St. Lucia Travel Guide

Anyone else have the urge to get out of your house and travel somewhere beautiful and tropical? I'm guessing pretty much everyone at this point! My husband and I went to St. Lucia in November of 2019 for our first anniversary, and it was one of our all-time favorite trips. Located in the Caribbean, St Lucia is a small island known for the twin Pitons, volcanic beaches, luxury resorts and some of the nicest people I've ever met. Oh and of course some amazing food and cocktails! We split our time between two resorts: Ladera and Viceory Sugar Beach. I'll go through each resort separately as well as some activities we enjoyed! The picture above is from Ladera.

Ladera Resort

Ladera is an adults-only resort located high up in the rainforest situated directly in between the twin Pitons.

Every suite features one full open wall to this spectacular view. I was skeptical upon booking this resort as I'd never stayed somewhere with a full open wall 24 hours a day. But even in 80 degrees without A/C I never felt hot. The breeze that comes off the water and cascades through the forest makes it feel cool in your shaded suite. It's like a glam tree house. After being picked up from the airport in a private car we had about a 45 minute drive to Ladera. Although the island is small there is only so many places roads can go due to the mountainous terrain. The resort offers free shuttle to and from the airport. We simply let them know when our flight arrived, and they had someone there waiting. And waiting with Piton local beer in the car no less! Our driver also acted as a tour guide as we drove up and down the winding roads and mountains of beautiful St. Lucia. He stopped the car frequently to point out different things to us or to honk and wave at a friend. We saw all kinds of animals, drove through local towns and enjoyed his stories and recommendations for our stay. Upon arrival we were greeted with local spiced rum cocktails at the door as we checked in. In our room we found a bottle of champagne and fresh fruit. We appreciated the attention to detail for our celebration. Make sure to let them know if you're celebrating something!

We stayed in a Gros Piton suite that we adored. Every suite at the resort has a plunge pool directly in your room which we took full advantage of. You can see it off to the right in the picture above this one. One day we spent a few hours lounging on our own sun deck and enjoyed the privacy of our own pool which was nice. Also enjoyable after a night out. One of my favorite things about this resort was relaxing in the pool or on the second floor at night and listening to all the sounds of the rainforest below while the waves crashed into the beach and rocks. It was completely surreal. I felt like I was in Jurassic Park or FernGully. The suites are very private. Also downstairs is a couch, table and chairs and small kitchen area.

Upstairs is the bedroom and bath. The open wall continues up to the second floor. One of my other concerns with the open wall especially rainforest adjacent was... bugs. Honestly, we did not have any issue. During the turn-down service, they light incense which keeps all insects away. We also had a canopy bed with netting just in case. Make sure you never turn down the turn-down service though! You will see lots of hummingbirds (there's a hummingbird feeder downstairs). So cool. Bed was very comfortable. One thing I'll mention is there aren't an abundance of outlets. We had to take turns with charging phones. Also no TV, but who needs one with this view?

Ladera also has a large infinity pool open to all guests. Sadly, it was closed while we were there due to renovations. They opened up the largest suite in the resort to make up for it. This was Villa La Fleur. Typically you can rent it out which would be perfect for groups. The pool had a gorgeous view of the Pitons. They also served breakfast and lunch from the villa as well as served food and drinks at the pool. You can see the rest of the suites along the trees. Ladera also offers free shuttle down to the beach which a lot of guests utilize. Since we spent the second half of our trip at a resort on the beach we opted to stay up in the mountains at the pools with amazing views. There was barely anyone there which was so nice. We also took advantage of some offsite activities while at Ladera which I'll get to shortly.

The sun was shining extra bright so this picture is a little overexposed, but here's an example of one of my lunches by the pool. A conch and seafood salad that was so unbelievably fresh and perfect for a hot day. They had a variety of salads, wraps, burgers, etc.

We also enjoyed mojitos, white wine, champagne and Piton beer poolside. The staff were so exceptionally wonderful.

Bathing suit: boohoo; Sunglasses: Chanel.

Sunsets with this view are like none I've ever experienced. Breathtaking. This was taken prior to our anniversary dinner.

Dress: Majorelle from Revolve; Purse: YSL

 

The main restaurant at Ladera is Dasheene, an award-winning, farm-to-table fine dining restaurant where you can get a true taste of St. Lucia's cuisine. Once again, amazing view. Are we noticing a theme here? We enjoyed wine, palate cleansers and appetizers to begin.

