Luxury in St. Lucia

There are so many exotic and wondrous places on this vast planet that I would love to visit someday. Unfortunately, lack of time and money will likely preclude me from reaching many of them.

I will continue to add miles on my Subaru and stamps in my passport. But I also plan to experience the joy of traveling by listening to other people’s adventures.

Recently I sat down with my colleague, Michael McDonald, and heard all about his extravagant expedition to the tropical island of St. Lucia.

St. Lucia is a volcanic island located in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It is just 238 square miles and has a population of 165,595, according to the 2010 census.

I hope you enjoy my interview with Michael and that it will inspire you to take that trip you have been dreaming about!

Michael and Patricia’s Vacation in St. Lucia

Why did you decide to go to St. Lucia and had you ever been before?

We had never been, but were deciding between Hawaii and St Lucia. I was told St. Lucia was the Hawaii of the Caribbean, and at the time Hawaii was having volcano issues. We were taking this trip to celebrate a delayed honeymoon. My wife, Patricia, and I have been married 38 years! We never took a major honeymoon so we decided to take this big trip around the time of our anniversary and our birthdays.

How did you plan your trip and how long did you spend planning?

We hired a planner, a real nice guy.  Friends had used him before and recommend him for international trips. His name is Charles Gray, a Travel Advisor with Cruise Planners in Indianapolis.  We planned it all in a really short amount of time, just over a month, with Charles’ help. We met him in person once and had a few phone conferences to plan the trip.

We wanted to go first class all the way.

The trip itself cost around $8,400, then we added a couple of excursions and did some shopping. In total we spent about $12,000, which included some very nice watches and jewelry we bought on the island.  Charles checked in with us during the trip and after. We highly recommended him to others!

How long were you there and was it the right amount of time for a vacation?

We stayed Sunday through Friday, so 6 days and 5 nights. We definitley could have stayed a couple days longer!

Where did you stay? Describe your lodging.

We stayed at the Sandals Halycon Beach resort. It is an all inclusive, ocean-front resort, for adults only. We had a very nice room with our own pool attached to it. It was just 75-100 feet to the ocean from our main level room.

And it had 4 walls!  When booking our trip, another resort option that we decided against had just 3 walls. It didn’t feel luxurious to us to have the possibility of wildlife wandering into our room!

We also had 3 butlers, which was part of the premium package we selected. Our room phone connected to the butler, and each butler worked to serve us at different times.  The butlers provided specialty foods, alcohol, personal items, set up tours, and answer questions. We tried not to abuse it.  Most of our requests were around food and beverages. We also sent the butler to the gift store to buy something we forgot.

All food and beverages were included in the price. Tips were included too, but we gave more tips. We did not need to convert money, as they preferred American money. We did have to pay $1 to use the restroom at local eatery! 

The island was beautiful, but we probably wouldn’t want to live there. Outside the resort the area still had the same or greater challenges than we see in the United States. Resorts create a picturesque environment, not real life.

What activities did you do on your trip? What sites did you see?

We took a 5 hour personal island tour with a guide for $400.  The tour went to fishing and oceanside villages and some that were more inland.  We learned about the island’s history, with both French and british influence. The main produce is bananas and they are shipped to Europe. The government is the #1 employer with tourism a close second. We learned alot about St. Lucia through research before our trip and also on our tours.

We also saw the state capital and part of a volcano that is in the national park. It is an active volcano and there are sulfur springs that people go in and take baths….but we didn’t do that! We also visited the Botanical Gardens and it rained really hard while we were there.

We got to see the 2 peaks of the Piton mountains as we drove by.  We had drivers that took us around. It took 1 hour 40 minutes from the airport to get to the resort and there were beautiful views! And they drive on the wrong side of road! We also went to a wood working village and watched wood carving of various t,ees. They were carving different cultural images. 

We stopped at a roadside booth selling bananas in front of a banana plantation. They cover the bananas in bags to keep them fresh on the trees. Their bananas had a different taste to them and were smaller than ours.

Any special dining experiences or food you tried?

We had banana ketchup! It was yellow and we put it on hamburgers. It didn’t taste banana-ish, but I wouldn’t eat it on a regular basis. They also serve lots of fish for breakfast.  I wasn’t always sure of the kind, but it was a white, clean looking fish. We also tried a plantain gravy dish, which is a traditional cuisine in St. Lucia.

The resort had 5 different restaurants.  The best one was right by the ocean. You can order as much as you want, and the drinks too.  We drank a lot of bottled water. There was no reason to be concerned about the water, but we chose bottled water just to be safe.

What was your favorite part of the trip?

My favorite thing was the view and the topography of the land.  You could see all the way to  Martinique. I also really liked the people!  St. Lucia is beautiful and lush, very tropical.

We did get to experience a tropical storm on Thursday of our trip.  Some trees blew down, and the schools shut down. We could actually go to any of the 3 resorts that were partners with our resort, but transportation shut down that day so we didn’t go to the other resorts. The tropical storm just impacted a day or 2 of our trip and there was enought to do in our resort. They were prepared for the storm at the resort as they knew it was coming.

What surprised you most about St. Lucia?

We were surprised at how nice the people were. They seemed relaxed and stress free, both at the resort and in the community. The people in St. Lucia were very friendly and happy. And there were people from all over the world staying at our resort.

Did you bring home any unique souvenirs?

We bought some bracelets that were created on the island. We also bought a goblet, a handmade bamboo fan, and we each bought Movado watches.

Would you recommend this destination to others? Who would enjoy it?

Yes! St. Lucia is great for couples. You can get pampered there! We also got a couples massage. It is possible to go to St. Lucia for much cheaper than we did.  Airfare was a large part of the cost, but you could go cheaper without going first class. You could also get a room without a pool or butlers.

Anything else you want to share with people considering St. Lucia as a travel destination?

I strongly recommend St. Lucia because of the climate and topography and the friendliness of the people.  We went in September, during hurricane season. January through June might be the best time to go.

I hope you enjoyed this interview with Michael about his first class delayed honeymoon to St. Lucia. If you want to tell Traveling Tanya about an exciting trip you have taken recently, send an email to travelingtanyashelburne.com. You may just be featured in my next travel interview!

Wherever the road takes you, make it a joyous journey,
Traveling Tanya

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