalton Saint Lucia Resort and Spa: Nice resort but not quiet

Resort beach, pools and grounds are lovely. View from rooms is spectacular at sunset. Food is overall good but not great, generally preferred the buffet over restaurants. Had to wait a few times for the buffet but line moved quickly. Wait for restaurants was long a few times (over an hour), but sometimes no wait. Service in the steakhouse was excellent and teppanyaki with Dion was very fun. Mixed drinks are inconsistently made, but Andrea made great drinks at the swim up. Some of the staff [... read more] were wonderful but many very grumpy, overall service was generally responsive. It is a long ride from the airport, traffic always seems to be terrible as there is only 1 main road, but our drivers were great and tried to make the best of it. Rooms were clean but a bit tired and run down. Bathtub and curtain set up is kind of weird for a family of 4 with teenagers. Beds were comfy. Biggest downfall was the evening entertainment - it is blasted from the central courtyard and there is no escaping it from 9pm to 11pm or later, it reverberates across the resort and into rooms even with the doors closed. We are night hawks and love music and a good time but I really would have preferred listening to the roar of the ocean from the balcony rather than being subject to bad karaoke and Michael Jackson covers. The local bands were pretty good - the resort should really consider sticking with them and having quiet lounge music on alternating nights so there is some respite (or at least turn the volume down). Overall we enjoyed our stay, but we wouldn’t go back to the Royalton.

Royalton Saint Lucia Resort and Spa: Absolutely stunning!

My Husband and myself stayed here for our honeymoon and it was absolutely stunning. From the food to the location on the island it was an unforgettable trip. Staff were always happy and willing to help with anything you needed. There was a few down falls but that comes with any trip. First was the 2 hour bus ride from the airport to the resort after getting off a 41/2hr flight and it is a very bumpy and windy road which made someone in our bus get motion sickness in the back seats. So it was bas [... read more]ically an all day travel which makes you loose a day. Second thing was our room wasn’t the cleanest our shower did have left over hairs on the shower ledge from someone before us along with a stain in the bathtub .and our bathtub wasn’t usable. it was coming apart from the base underneath and the stopper got jammed and wouldn’t let the water go down. We did let three people know who worked there .. and even one of them came up to see the issue and told us they would get Maintenance up to fix it but no one came. So the shower was the only option to use. Also, the people selling excursions.. we’re very pushy. No to them meant come back in 30mins and ask if we changed our minds. But other than those things I would recommend this to anyone. 9/10 rating!

Mystique St. Lucia by Royalton: Amazing resort

The resort is an older one with a lot of character..the rooms are spacious and the beds are super comfy. It is the staff that made this absolutely one of my most favorite places. Really friendly and helpful, they personalized our visit and will definitely return. It is dated and there are some issues but not enough to change my rating

The Soco House: Beautiful resort

Very clean and beautiful resort. Staff very friendly and accommodating and professional. Not to mention names as they were all good. Got the pleasure of meeting Ralph the owner very nice man . Chef Jason was amazing made special vegan and vegetarian friendly meals every day. Service in the dining room needs improvement. Maybe it would help to have buffet style for some common stuff so the staff are not running around .lot of waiting . Overall great resort.