We ate at Dasheene twice it was so good. For our anniversary Brad ordered this Caribbean platter which was a mix of beef, lamb and chicken with veggies and tons of local flavor. The lobster extravaganza was also happening while we were there, so of course I had to get lobster. So fresh and delicious.

Ladera does have some all-inclusive packages and deals for food and drinks. They limit certain things though (like some alcohol, certain menu options, etc) so we decided to go all ala carte, and order whatever we want. Check out those deals to see what works best for you. They also offer room service, so one night we had dinner served there.

Dress: Majorelle from Revolve; Necklace: custom made at Diamond Cellar, diamond necklace from Brad's late grandmother's engagement ring

Other things to know about Ladera:

• They have this gorgeous botanical garden onsite where they grow a lot of the food they use. It's also packed full of gorgeous flowering plants.
• They have some intense hiking trails with even more gorgeous views. We got a workout!
• There is a really cool "hot tub room" with stacked hot tubs.
• Also have a game room with pool and tons of board games.
• Pricing really depends on what suite you choose and the time of year. I've seen a range of $595-1500/night. Ladera also runs a lot of seasonal deals. Best place for pricing would be their website. https://www.ladera.com/ 
• You can book a variety of excursions through Ladera and some are even free with your stay!

Overall would 100% go back. Truly amazing experience.

What to Do:

While Brad and I love having zero plans on vacation and simply relaxing, we also like to get out and explore. During our stay at Ladera we found out one of the excursions was actually free and we could go on a private tour with our own guide. Many resorts charge quite a bit for the tour we had, and they pack you on a bus full of people. We went in a private car and had a really 1:1 experience. Our tour guide grew up right by the resort, and shared with us all kinds of stories from his childhood. It was really cool.

Top: Morning Lavender; Shorts: Abercromie; Backpack: Target

• Sulphur Springs, known as the world's only "drive-in" volcano, features a road running right through the crater of the Soufrière Volcano. We were able to walk right up to the crater and watch the mud boil and steam roll off the top. I will warn you, it doesn't smell great. But truly amazing to see in person.
• Mud Bath: as part of this excursion you get to actually bathe in the mud from the volcano. I was really looking forward to this experience. It was a lot less of a "natural" atmosphere though. They take the mud and place it in man made hot tubs. I guess I was picturing being out in the rainforest especially after coming from the volcano. However, it was still fun and my skin felt the best it's ever felt after! They have showers for you to shower off when you're done. Wear a cheap bathing suit you don't care about.

• Diamond Botanical Gardens and Waterfall is another must see. Located in a protected valley at the base of the Pitons, this 2,000-acre site is home to the oldest botanical gardens on St. Lucia. You felt completely immersed in the rainforest with some of the most beautiful plants I've ever seen. Also lots of fruits and vegetables grown all around which had small signs to let you know what they were. Very cool!

• King Louis XVI Mineral Baths are part of the Diamond Botanical Garden. They are fed by underground hot mineral springs, and are believed to possess therapeutic and curative powers. I thought my skin couldn't feel better after the mud bath, but I was wrong! Talk about a truly natural spa day.

• The town of Soufrière: we looked over the local town and marina from up above and then went down to visit it. The different buildings and churches were so cool. As you can imagine there is also amazing local food. Orlando's Restaurant & Bar has even won awards for being one of the best restaurants in the world by Travel & Leisure and Food & Wine magazines.
  

• Toraille Waterfall: a gorgeous 50-foot waterfall you can walk under and swim in the pool below. This was so fun! Our tour guide knew the perfect time to take us and there was barely anyone else around. When we were leaving we saw a lot more people showing up, which is why I'd recommend going on a private tour.

• Volcanic Gros Piton Hike: if you're into hiking there are plenty of opportunities to do so in St Lucia. If you're up for a challenge, hike the Gros Piton. Extremely difficult standing 2,619 feet above sea level, but totally worth it.
• Other stuff to do: if you're interested there are also a lot of other excursions ranging from boat tours, ATV biking, zip lining, etc.

Sugar Beach, A Viceroy Resort

Moving on to Sugar Beach, a Travel & Leisure Award Winner! Ladera offered free transportation all the way down the hilly terrain to Sugar Beach, Viceroy which is directly blow and a short drive. The juxtaposition between the two resorts and altitudes was immediately evident. Down on the beach we had a private stand alone villa that was comprised of a living area with patio access, small kitchen/bar area and full bathroom off the living room. The bedroom featured a gorgeous canopy bed with double door patio access. It was the most comfortable bed I've ever slept in. It also had a TV which rose out of a cabinet at the foot of the bed and another in the living room. Off the bedroom was the master bath complete with rain shower, claw foot tub under a chandelier and enormous walk-in closet also with chandelier. So my vibe. And the A/C was cranked. There are video tours on my Instagram highlights. After our experience up in the rainforest which was more adventurous it was nice to end our trip down here. Two of the double doors (living and bedroom) open up to a gorgeous patio which you can have dinner catered on. The patio transitions into a large sun deck with chairs (pictured above).

Bathing suit: boohoo; Sunglasses: Chanel

We were welcomed with spiced rum cocktails and champagne here as well. How adorable is this? Make sure to let resorts know whenever you're celebrating something!

The third set of double doors (bedroom) opened up to a walkway off of the sundeck that led to this outdoor shower. The privacy around these villas is legit. You could take an actual shower out here! 😉 And a shower with a view of the ocean and Pitons? Can't beat it.

You round the corner from the outdoor shower and it takes you down some stairs to a private pool. One thing I loved about both resorts was having a private pool.

One of our favorite things about this resort was obviously, beach access. A lot of villas sit up a little ways, but they'll pick you up and escort you down to the beach or restaurants within 5 minutes thanks to their amazing butler service. Look at that gorgeous Caribbean clear water!

The beach is packed full of comfortable lawn chairs, umbrella and cabanas with complementary towels. Once you arrive, a resort staffer will set up your area for you however you like it and take your drink order. You also also get food at the beach. I was impressed by their extensive drink list as clearly I'm a cocktail girl! The main beach is public, and we were approached by people offering excursions, but they were subtle and not bothersome.

There are two restaurants right off this beach where you can enjoy lunch or dinner. Both are resort casual. This tuna tartare was one of my favorites. Here are some other menu options:

Fresh, delicious and flavorful. Lots of pizza and pasta dishes too. We enjoyed everything we had!

Located at the opposite end of the beach is a separate private beach which was very quiet and secluded.

Bathing suit & coverup: boohoo

There is also a private dock with lounge chairs and these above ocean hammocks (WHAT) off this beach as well as a bar. What more could you ask for? I drank a lot of Aperol Spritz over here (or as they're known in St. Lucia Spritz Veneziano)!

After spending the first part of our trip high up above the ocean and hiking, the perspective of coming down to the base of the Gros Piton was mind boggling. As if I needed anything to make me look shorter? 😉

Coverup: Beach Bunny Swimwear

Sugar Beach also has a gorgeous pool to lounge by. It was almost completely empty our entire stay which was perfection. They also serve cocktails and food around the pool. It's literally at the base of the Gros Piton.

In the evenings at Sugar Beach we enjoyed going out for dinner and drinks. They have multiple restaurants and styles to choose from.

Romper: Revolve

We loved Cane Bar which was a fancy rum bar that served mostly raw/sushi type dishes. The ambience was incredible as was the food. It was a fun nightlife location which we took advantage of.

We also loved The Great Room which invokes Old World Charm. Very traditional glam. You can have a candlelit dinner on the terrace and listen to the waves crash in while enjoying some extremely good fine dining.

As for breakfast/brunch I'd recommend The Terrace. I love Eggs Benedict and they did not disappoint. You'll also find mimosas and Bloody's here. And this view? Can't beat it.

Other things to know about Sugar Beach Viceroy:

• They do have all-inclusive packages. Similar to Ladera, they don't include everything so we decided to do ala carte. Check out their website to see what works best for you.
• Room service is also available and they can serve you on your patio/sun deck/etc.
• They have a phenomenal spa with every treatment you can think of.
• There are some really cool hiking trials, but we were hiked out by this point and wanted to lay on the beach and drink, haha!
• They have snorkeling gear, which we did do! Always awesome in the crystal clear Caribbean waters.
• Not an adults only resort, so kids are welcome. Seeing as we don't have kids, we prefer adults only, but I think we saw maybe two children the entire time and they were extremely well behaved.
• They will provide you with an extensive excursion list upon request.
• Pricing really depends on what suite/villa/residence you choose and the time of year. There is a huge range just as their are types of rentals. Typically anywhere from $595-2000+/night. Best to reference their website. https://www.viceroyhotelsandresorts.com/sugar-beach

Overall this was one of the most amazing trips either of us has ever been on. We cannot wait to go back at some point in the future, and we honestly wouldn't change a thing about what we did! Both resorts went above and beyond. I hope you get to travel there. Please let me know if you have any questions!