Starfish Saint Lucia: An honest review

An Honest Review The Starfish St Lucia is a 3* resort. If you go in with this expectation, you’ll be fine. That being said there is definitely room for improvement. Check in was relatively quick. You get no direction upon check in though. No instructions on how to use the safe, no info about the hotel like where to get towels, meal times, nothing. You book your a la Carter’s at reception, although when we arrived we had one choice for Italian, and no choice for Asian. The Ital [... read more]ian restaurant was good. I had the chicken Parmesan, the chicken was very tasty…if only you got a little more . (You get about 1/3 of a chicken breast) The buffet was decent, although very repetitive. One fish dish, one chicken dish, rice, lentils, baked beans and a pasta. We had pork once in the week, and the only beef we saw was at the pasta station. Speaking of the pasta station, it was only open for 2 dinners out of 7. Breakfast always had bacon and sausage, eggs multiple ways, fruit, cereal, yogurt, etc. it was good. If they are out of something, simply ask…they have it ready in the back. The rooms are dated, but they are clean and comfortable. The tv has about 70 channels of various languages. Every room has a nice balcony or patio with comfy chairs. There are no ants, there is no mould/mildew…which is rare for a Caribbean island. So kudos there! The beach is gorgeous, the view of the mountain is amazing. There are beach chairs, although a lot of them are broken. They have a few umbrellas that they take in at night, so ask the lifeguard if they have an umbrella available. The umbrellas are also broken, but they are better than nothing. The pool is lovely. There are lounge chairs around the pool with umbrellas, but you better be out there by 7am if you want one. The first half of our week, the hotel was less full, and therefore, going out at 9:00, you would still have chairs available. The second half of the week seems to have brought in more people, thus making it harder to get a chair. The pool bar…wow, what a mess. The main bartender Sheena never cracks a smile. She obviously hates her job. She flings your drink at you, spilling it every time. We tried giving her a generous tip on day 2, that made no difference. On our last night here, Sheena was working the evening shift at the lobby bar, and she was way nicer and smiling. Management take note…move Sheena to evening shift! As for the bar, they seem to have one bottle of each thing, so when they run out of the one bottle of pina colada mix, it’s done for the day. They run out of every type of daiquiri every day, except mango. They ran out of rum one day. They often didn’t have vodka. They often didn’t have Coke, only Diet Coke. The lunch grill…another mess. The food is delicious, but the service is deplorable. You sit there for half an hour without so much as a glass of water. You don’t get served until you flag someone down and beg them to take your order. Once you order, your food comes out at a decent pace. The staff are always at the hut talking to the cooks. I know this sounds like a lot of complaining, but we really did have a great holiday. I’m writing all the bad stuff because I know Management reads these reviews, and every single thing on here is easily fixed, most without even spending money. You need to motivate your staff, they can be your best asset instead of your worst.

Starfish Saint Lucia: So-So resort

Grounds and pool area was good and well maintained. The resort was dated but clean. Rooms are small and they weren’t cleaned 2 days in a row had to go to front desk on the 3rd day to get or room cleaned. The buffet was limited but food was good. The two restaurants were terrible.

Royalton Hideaway Saint Lucia: A wonderful holiday!

Excellent staff who were more than accomodating Most restaurants good except Tex/Mex Major issue: These resorts need to be more mindful of people with physical challenges - no bars in showers; no rubber mats for shower floor; few rooms with raised toilet seats

Royalton Hideaway Saint Lucia: Amazing resort!

The staff was so amazing- always helpful and happy. It was a wonderful 2 weeks. As a person with mobility issues, I have a few suggestions: 1. Install high-rise toilets in the rooms- they were available in all of the common washrooms. It made a remarkable difference to my comfort and movement. 2. Install bars in the shower. The floor becomes slippery with the soap and I did slip a few times even though I tried to be very careful. 3. I would have loved to get in the hot tubs outside but witho [... read more]ut a railing to get up the steps, I was unable to make use of that. I observed many other older visitors who had mobility problems as well as me so I am sure they experienced the same problems. You have a beautiful resort that I have already recommended to several friends who travel in the winter, but those few improvements would make a world of difference. Thanks for allowing me to relay my concerns and praise.

Mystique St. Lucia by Royalton: Beautiful Island, Horrible Hotel

Saint Lucia is beautiful and the island offers so much. The location of this resort was great and the beach is lovely. The hotel itself was the worst I’ve stayed at in the Caribbean. My husband and I came here for our honeymoon and we were very disappointed. Our “king size bed” was two single beds pushed together. The bed sheets didn’t even extend to the end of the bed so our feet were on the bare mattress when we slept. The room was run down and depressing. For what we paid, I expect [... read more]ed something more than two plastic chairs and a plastic table on our balcony and the sliding door was broken and hard to push open. The curtains were also broken. Hot water was hit and miss. There was black mold on all the mouldings, vents and light fixtures (some of which did not work). Everything in the room was just worn and torn. The resort itself is clean and well landscaped. The pool is nice but half the loungers are missing their pads and they often ran out of beach towels. The buffet was alright. Small with minimal choices. The beach does not have enough loungers for the amount of guests. I do have to say the staff are wonderful. Very helpful, kind and work so hard. In the end, this is not a 4+ star resort. At best a 2/5 at this point. I would recommend no one stay here for a honeymoon or any vacation.

The Soco House: Great Island Terrible hotel

No hot water, only excuses. Dirty cold pool. Under construction. No snacks or coffee station. no concierge. No room service. No shuttle to the beach or to town. no ambiance. Almost No information at all in the room about the hotel or surrounding area. Everything closed tight by 11pm. Tea Time and The cooler for the beach were a nice touches. This could be a great Hotel if they put a little more thought and organization into taking care of the guests. The food was good. The working staff were  [... read more]great. The hotel was very clean. I would not return or recommend this hotel.